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Tavis Smiley's departure from National Public Radio will be a loss not only to blacks but also to all NPR listeners. For its part, NPR issued a vague statement that is long on happy talk about Smiley helping to "jump start" its effort at reaching blacks. Smiley's departing letter to local stations asserts that NPR has "failed to meaningfully reach out to a broad spectrum of Americans who would benefit from public radio." Smiley may simply have been tired of banging his head against the racial wall. He told me when I interviewed him a year ago that he was often frustrated and exhausted from doing the work involved in putting together a meaningful show five times a week, while at the same time tussling frequently with NPR over the show's tone and guests. "The most difficult thing that I have had to do," he told me, "is fight a culture at NPR, a culture that is antithetical to the best interests of people of color." The African American Public Radio Consortium, which helped recruit Smiley four years ago, has meanwhile urged Smiley's listeners to stay with NPR. Perhaps they will, as NPR embarks on a search for a new permanent host to replace Smiley. But Smiley is a personality with particular cachet among many blacks. He has a fan base that has followed him from his days on Black Entertainment Television to "The Tom Joyner Morning Show" on black commercial radio. And there is a strong possibility that the many ears of color that Smiley brought to NPR will not find enough to keep their attention once he leaves. Therein lies a fundamental problem with NPR's approach to diversity: One show cannot carry the burden of overcoming a longstanding culture that failed to reach people of color. [more]