reader mail
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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…
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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…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Art of the Last-Minute Clapback
Each Thursday I wade through all the mean emails, tweets, comments and direct messages sent to the writers at The Root and find the ones that warrant a response. I examine them for white tears, anger and racism and formulate a response in my head. Then I look at my computer and say: “I’ll do…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: A Basket of Horribles
I am currently suffering from the flu and feel like I’m going to die. But because of my dedication to the readers of The Root, I crawled out of bed to respond to a few emails, tweets, comments and direct messages we receive during the week. (And because, when I told my editor, Yesha Callahan,…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Last Hotep
If you enjoy our weekly roundup of emails, tweets, direct messages, comments and that one voicemail we did months ago, you probably won’t like this edition of the Clapback Mailbag. You might not even recognize it. While it will be chock-full of clapbacks as usual, this week’s mailbag marks the first time no white supremacist…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: It’s OK to Be Butt-Hurt
Today’s mailbag is dedicated to Tucker Carlson, Fox News and all the white people around the world who believe that The Root is racist. Your claims have been overlooked for too long. They make movies about make-believe stuff like Santa Claus, Bigfoot and Caucasians who can dance, but never took the time to address your…
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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…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Wypipo Be Tripping
Why is clapping back so important? I’ve been asked that question a million times (I’m bad at math). But I thought we should take some time to explore this question. It might give our readers some insight into why we choose to jab back at those who send us hate mail, insulting tweets and ugly…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Not All Mailbags
Today’s Clapback Mailbag is dedicated to last week’s mailbag. I know this sounds like some Inception-level shit where we make references to a mailbag inside a mailbag about the mailbag, so I will include some new stuff, too. Last week was a rough week for mail. I feel like you guys weren’t bringing your racist…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: The Gray Area
I want to dedicate this mailbag to my hangover. I think someone slipped a headache into my drink last night at The Root 100 gala. It’s either a hangover or I have sudden-onset brain cancer. That’s not a thing, is it? Or maybe it was Social Media Editor Corey Townsend screaming the lyrics to Cardi…