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The Internet Sings DOMA to Its Grave
(The Root) — The Supreme Court ruled on Wednesday that the federal ban on same-sex marriage is unconstitutional. The Defense of Marriage Act, or DOMA, was enacted in 1996 and bans the federal government from recognizing state-granted same-sex marriages. That ban has been officially ruled unconstitutional. After a week of tense news and rulings —…
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Obama Likely Will Not See Mandela in South Africa
President Obama is unlikely to see ailing civil rights icon Nelson Mandela when he visits South Africa later this week, the country’s minister of international relations said on Tuesday, according to Agence France Presse. “President Obama would have loved to see president Mandela, but he is indisposed,” said Maite Nkoane Mashebane. Mandela is in a…
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Voting-Rights Ruling: A Shameful Decision
(Special to The Root) — Three years ago I wrote a piece for The Root entitled, “Supreme Court Saves Voting Rights Act and Itself.” The occasion was the court’s recent consideration of the constitutionality of Section 5 of the Voting Rights Act, which Congress had reauthorized by an overwhelming bipartisan majority in 2006. In that…
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Watch This: Paula Deen's Emotional 'Today' Show Interview
After skipping out on the Today show last Friday, Paula Deen appeared in the studio Wednesday morning in an exclusive interview with Matt Lauer, the Huffington Post reports. Deen was composed when she began but crumbled under pressure during Lauer’s questioning. Watch the interview here: Visit NBCNews.com for breaking news, world news, and news about…
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Fisher Case: Fight for Diversity Not Over
(Special to The Root) — The U.S. Supreme Court has finally issued its long-awaited ruling in Fisher v. University of Texas at Austin, the latest case challenging affirmative action in higher education. Although many pundits expected a resounding defeat for defenders of diversity, their predictions proved to be wrong. The court sent the case back…
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Affirmative Action's Modern Purpose
(The Root) — The Supreme Court decision this week in Fisher v. University of Texas upheld the winning argument and vision that my late husband, John Payton, put forward as the lead attorney in Grutter/Gratz v. Bollinger (the University of Michigan affirmative action case). That was the landmark decision decided exactly 10 years ago, in…
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Supreme Court Strikes Down Defense of Marriage Act
In a 5-4 decision, the Supreme Court struck down Section 3 of the Defense of Marriage Act, ruling that it is unconstitutional to prohibit the federal government from recognizing same-sex marriages. As it stood, the law denied same-sex married couples federal benefits, such as Social Security and the ability to file joint tax returns. “DOMA…
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Social Media Scrutinizes Texas Senate Vote
(The Root) — The Internet was up late watching live streams of Democratic Texas state Sen. Wendy Davis filibustering against Senate Bill 5, which would close nearly every abortion clinic in the state and make it illegal to terminate a pregnancy after 20 weeks. It was a chaotic scene: Hours of arguing exploded into raucous…
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Quote of the Day: Zora Neale Hurston on Language
Read the entire quote here. Henry Louis Gates Jr. is the Alphonse Fletcher University Professor and the director of the W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African-American Research at Harvard University. He is also the editor-in-chief of The Root. Follow him on Twitter and Facebook.
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Yes, I'm Biracial, and I Cover Black Stuff
(The Root) — In a Reddit Ask Me Anything, our Race Manners columnist, Jenée Desmond-Harris, opened herself up to all of your burning questions about race. Can African-American publications survive? Why isn’t there a White Entertainment Television? What are we supposed to make of Dark Girls? And where does a biracial woman get off talking…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
