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Black-Pathology Debate Ignores Black Reality
The specter of black cultural decline, or what might be called the “black-pathology hustle,” is once again making national news. Like a recurring nightmare, assertions (usually masked as allegations) of black cultural depravity periodically inspire national debates over the very meaning of race, citizenship and democracy in America. Paul Ryan’s criticism of “inner city” youths…
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Fronting: We Need to Stop Living the ‘Fabulous and Broke’ Lifestyle
Last week, designer, A-list socialite and girlfriend to Mick Jagger L’Wren Scott committed suicide, hanging herself inside a $5.6 million New York City apartment. “Within hours,” according to the New York Post, “Scott’s life was revealed to have become an elaborate facade.” Her lifestyle—at least the one she showcased on Instagram—included fancy vacations arrived at…
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Quote of the Day: President Barack Obama on Ukraine
You can read this quote by President Barack Obama, from a press conference in Amsterdam about the Russian occupation, in its full context here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and founding director of the Hutchins Center for African and African American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief of The…
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White Woman in a ‘Chocolate City’ Shirt: Is It Wrong?
I’m a white female cyclist in Washington, D.C., and like many of the street cyclists in the area, I ride with members of several different cycling groups, including the awesome guys at Chocolate City Cycling. Recently I was given a CCC T-shirt, but I feel weird about wearing it in public, especially outside the context of group…
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Unsung Black Heroines
For Women’s History Month, The Root has been running profiles of women on our Facebook page who left an indelible mark in their fields but whose names may not be familiar. Here are those profiles collected into a slideshow. Civil rights activist Richardson led the “Cambridge movement,” based in Maryland. Trained as a social worker,…
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Racism in High School Sports: Sign of a Bigger Problem
Have you ever Googled the terms “racism” and “high school sports”? Well, if you ever wanted to lose faith in humanity a few degrees more than you may already have, then a brief survey of the year’s most-reported high school sports stories have been about race. Race this, race that. When it comes to the…
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Nick Cannon Dons Whiteface. Internet Cries ‘Reverse Racism’
Nick Cannon has been promoting his new album in a pretty controversial way. The album, entitled White People Party Music, comes out April 1, and to get the word out, Cannon has transformed himself into exactly the kind of person who, he says, would listen to the album—a white person. Donning whiteface, a blond wig, and the name…
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Questlove Frowny-Faces Lack of Emojis of Color
Black Twitter uses a lot of emojis. Like, a lot of them. And out of the hundreds of fun symbols on the popular app, there are about two black faces. Questlove isn’t the only one who’s noticed, though. I, for one, am down with starting a black-emoji petition. Charla Lauriston is a standup comedian and…
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When Hobby Lobby Denies Individuals Contraceptive Care, That’s Not Religious Liberty
Separating a black woman’s reproductive life from her spiritual life isn’t always easy. Religiosity informs much of our lives—including our reproductive lives. Whether we look to our creator for guidance in pregnancy matters or to trusted faith leaders for advice on how to raise our children, it is a vital component prevalent in the larger…
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Black Preschoolers Suspended More Than Whites, Study Shows
A new study shows that the school-to-prison pipeline starts earlier than we thought. According to data released this week by the Education Department’s civil rights arm, black children accounted for about 18 percent of preschool enrollment but for half of the students suspended more than once, the Associated Press reports. The data show that overall,…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
