Listen "Assignment: Choosing race"
Episode Synopsis
'I didn’t know she was black until a number of years ago when she happened to turn black,' said Donald Trump, recently.When the former US president called into question Kamala Harris's racial identity, it sparked an angry backlash. The White House press secretary, Karine Jean-Pierre, responded by saying 'no-one has any right to tell someone who they are [or] how they identify.'Mr Trump's words hit a nerve in the American psyche, tapping into a centuries-old debate about ethnicity and authenticity, power and privilege.But in an age where it is said that race is a social construct, how fluid is racial identity?For Assignment, Ellie House travels around the US, meeting people fighting to claim their racial identity - as well those looking to police it. From an organisation that seeks to expose fake Native Americans in North Carolina, to the Ohio town where people with red hair and green eyes still identify as black, due to the racist history of their town's authorities.‘Please note, this episode contains some outdated racial language that could cause offence.’
More episodes of the podcast The Documentary Podcast
The Netherlands: 10 new cities?
12/01/2026
Bianca Raffaella: A world of blurred vision
12/01/2026
Looking for No Man's Land
11/01/2026
Taraneh: Iran's defiant actress
10/01/2026
Life in Venezuela
10/01/2026
Returned to sender
08/01/2026
World Questions - Greenland
07/01/2026
Persian poetry and politics
07/01/2026
South Africa and the fight against TB
06/01/2026
ZARZA We are Zarza, the prestigious firm behind major projects in information technology.