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Thoughts On WTAE-TV Anchor Wendy Bell (The "White Privilege Turducken") Getting Fired Today
When I wrote about WTAE-TV anchor Wendy Bell’s racially problematic Facebook post last week, I began by stating I did not intend for her to get fired. This was true then and is still true now. I wasn’t writing with that aim. And even now, after learning she was let go earlier today, I don’t feel particularly happy…
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WTF Is Going On With Kehlani, Kyrie Irving, PartyNextDoor, And Chris Brown, Explained
Who is Kyrie Irving? Kyrie Irving is a point guard for the Cleveland Cavaliers. Really? That’s the answer you’re going to give? You’re going to sit up here and pretend that Kyrie isn’t your favorite player in the league, and that you haven’t been writing about him since 2012? I didn’t think that was relevant…
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Ways Slavery Wasn't Really All That Bad, At Least According To (Some) White People
There’s a bit in one of Patrice O’Neal’s stand-up specials where he talks about how arrogant Americans (generally) are, how proud we are of that arrogance, and that this arrogance about our arrogance is why people from other countries hate us. To make his point, he jokes that people in other countries know who the American…
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Why a Black Person Would Support Trump, Explained
Who is Donald Trump? Donald Trump is a billionaire Bornean orangutan who escaped from the Pittsburgh Zoo 69 years ago and is now, inexplicably, the front-runner to receive the Republican nomination in the 2016 presidential race. If you forget for a moment the horror of the realization that a Bornean orangutan is potentially months away…
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Dear Black Men, Please Go to the Damn Doctor
As it was for many others, the news of the death of Malik Taylor deeply resonated with and saddened me. But my feelings about this didn’t have much to do with his iconic status and/or my relationship with his music. Although my backpack is as massive as any other hip-hop fan’s—shake it and a Soundbombing…
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Why "Well-Meaning" White People Like WTAE-TV's Wendy Bell, The White Privilege Turducken, Are The Worst
Wendy Bell is a lead anchor for WTAE-TV, Pittsburgh’s ABC affiliate. I’ve never met her in person before, but I know many people who have. And she’s generally regarded as a pleasant, kind, and professional woman. And, like many otherwise pleasant, kind, and professional White people, Wendy Bell is utterly clueless about race, White privilege, and…
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Artistic Depictions Of Jesus, Ranked
We’re less than a week away from Jesus Day. Which also makes us less than a week away from the 2016th anniversary of his death and resurrection. Which also means there have been 2016 years worth of artistic depictions of him. Some great. Some not so great. And some that look eerily similar to a swarthier…
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Why Conservatives Are So Upset About President Obama's Photo In Front Of A Che Guevara Mural, Explained
Earlier today, President Obama (the first U.S. president to visit Cuba in 88 years) and a group of government officials were photographed in front of a mural depicting Che Guevara. Naturally, some conservatives seemed pretty upset by this. A guy in a coffee shop I was in today even said something about the beans tasting…
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The Definition, Danger and Disease of Respectability Politics, Explained
So, I’m kinda new to all of this new age social-justice stuff. Of course, I’ve always been aware of what racism and sexism and bias meant, but some of the terminology used to describe specific examples of it—i.e., microaggressions, white privilege, street harassment, etc.—were also new to me and it took a while to understand…
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The Whitman College Coach With A Different Dap For Each Player Is The Blackest Thing I've Ever Seen This Week
Whitman College is a small liberal arts institution in Walla Walla, Washington. It was established in 1859, in honor of Dr. Marcus Whitman and Narcissa Whitman — Christian missionaries who were killed in 1847 by a group of Cayuse Indians in a massacre aptly named the Whitman Massacre. (Apparently, the Cayuse believed the Whitmans were poisoning them. Perhaps…
