Opinion
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: White People
People are worried about me. In the past two weeks, no less than three people asked me if I ever worry about my career as a writer. In so many words, each one of them said that I am increasingly becoming a one-trick pony. They wondered if I am worried about being pigeonholed or being…
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As a Black Man, I Understand Why Democrats Don’t Want to Impeach Trump
Contrary to what most people think, almost every black person I know honestly believes in the noble ideals of America. We think it is self-evident that all men are created equal. The history of Africans in America is nothing if not the desperate, fruitless pursuit of life, liberty and happiness. We want to live in…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Why?
Editor’s Note: Senior Writer Michael Harriot is on vacation, so this week’s Clapback Mailbag was prepared in advance. If anyone on The Root’s staff has pissed white people off in the last few days, we promise to respond to their concerns in a timely manner. Why is the Clapback Mailbag so important? Because wypipo need…
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I'm Allergic to Hennessy
I don’t neatly fit into many of the cultural lines set before me—much like many black millennials. It’s almost derivative to say I love anime in an age where black people’s love of anime now spans generations. I grew up listening to Paramore and Van Hunt and Yo-Yo Ma. It’s now Ben Howard and Valis…
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Olo’oruko Mi: Legacy Ponderings of a Nigerian-but-Mostly-American
I’d spent two years on this earth when I met my paternal grandmother Julianna Oni for the first—and last—time. As I was her sole olo’oruko mi—the only heir to be her namesake—she took an immediate liking to me, often raising my youthful frame in her firm, mahogany arms and chanting “Julie Julie Julie Julie” with…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Dream a Little Dream
Fourscore and 12 Fridays ago, our writers brought forth, upon this website, a new weekly feature—The Clapback Mailbag. Nearly two years after this momentous decision, the mailbag proves, every single week, that the Caucasian still lives on a comfortable island of delusion in the midst of a vast ocean of truth. So we come, each…
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Rahm Emanuel Is a Liar
The outgoing mayor of Chicago, Rahm Emanuel, is preparing for life outside of municipal governance by rewriting Chicago history. In a May 9 op-ed in the New York Times, Emanuel argues that the city of Chicago leads in police reform because he let the CPD have a seat at the table while working with the…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Some Rules and Reminders for People Who Read The Root
It’s the Friday before a major holiday, and the regular writer of the Clapback Mailbag, Michael Harriot, has decided to take the day off for whatever it is he does when he is not pulling white people by their taint hairs on The Root. Before he took off the other day, he asked me if…
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You're So Different: OK, But What Makes You Black?
“You’re so different. You’re so articulate. Why do you talk like a white girl? You’re the whitest black girl I know.” Comments like these beg the question: What makes you black? Is it merely the color of one’s skin? Is it a state of mind? Knowing the lyrics to Cardi B’s songs? It took me…