I remember the days when no matter where you were from, no matter what you believed, no matter your class or creed or race or political party, you could find a piece of Martin Luther King Jr.’s legacy to co-opt for your own purposes. MLK’s voice has been used to sell trucks. His words have been used to argue in favor of book bans. His “vision” was invoked to justify the gutting of affirmative action. He was like a civil rights fairy godparent, appearing whenever someone needed to razzle-dazzle their opinion with a soupçon of moral authority.
So I must say, I was surprised to hear the news that the National Park Service will no longer be recognizing Martin Luther King Jr. Day as one of their “fee-free” days in 2026. That, along with Juneteenth, will apparently now be treated as a regular day, while Flag Day (aka, President Trump’s birthday) will be added to the list of fee-free days. Oh, but don’t worry — not everyone will get into the nation’s parks for free on Trump’s birthday. According to NPR reporting, “Non-U.S. residents will still be required to pay entrance fees on those dates under the new ‘America-first pricing’ policy.”
Karen Bleier/AFP/Getty Images
People joke a lot these days about “recession indicators” — you know, those subtle signs that our economy is on the verge of collapse. But all over the place, I’ve been seeing what I’ve come to think of as “racial recession indicators” — the signs that our society can no longer even agree on the basic premise that racism is bad, or that one should be embarrassed to make openly racist statements.
On Wednesday, for example, my colleagues at Morning Edition interviewed the popular conservative commentator/influencer/podcaster Brett Cooper. She was asked if she agreed with the premise that “elite Jewish gangsters” run our (Christian) country. Her response? “Not really.” She went on, then, to say that she was concerned about the impact of Israel on our country. (That whole exchange came about because Cooper had criticized Ted Cruz for calling Nick Fuentes a Nazi. Fuentes, for his part, has said that Hitler was “f***ing cool” and that he is done with “Holocaust religion and propaganda.”)
I had once believed that MLK’s image had been so thoroughly sanitized that he would be embraced by all people, without question, in perpetuity. I had once believed that Adolf Hitler’s “brand” was so toxic that even the most raging antisemite would disavow him in public. I was never pollyanna-ish about race, I don’t think, but I did believe, at some point, that public figures would seek to disguise their racist beliefs with conciliatory words and token nods to racial harmony.
Now, I’m not so sure. I don’t know where things are going to land on any of this. But the racial recession indicators are painting a pretty grim forecast.
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ON THE POD
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In very related news! Over the past few weeks, President Trump has amplified derogatory and stereotypical comments about people from Afghanistan. He's derided Somalians as a whole, and specifically targeted Congresswoman Ilhan Omar. And he's said he will end immigration from "Third World countries." So in a political climate where rhetoric like this has become normalized, is there still use to calling any particular phrase or policy racist?
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Have you all been seeing racial recession indicators? (And if so...how far back does it go? Years? Decades?) And what else is keeping you up at night? Email codeswitch@npr.org with all of your thoughts, questions, ideas and feedback.
I'll be back next week to look into how the reputations of Nelson Mandela and Mother Teresa are holding up. (I kid. Hopefully.)
See you then,
Leah Donnella, senior editor
Written by Leah Donnella and editedby Veralyn Williams
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