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‘African American’ Is Awkward. It’s Time to Use ‘Black.’

‘African American’ Is Awkward. It’s Time to Use ‘Black.’

The Opinions
Jul 29, 2025 25 min
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About this episode

<p>The linguist John McWhorter on how language around racial identity is evolving.</p><p>Trump urged the Washington Commanders to revert to their former name. They dropped “Redskins” in 2020 following years of pressure. In this episode of The Opinions, linguist John McWhorter joins David Leonhardt, the editorial director of New York Times Opinion, to discuss the politics of language and how we talk about race.</p><p>Thoughts? Email us at theopinions@nytimes.com.</p><br/> <p>Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See <a href="https://pcm.adswizz.com">pcm.adswizz.com</a> for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.</p>

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