culture
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‘Mixed Kids Are the Cutest’ Isn’t Cute?
(The Root) — “I’m a Caucasian woman with a biracial child (her father is black). I live in a predominantly white community. Why is it that whenever people discover that I have a ‘mixed’ child, they always say things like, ‘Oh, he/she must be so cute/gorgeous/adorable, those kids are always the best looking. You are…
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Help Georgia Students End Segregated Proms
(The Root) — UPDATED Wednesday, April 10, 2013, at 2:45 EDT: An adviser to the students, Harriet Hollis of the Southwest Georgia Project for Community Education, told Farai Chideya that the students are planning a more private celebration. The Root will bring you more soon about their plans and how they are choosing to make…
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Beer, Drugs and Filthy Conditions: New Orleans Jail Caught on Tape
Louisiana’s Orleans Parish Prison complex has been called “one of the worst large-city jails in the whole country,” and a now-viral video showing an institution “wracked by violence, inmate suicides, overcrowding, dilapidation and mismanagement” has given imagery to that label, Slate reports. Footage that emerged in a federal courtroom this week shows inmates openly drinking,…
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Margaret Thatcher Dead at 87
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher, the first woman to become the United Kingdom’s prime minister, has died of a stroke at the age of 87, CNN reports. The leader of her country’s Conservative Party from 1979 to 1990 and a strong supporter and confidante of Ronald Reagan, she had suffered several strokes since her…
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A Lady in the Street and a Freak in the Bed
Rihanna has declared herself to be a good girl gone bad, and when Beyoncé has wanted to be fierce, she has used her character Sasha. But does there have to be such a “Madonna/whore” separation? asks Feminista Jones on Ebony. The idea of women being open about their sexual desires and behavior continues to make…
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Why Michigan's Fab 5 Should Reunite
As University of Michigan fans gather for Monday night’s NCAA Championship game, Jemele Hill writes on ESPN that the school’s Fab Five basketball legends should reunite for this historic game, including Chris Webber. This weekend, Michigan is making its first Final Four appearance since 1993, back when King, Jalen Rose, Chris Webber, Juwan Howard and…
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Dance Theatre of Harlem Returns After 9 Years
After a nine-year hiatus because of a $2.3 million debt, the Dance Theatre of Harlem is returning to the stage, reports the New York Times. What does Dance Theater of Harlem mean today? Does a primarily black ballet company even need to exist? Since its founding the company succeeded in promoting black classical dances while…
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Jay-Z, Beyoncé May Be Investigated for Cuba Trip
Jay-Z and Beyoncé made a highly publicized trip to Cuba for their fifth wedding anniversary, and now two Republicans are demanding that the Obama administration investigate the couple, reports ThinkProgress. Former House Foreign Affairs Committee chairwoman Rep. Ileana Ros-Lehtinen (R-FL) and her colleague Rep. Mario Diaz-Balart sent a letter to the Treasury Department’s Office of…
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Georgia High School to Host 1st Integrated Prom
Racial integration might be the norm in most of America, but at Wilcox County High School in South Georgia, parents still organize an annual segregated prom. When several students wanted an integrated prom, they had to raise their own money to make it happen, reports CBS News. If any race other than Caucasian tries to…
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Jeremy Lin, Victim of Discrimination?
Baller Jeremy Lin wasn’t drafted out of high school to play for his dream college, Stanford, and he thinks he knows why. The former New York Knicks guard turned Houston Rocket points to his Asian-American descent as a stumbling block, reports the Daily News. In a “60 Minutes” interview that was excerpted Friday, the Houston…