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Code Switch Race and identity, remixed.

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Race. In your face.
Claim Us If You're Famous

Vice president-elect Kamala Harris, front center, with, from left, her grandfather, sister, mother and grandmother in 1972. Twitter/ @mayaharris_ hide caption

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Twitter/ @mayaharris_

Code Switch

Claim Us If You're Famous

Kamala Harris is the vice president-elect, which marks an impressive list of firsts: woman in the White House; Black woman in the White House, Asian American in the White House; etc. Her Indian heritage has gotten much less attention than her Black identity, and in many ways, it has been complicated by her Black identity. On this episode, we look at what Harris's identities can tell us about dual-minority POCs, South Asian political representation in the U.S., and what it all means at the voting booth.

Claim Us If You're Famous

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In Harris, Black Sororities And Fraternities Celebrate One Of Their Own

Sen. Kamala Harris stands with attendees and participates in the Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority Inc. hymn at their Annual Pink Ice Gala in Columbia, South Carolina on Friday, Jan. 25, 2019. Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images hide caption

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Elijah Nouvelage/Bloomberg via Getty Images

Code Switch

In Harris, Black Sororities And Fraternities Celebrate One Of Their Own

Lawrence C. Ross, author of The Divine Nine, explains why Black sororities showed up and showed out for Kamala Harris—and how Black Greek organizations have long pushed for enfranchisement.

The Latinx Vote Comes Of Age

Victor Samuel Martinez-Rivera, Fernanda Ruiz Martinez, Heber Toscano and Alejandro Vasquez are voting for president for the very first time. Eve Edelheit, Deanna Dent and Xueying Chang/NPR hide caption

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Eve Edelheit, Deanna Dent and Xueying Chang/NPR

Code Switch

The Latinx Vote Comes Of Age

For the first time in election history, Latinos are projected to be the second-largest voting demographic in the country. The reason? Gen Z Latinx voters, many of whom are casting a ballot for the first time in 2020. So we asked a bunch of them: Who do you plan to vote for? What issues do you care about? And what do you want the rest of the country to know about you?

The Latinx Vote Comes Of Age

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Is Trump Really That Racist?
LA Johnson/NPR/Getty

Code Switch

Is Trump Really That Racist?

We know his rhetoric has been described as boundary breaking when it comes to race. But U.S. presidents have been enacting racist policies forever. So as President Trump wraps up his first (and maybe only) term in office, we're asking: In terms of racism, how does he stack up to others when it comes to both words and deeds?

Is Trump Really That Racist?

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Let's Talk About Kamala Harris
Photo illustration: LA Johnson/NPR; Photo: Saul Loeb/Getty Images

Code Switch

Let's Talk About Kamala Harris

The VP candidate's biography and heritage allow people to project all kinds of ideas onto her, and to see what they want to see. But Kamala Harris's identity is a very important lens into not just her own politics, but also Black politics around crime and punishment more broadly.

Let's Talk About Kamala Harris

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Hip-Hop, Mass Incarceration, And A Conspiracy Theory For The Ages

Rodney Carmichael and Sidney Madden of NPR's new podcast "Louder Than A Riot" Christian Cody and Joshua Kissi/NPR hide caption

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Christian Cody and Joshua Kissi/NPR

Code Switch

Hip-Hop, Mass Incarceration, And A Conspiracy Theory For The Ages

Why are hip-hop and mass incarceration so entangled in the U.S.? That's the question that our play cousins at NPR Music, Sidney Madden and Rodney Carmichael, set out to answer on their brand new podcast, Louder Than a Riot.

Hip-Hop, Mass Incarceration, And A Conspiracy Theory For The Ages

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A Treaty Right For Cherokee Representation

The artist's depiction of how the Trail of Tears is related to the Treaty of New Echota. Weshoyot Alvitre for NPR hide caption

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Weshoyot Alvitre for NPR

Code Switch

A Treaty Right For Cherokee Representation

On this week's episode of Code Switch, we talk about the relevance of a 200 year old treaty — one that most Americans don't know that much about, but should. It's a treaty that led to the Trail of Tears, but also secured a tenuous promise.

A Treaty Right For Cherokee Representation

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A New Look For The Fashion Industry?

Code Switch interviews senior critic-at-large Robin Givhan about the uptick in magazine covers featuring black women this September. NPR hide caption

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NPR

Code Switch

A New Look For The Fashion Industry?

Fall is the time for glossy fashion magazines, full of dazzling looks and the seasons hottest looks. But this year, we noticed something unusual: The covers of a bunch of major magazines fashion magazines featured Black folks. So we called up fashion critic Robin Givhan to talk about fashion's racial reckoning...and how long before it goes out of style.

A New Look For The Fashion Industry?

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Is It Time To Say R.I.P. To 'POC'?
LA Johnson/NPR

Word Watch

Is It Time To Say R.I.P. To 'POC'?

Suffice it to say, we use the term "POC" a lot on Code Switch. But critiques of the initialism — and the popularization of the term "BIPOC" — caused us to ask: Should we retire POC? Or is there use in it yet?

Is It Time To Say R.I.P. To 'POC'?

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Portrait Of A Parent With Alzheimer's
Alexander Charner/Latino USA

Code Switch

Portrait Of A Parent With Alzheimer's

by Yvonne Latty

Since 2016, journalist Yvonne Latty has been documenting her mother's journey with Alzheimer's. As part of a collaboration with Latino USA and Black Public Media, she brings us this intimate portrait.

Portrait Of A Parent With Alzheimer's

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Battle Of The Books

A collage of the books featured in the episode: Catherine House; Take a Hint, Dani Brown; Real Men Knit; and Mexican Gothic. LA Johnson/NPR hide caption

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LA Johnson/NPR

Code Switch

Battle Of The Books

The Code Switch team has been mired in a months-long debate that we're attempting to settle once and for all: What kind of books are best to read during this pandemic? Books that connect you to our current reality? Or ones that help you escape it?

Battle Of The Books

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The Protests Heard 'Round The World

Protesters throw a statue of slave trader Edward Colston into Bristol harbour, during a Black Lives Matter protest rally, on Sunday, June 7. Ben Birchall/AP hide caption

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Ben Birchall/AP

Code Switch

The Protests Heard 'Round The World

How did a police killing in Minneapolis lead people thousands of miles across the Atlantic Ocean to pull down the statue of a slave trader who's been dead for nearly three centuries? On this episode, we're going to the city of Bristol to tell the surprising story.

The Protests Heard 'Round The World

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The Kids Are All Right

Students behind the Flossy Podcast: Joshua Bovell, Jaheim Birch-Gentles, Brianna Johnson, Jamar Thompson, Ieszan McKinney, and Kamari Murdock in Canarsie, Brooklyn, N.Y. (Not pictured - Isaiah Dupuy.) Kholood Eid for NPR hide caption

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Kholood Eid for NPR

Code Switch

The Kids Are All Right

Adults often find it really hard to talk about race. But kids? Maybe not so much. NPR received more than 2,000 entries in this year's Student Podcast Challenge, and we heard from young people all over the country about how they're thinking about race and identity in these trying times.

The Kids Are All Right

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How Black Women Athletes Paved The Way For The NBA Strike

After the WNBA announcement of the postponed games for the evening, the Washington Mystics each wear white T-shirts with seven bullets on the back protesting the shooting of Jacob Blake by Kenosha, Wisconsin police at Feld Entertainment Center on August 26, 2020 in Palmetto, Florida. Julio Aguilar/Getty Images hide caption

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Julio Aguilar/Getty Images

Code Switch

How Black Women Athletes Paved The Way For The NBA Strike

The wildcat strike was unprecedented for the NBA — but the world of professional basketball is no stranger to protesting for Black lives.

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