racism

  • Ga. Park Hanging Referred to FBI 

    Atlanta Mayor Kasim Reed issued a statement Thursday afternoon announcing that the case regarding a black man found hanging from a tree in the city’s Piedmont Park has been referred to the FBI, the Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. According to the site, the announcement came hours after social media users expressed suspicions and outrage, with some…

  • Girlfriend of Philando Castile Speaks Out About His Fatal Police Encounter: ‘They Are Here to Kill Us’

    The girlfriend of Philando Castile, who was shot and killed Wednesday night during a traffic stop in Falcon Heights, Minn., made her first public appearance Thursday morning at a rally at the residence of Minnesota Gov. Mark Dayton in St. Paul, Fusion reports. Diamond “Lavish” Reynolds, who broadcast the aftermath of Castile’s shooting on Facebook…

  • Attorneys for Accused Charleston, SC, Church Shooter Dylann Roof Ask for Dismissal of Federal Case

    Attorneys for Dylann Roof, accused of shooting nine parishioners at Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church in Charleston, S.C., are calling the federal case unconstitutional and asking for those charges to be dropped, WCSC reports. The court documents, which were filed Tuesday, assert that the case against Roof should be handled by the state of South…

  • Stop Punishing Black Children Just Because They’re Black

    Editor’s note: Once a month, this column will tackle broader questions about what the country should do about gaps in achievement and opportunity, especially for boys of color. Schools should be held to higher standards than students. If schools irresponsibly impose discipline practices, then those rules (or leaders) should be expelled. However, when it comes to…

  • Descendants of Plantation Owner, Slave Reunite for Dinner 181 Years Later

    Last week, two families sat down for dinner. That really isn’t unusual or special, but what made this gathering rare was that it took some 181 years to get there. Nkrumah Steward, the descendant of a slave, and Robert Adams, the descendant of a plantation owner, pulled together the meeting between their two families to…

  • Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby Is Receiving Death Threats

    Baltimore City State’s Attorney Marilyn Mosby, who charged six police officers in connection with Freddie Gray’s death, has had to increase her security detail after she reportedly received hate mail and threats at her office. “Our office has received, and she has personally received, a number of offensive and extremely disturbing, racist, sexist hate mail…

  • 10 Ways The Racist-Ass Red Cross Poster Could Have Been More Racist

    Every so often, something so ridiculously racist occurs that even in this, the year of our Lord, two thousand and sixteen, it manages to surprise me. This in a time when Donald “Keep the Mexicans off the jurist bench, out of America, but let them build my hotels” Trump is an ACTUAL possibility to represent…

  • Prosecutor Asks That SC Be Allowed to Hold Dylann Roof Trial 1st

    A South Carolina state attorney is asking that the state be allowed to prosecute accused Emanuel African Methodist Episcopal Church shooter Dylann Roof before the federal government does, the Associated Press reports. Claiming that the state has primary jurisdiction over the case, 9th Judicial Circuit solicitor Scarlett Wilson, who will be prosecuting Roof for the state, said Tuesday that…

  • 2 Mo. Men Arrested After Throwing Eggs, Shouting Racial Slurs

    Police are calling the actions of two Missouri men who allegedly threw eggs and hurled racial slurs at African Americans in south St. Louis a “hate crime,” KSDK reports. Jesse Reed, 30, and David Ragain, also 30, were arrested late Friday and charged with assault motivated by discrimination in the third degree, the station notes. “A white…

  • Red Cross Apologizes After 'Super Racist' Pool-Safety Poster

    The American Red Cross is learning that a little revision goes a long way after a signboard about swim-safety guidelines came under fire for its “racist” message, prompting an apology from the Red Cross, NBC News reports. The backlash started after a photo of a pool-safety poster in Fort Morgan, Colo., started circulating on social…