Code Switch Code Switch Frontiers of Race, Culture and Ethnicity

Honoree Constance Rice, right, with Los Angeles County Sheriff Lee Baca at the Peace Over Violence Annual Humanitarian Awards Dinner in 2007. E. Charbonneau/WireImage via Getty hide caption

itoggle caption E. Charbonneau/WireImage via Getty

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People line the road to greet Sinterklaas, the Dutch version of Santa Claus, and his "Swarte Piet" (Black Pete) sidekicks in Amsterdam on Nov. 17, 2013. In the past few years, Black Pete has come under fire. Some say it's a beloved tradition that should remain; others say it is a racist stereotype. Peter Dejong/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Peter Dejong/AP

Justin Hopkins sings during a tribute show for Booker Wright, who worked in a whites-only restaurant in the Mississippi Delta. Brandall Atkinson/Courtesy of Southern Foodways Alliance hide caption

itoggle caption Brandall Atkinson/Courtesy of Southern Foodways Alliance

A worker cleans up glass outside a Quiznos restaurant that was damaged during a demonstration Tuesday in Ferguson, Mo. Justin Sullivan/Getty Images hide caption

itoggle caption Justin Sullivan/Getty Images

Protesters and law enforcement officers face off during a protest outside the Ferguson Police Department in October. Ferguson police statistics show the department arrest blacks at a higher rate than other racial groups — but that disparity is true for police departments across the country. Charles Rex Arbogast/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Charles Rex Arbogast/AP

Edward Blum announces the filing of two lawsuits on Monday, challenging the alleged racial preference admissions policies of Harvard and the University of North Carolina-Chapel Hill. Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP hide caption

itoggle caption Manuel Balce Ceneta/AP