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Obama Calls Sgt. Crowley
WASHINGTON (AP) — Knocked off stride by a racial uproar he helped stoke, President Barack Obama hastened Friday to tamp down the controversy. Obama, who had said Cambridge, Mass., police “acted stupidly” in arresting black scholar Henry Louis Gates Jr., declared the white arresting officer was a good man and invited him and the professor…
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If Words Could Heal, Obamacare Would Be Done
It’s a truism that health care reform is so hard in large part because so few people actually understand the stuff. Well, President Obama is working mightily to frame this year’s debate simply: It’s a tug-of-war between those who want to fix a self-evident problem and a few flat-Earthers who thrive off its dysfunction. So…
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'Black in America 2' in Review
What does being black in America mean today? Does CNN’s ambitious program break the surface in explaining the black experience? Join The Root staff and readers as we partner with Black Web 2.0 to discuss “Black in America 2” with a panel of young professionals and academics. The second segment of “Black in America 2”…
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Notes of an Uppity Negro
Franz Fanon, the famed French psychologist, suggested racism was a psychosis internalized by both oppressors and oppressed peoples manifest by persistent paternalism and entitlement on one side and perceived inferiority and acquiesence on the other. People that know me know that I don’t believe in racism per se, but I do believe that Fanon was…
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Beige in America
Come on, Soledad. We’re about to see our second “Black in America” series in two years, and it’s only fair to surmise that after the way Judge Sonia Sotomayor’s confirmation hearings went down, plans for “Brown in America” will soon be underway. But before you start production on “Brown” or start making plans for “Black…
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Lawyer's Statement on the Arrest of Henry Louis Gates Jr.
UPDATE: The disorderly conduct charges against Henry Louis Gates Jr. were dropped on Tuesday. Statement on Behalf of Henry Louis Gates, Jr. — by Charles Ogletree This brief statement is being submitted on behalf of my client, friend, and colleague, Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. This is a statement concerning the arrest of Professor Gates.…
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The Never-Ending Beef & Fascination with Street Lit
I’ve grown tired of the whole street lit debate. You know the one that tries to determine whether or not street lit—the genre categorized as sub-par tales that feature gratuitous sex and violence—deserves to be published, if it pollutes minds, if it is a good thing because it gets neglected audiences reading, and/or if it’s presence detracts…
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The Buck Up Billboard
Let’s say you’re on the freeway driving to a job interview or driving away from the repo man and you spot a billboard that says, “Self worth is greater than net worth.” Now, you have two options: You can take a step back, ponder on that message for a minute then proceed to smile after…
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Stay in Your Lane, Beyoncé
When I saw that Nia Long was a trending topic on Twitter, I thought either A) she died or B) she and Larenz Tate were going to do a sequel to Love Jones. Neither was true. But what was happening was even more compelling. Beyoncé was getting called out for her “acting” skills. In an…
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Really, Pat Buchanan?
THE ROOT recently ran a story about why failed, racist Republican politician turned commentator, Pat Buchanan—the devil we know—is better than the devil we don’t. Adam Serwer argued: His rants, while offensive, aren’t persuasive to anyone who doesn’t already agree with him. But they discredit the notion that the Republican Party has entirely moved on…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
