culture

In a piece at Truthdig, columnist Richard Reeves explores the intersection of race and American pop culture through the lens of George Zimmerman’s acquittal in the shooting death of Trayvon Martin. Reeves argues that the shooting stemmed, in part, from Florida’s arcane concealed-weapons law. … What happened was a crime and the acquitted shooter, Zimmerman,…

The Washington Post‘s Eugene Robinson says that although the nation should talk honestly about unresolved racial issues, President Obama is likely the wrong candidate to lead the discussion, because some people see him as threatening. The need for what diplomats call a “full and frank exchange of views” is obvious. Many Americans don’t even agree…

(The Root) — “It’s time to question laws that senselessly expand the concept of self-defense and sow dangerous conflict in our neighborhoods,” U.S. Attorney General Eric Holder said at the 2013 NAACP convention on Tuesday in Orlando, Fla., referring to the “Stand your ground” laws in place in more than 30 states. In reaction to…

(The Root) — “My great-great-grandfather was named Issac Rowen. He came from Guinea to work as a fisherman sometime in the post-Civil War period. My late great-aunt told me that he came to the U.S. with a group of white men. He worked as a fisherman in New Orleans until was killed, by being thrown…

In an interview with WKYC, Charles Ramsey, the Cleveland man who rose to fame after discovering three women who had been missing since their teens, disputes a report by the Daily Mail that he is broke and homeless. He told the station why he moved out of his apartment near suspected kidnapper Ariel Castro and…

Chicago Public Schools will lay off more than 2,000 employees — more than 1,000 of them teachers — as a result of a $1 billion budget deficit, officials said on Thursday, according to the Chicago Tribune. Chicago Teachers Union President Karen Lewis accused school officials of lying “to parents, employees and the public about keeping…

In the days after George Zimmerman was acquitted on second-degree-murder and manslaughter charges for his killing of unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, it was revealed that Zimmerman would receive back all of his property that was held during the trial, including the gun he used. But now, according to the Orlando Sentinel, the FBI has requested…

Kerry Washington became only the second black woman to receive a Primetime Emmy nomination in the category of lead actress in a drama series for her role as Olivia Pope in the hit television series Scandal. According to Shadow and Act, the nomination is also the first for Washington herself, but the more important significance is how…

MSNBC‘s Adam Serwer examines the gulf between Rachel Jeantel and juror B37 in George Zimmerman’s second-degree-murder trial, concluding that their “perceptions of the case and the two men involved” mirrors the racial divide in America. Rachel Jeantel’s face lit up when describing how she and Trayvon Martin would sometimes talk on the phone all day.…