-
Yaya Touré Threatens a World Cup Boycott
If Russia doesn’t get a handle on its soccer fans, the 2018 World Cup could be devoid of one prominent color: black. Yaya Touré — the Manchester City, England, midfielder from the Ivory Coast who claims he had to endure monkey chants from Russian fans this past week during a match against CSKA Moscow —…
-
Skip Gates Joins Oprah on Ebony Power 100
(The Root) — The Root’s editor-in-chief, Henry Louis Gates Jr., is among the notables named to Ebony’s 2013 Power 100, just released on Thursday. The annual listing is a who’s who of the most influential African Americans and tastemakers across the globe. “There is nothing even remotely equivalent to the pleasure of being honored by…
-
No Criminal Charges Filed Against Zimmerman
No criminal charges will be filed against George Zimmerman for his part in a dispute he had with his estranged wife and her father last month, said a spokesman with the Lake Mary, Fla., police department Wednesday, the Orlando Sentinel reports. According to the spokesman, the dispute didn’t rise to a criminal level. The incident, which…
-
Paper Apologizes for '40 Acres, Mule' Tweet
(The Root) — The Atlanta Journal-Constitution is learning that social media and slavery tweets don’t mix. An Atlanta man named Willie Lynch recently was the winner of the $1 million Georgia lottery. Historically, “Willie Lynch” is believed to have been the name of a slave owner who gave a speech on how to control slaves…
-
2nd 'Shopping While Black' Claim Surfaces
One day after the Barneys belt scandal hit the press, another young black shopper has come out alleging that Barneys had her accosted and detained until she could prove that she could afford an expensive purse. Earlier this year, Kayla Phillips, a 21-year-old nursing student from Brooklyn, N.Y., decided to splurge on a $2,500 orange…
-
Dutch Petition to Keep Blackface Christmas Helpers
A Dutch Christmas tradition that includes whites donning blackface got a huge boost of support on Facebook, with 1 million likes in a single day. In keeping with the children’s story of Santa Claus — or Sinterklaas in Dutch — several “Black Pete” helpers with black faces, curly hair and bright red lips arrive by…
-
Black Male Identity and 'The Butler'
Writing at the Washington Post, Stephen A. Crockett Jr. says that Lee Daniels’ ‘The Butler illustrates “the extremes of black masculinity,” with Forest Whitaker’s character working as a White House butler while his son chooses a different path: engaging in the civil rights movement. For eons the pendulum of portrayals of black masculinity has swung…
-
Deen's Racism: More Than a Twitter Joke
(The Root) — So it turns out that Paula Deen — who, with her buttery Southern charm, cozied up to us by way of the tube — was really just a bigot who could burn. Deen went hard. After being slapped with a lawsuit charging racism, she acknowledged in a deposition that she “of course”…
-
When Whites Attend HBCUs, Is That Progress?
Racial integration has long been a symbol of American progress, but Stephen Crockett Jr. wonders at the Washington Post whether white students attending predominantly black educational institutions will be remembered as a step forward or an odd joke. In the last few weeks, two white women have come out about their experiences as Howard University…
-
Top 10 Epic Fails of 2009
10. The presidential mom jeans. ‘Nuff said. 9. Adam Lambert’s American Music Award performance was, in and of itself, not an epic fail. Yes, it was tragically bad, with male-on-male sexy time and doofy outfits and crappy singing. The epic fail in this overtly sexualized messy mess of hairspray and gel was the fact that…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
