racism
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A Look Back at the Reaction to 'Straight Black Men Are the White People of Black People' a Year Later
A year ago, a line in a piece from Saki Benibo—an assertion also articulated a year before in a tweet from Mela Machinko—inspired me to write something of my own based on that statement. The result (“Straight Black Men Are The White People Of Black People”) was my most read VSB piece of 2017. It…
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Has Valerie Scogin, the Teacher Who Said Black People Should Go Back to Africa, Ever Taken a DNA Test? Because, Well …
There have been and will continue to be calls for Valerie Scogin — the Louisiana school teacher who essentially called black people lazy animals who should go back to Africa—to be suspended and/or fired. These demands have merit, because not only is Scogin racist, she got her “facts” from a MAGA fortune cookie. And since…
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Fla. Governor's Race: Democratic Nominee Andrew Gillum Calls Racist Robocalls Targeting Him 'Deeply Regrettable'
Florida Democratic gubernatorial candidate Andrew Gillum said a racist robocall mocking him by featuring a man speaking in a stereotypical black dialect and jungle noises in the background was “deeply regrettable,” CNN reports. The 78-second prerecorded message was paid for by a white supremacist and anti-Semitic video podcast hosted by Scott Rhodes of Idaho. It…
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Judge of Characters: Confronting Racism Does Not Make You Racist
The Root is a platform that unapologetically confronts racism. But it seems that the racists we call out often attempt to flip the script on us—specifically me and Judge of Characters—by labeling me a racist. For a year now, I’ve been writing and producing the series, Judge of Characters to shine light on the things…
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Betty Shelby Is Teaching a Class on Surviving Killing an Unarmed Black Man. Here Are 10 Things She'd Be Better At
This week, Betty Shelby, the Tulsa Police Officer who shot and killed Terence Crutcher—and claimed he “caused his own death” by “failing to comply” to her orders—will teach a course to other police officers about “Surviving the Aftermath of a Critical Incident.” Shelby is convinced that other officers will be forced to deal with what…
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The VSB Group Chat: Insecure Season 3, Episode 3, 'Backwards-Like' Recap
Are we getting anywhere with Issa and Daniel as we putt-putt along into episode 3? Welcome back to the shenanigans as we keep the debate and discussion that Insecure inspires going with our weekly chat between Jouelzy and Panama Jackson. Salut. Jouelzy: They’re rolling HBO’s requirement for explicit sex into dream montages and I don’t…
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1-800-WYPIPO: Breaking Down Trump’s Tweets About Black Folks
Why does Donald Trump keep coming for black folks? Here at The Root, we’ve been keeping an eye on the internets, and it looks like Trump has something disparaging to say about black folk, like, all of the time. He’s called Omarosa a dog; called LeBron James and Don Lemon dumb; not to mention his…
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Racist White Man Allegedly Stabs Black Man to Death, Then Asks Police for a Ride Home
On Sunday, 24-year-old Joden Rocco was charged in the stabbing death of 24-year-old Dulane Cameron Jr. outside of a bar in Pittsburgh. But as details from the incident emerge, a story that initially seemed like just an unusually tragic outcome to a bar fight has been discovered to have serious racial implications. Rocco (who is…

