Race

An opponent of the New York Police Department's controversial stop-and-frisk policy marches last year in New York City. The NYPD says the stops assist crime prevention, while opponents say they involve racial profiling and civil rights abuses.

National

Lawsuit Over NYPD's 'Stop And Frisk' Program Heads To Court

12:38pm March 18, 2013

by Joel Rose

A lawsuit challenging the New York Police Department's use of warrantless stops in high-crime neighborhoods goes to federal court Monday. Critics say the practice is an unconstitutional invasion of privacy. But defenders say it's legal and has helped make the city safer.

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Jessica Hong, second from left, at brunch with friends. "Though I am clearly the lone Asian person, I don't think I've ever felt like the 'Asian friend' amongst these girls," she says.

National

Six Words: Ask Who I Am, Not What

9:46am March 14, 2013

by NPR Staff

Where are you from? Jessica Hong, a Korean-American, is constantly asked about her heritage, often before people learn anything else about her. Charley Sullivan found himself on the wrong side of the same question when he was 12 years old.

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Supreme Court Weighs Future Of Voting Rights Act

8:48am February 27, 2013

by Nina Totenberg

The provision at issue in Wednesday's case before the court applies to parts of the U.S. where discriminatory voting practices were once rampant. The formula that covers those areas hasn't changed since 1975. The crux of the case: whether times have changed so much that Congress violated the Constitution when it reauthorized the law in 2006.

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The Trayvon Martin Case And The National Conversation

2:30pm February 26, 2013

The death of Trayvon Martin spurred new conversations about race in America. It was also a turning point for The Race Project, where NPR's Michele Norris collects six-word reflections on race, culture and identity. Norris discusses the poignant conversations she's had since Martin's death.

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Now 59, George Prendes works as a telemarketer in New York and struggles to make the rent on his small Bronx apartment.

National

Decades On, Stiff Drug Sentence Leaves A Life 'Dismantled'

1:11pm February 15, 2013

by Brian Mann

George Prendes was 23 when he was sentenced under New York's Rockefeller drug laws — tough mandatory sentencing guidelines for nonviolent drug crimes. The 15 years Prendes served for a drug transaction still reverberate for him and his family.

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'Klansville, U.S.A.' Chronicles The Rise And Fall Of The KKK

5:30pm February 14, 2013

by NPR Staff

Author and sociologist David Cunningham speaks with Fresh Air's Terry Gross about the origins of cross burnings and white hoods, and why North Carolina had more Klan members during the height of the civil rights movement than all other Southern states combined.

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Sen. Rubio's Response Gives GOP A Chance To Woo Hispanics

8:44am February 12, 2013

by David Welna

The 41-year-old Florida senator will deliver the official Republican response to President Obama's State of the Union address Tuesday night. It's a chance for a party that has fared badly with both young and Hispanic voters to showcase a new stance on immigration.

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Books
Arts

A Barbados Family Tree With 'Sugar In The Blood'

1:44pm February 04, 2013

In her new book, Andrea Stuart explores the intersection of sugar, slavery, settlement, migration and survival in the Americas. Stuart's personal history was shaped by these forces — she is descended from a slave owner who had relations with an unknown slave.

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Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla, is among a bipartisan group of eight senators who this week announced a plan to overhaul the nation's immigration laws.

What's Behind Rubio's 'Full Circle Back' On Immigration?

7:17pm February 01, 2013

by David Welna

Sen. Marco Rubio, R-Fla., appears to have reversed his views on an earned path to citizenship, which in a Tea Party-backed 2010 campaign he called "code for amnesty." Some critics say the young Cuban-American lawmaker seems to be looking ahead to 2016 and a possible White House bid.

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'Ebony' Editor Began Life Black In Nazi Germany

5:36pm January 26, 2013

by Scott Simon

Long before becoming managing editor of Ebony magazine, Hans Massaquoi yearned to be a Hitler Youth. His rare story came to an end when Massaquoi died this week at the age of 87.

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