Opinion
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Why White People Love Blackface, Explained
Hey Racist Baby! Why do you look so concerned? Jail? What has your dad done now, Racist Baby? No, Racist Baby. The “PC” is an abbreviation of “political correctness.” It’s a term white people use when they don’t want to be condemned for doing something that offends people. What exactly did your dad do? No,…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: The Master Baiter
It’s my work-iversary! Two years ago today, I began working at The Root as a staff writer. Since then I have been trying to get a promotion and a raise based on the responses I often receive from our white readers. In many of the emails, tweets, direct messages and comments, I am often accused…
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A Tale of Two Faces
My mother tells me I look like my grandmother, a brown belle whose features I know only through faded photographs and choppy 8mm film strips. I try to imagine the experience of a woman with whom I seem to share a face, with her growing up under Jim Crow in the 1910s and 1920s as…
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Sarah Sanders Said God ‘Wanted Donald Trump to Become President.’ God Responds
On Wednesday, White House Spokesliar Sarah Suckabee Sanders told the Christian Broadcasting Network that she believes God wanted Donald Trump to be president of the United States, according to a transcript of the interview provided to CNN. “I think God calls all of us to fill different roles at different times and I think that…
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Tom Brokaw’s Comment on Hispanics Wasn’t Racist. It Was White Magic
Confession: I was a magic nerd. When I was young, I was really into the art of illusion. During my adolescence, I spent my meager allowance on three-dollar rope tricks and magic sets from Spencer’s Gifts. I learned the finger palm, the false drop, the sleeve tuck, and—although I never wore a top hat—I often…
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Maybe We Need Tighter Sword Control Laws: Anchorage Man Reportedly Brings Knife to a Sword Fight
En garde, bitch! I imagine that’s how a sword fight starts in 2019. Police have a suspect in custody following a fight that took place in an Anchorage mall food court, resulting in a knife stabbing and a sword slashing, according to police. The suspect apparently had a small arsenal of an ax and some…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: A Kinder, Gentler Mailbag
Something weird happened. This weekend, the boys of Covington Catholic High School’s Junior Klansmen of America took a field trip to Washington, D.C., and…well… You’ve probably heard what happened. Apparently, everyone in America initially thought the Kentucky state racism champions were out of line. Then, after a well-organized public relations campaign, white America changed its…
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Fla. Secretary of State Resigns After Photo Emerges of Him in Blackface as a ‘Katrina Victim’
Another day, another person is forced to resign because he thought it would be funny to paint his skin black, tie his hair in a scarf and wear a shirt that read, “Katrina victim.” Don’t worry if the joke is lost on you, that’s because it’s not funny. On Thursday, photos Florida’s Secretary of State…
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A Neverending Quest for Sovereignty
I often jokingly tell people that I grew up in a household made up of three (occasionally four, depending on what station in life my father was in at the time) distinct American dreams—one for each flag or passport represented: Comoros, Canada and the United States. My mother, my brother and I are a trinity…
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Brave White Girl Doesn’t Limit Herself to Being Racist Just One Way, Kicked Out of Sorority for Blackface and Saying the N-Word
College students are openly, carelessly, and publicly racist so often I’m almost tempted to call it a rite of passage for the black students whose days, weeks, or semesters they’re inevitably ruining. But we don’t tend to think about them when stories like this one crop up: A University of Oklahoma student was caught on…