Clapback/Mailbag
-
The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Coronavirus Is Racism
No, hear me out… Like COVID-19, there’s always one person who understands the danger of racism while wholeheartedly believing, “Everyone else might get it, but not me. I’m immune.”Like this letter: From: JakkiTo: Michael Harriot Michael…I hope you’ll read this for a second. There are a lot of white folks that aren’t actually “white” Jewish…
-
The Root's Clapback Mailbag: What Is We Doing?
Today’s mailbag is dedicated to the people who are laughed at, made fun of and dismissed as a joke. Every day, the entire staff at The Root engages in a brutal act of bullying against certain members of our team. It’s becoming institutional and I’m tired of it. Whenever any person suggests that we cover…
-
The Root's Clapback Mailbag: The Caucasian Virus
In light of this global pandemic, we’ve decided to come forward and admit that our claim that we respond to our readers’ correspondences each Friday may not be 100 percent accurate. After carefully contemplating this issue, we must admit that we have led you to believe a lie. For the sake of transparency, you should…
-
The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Flashback to the Future
Each week, as I read the emails, tweets, DMs and comments for Friday’s Clapback Mailbag, I find something that makes me think: “This person is gonna look really stupid in the flashback.” Wait, you don’t think about your future flashbacks? I live my life as if I were a hero in a movie. In every…
-
The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Black-on-Black Clapback
Y’all won. Every week, as I prepare for the Mailbag, there’s always at least one very angry white person asking why I blame racists instead of calling out my own people. So this week, I decided to do that. This week, I decided to highlight anti-black black people who are so enamored with whiteness that…
-
The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Our Formal Endorsement for President of White America
The Root hates Bernie Sanders. The Root loves Bernie Sanders. Neither one of those things is true but, depending on which candidate you support, you either think The Root is actively trying to sabotage your candidate by painting them as a racist or we are selling out for Joe Biden. Or maybe it’s Elizabeth Warren.…
-
The Root's Clapback Mailbag: The Last Refuge of the Scoundrel
A wise man (I think it was Rakim…or maybe my cousin Geet) once said: “Patriotism is the last refuge of a scoundrel.” Whoever said this was obviously not a regular reader of the Friday mailbag. If they were, they’d know that scoundrels have a variety of refuges, including: “Yo’ Mama”: The last refuge of child…
-
The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Valentine's Day Edition
Every Friday, we clap back at hateful emails, tweets, DMs and comments from our readers. But, since today is the day when we celebrate romance, I thought we should respond to some of our emails that were about love. Unfortunately, there were none. So, we’ll just do what we usually do. Our first letter is…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The State of the Clapback Is Strong
My fellow Americans, I come before you today with good news. For nearly three years, we have addressed our readers’ emails, DMs, tweets, and comments in the weekly Mailbag. And in all those times, I have never shied away from an opportunity to clap back at my haters. But this is not Michael Harriot’s Clapback…
-
Clapback Mailbag: The Lion's Solution
We interrupt our usual clapback session for a very special Mailbag. I am often asked why my writings don’t contain more solutions. Instead of complaining about racism, I guess I’m supposed to fix white people. It’s like robbing someone and then telling them to stop complaining about their money problems and work harder. But I’m…