culture
-
30 Years Later, 7 Ways A Different World Was Woke AF
A Different World was an American sitcom that aired for six seasons beginning in September 1987, making it 30 this year. The show focused on students attending a fictional historically black college in Virginia, Hillman, the alma mater of Clair and Cliff Huxtable of The Cosby Show. While the show has been cited as a…
-
The Caucasian’s Guide to Halloween Costumes
Editor’s note: This article originally appeared in “White-People Quarterly.” For a subscription, please consult your local pumpkin-spice retailer. For years, brain scientists and education experts have searched for a way to make white people understand what not to wear to Halloween parties. In the 2016 annual secret Global White People’s Convention, a vote to issue…
-
‘You Know My Heart’: Why White People Still Do Blackface
In 2015 a white Alabama schoolteacher was forced to write a public apology after pictures of him dressed up in blackface for Halloween went viral. The teacher, Heath Morrow, was dressed up as Kanye West; his wife as Kim Kardashian West. Morrow donned a blazer, a backward baseball hat and shutter shades—the sort of look…
-
Fake-News Friday: Confessions From a Secret KKK Collaborator
I’m sure that many of you have heard the news by now that one of the most respected sites in journalism has uncovered evidence of my involvement with the Ku Klux Klan. I will not impugn the journalistic integrity of the reporter who unearthed the documents; in fact, I don’t even deny the charges. I…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Unanswered Questions
It’s clapback Friday, and you know what that means: Time for me to sit down and write another introduction for the emails, tweets and comments that The Root receives during the week. This week’s clapbacks are dedicated to all the white people who email us with recurring themes, namely: Why are black people so stupid…
-
Tracing Your Roots: My Ancestor’s Records Are Confusing!
Was a formerly enslaved man in a May-December romance? Was he well-read or illiterate? We try to untangle the clues. Dear Professor Gates: I have hit a brick wall in my research regarding an ancestor by the name of King David Hinch, born in Tennessee. His birth year varies in records that I have found,…
-
It’s Complicated
Last week I watched Demi Lovato’s YouTube documentary, Simply Complicated, chronicling her well-publicized drug problem and eventual bipolar diagnosis. I remember when Demi first went public after a tabloid-filled meltdown; I was impressed by how she never hid behind the veil of “exhaustion” or tried to act as if it never happened (I’m looking at…
-
8 Fight-the-Power Costumes Sure to Scare Wypipo
Yo, it’s been a hard year for black people. Overt racism and microaggressions abound. Here are eight costumes that you can wear to reclaim and proclaim your power. Radio Raheem in Spike Lee’s 1989 film Do the Right Thing exhibited the necessity of the #BlackLivesMatter movement before it became a hashtag. Be the first to…
-
‘Radical Christian Terrorism’: Doesn’t Sound Nice, Does It?
Radical Islamic terror. Islamic. Terror. When you separate those words, they can’t be any more diametrically opposed. The dictionary defines terrorism as “the systematic use of terror especially as a means of coercion,” or as “the unlawful use of violence and intimidation, especially against civilians, in pursuit of political, religious or ideological aims.” Islam—the religion…
-
The 10 Scariest Black People
It’s Halloween season, which means being forced to pretend you don’t want to choke-slam old ladies for giving you marshmallow circus peanuts or candy corn (or, as I call it, “the devil’s butt plug”). Halloween is also the time when we celebrate being intentionally frightened because the holiday commemorates … ummm … you know what?…