culture
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On Listening to 'New Slaves' With White People
Writing at Noisey, Ernest Baker explains why, although he thinks Kanye West’s new single is “27 times better if you’re black,” he hopes that white listeners will attempt to understand its message. … It’s not that white people can’t enjoy “New Slaves,” or that they’re all so dense as to not be able to grasp…
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'Scandal' Withdrawal: It's a Real Thing
(The Root) — Thursday nights will never be the same (at least until September). After last week’s head-exploding closing line — “Dad?!” — fans of ABC’s cultural phenomenon Scandal have been left with a gaping hole in their social calendars. What to tweet about? What to actually talk about? What’s a gladiator to do without…
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GOP Candidate: Three-Fifths Clause Was 'Anti-Slavery'
Virginia’s Republican nominee for lieutenant governor is either very confused about the constitutional clause that counted slaves as three-fifths of a person for representation and taxation purposes, or else very creative (read: wrong) in his interpretation of it. Talking Points Memo is reporting on Wednesday on a statement that E.W. Jackson made, disagreeing with a…
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Chief Keef Arrested Again
Chicago rapper Chief Keef was arrested near Atlanta this week just two months after he was released from custody in Chicago for a probation violation, the Chicago Tribune reports. The controversial 17-year-old artist (real name: Keith Farrelle Cozart) was charged with one misdemeanor count of disorderly conduct for smoking marijuana in a hotel room. Chief Keef, 17,…
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Yes, Fried-Chicken Jokes Are Racist
(The Root) — When I heard that a golfer had made a “joke” about Tiger Woods and fried chicken, I had to double-check to make sure it wasn’t 1997 all over again. That was the year Frank “Fuzzy” Zoeller was asked for his thoughts about Woods’ impending success at the Masters, and he joked about…
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Tornado Victim Identified: Ja'Nae Hornsby
Among the first victims to be publicly identified after the tornadoes that devastated Moore, Okla., on Monday is 9-year-old Ja’Nae Hornsby, whose father told news station KJRH that her body was found in the rubble of Plaza Towers Elementary School. “She was just a big ball of energy; she was lovable. You couldn’t not love…
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Obama Administration Mistakes Journalism for Espionage
The Washington Post‘s Eugene Robinson gives perspective on the Associated Press scandal. The Obama administration has no business rummaging through journalists’ phone records, perusing their e-mails and tracking their movements in an attempt to keep them from gathering news. This heavy-handed business isn’t chilling, it’s just plain cold. It also may well be unconstitutional. In…
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The Obamas' Tough Talk to Black Grads
Kai Wright gives his take on Colorlines on the controversial angle of last weekend’s high-profile commencement addresses. Graduation season is upon us, and with it the time-honored ritual of big, important graduation speeches. This weekend, Barack and Michelle Obama each gave theirs at historically black colleges — the president spoke at Morehouse, the first lady…
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Kanye West, 'New Slaves' and Hypocrisy
Ernest Owens rips into Kanye West’s new single at the Huffington Post, lamenting that the singer knows more than other rappers, yet “does nothing to fix the problem.” Everyone has that one cousin in the family that never tends to shut up at the dinner table. They complain about how the world is wicked and…
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Child-Support Laws: A Boon for Gold Diggers?
(The Root) — Just when it seemed Charlie Sheen’s story couldn’t get any more depressing for him, his fans and his family, things have managed to take a turn for the worse. His estranged wife, Brooke Mueller, has been admitted to rehab for drug addiction, something she’s struggled with for years. Despite the fact that…