culture
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MLK's Children: They Have a Scheme
(The Root) — It must be the incurable cynic in me, or a twisted sense of humor, or some other flaw in my character. But whatever the reason, I just can’t get upset by the latest news about the alleged perfidy of Martin Luther King Jr.’s children. That’s the story broken the other day by…
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Black Leaders Not New to Marriage-Equality 'Bandwagon'
There been a lot of talk this week about the “bandwagon effect” kicking in when it comes to support for marriage equality. As MSNBC’s the Maddow Blog put it, politicians “see their colleagues do the right thing, and they hurry to join the club before it’s too late.” Consider the last week in Democratic politics.…
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Why Black Dolls Are a Big Deal
Writing at Jezebel, Laura Beck recalls having a meltdown as a white 5-year-old who found only black dolls in one particular toy store. That unusual experience, she says, speaks to the value of little girls having dolls that look like them — and the larger issues revealed by the fact that black and brown children…
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Can 'The Game' Remain the Same?
(The Root) — There were a lot of tears from fans and actors alike during last night’s emotional premiere of BET’s hit dramedy The Game, which returned for its sixth season by saying goodbye to two of the show’s main characters. Since it landed on the cable network in 2011, cheerleaders for the original CW…
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Mom and Aunt of Baby-Shooting Suspect Arrested
The mother and aunt of 17-year-old De’Marquise Elkins, who is accused in the fatal shooting of a baby in his stroller in Georgia, were arrested on charges that they lied to authorities about the case, the Associated Press reports. Authorities haven’t yet said exactly which false statements the women made: The slain child’s mother, Sherry…
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Massachusetts Keeps a Slavery Myth Alive
(The Root) — Last week Amy S. Erickson, the master teacher and academic coordinator at New Millennium Academy in Minneapolis, sent me a link to a “nonfiction” reading comprehension test (pdf) for sixth-graders from the Massachusetts Department of Education. The “nonfiction” exercise was about quilts and the Underground Railroad. The passage, titled “Women’s Quilts as…
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Bill Clinton to Deliver Howard's Commencement Address
Former President Bill Clinton will deliver the May commencement address at Howard University, one of the nation’s oldest HBCUs. More fodder for the old “first black president” joke? Perhaps. But university President Sidney Ribeau said that Clinton was invited because his example as a leader, humanitarian and advocate and his commitment to public service will…
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White Student Union Begins Nighttime Campus Patrols
Members of Towson University’s White Student Union plan to begin patrolling the Maryland campus to protect students from would-be attackers, union founder Matthew Heinbach told the school newspaper Towerlight. He says the efforts will be colorblind, assuring the publication, “If we see a white person commit a crime against a person who is not white,…
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The Supreme Court vs. the Court of Public Opinion
In his column for the Washington Post, Eugene Robinson writes of his hopes that the U.S. Supreme Court will not halt the country’s rapid movement toward acceptance of same-sex marriage. The two big cases being argued before the court this week could turn out to be landmarks that confirm the nation’s progress toward marriage equality…
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Stop Trying to Defend Fox News
The Atlantic’s Conor Friedersdorf responds to Jonathan Tobin’s defense of Fox News, in which he wrote that the network is not uniquely biased or full of right-wing propaganda. Friedersdorf concedes that cable news overall leaves much to be desired, but when it comes to quality programming, “an hour of opinion broadcasting from the excellent Chris Hayes…