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When Racism Slips Into Everyday Speech
A recent NPR story revealed the disturbing and shockingly racist origins of the catchy jingle played from ice cream trucks around the country. What else are we hearing—or saying—that we should know more about? These seemingly innocuous terms have questionable origins or histories related to race, and there’s probably plenty more where they came from. 1. “The…
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Who Is Dean Baquet? 6 Facts About the New York Times’ 1st Black Executive Editor
When it was announced earlier on Wednesday that Dean Baquet would step in to replace New York Times Executive Editor Jill Abramson, becoming the paper’s first black executive editor, the Times’publisher declared, “There is no journalist in our newsroom or elsewhere better qualified to take on the responsibilities of executive editor at this time.” So,…
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What’s With the Fixation on Putting Black Boys in Ties?
I’m a graduate student in education and currently a teacher’s assistant at a somewhat diverse urban charter school in a major city where I hope to teach in the future. The principal (African American) is a very dedicated professional who is himself a mentor and father figure to many of the students, who look up…
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60 Years After Brown v. Board, Education Is Still the Civil Rights Issue of Our Time
Sixty years ago this week, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that segregated public schools violated our basic equal rights guaranteed by the U.S. Constitution—a decision that gave birth, in large part, to the civil rights movement in our country. But while the Brown v. Board of Education case is a historic event to be celebrated,…
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How the Black Press Covered Brown v. Board of Education
The ruling now universally known as Brown v. Board of Education was hailed in the black press of the day as the most significant event in the freedom struggle since the Emancipation Proclamation. It was essentially a do-over, providing an opportunity for the U.S. Supreme Court to set right what it got wrong in 1896…
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Dear Donald Sterling: Just Shut Up, Already
I thought it would be impossible to loathe still-Clippers owner Donald Sterling any more than I did after hearing his secretly recorded remarks in which he asked his half-black female companion to stop publicly associating with black people or bringing them to Clippers games and also threw Magic Johnson under the bus. I also thought…
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The Film Adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun Comes Full Circle
Movies rarely do books justice, and thus I was surprised that the film adaptation of Half of a Yellow Sun captured the nuance that author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie achieved in her award-winning novel. The stellar ensemble cast is partially responsible. Wealthy Nigerian twin sisters Olanna (Thandie Newton) and Kainene (Anika Noni Rose) are each involved…
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Cracks in Jay and Bey’s Picture-Perfect Facade? Not Really
Remember three years ago when Beyoncé revealed her pregnancy from the stage of the 2011 MTV Music Video Awards? It set a then-record for Twitter with 8,868 tweets per second. If my personal social media timelines from yesterday are any indication, I’m going to guess the recent Carter-Knowles melee tops that. Don’t act like you…
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It’s Time to End Profiling of Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual and Transgender People of Color
A few years ago in New York City, a 17-year-old black transgender girl named Trina was walking down the street when she was stopped by police officers and frisked. When a warrant check came up clean, the officer looked in her purse, found condoms and then arrested her for loitering with the purposes of prostitution—the…
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Why Coins With a Black Man’s Face Were Valued
This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Research Institute, part of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research. Struck from a set of hand-engraved dies in an ancient mint,…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
