culture
-
Oh No, White People! What Is Y’all Doing? Why Every Caucasian Needs a Black Friend
Contrary to popular belief, I do not wake up every morning trying to figure out how to attack my beloved Caucasian brothers. I only wish them peace and prosperity. In fact, every day I wake up before sunrise and whisper a plea to the Most High (Snoop Dog) for a special favor: Can I leave…
-
Jemele Hill, Jerry Jones, the NCAA and the Sports Slave System
Stop. Before you object to my use of the word “slave,” let us be clear: I do not mean “slave” in the way you are thinking. I am not trying to invoke the pain and trauma of our ancestors in a hyperbolic comparison. When I write “slave,” I am not using it in the narrow…
-
SNL Alum Jay Pharoah Is Ready to Become White Famous on Showtime
Fans who’ve missed comedian Jay Pharoah since his official exit from Saturday Night Live last year after six seasons now can have him all to themselves thanks to his new Showtime series, White Famous. Executive-produced by Jamie Foxx and Tim Story (director of Ride Along and Think Like a Man), White Famous puts Pharoah, a…
-
It’s Not Class, It’s Race: Why America Can’t Move Forward Until It Addresses the Racial Wealth Gap
We don’t tend to look at the wealth gap as a form of violence, even though it’s certainly rooted in it. Take the massacre in Wilmington, N.C. The 1898 race riot is one of those stories that have been willfully erased from history, even though it is the only coup d’état to ever take place…
-
Writer-Director Angela Robinson Tells the Story of How Psychology and Polyamory Created Wonder Woman
Even if you’re familiar with Professor Marston and the Wonder Women, the film about the man behind Wonder Woman, you might not know that a black woman wrote and directed it. Probably because most of Angela Robinson’s career has largely been in the shadows of television, directing and producing such hit series as The L…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Whitest Email of All Time
I’m sorry, y’all, but this week we’re featuring only one piece of email. It’s not that we didn’t receive a lot of hate mail this week. (Don’t worry; we won’t ever run out of shitty comments from disgruntled readers of The Root—ever). It’s just that answering more than one piece of email this week would…
-
Tracing Your Roots: Was Great-Grandma Part Creek Indian?
Historic records point to a life of mixed heritage in the American West. Dear Professor Gates: My great-grandmother Lula Craig/Creg, born Jan. 26, 1870, appears on both the federal 1910 census in Depew City, Creek County, Okla., and the 1910 Indian-population census for that city and county. Lula and her children (including my grandfather Bobby)…
-
5 Ways Black People Can Force Commonsense Gun Control
They wouldn’t do it after the Las Vegas massacre. They wouldn’t do it after Gabby Giffords was shot. They wouldn’t even do it after Sandy Hook. Maybe there is no one who can break the toxic romance that America has with guns … I bet black people could. You know we have to do all…
-
I Tried It: Bacon Is the SZA of Meats
In my quest to become a whole, functioning human being, I have been going through a yearslong process of undoing and unpacking the subconscious biases and fears that created the person who could never be described any funnier or more succinctly than by my line brother, who once said: “Michael Harriot, you’re one weird-ass strain…