few post here already started calling each other names instead of:
a) ignoring people who start down that track
b) intelligently addressing people who really are questioning - we should remember there are honest questions out there - there are people who just want to learn
c) steering people back to the topic instead of letting them as the old saying goes "get your goat"

When people are able to go so off point that they have others chasing rabits they have reasched their goal.

I also, see that there are people who try and try to keep people on point. I know many of those people get tired and give up.

Pitts, I don't get any attempt at a pithy comeback now that you've fixed that second mistake? Come on, I'm sure there is some wonderful pun to post to deflect from the lacklaster proofing of staff! I just hope it is an intern making these kind of mistakes.

...by a BIG BLACK BUCK...SOON. = )

Jus' sayin'...some DARK THICKNESS down ur throat'll help SHUT u UP.

HTTP://theblackwhole.wordpress.com/2009/10/31/rebel-ghetto-messiah/

Az ALWAYZ...
--TBW

Any intelligent person of any color knows that Skippy is nothing but a classless, self-serving racist little germ who yelled profiling when there was none and screamed racism when there was none except his own. All Skippy did was to add fuel to the fire of racism in this country and incite the ignorant blacks who need racism and discrimination to survive.

You truly are a hypocrite. Before you start calling someone a racist, perhaps you should look in the mirror. Your comments are very telling.

You said: "...can't remember a Black Nationalist, or Afrocentrist, or a true Pan-Africanist ever given a voice or space here. I know Skip doesn't care for these folks, but still."

Now, see... this is where you're wrong, brotha. It's not so much that Professor "White Wife" Gates doesn't care for the Black Nationalist, in so much as the Establishment doesn't. You afford him way, way, way more power than he actually has, Dr. Gates is little more than a "Useful Idiot"...

The-Powers-That-Be are far from stupid, and are master manipulators. They know, perhaps more than the Average Joe, how fractious, incitable and racist a society they've created. By funding theRoot.com, and using Professor "White Wife" Gates as a frontman, they're attempting to marginalize Black Nationalism and create a bogus "vent" for the politically-aware in our community. But it is just a facade, and nothing more.

That no space has been afforded to Black Nationalists and the like is no mere oversight; it is by careful "design." Professor "White Wife" Gates would NEVER allow for an honest, thoughtful discussion on such topics (By the way: I challenge you, Professor); this would jeopardize the authority and rationale of Multiculturalism, America's unofficial "religion."

When does a post become racist to you?
I'm worried because I suspect you may categorize my oppinions as such; I have a black nationalist view of things racial, are you put off by this? Would you like my oppinions censored?

The thing is, since i've been reading The Root, I can't remember a Black Nationalist, or Afrocentrist, or a true Pan-Africanist ever given a voice or space here. I know Skip doesn't care for these folks, but still.
No wonder the good folks at The Root recommended "A Bend in the River" by V.S.Naipaul. How can such a racist tract masquerading as literature be recommended to a black readership? Did they take time to read that novel? Whats up with that?

You said @QuietThoughts
James N
I have read racist posts from blacks and whites on this site and I always noticed that you never make any critical comments about the obviously black post and posters.

Actaully I do my best to not be critical of other posters and instead try to focus on what they are saying if at all possible. The blantantly obvious racist posts (from either side) aren't worth my time to respond to.

If that matters to The Root and Henry Louis Gates, so be it. I don't care for Huffingtonpost's methodology of approving what is okay to them in the margins of Black worth. It is quite hipsterish methodology that irks me.

The Root however could be an innovative vehicle of communications through inquiry and discovery but the chosen visionaries so far picked to lead are not quite what is needed to steer breakthrough design concepts of clearly deciding who is the voice--the people or the editorial staff.

I think The Root underestimates their audience and just whom could be talking in their audience that quite simply is a marginalized voice in Black America that could be talking. I am intrigued by a lot of the people who comment that to me have more textured lives than the writers of The Root who are mostly disaffected Black Journalists seeking redemption and relevance but who too are still a niche elite fraternity speaking for a lot of people/or not speaking for them.

Your description of The Root ( "a black assimilationist 's joy" ) is spot on; however I'll take it even further by positing that the entire venture is little more than a privately-sponsored political propaganda machine...

It's always confounded me as to how The-Powers-That-Be are so convinced that most African-Americans are assimilationist, wannabe Huxtables, and not Black Nationalistic... But then it occurred to me, the establishment really doesn't care about Black America's true sentiments... They are determined to misrepresent Black America in the most benign light they see fit to keep this “charade” going… the Obama Presidency being the latest, most blaring manifestation of this.

Like the Root, this multiculturalist American Society is a complete and utter hoax... perpetrated by the establishment to keep everyone under foot... Blacks, Whites, Browns, Reds, it doesn't matter... It's all about maintaining the status quo... which the Root and Professor "White Wife" Gates does shamelessly and unpersuasively every day.

Your description of The Root ( "a black assimilationist 's joy" ) is spot on; however I'll take it even further by positing that the entire venture is little more than privately-sponsored political propaganda machine...

It's always confounded me as to how The-Powers-That-Be are so convinced that most African-Americans are assimilationist, wannabe Huxtables, and not Black Nationalistic... But then it occurred to me, the establishment really doesn't care about Black America's true sentiments... They are determined to misrepresent Black America in the most benign light they see fit to keep this “charade” going… the Obama Presidency being the latest, most blaring manifestation of this.

Like the Root, this multiculturalist American Society is a complete and utter hoax... perpetrated by the establishment to keep everyone under foot... Blacks, Whites, Browns, Reds, it doesn't matter... It's all about maintaining the status quo... which the Root and Professor "White Wife" Gates does shamelessly and unpersuasively every day.

The Root is a black assimilationist's joy - thats all it is. The huge majority of AfricanAmericans have no idea it exist - and wouldn't care for it!

I like Skip Gates the way I like an attractive hustler - he's got game and he, most of all, knows it.
Skip Gates is an intellectual entrepreneur and he makes good money;
Skip Gates is famous for exploring the black experience, but we know he has contempt for us - especially for black women;
Skip Gates claims he's one of us and proud of it, yet in his private life he's busy escaping blackness;
For all these reasons and more, I like Skip Gates.... And legitimate literary con man!

Pitts, I don't know that term; I'm not American.

Even in The Root's correction of the mistake you still let it remain within the article itself. Look at the very first line.

This place reads like a student paper.

Though your punctuation point is valid, you don't seem to be right on this one either.

HuffPo's question was whether or not Dr. Gates is a game-changing media figure (like a game-changing point guard or wide receiver).

The Buzz certainly botched the dash, but it looks like your punctuation missed the mark as well.

If "game" is referring to something Dr. Gates has (The Root), then shouldn't it be "Is Dr. Gates's Game Changing?"

His game should certainly change... he should start by getting a new staff that understands how to proofread work before publishing in a professional capacity.

it's doubtful the site will be up in a year...nor should it be. it's one big missed opportunity, more 'jet' than 'the crisis'. drag.

I have read racist posts from blacks and whites on this site and I always noticed that you never make any critical comments about the obviously black post and posters. I have also read some very well written posts from whites that point out facts that our blacks do not want to face. We as a race of people have nobody to blame but ourselves for our shortcomings. The education level in our black communities is embarrassing. Our black leaders outside of President Obama are embarrassing. Blaming others and living in the past has been going on for centuries and generations now and it doesn't nothing but to push our race of people even further behind all other races in this country.

And when you have a supposed intelligent black man like Professor Gates who made an absolute fool of himself and of the black race in his false and self-serving cries of racism and profiling, the ignorant and uneducated blacks jump on the racism bandwagon.

So I applaud all posts on this site and hope the management does not become subjective and reactionary and make this site an excuse making, racist site that many other predominately black sites are.

i' tend to agree with you on the fact that without moderation the root will end up going by the way side. it has turned into a place of racist arguement rather than a place where people can learn from each other because of their different viewpoints. the only thoughts provoked by name calling are negative ones and after awhile people who do have something to share that just might open the eyes of someone else, well they won't be stopping by anymore.

I applaud the efforts going into making The Root what it is but unless a better job of moderating is done I fear it won't be around very long.

I applaud the efforts going into making The Root what it is but unless a better job of moderating is done I fear it won't be around very long.

Professor Gates = Useful Idiot

Skippy has been in hiding since his embarrassing attempt at yelling racism and profiling. He not only shamed himself, his family, but every law abiding, intelligent black in this country. He also threw our first black President under the bus in his self-serving, egotistical 15 minutes of fame. Skippy, you not only look like a little fool but we all know you certainly act like one. Now crawl back under the rock you little worthless racist gerbil.