The titans are clashing in the world of poetry. Over Thanksgiving, literary critic Helen Vendler published a savage review of a new anthology, "The Penguin Anthology of Twentieth-Century American Poetry." The book was edited by Rita Dove, a former Poet Laureate. Dove responded to Vendler's scathing review with an equally vitriolic reply. Vendler is white, and Dove is black, which is either tangential to, or central to, the issue — depending on whom you talk to. The incident has many in the poetry world talking about issues of race, aesthetics, and who belongs in the poetry books, and who does not. 

Over the weekend, a front-page article in The Washington Post criticized Texas governor and Republican presidential hopeful Rick Perry, whose family's hunting lodge was formerly known by a racially charged epithet. Other GOP candidates have already been vocal in criticizing Perry. Herman Cain told Fox News on Sunday, "I think it shows a lack of sensitivity."

The scars and legacy of racism in America and poverty has ways of bubbling up to the surface in surprising ways.  Today that legacy shows up in the story of the life and death of a famous American folklorist, journalist and author, Stetson Kennedy, who died at the age of 94 over the weekend. Kennedy became famous for allegedly infiltrating the Ku Klux Klan as an undercover journalist, then exposing their secrets in a book, “I Rode with the Ku Klux Klan,” which was published in 1954. He spoke with This American Life's Ira Glass about his experience, in 2005.

The FBI, police and citizens of the city of Jackson, Missippi are debating whether the white teenagers who robbed and murdered James Craig Anderson, a black man, were motivated by racism. The case has prompted many to consider race relations in the state, and it's troubled history with race. The suspects' lawyers say it was just an act of teenage stupidity, but prosecutors say the killing was a premeditated racial killing. The U.S. Justice Department has begun an investigation into the case. Kim Severson has been reporting on the case for our partner, The New York Times.

Celeste Headlee is broadcasting from the studios of our partner, WGBH, today. She's in Boston to speak at the National Race Amity Conference this weekend. Tonight, a new play called "Xernona and the Grand Dragon X" premieres at the conference. The play tells the story of the friendship between Xernona Clayton, an African-American civil rights leader, and Calvin Craig, a Grand Dragon in the Ku Klux Klan. It was his friendship with Xernona that convinced Calvin to publicly renounce the KKK in 1968.

The NAACP and the Tea Party are feuding again. The civil rights organization has released a report called "Tea Party Nationalism" that has renewed accusations that the Tea Party groups “have given platform to anti-Semites, racists and bigots.” Tea Partiers are again disputing that claim.

In this day and age, we're used to the rapid rise and fall of public officials. This week, the story changed, and instead, we witnessed the rapid fall and then rise of Shirley Sherrod, the USDA official who was pressured to resign after a video of her making racially-tinged remarks was made public by conservative blogger Andrew Breitbart.

By now you’ve probably heard the name Shirley Sherrod. She is the U.S. Department of Agriculture employee who was asked to resign Monday after a video was released by news aggregator Andrew Breitbart. The video shows Sherrod saying she was hesitant to help a white farmer as much as she could. This morning Agriculture Secretary Tom Vilsack said that he will reconsider the abrupt firing, but Sherrod tells The Takeaway that she's "unsure" if she'd return to the job.

A new demographic study from the University of New Hampshire finds that the demographic makeup of the U.S. is changing most rapidly among babies and young children, with 2010 on track to see more babies of color born than white babies. The study cites immigration, high fertility rates among recent immigrant communities (and comparatively lower fertility rates among non-Hispanic whites) and details the counties that have already become so-called "majority-minority" areas.

Every Thursday, The Takeaway focuses on work issues.  This week we take a look at ethnic and racial discrimination in the hiring process and what some people are doing to better their chances of getting called back for a job.  Takeaway work contributor Chaz Kyser, author of "Embracing the Real World (The Black Woman's Guide to Life After College)," says the practice of "whitening" resumes, i.e. making black names sound less ethnic, is becoming increasinlgy popular in a super-competitive economy.  Tuere Murray, a working mother of two from Oklahoma, explains why she changed her name from "Akanju" to "Murray" after she had problems scoring interviews, despite a competitive resume.

Despite hopes that electing our first black president would usher in a "post-racial" era, race has become a prominent issue in the Obama presidency. From overt cases – the Henry Louis Gates incident – to more coded and/or ambiguous examples – the "birther" movement, Representative Joe Wilson's outburst on the House floor – racial flare-ups have featured prominently in the first seven months of this, our first African-American-led administration. Now, the conversation about Wilson's yell last week has increasingly turned to its racial implications. Earlier this week, former President Jimmy Carter said Wilson's outburst was racist. (The White House disagreed.) For two perspectives on the way this conversation is playing out, we speak to Mark Anthony Neal, professor of African American Studies at Duke University, and Joe Hicks, talk show host for KFI Radio in Los Angeles, California.

Last Thursday Henry Louis Gates Jr, one of the nation's pre-eminent African American scholars, was arrested for breaking into his own home in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Charges were dropped but the debate goes on. To find out how this story is playing locally, The Takeaway turns to Joe Sciacca, the Deputy Managing Editor of the Boston Herald. Also joining the discussion is Boston-based TV and radio commentator Callie Crossley.

At the end of his press conference last night, President Barack Obama discussed the arrest of Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. The president said the cops "acted stupidly" in their decision to arrest the nation's preeminent African American studies scholar when he was questioned about a possible break-in at his own home. Law enforcement officers receive sensitivity training in dealing with racial profiling. So why do these incidents continue to happen? Joining The Takeaway to discuss the issue is Phillip Atiba Goff, Assistant Professor of Psychology at the University of California, Los Angeles, and Executive Director of Research for the Consortium for Police Leadership in Equity, and Rick Weger, a lieutenant in charge of training at the San Jose Police Department.

For more, listen to The Takeaway's story, America, Still Not 'Post-Racial' and read Takeaway Contributor David Wall Rice's essay, Professor Gates Arrested? No Surprise.

The NAACP has gathered in New York for a six-day convention celebrating its 100-year anniversary. It’s an enormous affair with giants such as Cornel West, Reverend Jesse Jackson, and President Obama paying tribute to the accomplishments of the civil rights organization. The civil rights group was formed by a multi-racial coalition in 1909, sparked in 1908 by a deadly race riot in Springfield Illinois. Nearly a century later, Barack Obama launched his presidential campaign not far from where the riot took place. Looking at the challenges ahead and its past accomplishments we are joined by Melissa Harris-Lacewell. She is an Associate Professor of Politics and African American Studies at Princeton University.

Read about what was life was like for black Americans in 1909.

The Takeaway will be covering the convention all week long. Tomorrow we continue the conversation with the artists' take on the NAACP’s legacy. We’ll be joined by musical sensation DJ Spooky and poet Elizabeth Alexander.

 

 

Every Monday, The Takeaway focuses on the family. Today, author Jeremy Adam Smith joins us to talk about his young son and discuss the provocative question of whether parents unconsciously raise kids to be racists. He is the author of “Daddy Shift: How Stay-at-Home Dads, Breadwinning Moms, and Shared Parenting Are Transforming the American Family."

Click through for a transcript of this interview.

Demonstrators are protesting in Sydney and Melbourne, Australia, where dozens of assaults against Indian students have been reported in the past year. Australian Prime Minister Kevin Rudd says any racist attacks are “deplorable.” Gautam Gupta, a student who was attacked, says the authorities have been too slow to respond, so he’s set up the Federation of Indian Students of Australia to protect Indian students. He joins The Takeaway from Melbourne to talk about the rise in ethnic tensions.

Watch footage from the protests below.

An 88-year-old white supremacist with a rifle walked into the United States Holocaust Memorial Museum, fatally wounding a security guard. The gunman was identified by law enforcement officials as James W. von Brunn, who embraces conspiracy theories involving Jews, blacks and other minority groups and has waged a personal war with the federal government. Jack Levin, Professor of Sociology and Criminology at Northeastern University joins The Takeaway to talk about the shooting and the trends in hate crimes.

David Wall Rice is an assistant professor in the Department of Psychology at Morehouse College in Atlanta.

This past Friday marked the second week I'd attended a spinning class taught by a very energetic, polite woman. The class was a good one and is getting me closer to being the next notable cyclist — like Kenyans Zakayo Nderi or Samwei Mwangi. In my mind at least. But I digress. The class began as it had times before, with one or two up-tempo pop tunes. We proceeded without incident.

And then the hills came.