culture

(The Root) — Do black children have natural disadvantages in school because most are from single-parent homes? Recently, comedian Bill Cosby chided the “apathy” he observed among black parents. He, like many others, believes that the fading presence of the black nuclear family places black children at a social disadvantage and creates a burden on…

(The Root) — For the first time in the second-degree-murder trial of George Zimmerman, jurors Monday heard a gripping narrative in the defendant’s own words about his fatal shooting of unarmed teen Trayvon Martin. But much of what was presented in audio and video recordings of his statements to police investigators didn’t quite add up.…

(The Root) — R. Kelly performed at the BET Awards on Sunday, offering viewers a nostalgic medley of his greatest hits. The audience in the Staples Center in Los Angeles practically swooned as he sang verses from his impressive catalog of hits, including “I Wish,” “Ignition” and “Seems Like You’re Ready.” At times, Kellz held…

Contending that too many voters stand against a GOP measure that would ban most abortion clinics in Texas, Cecile Richards, Planned Parenthood’s president, writes at the Huffington Post that Texas Gov. Rick Perry’s last-ditch effort to revive the measure in special session will not work, especially after state Sen. Wendy Davis’ famous filibuster. The Texas…

(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. Depicted approximately life-size, a nearly naked young black man stands before a curving dirt…

Arguing that he is “one generation removed from the ugliness of legal oppression in America,” Maryland pastor William H. Lamar IV writes at the Huffington Post that African Americans should not celebrate the Fourth of July, which was adopted when our ancestors were still enslaved. The government and the corporate media celebrate as patriots those…

The Guardian‘s Gary Younge breaks down why the Supreme Court was wrong to assume that racism is a nonissue in striking down a key provision of the Voting Rights Act. He cites Paula Deen’s public relations debacle over her use of the n-word and George Zimmerman’s second-degree-murder trial as grievous examples of today’s racial climate.…