culture
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Removing Segregationist Language From Alabama Constitution
Last week the Alabama Constitution Revision Commission voted in favor of a proposal to revise the language in a section of their state’s constitution allowing separate schools between black and white students. The state constitution has been under close examination for revisions since 2011, and amendments to the article about segregated schools — Section 256…
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Racism? No, It's Just a 'Misunderstanding'
(The Root) — The instructions, relayed by an editor on a Friday afternoon, detonated like a bomb over the telephone: “I don’t think a black person should write the review for this book.” The book in question looked at legal cases during the civil rights era; the black person being considered to review it was…
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Positive Treatment of Blacks in Medieval Art?
(The Root) — This image is part of a weekly series that The Root is presenting in conjunction with the Image of the Black in Western Art Archive at Harvard University’s W.E.B. Du Bois Institute for African and African American Research.One of the chief treasures of the National Museum of the Middle Ages, or the Musée de Cluny, in Paris…
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I Don't Have Any White Friends. So What?
(The Root) — Sometime last week, a poll was released by Reuters/Ipsos that found 40 percent of white Americans had no friends of color and 25 percent of people of color had no friends of a different race. Covering a broader circle of acquaintances to include co-workers as well as friends and relatives, the poll…
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Eric Holder Tackling Harsh Prison Sentences
The Washington Post reports that Attorney General Eric Holder announced on Monday that nonviolent drug offenders who are unaffiliated with gangs and large drug rings will not face charges that can result in harsh prison sentences. He acknowledges that the new policy is important because American prisons are overcrowded. Part of the overcrowding can be…
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Some of My Best Friends Are White
(The Root) — When the Lena Dunham-created show Girls became a hit for HBO, one of the complaints was the show’s lack of diversity despite being set in ethnically diverse New York City. Well, as it turned out, Dunham admitted (in a more eloquent way than I’m about to put it) that she didn’t write…
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Stop-and-Frisk Ruling: Lines That We Want on T-Shirts
(The Root) — In a decision today, a federal court deemed the New York City Police Department’s use of its stop-and-frisk tactic “indirect racial profiling” that allowed police officers to unfairly target blacks and Hispanics far more than whites. More to the point: U.S. District Judge Shira Scheindlin said it was unconstitutional, accused city officials of…
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B. Scott Discusses BET Lawsuit
Media personality B. Scott, along with his attorney, Waukeen McCoy, appeared on Monday’s MSNBC Live to discuss his discrimination lawsuit against BET and its parent company, Viacom, with host Thomas Roberts. It was the first time he has spoken publicly about the lawsuit since filing last week. The claim comes after he was ordered to…
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Donnie McClurkin Misses Out on MLK Concert
Gospel artist Donnie McClurkin did not perform Saturday at a Washington, D.C., government-sponsored concert celebrating the 50th anniversary of the March on Washington. The Washington Post reports that gay-rights activists didn’t want McClurkin to perform because of his views on homosexuality. He has said that he dealt with homosexuality, but God brought him out from…
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Ruling: Stop-and-Frisk Practice Violates Rights
A federal judge has ruled that the stop-and-frisk tactics of the New York Police Department — under which mostly black and Hispanic people have been questioned by police — have violated the constitutional rights of New Yorkers, according to the New York Times. The decision calls for a federal monitor to oversee broad reform to the…