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Atlanta, Donald Glover and the Invisibility of Black Genius
A few weeks ago, a video surfaced of a white kid named Cooper participating in a step show. Cooper’s enthusiasm immediately made him a YouTube sensation. Although the clip was cute, as I watched the video I realized that the black kids in the video were just as enthusiastic and worked just as hard as…
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Joy Reid and Black Twitter Offer Several Seats to Killer Mike
It is a vicious, slow-spreading bacteria that has infected some of the most well-meaning people of our time. Most often poisoning pulpit dwellers, the malady causes the victim—who usually has insight in one particular area—to believe he is a genius with answers to everything, including economics, history, politics and even behavior. After studying the syndrome…
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Trump’s Advisers Have Tried to Teach Him How the Post Office Works but He Won’t Believe It
If you’re reading this, you’re smarter than Donald Trump. Even if you have a friend who snorts condoms while eating Tide Pod soup, you don’t know anyone as dumb as our 45th president. Hidden in a Wall Street Journal article about Trump’s war with Amazon.com was a gem of a story illustrating the fact that…
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Roseanne Doesn’t Normalize Trump-Supporting Racists. It’s a Documentary
Although I might be in the minority of black people, I am willing to admit that I love ABC’s reboot of Roseanne. I haven’t watched a single episode—nor do I plan to—but I like the idea that it exists. As one of America’s foremost wypipologists, I didn’t enter this field of study because I find…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Wypipo Participation Trophy
As “one of the real racists,” I admit that I have intentionally omitted one of the most underappreciated groups of people in America: The good white people. So today I sifted through The Root’s emails, comments, letters and tweets searching for good white people, hoping to acknowledge their efforts to end racism. They should be…
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7 Rules for White People With Black Friends
If you’re here, that means you probably have a newly acquired black friend and you are looking for a few tips.
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Government Study: School Is Racist
That headline could go down as the greatest clickbait of all time if it weren’t for the fact that a new report found that—regardless of the racial makeup of the school, the type of punishment, the level of poverty in the school or grade level—black students are much more likely than their white counterparts to…
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Memphis, Tenn., Honors 1968 Sanitation Workers With I Am a Man Plaza
Perhaps no phrase encapsulates the sentiment of the struggle for freedom, justice and equality more than “I am a man.” Every day during the 1968 Memphis, Tenn., sanitation workers’ strike, Memphis’ black sanitation employees would meet downtown at the historic Clayborn Temple. When the men arrived, they would pick up picket signs that read, “I…
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America Did This: An Open Letter to Memphis, Tenn.
You are beautiful. The way you sparkle in the reflection of the mighty Mississippi River. The way the trumpets bellow from the bowels of Beale Street. The way you don’t give a damn about consonants when you talk. The way you bathe yourself in blues riffs, barbecue smoke … and pain. A lot of pain.…
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From Most Hated to American Hero: The Whitewashing of Martin Luther King Jr.
There is a recipe for making a hero. Greatness is neither the singular nor most necessary ingredient. Fame is important because no matter how benevolent or worthy someone’s actions may be, people must know about them. And though it might seem antithetical, hate is a crucial factor. Abraham Lincoln was disliked by many Americans when…
