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'Acting Black': The Evolution of the Comedy Sketch
Gene Demby serves up snark in NPR in a piece about the evolution of black actors having to “act black” onstage and in Hollywood. He tackles the issue through the prism of a recent comedy-troupe production by the Upright Citizens Brigade. It’s an old, hardy comedy trope: A black person has to turn up the…
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How to Talk to Kids About Race
Parents in Hartford, Conn., should be applauded for complaining about a school system’s American history lesson that forced middle schoolers to re-enact slavery scenes, writes Gene Denby at NPR‘s blog Code Switch. But it does raise the question, he says, of how parents should talk to children about race. The parents are suing the school,…
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Can You Grant Permission to Use the N-Word?
No one can grant anyone else permission to use the n-word, Gene Demby argues at the NPR blog Code Switch. There isn’t a consensus on whether or not black people should use it, and although white people aren’t encouraged to use it, there’s wiggle room there, too, depending on the person and context. There’s this…
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Black Violence: Is There 'Concern Fatigue'?
Adamantly rejecting a claim that blacks “shrug off” killings in our own community, at PostBourgie Gene Demby argues instead that people are simply tired from caring too much. Over at The Root, Keith Harrison resurrects a tired trope. “Where is the outrage in our community about all of those slain blacks, most of whom were male…
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'All My Babies' Mamas' Cancellation a Missed Opportunity?
The world will never see Oxygen’s reality special about Atlanta rapper Shawty Lo and the 10 mothers of his 11 children. NPR‘s Gene Demby wonders whether viewers are missing out on a program that might have made them question stereotypes. … One of the odd side effects of many reality shows — even those shows…
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Romney's Diversity Handicap
(The Root) — Mitt Romney and Paul Ryan have had some interesting takes on the scope and, uh, complexion of their Election Day throttling. The former governor was reportedly shell-shocked by the results. But they’re telling on themselves, as the old folks say. Romney hopped on a conference call with his wealthiest donors Wednesday and…
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Gay Marriage Won't Stop Black Voters
(The Root) — As soon as ABC aired President Obama’s May sit-down with Robin Roberts in which he gave his personal endorsement to same-sex marriage, the concern-trolling started: Will this stance hurt him with black voters, who are crucial to his re-election success? Black folks, so the conventional wisdom goes, are conservative on this issue…
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Obama's White-Voter Problem
At the Huffington Post, Gene Demby says that the president is struggling with white support, and he puts the issue in statistical and historical perspective. It’s an electoral problem that is especially pronounced for Obama. No president has won the White House with a smaller sliver of the white vote. The president’s approval among white…
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Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
