Clapback/Mailbag
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: A Mood
This week, instead of answering each letter individually, I shall increase the level of difficulty by answering all the letters with one universal, overarching clapback. You see, every Friday around 4 a.m., before I even wake up, I begin receiving messages asking what’s taking the mailbag so long. Here’s your answer: I HAVE TO WRITE…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Killing Me Softly
Today’s mailbag is the longest we’ve ever published. But it all relates to one subject: The tone and tenor of The Root’s content. So let us begin. This first series of tweets relate to the fact that writers at The Root often use nicknames for white women and men who call the police on black…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Celebrity Edition
Some mailbags are different. Every Friday, we respond to questions and criticisms about the articles that appeared on The Root during the week. But each mailbag is unique. Sometimes the mailbag just wants to have an honest and open discussion without lobbing baseless accusations around. In fact, these emails came from all kinds of people’s…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The 10 Clap Commandments
You know what time it is. It’s Friday. After wading through the emails, tweets and direct messages from The Root’s readers, I noticed a disturbing trend: Some people have assumed that some of our articles have attacked them. Even though I’m breaking the first rule of clapping back (Rule No. 1: Never talk about clapbacks),…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: My Bad
It’s Friday, which means it’s time to dig through the emails, tweets, messages and comments received by The Root Staff this week. But instead of clapping back, I want to issue a mea culpa about a few mistakes we may have made. Unlike our esteemed nectarine-in-chief, I do not believe that apologies are a show…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Wypipology 101
As one of the world’s foremost wypipologists, my credentials are often challenged by people who aren’t familiar with my field of study. So today, I would like to use my area of expertise to discuss some very important subjects that are often asked about in the emails, tweets and messages received by The Root staff.…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: White People Did It First
Before we get into this week’s emails, tweets, DMs, Facebook Messages, etc, let me tell you a story: As a kid, whenever my sisters or I broke my mother’s rules by doing something stupid (which was often), before doling out her punishment, my mother would allow us to plead our cases before the court of…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Feeding the Trolls
I can tell when I’m being trolled. I know I’m not supposed to feed them but sometimes I have to let people know that I’m not as gullible as they think I am. Take The Root’s News Editor Breanna Edwards for instance. Even before I started working at The Root, I knew she wasn’t real.…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: An Outlet for Repressed Whiteness
One of the thing that amazes me about the people who send emails, tweets and messages to writers at The Root is their demand to be heard. I know white people are born with an extra gland that secretes the “let me speak to your manager” hormone, but I can’t recall ever reading, hearing or…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: FAQ
Sometimes, when I sift through all the emails, tweets and DMs for the weekly Clapback Mailbag, I’m astounded by the fact that many of the letters are variations of the same theme. So I decided to answer some of our most frequently asked questions so that we can move forward. From: DonatoTo: Michael Harriot Do…