Setup
Rachel Dolezal is a white woman who has identified as African American. Massachusetts Senator Elizabeth Warren has identified as Native American. Both women have expressed feelings of solidarity for demographic groups that some would argue they ought not claim as their own. What’s wrong with claiming to belong to a historically subordinated population group? This spring, Rebecca Tuvel published an essay, “In Defense of Transracialism,” in the respected academic philosophy journal, Hypatia. The article offended many, who attacked its thesis and an argument comparing transrace to transgender. The judgment of the journal editors who selected the essay for publication — only to then apologize profusely for having done so — was also attacked. What went wrong? Is there a moral future for transracialism in a world of ambiguous phenotypes and editable DNA?
Explore More
Society

In a time of heightened distrust, how can media outlets reclaim the public’s confidence? We hear from a longtime journalist.





The idea of unity is a compassionate, hopeful aspiration for a country ravaged by a global pandemic, racial injustice, economic downturn and mob violence.



Two weeks before the first woman of color became Vice President, an angry mob that included members of the white supremacist group Proud Boys, stormed the US Capitol. As Ibram...

Biden believes deeply that actions like the January 6th violence at the Capitol are not who we want to be as a country, says Evan Osnos, author of a Biden biography.







As the nation reels from the attack on the Capitol, we look for ideas that will move us forward.



Peggy Clark asks Dan Glickman to reflect on this past year and to share what he expects from our country under President-elect Joe Biden’s leadership.



“We are not in a rush to pull people back into the workplace,” says Rob Falzon







NPR's Tamara Keith and Dan Glickman discuss what a Biden agenda might look like.