Descendants of Frederick Douglass read excerpts from one of his most famous speeches: What to the Slave Is the Fourth of July? Douglass gave this speech to a group of abolitionists 168 years ago.
NPR's Mary Louise Kelly talks with Kevin Blackistone, a sports commentator and a professor at the University of Maryland, about the Washington NFL team announcing Friday that it will review its name.
For many African Americans, patriotism is complicated because the promises of America aren't fulfilled equally. The Fourth of July brings a challenge: reconciling national pride with systemic racism.
Statues have been taken down; names scrubbed from institutions. The national reckoning over race has reenergized debates over historical figures and the scrutiny goes beyond Confederate monuments.
FedEx, which paid $205 million in 1999 for the naming rights to the Redskins' stadium, says it has "communicated to the team in Washington our request that they change the team name."
Imara Jones, the founder of TransLash Media, talks about Black trans issues in the wake of LGBTQ Pride intersecting with protests against police violence.
NPR's Noel King speaks with Christian Picciolini, a reformed neo-Nazi skinhead, about what extremists may have heard when the president retweeted a video of a supporter yelling "white power."
Statues have been taken down. Names are being scrubbed from institutions. The national reckoning over race has led to closer scrutiny of which figures from history we honor, and how.
South Carolina repairman Ernest Skelton talked to Caroline Brock about racism at an appointment. Their video went viral. NPR's David Greene spoke with Skelton, who is Black, and Brock, who is white.
Emancipation Memorial has stood in Park Square since 1879. It is a version of the original, in Washington, D.C., which was funded by formerly enslaved people but designed without their input.
Environmental dangers, including wildfires and groundwater poisoning, ended the Rushmore pyrotechnics a decade ago. Now they're back, defying a pandemic and protests.
In an exclusive interview with NPR, Nextdoor CEO Sarah Friar outlines new measures the popular neighborhood app is taking to address reports of racial profiling and censorship on the platform.
The federal agency charged with preventing terrorist attacks said Wednesday that its personnel would carry out President Trump's orders to protect statues and monuments from vandalism.
NPR's Ari Shapiro speaks with Myrlie Evers-Williams, the widow of Medgar Evers who was assassinated in their home state of Mississippi, about the state removing the Confederate insignia from its flag.
After listening to the opinions of residents and experts on Black history, Boston officials said that the city would remove a statue of Abraham Lincoln with a freed slave kneeling beside him.
The New York City Council passed a new budget overnight. Advocates and the council's speaker say the cuts didn't go far enough, as President Trump says they will "further antagonize" the police.
Of the 819 artists and executives invited to join this year, the Academy says 45 percent are women and 36 percent are from underrepresented ethnic and racial communities.
Beginning in the days of slavery and Jim Crow segregation, elements of racist ideology have long existed in white churches. How Christians could promote such views is a point that upset many people.
For many people, Columbus Mayor Andrew Ginther said, "the statue represents patriarchy, oppression and divisiveness." It stood outside City Hall for some 65 years.
Mississippi's governor has signed a bill into law that officially removes a Confederate design from the state flag and creates a panel to create a new one for voters to decide.
Young African American doctors say they hope to change the lack of access to medicine in underserved communities. But many say the system that trains them also alienates them.
The retired flag, which dates to 1894, includes the Confederate battle flag. A commission will propose a new flag, and voters will consider it in November.
Garrett Rolfe, who is charged with felony murder in the death of Rayshard Brooks at a Wendy's in Atlanta, is expected to ask the judge to be released from jail on bond while his case is pending.
