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Was My Ancestor an Afro-Cuban Railroad Man?
Dear Professor Gates: I am looking for genealogy resources about Afro-Cuban people in the Ohio Valley region (Indiana, Ohio, Pennsylvania, Kentucky, West Virginia and Tennessee). My father’s paternal grandfather, Thomas Regan, was born in Cuba circa 1900. Using Ancestry.com, I found out that he arrived in the United States about 1918 by way of Ireland.…
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No, a Boyfriend Doesn’t Have to Pay Bills Like a Husband
My best friend, who lives with her boyfriend, got into a car accident. Via mass email, she asked all her friends for money to help with the expensive repair. I said to her privately that her boyfriend should be handling that, not us. She called me judgmental and unrealistic, then we fought about my high…
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Obama and the Conundrum of Not Being a Post-Racial America
Left of Black host Mark Anthony Neal is joined by Karla FC Holloway to talk about her new book, Legal Fictions: Constituting Race, Composing Literature, and the question of whether we are on a path to a post-racial America. She also weighs in on President Barack Obama’s ability to serve the interests of African Americans while…
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How to Comment on The Root’s Website
In order to join The Root’s commenting community, you must register through Facebook. This allows a transparency that we consider crucial for a safe and tolerant commenting environment. We strongly discourage the use of pseudonyms. We encourage commenters to use their real first and last names as the username. Your username will be displayed with…
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Calif. Equalizes Prison Sentencing for Crack and Cocaine Drug Crimes
Attorney General Eric Holder is probably smiling at this news. Critics of the criminal-justice system often call on the federal government to fix the prison-sentencing disparities that exist between black and white defendants convicted of drug crimes, but last week California showed that states have the power to correct that kind of racial discrimination, too. According to…
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This Is Not a Gun: So, Officers, Stop Shooting Unarmed Black Men
Too many black men have lost their lives because of encounters with police officers whose racially charged presumptions about what the men were holding in their hands informed their decision-making minutes before the men were gunned down. In fact, it’s what Jennifer L. Eberhardt, a Stanford psychologist and one of this year’s recipients of the…
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Jordan Davis Killer Convicted of 1st-Degree Murder
There is finally justice for 17-year-old Jordan Davis, the young man gunned down by Michael Dunn after a verbal dispute over loud music in a Jacksonville, Fla., gas station in November 2012. Dunn was found guilty of first-degree murder by a jury of eight men and four women who deliberated just five-and-a-half hours. A different…
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1 Year After the GOP’s Government Shutdown, It’s Time for America to Change Course
One year ago today, the federal government came to a dead halt—shut down by the obstructionism of Republicans in Congress. For more than two weeks, national parks closed, critical medical research stopped and our economy lost billions of dollars. American families and small businesses were unable to acquire federal loans and mortgages. Contracts between small…
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NYC Man Helps Wife Regain Memory
Just weeks after their marriage, these Queens, N.Y., newlyweds faced a heartbreaking dilemma. CBS New York reports that Raleigh and Tunicia Hall were married on June 28. On July 30 Tunicia suffered a brain hemorrhage that erased her short-term memory. “She didn’t know what year she was in. After two days, I said, ‘I gotta…
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Black Artistic and Political Achievement Celebrated by Harvard’s Hutchins Center
On Tuesday evening the second annual Hutchins Center Honors attracted a coterie of political and cultural celebrities to Harvard University’s Sanders Theatre. The recipients—Oprah Winfrey, Harvey Weinstein, Shonda Rhimes, Steve McQueen, Rep. John Lewis (D-Ga.), Harry Belafonte and British architect David Adjaye—represent some of the world’s leading figures in politics, culture and entertainment. The late Maya Angelou…

