Opinion
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: I Think We May Have Solved Racism
According to Wypipopedia, racism has been around for at least nine or 10 years. It started with the election of President Barack Obama, who invented racism in a Kenyan laboratory with the Rev. Jeremiah Wright, Saul Alinsky and that terrorist dude from the Weather Underground. (I know his name is Bill Ayers. I’m just using…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Sticks and Stones
Welcome back to the Friday Clapback Mailbag: You already know what this is, so don’t be surprised by the collection of tweets, emails and DMs we receive from people who read The Root. It’s part of the job. From: GregTo: Michael HarriotSubject: No Subject Michael, I read your satire piece about the “racist” ( according…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Blame Obama and My Mama
I’m sorry to announce that there has been a small change made to the mailbag. In our ongoing effort to evolve this weekly feature, we have decided to include a palate cleanser in each mailbag. You will still get your recommended weekly dosage of hate mail, tweets and comments, but we will also include one…
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What I Learned From My Week as a Conservative
Two years ago, as part of an assignment, I was white. I didn’t change my skin color or anything, but I drove across country for three days into Mexico in a van with eight white men. After three days, we camped out in a remote, untouched wilderness for 12 days, hiking 75 miles total, with…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Secondhand Clapbacks
I am often accused of hating white people. I don’t usually defend myself because … well … I don’t hate white people. But this week was different. You probably don’t know this, so I’ll let you in on a little-known fact: Sometimes I can be a little provocative. I called the National Rifle Association “terrorists.”…
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America: Wakanda for White People
Before most of black America pulled their dashikis over their head and threw kente cloths over their shoulders for the Black Panther premiere, they had collectively anticipated the premise of the movie with an unnatural excitement. Much of the hype had nothing to do with the storyline or the fact that the Marvel Universe had…
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Why I Decided to Become a Black Conservative
A few months ago, The Root began a series of stories under the name “I Tried It,” chronicling the experiences of writers who were willing to step outside their comfort zones to try things they normally wouldn’t consider. Some were incredibly adventurous, like senior reporter Terrell Jermaine Starr’s visit to one of the most radioactive…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: #Facts
Today’s mailbag is long, so the intro will be short. This week’s roundup of emails, comments, tweets and direct messages comes from white people who aren’t racist; they just want the writers at The Root to stick to facts. For insight, we collected a few of the people who set aside their disdain for our…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: My Apology
Yesterday, after discovering that the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Channing Iman Shumpert, Jae Crowder, Winston Churchill and Jesus H. Christ for a half-eaten bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, in a failed attempt to make a joke, I suggested that I was leaving The Root: It was a joke, but the…