culture
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An Elegy for Evil
Seventy-seven years ago, in the wee hours of the morning, the universal force that connects us all looked upon the earth and noticed that the group we would later call “the Greatest Generation” had a startling lack of vile, evil liars, so that all-powerful higher power descended an escalator to the gates of hell and…
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I’ve Seen Betty Shelby, the Killer Cop Who Was Found Not Guilty of Killing an Unarmed Black Man
I live in Oklahoma. I teach at a university less than an hour from Tulsa. Much of the trial happened during my finals week, so I made the trip to Tulsa so I could see Betty Shelby in person. I was able to get into the courthouse because I work in ministry in Oklahoma City,…
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The Root 100: Time to Nominate Your Picks for Our Annual List of the Most Influential African Americans
Every year The Root pays tribute to black innovators, leaders and world changers with The Root 100, our annual list of the most influential African Americans, ages 25 to 45. And now it’s time for you, the public, to help shape this list by nominating the people you think represent the best and brightest in…
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Curt Schilling Is Wypipo
Whenever the word “wypipo” surfaces on the internet, there comes the inevitable Caucasian clapback that accuses the user of racism. Sometimes the accusers will even go so far as to inject the conversation with the fictional term that accompanies all white tears and brow furrowing: “reverse racism.” While the word is somewhat divisive, it is…
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Urban Planning Can’t Happen Without Black People in the Room—Yet It Does
Sit at the tables where people are deciding where the new school will go, whether to expand the bus stop or if a new business can drop itself into a neighborhood, and the first question that comes to mind is, “Where are all the people of color?” In 2017 it is—still—a fact that most folks…
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Philippine President Attacks Neuroscientist Carl Hart for Speaking Against Drug War: ‘That Black Guy … Son of a Bitch Has Gone Crazy’ [Retracted]
RETRACTED (6/12/18): This story has been removed because we have discovered it was in breach of our editorial standards. If you’d like to know more, you can read an editor’s note here. A cached version of the story is available here for transparency.
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White People Are Amazed That a White Woman Was Treated Like a White Woman
All across America, white people’s mouths are hanging aghast at half-staff as they hydrate themselves to conjure up the onslaught of white tears that predictably has followed their shock and amazement since a college student blew up the internet when she exposed an amazing fact to her Caucasian counterparts. Hold on, and prepare yourselves for…
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The 2017 Miss USA Is a Proud, Black HBCU Graduate, and She’s Also Problematic as Hell
For the second consecutive year, Miss District of Columbia, a black woman and HBCU graduate, has been crowned Miss USA. Outgoing 2016 Miss USA Deshauna Barber crowned her fellow Washington, D.C., resident, Kára McCullough, 25, Sunday night in Las Vegas. McCullough is a chemist working for the U.S. Nuclear Regulatory Commission. Two black women were…