reader hate mail
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Let Wypipo Go
It’s Good Friday and Passover Eve. The Root’s deputy managing editor, Yesha Callahan, is not here to force me to write an extensive lede because last night, Very Smart Brothas and The Glow Up had their first joint event, Urban by Nature, in Los Angeles. A lot of the staff from The Root attended, but…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Sticks and Stones
Welcome back to the Friday Clapback Mailbag: You already know what this is, so don’t be surprised by the collection of tweets, emails and DMs we receive from people who read The Root. It’s part of the job. From: GregTo: Michael HarriotSubject: No Subject Michael, I read your satire piece about the “racist” ( according…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: My Apology
Yesterday, after discovering that the Cleveland Cavaliers traded Isaiah Thomas, Dwyane Wade, Derrick Rose, Channing Iman Shumpert, Jae Crowder, Winston Churchill and Jesus H. Christ for a half-eaten bag of Cool Ranch Doritos, in a failed attempt to make a joke, I suggested that I was leaving The Root: It was a joke, but the…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Racists and White Jesus Need to Step Up Their Game
Hey, look, guys, I need to admit something: This whole mailbag thing may have been a bad idea. When we started this, it seemed like a grand plan to expose the various kinds of hate mail, tweets and comments the writers at The Root receive on a daily basis. It also gave us an outlet…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Cusswords, Awards and Our Old Friend Umar
It seems like only yesterday that we began highlighting the emails, tweets, comments and messages from our readers. As we close out 2017, we would like to thank our haters because we don’t know where we’d be without you. (Actually, we do know where we’d be without you. We’d be fractionally happier, I’d probably have…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Insert Clever Title Here
Yesterday, Deputy Managing Editor Yesha Callahan told me, and I quote: “No one wants to wait around for the mailbag tomorrow … and by ‘no one,’ I mean me.” Fine, then. So I guess I won’t write an intro. This lede was gonna be funny as hell, too. I was going to explain how this…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: We’re the Real Racists
You’re the real racists. I’ve always wanted to say that. That phrase has surpassed “Not all white people” as the No. 1 complaint in the comments, emails, messages and tweets we receive at The Root. So today’s Clapback Mailbag is dedicated to the people who believe The Root should be added to the list of…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Pocahontas, Potato Salad and Porch Monkeys
I have a confession. The Root’s staff is going to kill me for revealing this top secret information, but in the spirit of openness and honesty, I feel it needs to be said, so here goes: Not everyone hates us. I know it’s hard to believe. I can’t believe it myself. The truth is, although…
-
The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: White Friday
In the wake of the Thanksgiving holiday, we would like to offer a kinder, gentler Clapback Mailbag this week. Instead of clapping back at the people who send emails, tweets and direct messages, we would like to thank our haters, because without them, where would we be? As you sit back munching on your leftover…