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The Too Black, Too White Presidency
In the Sunday Book Review, New York Times journalist and author Brent Staples delves into a new book by Randall Kennedy about the racial politics surrounding Barack Obama’s historic run for president. Every campaign enlists its own meta-language. As Randall Kennedy reminds us in his provocative and richly insightful new book, “The Persistence of the…
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Black Characters in Search of Reality
Moved by depictions of blacks in The Help, New York Times journalist and author Brent Staples takes a look at dogged stereotypes of African Americans in film over the years. Through most of the 20th century, images of African-Americans in advertising were mainly limited to servants like the pancake-mammy Aunt Jemima and Rastus, the chef…
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Trayvon Martin's Case Illuminates Stereotypes
New York Times columnist Brent Staples charges that the death of Trayvon Martin is reflective of the criminalization of black males, regardless of their age. Some people see black men in public and surmise where they might be in their lives — a businessman dressed for the gym or a pimple-faced hoodie-wearing teen on the…
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Nicki Minaj Crashes Hip-Hop's Boys Club
Brent Staples argues in his New York Times column that it was just a matter of time before a hip-hop star would blow through the lines separating pop from rap and appeal to two lucrative audiences at once. Nicki Minaj just happens to be a woman. It is too early to tell whether she has…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
