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Zimmerman Trial: Just 1 Scene in a Gun-Culture Drama
In a piece for the New Yorker, Jelani Cobb discusses the George Zimmerman trial, which began on Monday, in terms of America’s gun culture and perceptions of race. It’s possible — no, reasonable — to look at Martin’s death as the opening scene in a four-act drama centering on American gun culture. The subsequent scenes…
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Obama Fooled the Hip-Hop Community
Erik Nielson, writing at the Huffington Post, says that President Obama deceived many who supported him during his first presidential campaign, including hip-hop artists. He says that Obama’s policies haven’t helped the minorities who elected him to office. There was something remarkable about seeing rappers pledge their support to a mainstream presidential candidate, especially given…
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Quote of the Day: Howard Thurman
Read more about Howard Thurman 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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BMW and Dollar General Accused of Discrimination
In a complaint filed Tuesday, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission accused two major U.S. companies — BMW and Dollar General — of indirectly discriminating against African-American employees and potential employees. How? By using criminal-background checks to screen out workers in a way that violated Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The Washington…
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How the 'Loving' Case Changed the US
(The Root) — Forty-six years ago, on June 12, 1967, the Supreme Court ruled that a Virginia law prohibiting Mildred Jeter Loving, who was black, and Richard Loving, who was white, from marrying because of their race was unconstitutional. Their family name, “Loving,” was so perfect for a case about love that it probably would…
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Misogynist Tweets Flood Twitter After E3
(The Root) — The Electronic Entertainment Expo, known as E3 for short, has had gamers all aflutter on Twitter. But when Feminist Frequency‘s Anita Saarkesian joined the conversation, things got ugly. All she did was note that none of the games unveiled at Xbox One’s press conference featured a female protagonist. The misogynist tweets came…
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Hashtagging Comes to Facebook
(The Root) — There’s now an actual reason for people to use hashtags on Facebook: As of Wednesday, hashtags on Facebook are clickable, giving their use an official purpose. In addition to clicking on Facebook hashtags and being taken to a stream of related posts, users can also click hashtags from other platforms, like Instagram.…
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Kanye's Interview Gets Mixed Reviews
(The Root) — Kanye owned the Internet again on Wednesday with the publishing of an interview that the artist did with the New York Times. With the release of “Yeezus,” his sixth solo studio album, only a week away, Kanye sat down with Jon Caramanica to talk about his craft, his craft and his impact…
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Nelson Mandela Responding to Treatment
South Africa’s 94-year-old anti-apartheid icon, Nelson Mandela, is responding to medical treatment after “a few difficult days” in the hospital, the country’s president, Jacob Zuma, told Parliament on Wednesday. He said that he was happy with Mandela’s progress, adding, “We urge South Africans and the international community to continue to keep President Mandela and the…
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Some People Missed the Whole Trayvon Martin Thing
Last year’s shooting death of unarmed Florida teen Trayvon Martin at the hands of self-appointed neighborhood-watch coordinator George Zimmerman set off an in-depth national conversation about race and justice — one that it would be easy to assume most Americans followed closely and formed opinions about. Not so. At least not according to the Orlando…
Black News and Black Views with a Whole Lotta Attitude
