culture
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Poll: Stark Racial Divide in America After Verdict
A new NBC-Wall Street Journal poll presents more evidence that Americans are deeply divided on issues of race and justice following the trial of George Zimmerman, who was acquitted in the death of the unarmed 17-year-old Trayvon Martin, NBC News reports. The former neighborhood-watch captain’s lawyers argued that the shooting was not racially motivated. In the…
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Cornel West: MSNBC Is 'Rent-a-Negro' Cable
Cornel West continued his attack on the president in the wake of Obama’s speech after the George Zimmerman verdict. This time West went after MSNBC, calling the network a “rent-a-Negro” phenomenon, EURweb reports. The Rev. Al Sharpton, one of the president’s biggest proponents, is a host on the network. Well, West made a visit to…
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Could BET Lose 'The Game' Online?
After the television series The Game was canceled in 2009, a social media campaign began to bring the show back. That effort was successful, and The Game returned to television in 2011, with an astonishing 7.7 million viewers tuning in to the series premiere. Once again, success was due in part to the fan base’s…
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Black Women With Breast Cancer Still Fare Worse Than White Women
Breast-cancer survival rates for black women remain somewhere in the neighborhood of three years lower than those of white women, and there have been several theories as to why this is. According to the New York Times, a new study by researchers at the University of Pennsylvania reveals that a lack of adequate health care…
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OJ Simpson Wants to Play Himself in 'Anger Management'
Although O.J. Simpson is only five years into a 33-year stint at the Lovelock Correctional Center in Reno, Nev., the disgraced football legend, who was acquitted of double murder but years later sentenced to jail on unrelated robbery charges, is already looking for work, should he be granted an early release. According to the New…
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How Not to Derail the Dialogue on Race
(The Root) — The question for this week’s column comes, loosely, from Slate’s William Saletan, who asked me to throw some ideas around with him as he composed a list of tips for “how to talk constructively about racism” in the wake of white-Hispanic George Zimmerman’s controversial acquittal in the shooting death of unarmed African-American…
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A Black Woman's Experience in the Makeup Aisle
African-American women spend more money on makeup than their white counterparts, yet writer Britt Julious, in a piece at WBEZ91.5, finds that black women’s attempts to put on “a new face” are rarely recognized by white people. She also laments how few options there are for her — still — at the beauty counter as…
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The 4th Annual Tin Cup Awards
(The Root) — The Washington Government Relations Group, the oldest organization for African-American government-relations professionals, is holding its Fourth Annual Tin Cup Awards Dinner on Wednesday, July 24, at the French Embassy in Washington, D.C. The dinner honors individuals for their continued “commitment to the enrichment of African-American government relations professionals.” This year’s awards recipients…
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White Guilt Needs to End, Says Limbaugh
Since George Zimmerman was found not guilty of second-degree murder for killing Trayvon Martin, people of all races have expressed a range of opinions about race relations — past and present — in this country. MSNBC reports that on his radio show Monday, conservative radio host Rush Limbaugh took the opportunity to say that white…
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The Obamas, the Vineyard and Class
(The Root) — Although they skipped a lengthy summer vacation last year because of the election, this year the Obamas will be making up for lost time. The first family is scheduled to spend the week of Aug. 10 in Martha’s Vineyard. The Obamas continue a long tradition of high-profile African Americans summering there, including…