culture
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Nooses Are All the Rage; Can Lynchings Be Far Behind?
Nooses, nooses, everywhere. “Noose.” Such a sinister thing that rhymes with happy words like “goose” and “loose.” Nice words. Ain’t nothing nice about a noose, though, a tried-and-true racial-terror tactic that, according to a recent report by the Equal Justice Initiative, killed more than 4,000 black Americans between 1877 and 1950, and in all parts…
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Tracing Your Roots: Have I Found My Ancestor’s Plantation?
She found a photo of her great-grandmother in the records of a historic plantation house in Georgia, but little information about her life under slavery. Dear Professor Gates: I have located my great-grandmother Cora Lundy in the 1880 census. I would like to learn about her life before 1880 but have so few clues. She…
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The Richard Pryor Show: A Master Class of Innovation vs. Censorship
The severity of Richard Pryor’s influence on comedy—black comedy especially—cannot be quantified. The late comedian-actor shaped the art form with his uncanny ability to retain all the unique turmoil of his upbringing and disdain for institutional prejudice, and use it to tell amazing, gut-busting stories and jokes, all while sliding in biting social commentary along…
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Can Black People Be Racist? A Clapback Mailbag Special Edition
Welcome back to our weekly interactive look into The Root’s mailbag. Instead of our usual Friday hodgepodge of reader mail, today we would like to focus on a specific topic. More than any other complaint, comment or question, there is one in particular about which our readers contact us: Why are we so racist? Instead…
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How the Mint Conference Aims to Cultivate Photographers and Other Creatives
Ask any entrepreneur, advertising or marketing guru and they’ll tell you: Quality stock photography matters. So much so, in fact, that according to MDG Advertising, 67 percent of online shoppers rated high-quality images as being “very important” to their purchasing decisions, even more so than “product specific information,” “long descriptions,” or product “reviews and ratings.”…
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ESPN’s Reprimand of Jemele Hill Reveals How White Supremacy Controls the Media Industry
Updated Wednesday, Sept. 13, 2017, 5:52 p.m. EDT: The National Association of Black Journalists released the following statement in support of ESPN’s Jemele Hill: Earlier: ESPN’s reprimand of Jemele Hill for tweeting that Donald Trump’s success is tied to white supremacy angered many on social media, but it was hardly a surprise. Or, at least,…
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I Finally Found the One Who Passed the Wifey Test
Can you hear that sigh? It’s the collective sound of women across the globe weeping upon learning that I, Stephen A. Crockett Jr., have gotten married. I know, ladies, and I assure you that there is someone out here for you, but that someone just isn’t me. Fine. Whatever. No one cares. In fact, my…
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Donald Trump’s White Christian Supremacy
Donald J. Trump is the antithesis of a true follower of Christ. His xenophobic assault against Muslims, racist remarks about Mexicans, troubled history with women and sympathy for neo-Nazis make him remarkably unqualified to represent God’s teachings. He has rarely—if ever, really—mentioned faith as an essential force in his life, though, as a presidential candidate…
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Interview: Mother of 8-Year-Old Nearly Hanged in NH Speaks Out on Moving Forward With Her Son
Most of us were saddened and disgusted by the graphic photo of the little boy from Claremont, N.H., who was nearly hanged from a tree. If that wasn’t bad enough, the town’s police chief went on record shortly thereafter, saying of the kids who assaulted the biracial 8-year-old: “Mistakes they make as a young child…