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  • Georgetown University to Offer Admissions Advantage to Descendants of 272 Slaves It Sold

    Georgetown University is looking to atone for its troubled history regarding slavery by offering preferential status in the admissions process to the descendants of 272 slaves who were sold in order to keep the university afloat, the New York Times reports. According to the Times, the university’s president, John J. DeGioia, is expected to discuss…

    By

    Breanna Edwards

    Published

  • MSNBC's O'Donnell on #DAPL: US Was Founded on Dishonesty and Genocide

    In about four minutes, MSNBC host Lawrence O’Donnell reminded liberal white America that it has the blood of indigenous people on their hands. In a riveting segment on Aug. 26, O’Donnell called what is happening in North Dakota to the Standing Rock Sioux tribe a “morally embarrassing reminder” of the genocide that Europeans committed in the…

    By

    Kirsten West Savali

    Published

  • Va. Mom Charged With Assault in Slap of Black Teen Who Was Fighting Her Son 

    A Virginia mother is facing charges of assault after authorities say she hit a black teen who got into a school fight with her son, the New York Daily News reports. In the video, a Northumberland High School student appears to be slamming the black teen, John Thomas, to the ground before punching him repeatedly.…

    By

    Breanna Edwards

    Published

  • Former Atlanta Cop Indicted on Felony Murder in Death of Unarmed Black Man 

    A Fulton County, Ga., grand jury has indicted a white former Atlanta police officer on felony murder, among other charges, in relation to the death of an unarmed black man who was inside a vehicle, the Associated Press reports. James Burns was also indicted on charges of aggravated assault, making a false statement and two counts…

    By

    Breanna Edwards

    Published

  • 'Affluenza' Teen’s Attorneys Argue Judge Had No Authority to Jail Him 

    And so the saga of privilege for “affluenza” teen Ethan Couch continues. According to a report by Reuters, lawyers for Couch, who drew national attention after killing four people while drunkenly driving as a 16-year-old, are seeking to have him released from a two-year jail term, claiming that the judge who sentenced him had no…

    By

    Breanna Edwards

    Published

  • President Obama Grants 111 Additional Commutations 

    On Tuesday, President Barack Obama granted commutations for an additional 111 federal inmates, bringing the total number of grants offered up to 325 in the month of August alone—the largest number of commutations ever granted by a president in a single month, the White House reports. Earlier this month, the president had granted more commutations in…

    By

    Breanna Edwards

    Published

  • Texas Death Row Inmate May Have Faked Mental Illness

    Gerald Eldridge, 52, may have faked having an illness to avoid execution after fatally shooting his ex-girlfriend Cynthia Bogany and her daughter in Houston 23 years ago, the Associated Press reports. Eldridge was convicted in 1993, and in 2009, when he was less than two hours away from being executed by lethal injection, U.S. District…

    By

    The Root Staff

    Published

  • SC Teacher Accused of Trashing 6-Year-Old Girl’s Sandals as Punishment for Fidgeting 

    Two South Carolina parents are outraged after they say a teacher threw away their 6-year-old daughters shoes because she was fidgeting with them while in class at Bryson Elementary in Simpsonville, WSPA reports. According to the report, Chartrese Edwards was getting her daughter, Taraji Edwards, ready for school when the little girl began to make…

    By

    Breanna Edwards

    Published

  • Woman Sets Herself on Fire in Congressman’s Office

    At about 3 p.m. on Tuesday, a woman walked into Democratic U.S. Rep. Danny Davis’ office on the West Side of Chicago, drank from a bottle of hand sanitizer, poured the sanitizer over herself and proceeded to set herself on fire with a lighter, CBS News reports. The reasons behind her actions are unclear, and…

    By

    The Root Staff

    Published

  • South African School Ordered to Suspend 'Racist' Hair Regulations

    A South African school that came under scrutiny after being accused of discriminating against black girls and encouraging racist hair policies has been ordered to suspend its hairstyle regulations and reassess its rules, Al-Jazeera reports. Students at Pretoria Girls High School say that they have been called monkeys by teachers for wearing banned Afros and…

    By

    Breanna Edwards

    Published