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How to Play Black Spades, Part 3: We Finna Play
Now that you have read parts one and two of our tutorials on how to play black America’s favorite pastime, it is time to learn the official way to play Black Spades. These rules have been adapted from Bicycle Playing Card’s version of white Spades. There are three objects of every game of Black Spades:…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: What Is We Doing?
Today’s mailbag is dedicated to the people who are laughed at, made fun of and dismissed as a joke. Every day, the entire staff at The Root engages in a brutal act of bullying against certain members of our team. It’s becoming institutional and I’m tired of it. Whenever any person suggests that we cover…
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How to Play Black Spades, Part 2: The Glossary
Welcome back to The Root University’s tutorial on how to play spades. As we discussed earlier, this guide will not make you a great spades player. Its intended purpose is to introduce you to the basic structure of the game and prevent your relatives at the next family reunion from looking at you like you…
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The Quiet Part Is Now Out Loud
One of the most overused tropes in sitcoms and movies is when the parents have to say something offensive or talk about something they don’t want their kid to know. Instead of using foul or inappropriate language in front of an innocent child, they will spell out the offending word—usually in whispers. (I have no…
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How to Play Black Spades, Part 1
Wikipedia calls spades a “trick-taking card game devised in the United States in the 1930s” but that’s definitely wrong.
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Exclusive: A Black Organization Held One of America's Biggest Ski Conventions. This Year's Attendees Are Testing Positive for Coronavirus
If you solely blamed those inconsiderate Generation Z narcissists for putting the country at risk by partying on the beach for spring break instead of practicing social distancing during the global pandemic, maybe you should rethink your accusations. Weeks after National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS), America’s largest organization dedicated to supporting and developing winter athletes…
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Supreme Court Rules Comcast Can Be Racist as Long as They’re Not Just Racist
In a major setback to entertainment mogul Byron Allen’s discrimination suit against Comcast, America’s highest court tossed out a lower court’s decision, essentially ruling that Allen must prove racism was the media conglomerate’s only motivating factor in rejecting a partnership with Allen’s black-owned company. In a 20-page, 9-0 decision, the United States Supreme Court tossed…
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2 Chicago Cops Fired for Shooting at Unarmed Teen's Car. Cop Who Actually Killed Teen Keeps Job
The Chicago Police Board has dismissed two officers who riddled a car with bullets during a 2016 car chase that ended in the tragic death of Paul O’Neal. However, the officer who actually fired the shots that killed the unarmed Black teenager was promptly…hold up. I’m sure they fired him, too. Let me check. Anyway,…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: The Caucasian Virus
In light of this global pandemic, we’ve decided to come forward and admit that our claim that we respond to our readers’ correspondences each Friday may not be 100 percent accurate. After carefully contemplating this issue, we must admit that we have led you to believe a lie. For the sake of transparency, you should…
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Before the 'Chinese Virus': A Brief History of White People Blaming America's Problems on Everyone Else
Donald Trump is a white supremacist. Donald Trump is a racist. While those two previous sentences might seem redundant, they mean two different things. Racists ascribe (consciously or unconsciously) characteristics and attributes to certain races, while white supremacists perpetuate and maintain the superiority of the white race. Even though white supremacists often use racism as…
