Race relations

Once word got out about Sen. Harry Reid's recently reported 2008 remarks about then-candidate Barack Obama's skin color and speech, just about everybody thought he needed to apologize — not least Reid himself. But people had different stories about why.

Analysts wondered if Barack Obama's speech on race in Philadelphia last month was the beginning of a "national conversation" on the subject. Meanwhile, Fresh Air's contributing linguist Geoff Nunberg is wondering what, exactly, a "national conversation" is — and when we started talking about them.

There have been several waves of pop music in New Orleans since World War II, with each one subsiding as its celebrated musicians realize they can't make a living in the city they grew up in. In 1960, another of those waves crested, and with it came a pioneering effort for racial equality. Ed Ward has the story of AFO Records: All For One.

Nunberg talks about terms used in racial classification, such as Caucasian.

Commentator Gerald Early talks about baseball legend Jackie Robinson and his unintended effects on the Negro leagues.

As the Ebonics controversy continues into its second month, linguist Geoff Nunberg comments on standard English.

Rock historian Ed Ward talks about how white fans of the 1960s folk revival sought out long-neglected blues artists.

Commentator Gerald Early considers Black History Month.

Professor of English and Director of African and Afro-American Studies at Washington University, Gerald Early. He reflects on the meaning of Motown music to whites and blacks.

Ed Ward discusses a blues revival.