Code Switch

Remember when folks used to talk about being "post-racial"? Heh. We're definitely not that. We're NPR's team of journalists who are fascinated by the overlapping themes of race, ethnicity and culture, how these things play out in our lives and...

[washingtonpost]

A 1974 government document shows how to make a proper cocktail.

[nprcodeswitch]

Who knew there were so many secret Trekkers on this team.

OH at Code Switch

[nprcodeswitch]

Racially diverse emojis are coming

News you can use: racially diverse emojis are coming to an iPhone near you.

[washingtonpost]

Today in journalism: why do moms love emoji so much? We investigate. 

[nprcodeswitch]

How Black Lives Have Always Mattered: A Reading List

[nprcodeswitch]

Bass Reeves was a slave who learned how to shoot from his master. He went on to become a black Marshall who caught more than 4,000 criminals. Many historians believe that he was the original inspiration for the Lone Ranger. His true story is now chronicled in a new comic book, Tales of the Talented Tenth. Learn more about Bass Reeves and other uncelebrated black heroes.

Photo: Joel Christian Gill/Courtesy of Fulcrum Publishing

[nprcodeswitch]

Salsa, which is technically a dip, has been bringing in bigger revenues for American companies than any other condiment since 1992. The reason why might have to do more with its perception as a healthy snack than the increase of the Hispanic population in the U.S. 

"The business exploded when the hippies came along," says David Pace, the founder of Pace salsas. "No question but this health stuff made it explode."

As Jerry Seinfeld said at an AMA last year: "people probably like it because they can see the tomatoes in it? Whereas with ketchup, you have no idea where this came from."  Source: "Taco USA: How Mexican Food Conquered America."

[nprcodeswitch]

Forget taco Tuesday, Norwegians have taco Friday: "According to a VG study in 2012, the taco is by far the most popular dinner on Friday in Norway—even surpassing the infamous frozen Grandiosa pizza! This study determined that 400,000 Norwegians—or 8.2% of the population—eat tacos every single Friday. " Photo by Carolina Miranda/NPR H/T pocho.com

[nprcodeswitch]

They came ready to hurt. They used dangerous weapons; they targeted the weak; they recruited and encouraged others to join in the coordinated chaos; and they boasted about their shameful activity. This was a 2011 version of the Nigger hunts.

Carlton Reeves, a black U.S. District Court judge after sentencing three white murderers 

[nprcodeswitch]

"He looks down on Panda Express, but eats McCdonald's all the time. I don't understand." H/T Angry Asian Man 

[nprcodeswitch]

The photo above is of Magali, 33, who describes the worst catcall she received from a soldier in Mexico City. Sexual harassment is so rampant in Mexico City that the city provides female-only subway cars and buses. A new campaign by a Brooklyn-based artists is confronting the perpetrators in a very public way. Photo courtesy of Fusion 

[nprmusic]

ALI SHAHEED MUHAMMAD: So it comes across in such a smooth, subtle way. And it’s satirical and just like — it’s serious but then it’s like — not necessarily pokes fun. You feel the pain. You feel the frustration of the dynamic of being in pursuit of love, you know, and trying to find a feeling. Like, you get it. So I think you really communicate that.

TERRACE MARTIN: Thanks, man. And that’s the line I’m pushing. I talk about things I go through. You know what I mean?

MUHAMMAD: Yeah.

MARTIN: You know, I grew up on Crenshaw and Slauson and I grew up in the crack era and the gangbanging was really heavy in South Central. So I don’t — I never want, like, using my platform to talk about the same story and what’s going — that s—- gives me anxiety, thinking about that era or that time. You know what I mean? Even with times going on now, it’s like, the best thing I could do is really not comment and just keep on feeding the world good music. That’s what I’m here for. Like the Titanic, when them motherf—-ers went down with the ship, trying to make everybody else cool, that’s all I’ma do.

Terrace Martin on Microphone Check

[nprcodeswitch]

The lynchings of whites in the U.S. were intended to punish, while the lynchings of blacks were designed to terrorize African-Americans, according to a new study by the Equal Justice Initiative. 

Photo courtesy of the Library of Congress 

[nprcodeswitch]

I can no more explain what makes me feel Jewish than what makes me feel Chinese, or female, or human.

Rachel Gross, for Code Switch

Read about what it means to be Chinese-Jewish, or is it Jewish-Chinese?

[nprcodeswitch]

Before ABC's Fresh Off the Boat, there was Gung Ho, a sitcom from the 80s about a Japanese car manufacturer taking over a U.S. plant. The timing couldn't have been worse as the auto industry was reeling at the time. CodeSwitch's Kat Chow compiled a short list of strange Asian-American TV shows. Enjoy! http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2015/02/05/383520596/a-brief-weird-history-of-squashed-asian-american-tv-shows

[nprcodeswitch]

"Maybe it takes the zombie apocalypse to transcend racial politics," says Harrison Pak, a friend of Steven Yeun. Listen to Shereen Marison Meraji’s profile of Yeun, who plays Glenn on AMC’s The Walking Dead: http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2015/02/05/383897456/steven-yeuns-glenn-slaying-zombies-and-getting-the-girl

[nprcodeswitch]

Did you take my book about Afro veganism?

Overheard at the Code Switch pod