NPR

Opinion: Report On Racism, But Ditch The Labels

I understand the moral outrage behind wanting to call the president's tweets racist. But I disagree.
U.S. President Donald Trump listens during a meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House in Washington, D.C., U.S., on Tuesday, July 16, 2019.

Editor's note: NPR this week has described the language in President Trump's tweets about a group of Democratic congresswomen as "racist."

Keith Woods, NPR's vice president for newsroom training and diversity, argues that journalists should not be using the term "racist" to describe the president's tweets. He explains why below.


Once again, the president of the United States has used the sniper tower of Twitter to take aim at immigration, race relations and common decency. And once again, journalists

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