culture
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The Crisis in Puerto Rico Is a Racial Issue. Here’s Why
Last week, CNN’s Jake Tapper interviewed Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) and asked if he thought President Donald Trump’s punishing response to hurricane-ravaged Puerto Rico had something to do with “race or ethnicity.” Sanders hesitated a bit but ultimately said, “We have a right to be suspect.” The relative surge in coverage about Puerto Rico after…
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I’m About to Be a Father to a Black Boy and I’m Scared to Death for Him (and Me)
My wife and I had gone to the doctor’s for a routine appointment. We weren’t married then; in fact, we weren’t even engaged, but we were ready for a baby. We had a name. We’d gone to Target and purchased a pair of crocheted bunny ears and a rubber duck that can tell the bath…
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BIE, Felicia: Fighting for Justice and Our Basic Human Rights Isn’t Extremism
They are trying to turn black people into the bogeyman. They want everyone else in America to see us as a threat so that when we are killed with impunity, no one bats an eyelash. This is already happening anyway. In a country that was founded on the principles of life, liberty and the pursuit…
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The 6 Degrees of Wokeness
I hate the word “woke.” It is defined as a heightened state of social, political and cultural awareness. Being woke is like taking the red pill from The Matrix, drinking a Red Bull and reading a Ta-Nehisi Coates essay while listening to a Talib Kweli song with Solange on the hook. The only word in…
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Black Lives Matter Lone Survivor Leon Ford Jr. Loses Police Brutality Case, Still Pursues Justice
Trayvon Martin, Mike Brown, Sandra Bland, Eric Garner, Rekia Boyd, Walter Scott: These (and dozens more) are the names we know—the boys, girls, men and women brutally shot and killed by police. Police officers often never faced justice from the courts or the cities that employ them. The deaths of these unarmed black men and…
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Unpopular Opinions: Does Sparing the Rod Spoil the Child? GMG Staffers Weigh In
It all started (in Slack) when one of the Fusion/Gizmodo Media Group staffers started talking about what we call our parents—daddy, mommy, mom, dad, momma, etc.—and then our weekend social media editor and resident comedian, Corey Townsend, admitted: “I called my mother the wicked witch one day and she thought I said bitch … she…
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10 Things That Might Make America Admit the President Is Losing His Marbles
Just as there is a difference between mental illness and batshit insanity, there is also a difference between regular madness and white-boy crazy. There are millions of people who suffer from depression, bipolar disorder or dementia. America’s unwillingness to address mental-health issues is an ongoing problem, but that is not what we are here to…
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Somebody Lied: Education Alone Can’t Dismantle White Supremacy
Editor’s note: Once a month, the National Interest column will tackle broader questions about what the country should do to increase educational opportunities for black youths. Americans like to think that if individuals are educated in great schools, they can pull themselves up by their proverbial bootstraps and bring their families with them. From childhood,…
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We Need to Have a Conversation About White People
In the 241 years of America’s existence, we have purposely ignored the important topic that lingers over this country’s constant pursuit of happiness. Until we can come to grips with this pressing dilemma and confront it head-on, we can never hope for peace, justice and equality. For too long we have allowed ourselves to look…