Race Matters
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Missouri Nurse Fired for Blackface ‘Beyoncé’ Costume
As we’ve covered here at The Root before (just yesterday, in fact), it’s that time of year when a certain class of white people, bereft of any common sense, sensitivity, or any sense of the world outside their enchanted snow globe of Caucasity, decide to dabble in blackface under the guise of putting on a…
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Kentucky Kroger Shooting Being Investigated as a Hate Crime
Before Gregory Alan Bush opened fire at a Kroger supermarket in the Louisville, Ky., suburb of Jeffersontown and killed two black people on Wednesday, he tried unsuccessfully to enter a predominantly black church in the same area, police said. Now as federal investigators prepare to investigate the shooting, both the mayor and the police chief…
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'I'm White! I Got You, Girl!': #SouthParkSusan Narrowly Escapes Mollywhopping
My mother called it “cruising for a bruising.” Some places refer to it as “begging for a butt-whipping.” In my South Carolina hometown, old-timers would often ask if you wanted them to “go to your goat-smelling.” Whatever you call it in your neck of the woods, the Charlotte Observer reports that charges are pending in…
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100 Things Not To Do #WhileBlack
#LivingWhileBlack is tough. It seems that just by living our black-ass lives and minding our black-ass business, we are subject to all types of nonsensical terror, ranging from unfounded 911 calls to death. It doesn’t matter if you are a billionaire, Bob Marley’s granddaughter, an NBA player, the editor-in-chief of Vogue, a pageant queen, or…
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55 Years Ago, Someone Blamed a Bombing on a Racist Politician
Now, we know. When 19 sticks of dynamite planted by Klansmen exploded inside the 16th Street Baptist Church on September 15, 1963, killing 11-year old Carol Denise McNair, and 14-year-olds Cynthia Wesley, Addie Mae Collins and Carole Robertson, it was not the first time white supremacists had bombed a home or place of worship in…
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‘I’m White,’ Obviously Black Teenager Tells Dr. Phil
Self-hatred is nothing to laugh about—neither are delusional tendencies. That said, there was something so surreal about the spectacle of a 16-year-old black girl named Treasure insisting she was white on Dr. Phil’s unbelievably long-running talk show on Wednesday that The Root staff couldn’t help but shake our heads in confusion and laugh uncomfortably. We…
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White Man Verbally Assaults Older Black Woman on Flight, Calls Her an ‘Ugly Black Bastard,’ Airline Does Nothing
Racism, once again, reared its ugly head in the form of a pasty-faced colonizer who had the nerve to call an elderly black woman he was seated near on a flight an “ugly black bastard.” And despite this display of verbal abuse the man was not, I repeat, was not, removed from the plane for…
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The Fenty Effect? Amy Schumer Pulls Out of Super Bowl Ads in Solidarity With Colin Kaepernick
Remember when we found out that capitalist behemoth Amazon had upped its minimum wage to $15, and we knew there was some kind of catch? Turns out there was—to pay for the living wage, employees agreed to give up monthly bonuses and stock grants. So, when news began blowing that comedian Amy Schumer is turning…
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Republicans Pimp Black Women’s Voices in Racist Radio Political Ad Pandering for Black Votes
We are fully into the political season for the 2018 midterm elections, and the political ads in which candidates take swipes at each other, boast about their accomplishments and say anything that will help them get votes are in full swing. The black vote is of particular concern during this election. We have already seen…