Clapback/Mailbag
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Who Am I to Judge?
Yesha’s not here today and today’s mailbag is pretty long so … Fuck this intro. Our first correspondence comes from a DM on Twitter: From: Aric To: Michael Harriot I wanted to know if it’s possible to be white and conservative without being a bigot or viscous [sic] criminal? I’m a college student but have…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: White Advice for Black People
Hey guys, sorry there was no mailbag last week. It’s all Yesha’s fault (Not really, but she’s not in today so … trust me, she did it). I’m sure no one even noticed, but I received some mail that said I should apologize for leaving y’all hanging. Sometimes, instead of arguing and crying so much,…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: The Seinfeld of Mailbags
Yesha’s back, which means I have to sit here and write an extended lede. Sometimes I feel like Yesha’s just being mean to me. I bet she doesn’t even read these intros. I could probably ramble on about anything and she would just check to see if there were the requisite amount of words to…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: An Annotated Guide to White Fragility
“For Caucasians so loved the world that they gave to us their white tears. That whosoever believeth in it should not perish, but have everlasting whiteness.” – Wypipo 3:16 You weren’t supposed to get a mailbag today because Yesha and I are both off. But, as the Bible tells us in II Wypipians 3:16, “The…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: The Five Kinds of Clapbacks
When separating the comments, emails, tweets and messages for the mailbag each week, the correspondences usually fall into one of five categories. Today, we shall explore each classification with examples of mail from each distinct class. And if Deputy Managing Editor Yesha Callahan says this intro is too short, tell her to write her own…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: It’s Not My Fault
It’s not my fault. You know black people—we never accept responsibilities for our actions. When I was hired by The Root, I stupidly pitched the idea of the Clapback Mailbag, where I would respond every week to the emails, tweets and comments received by the staff. I blame David Letterman’s “Viewer Mailbag” and Deadspin’s Funbag…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Longest Clapback Ever
Pssst! Deputy Managing Editor Yesha Callahan is off today flying to the BET Awards, so I get to break all the usual protocol! If it were not for this necessary explanation, I wouldn’t even write this lede. But today’s mailbag will focus on one specific topic, namely the opinion piece titled, “White people Are Cowards.”…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Make the Mailbag Great Again
Deputy Managing Editor Yesha Callahan is gonna be mad at this short-ass lede, but today there’s no need to pussyfoot around. We all know why we’re here, so let’s address the elephant in the room. Dear Ted Cruz: I can’t believe you did this to me. I thought our mutual hate for each other had…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Story of Clapback-idon
What is beef? Allow me to explain using the words of the immortal poet Amos Definitely (I think that’s Mos Def’s real name): Beef is not what these famous niggas do on the mic,beef is what George Bush would do in a fight.Beef is not what Ja said to 50,beef is more than Irv not…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: When the Cat’s Away, the Racists Still Stay …
Hi, everyone, my name is Stephen A. Crockett Jr. I’m 6 feet 2 and love old movies. [Editor’s note: This isn’t your fucking Tinder profile. Let’s get on with it. —Yesha] I was just trying to introduce myself to Michael Harriot’s readers, who may not be familiar with my work here at The Root. As…