culture
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How the Shutdown Mirrored Slavery in the US
Writing at Salon, Andrew O’Hehir says that the poisonous effects of white supremacy, clearly depicted in 12 Years a Slave, “endure in American politics” and were on full display during the 16-day shutdown of the federal government. Five years before the beginning of the Civil War, Robert E. Lee – future commander of the Confederate States of…
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Does America Need a White President?
Kirsten West Savali, writing at News One, tackles the recent claim of black Tea Party activist Kevin Jackson that America needs a white, Republican president to solve its race problems. In an article on his blog, The Black Sphere, Tea-Party activist Kevin Jackson opines that intra-racism has intensified in the United States since the election of President Barack Obama and,…
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Why Kim Kardashian Makes Me Sad
While Kim Kardashian’s post-baby physique looks great, she has essentially morphed into Kanye West’s personal blow-up doll, Michael Arceneaux laments at Clutch magazine. Kim Kardashian’s [a—] looks amazing on Instagram. I wouldn’t touch her even if I had Kanye West’s penis in my hand, but she gets a “gon’, girl” all the same. Still, all I could…
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Grambling Forfeits Football Game Amid Player Protests
Grambling State football players refused to travel to Jackson, Miss., to suit up in a game Saturday against Jackson State, after complaints about mold and mildew on equipment and in facilities fell on deaf ears, ESPN reports. The cancellation, announced Friday by officials at the school in Grambling, La., was also the result of leadership…
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Jordan Davis: His Shooter's Alarming Jailhouse Letters
News 4 Jacksonville has unveiled disturbing letters written by Michael Dunn, the 45-year-old Florida man charged with last year’s shooting of 17-year-old Jordan Davis. The incident occurred after Dunn, who is white, and the black teen clashed over loud music while in their cars. Dunn, who says he acted in self-defense and writes that he…
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Does Being on 'SNL' Really Matter?
(The Root) — Maybe Lorne Michaels doesn’t have Facebook. That would explain how the eternal executive producer of Saturday Night Live, the launching pad of enviable comedy careers since 1975, is having trouble finding black comedians to star on his show. Because — let the Internet tell it — there are tons of black female…
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How Racial Bias Hurts Searches for Missing Black Kids
Citing the case of autistic 14-year-old Avonte Oquendo of New York City, who disappeared two weeks ago, Stacia L. Brown, writing at Salon, explores how racial bias can hamper investigations of missing minorities. Bias, she says, could also prevent passersby from helping the disabled teen and keep the media from reporting the story. In the…
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91 Years Old and Still Teaching
Editor’s note: This article first appeared in the Vineyard Gazette (www.mvgazette.com) and is reprinted here with permission. When Charlotte Holloman was a little girl, only 8 years old, she and her parents visited the summer home of Harry T. Burleigh on Martha’s Vineyard. Mr. Burleigh, best known for his instrumental role in arranging and publishing…
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Why Police Want to Share Profiling Data
(The Root) — “Six or seven years ago, I was sitting around writing a piece for public consumption. I thought, ‘What I could use here are some stats on racial profiling and police brutality.’ There were none — there are none. We just don’t have the numbers, and that’s because there’s no mandatory reporting.” That’s…
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'Preachers of L.A.' No Excuse Not to Go to Church
Nikki Woods argues in a piece at BlackAmericaWeb that the extravagant lifestyles of pastors depicted on the Oxygen network’s reality show Preachers of L.A. are no justification for turning away from the black church. Were you one of the 1.1 million viewers who tuned into the [premiere] of the new hit reality show “Preachers of…