culture
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To Be Clear, White Supremacy Is the Foundation of Our Country. We Won’t Destroy It by Toppling Statues
From the white supremacist “rally” and terror attack in Charlottesville, Va., to the current president’s public defense of Nazis to the recent uproar over HBO’s controversial decision to green-light a new series portraying a Confederate victory, it is clear that our nation is in the midst of a very public—and painful—reckoning with the memory (and…
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Crown Heights Exposes a Very Common American Problem: Wrongful Conviction
The time is 1980. The place is the Crown Heights section of Brooklyn in New York City. The man is 18-year-old Colin Warner. It’s a familiar scenario. An unarmed black man is walking through his own neighborhood, minding his business, when, within the blink of an eye, his whole life changes. Police officers pull up,…
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Judge of Characters: The ‘Alt-Left,’ White Genocide and Other White Nonsense That Doesn’t Exist
This week, we’ve been faced with more Donald Trump make-believe. In a delayed press conference after the tragic white supremacist riot in Charlottesville, Va., we all watched in horror as Trump mentioned that he was supposed to be addressing veterans benefits but Charlottesville happened. And then he basically ignored the loss of a life and…
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3 Facts That Prove the Reality of White Supremacy
When I was 16 years old, my entire family thought my little sister was going crazy (and by “sister” I mean my cousin who lived with us because black people do that, which could be the subject of an entirely different article). Every morning, she would tell us that there was a monster under her…
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Tracing Your Roots: Why Did My DNA-Test Results Change?
A few reasons that the percentages in your ethnic-ancestry breakdown may change over time. Dear Professor Gates: I did DNA testing through the site African DNA. Initially it showed I had 82 percent West African ancestry, 10 percent European and the rest “Middle Eastern.” However, I recently received updated results from Family Tree DNA (which…
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Why All Confederate Statues Must Fall
Following the horrific events in Charlottesville, Va., where one woman was killed during a white supremacist rally to save a statue of Robert E. Lee, cities across the country are moving swiftly to remove Confederate monuments from public spaces. Even citizen protesters in Durham, N.C., took matters into their own hands to remove a Confederate…
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America Would Rather Topple Statues Than White Supremacy
I knew it would happen this time. As soon as White Supremacy Woodstock happened in Charlottesville, Va., I was certain it would open a dialogue about race, racism and white supremacy in America. There wasn’t a doubt in my mind that the terrorist attack this past weekend would force the country to address this evil…
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Color of Climate: How Black Activists Are Preparing South Fla. Residents to Weather the Storm of Climate Gentrification
Phalange Brutus never thought that joining a Facebook group could change his life. When the 36-year-old joined Outdoor Afro-Miami in January, he didn’t expect to see a post about climate change that would pique his interest. Outdoor Afro encourages black people to spend time in nature together and change the face of leadership in the…
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Michael Jackson’s Bad: 30 Years Ago the King of Pop Hit His Prime … so Why Is That Album Underrated?
What does it mean to be in your prime? Whether you’re an athlete or an artist, it’s that window of time when all your best attributes and virtues are at the same level. When you’re young, your raw talent and physical ability supersede your intelligence and lack of experience. Over time, said experience gets applied…
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The Complete List of Racists
I believe in fairness. That’s why I would never stoop so low as to defame a member of the Ku Klux Klan or a Nazi. When I refer to Klansmen, I call them “micropenis fuckwad cowards,” as opposed to neo-Nazis, who are correctly referred to as “feebleminded gaping anuses.” I also believe that instead of…