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A Judge Asked Harvard to Find Out Why So Many Black People Were In Prison. They Could Only Find 1 Answer: Systemic Racism
It wasn’t Black-on-Black crime. Violent video games and rap songs had nothing to do with it; nor did poverty, education, two-parent homes or the international “bootstraps” shortage. When a judge tasked researchers with explaining why Massachusetts’ Black and Latinx incarceration was so high, a four-year study came up with one conclusion. Racism. It was always…
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Where White People Are Scarier Than Monsters: The Hidden Black History of Lovecraft Country
On Sept. 16, 1968, 51 years before HBO aired the first episode of its groundbreaking horror series, Carol Jenkins found herself in Lovecraft Country. Jenkins, a 21-year-old door-to-door encyclopedia saleswoman, sprinted away from a pack of bloodthirsty monsters chasing her through the tiny streets of Martinsville, Ind. She ran for the first home she could find…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: I Feel Fine
I’m going to stop being so offensive. From now on, I promise to respond to the violence, theft and downright absurdity of white supremacy with eloquently composed reactions that ruffle no feathers and leave no one feeling offended. From this day forward, I won’t call the white people who inflict pain “white people who inflict…
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A White Woman Admits She's Been Rachel Dolezal-ing Us for Years—and I Feel Fine
I admit that I don’t know how to feel about this story. I don’t know how to feel about this story because it doesn’t affect me in any material way. I don’t know how to feel about this story because I am a human being. I don’t know how to feel about this story because…
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An Exclusive Interview With a Passenger From Donald Trump's 'Thug Plane'
During an interview with Faux News’ Laura Ingraham, Donald Trump recounted a story about a plane “almost completely loaded with thugs” headed to destroy one of the great American cities. Trump’s claim was echoed by Sen. Rand Paul (R-Ky.), who was also familiar with Boyz n the Hoods Airlines. While some speculated that Samuel L.…
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NFL Announces Plan to Do the Bare Minimum
If there was one entity Black America dreamed could take the baton of equality and sprint toward the finish line, it was not the billion-dollar social injustice advocacy collective known as the National Football League. Asking the NFL to help fight racial injustice is like asking Kentucky Fried Chicken to promote veganism. But on Tuesday…
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Why Jason Whitlock Is Not a Black Man
This article contains two opinions: Jason Whitlock is not stupid. Jason Whitlock is Black. The rest is fact. Whether you like him or not, most people share these opinions of Jason Whitlock. Although I often disagree with his viewpoint, I understand that his function in life is to serve as a funnel through which anti-Black…
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This Headline Is for When Donald Trump Says Something Racist in Wisconsin, Which He Surely Will [Updated]
If your End Times Apocalypse Bingo Card had the revolution starting in Wisconsin, congratulations, you might be in the running for the grand prize of an FDA-approved COVID-19 vaccine. (Spoiler alert: It’s just a 2 percent solution of Clorox, McDonald’s Sprite and Sen. Jim Jordan’s armpit sweat.) President Donald Trump is scheduled to incite more…
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Police Union Criticizes NHL Team for Opposing Racism
Racist white people hate being called racist white people. I know this because I receive emails, tweets and DMs from white people who are insulted by the notion that all white people don’t hate Black people. Most recently, after an article about patriotism and the NBA strike (or this one about Ben Shapiro…or this one…
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Portland, Ore. Police Investigating White Suspect in Caucasian-Involved Shooting Death at Trump Rally
As a nod to the standards of white mainstream journalism, this story is reported in the language used to report crimes involving Black suspects, “officer-involved” shootings and protests against racial injustice. Police are investigating a military veteran’s involvement in what appears to be a white-on-white shooting death of a gang member participating in a protest…
