segregation
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Biden Defends Record on Race Before a Black Audience at Rainbow-PUSH Convention
A day after getting spanked on the issue of race during the second night of the Democrats’ presidential primary debate, former Vice President Joe Biden defended his civil rights record Friday before an African-American organization, at the Rev. Jesse Jackson’s Rainbow-PUSH Coalition convention. Friday’s appearance was Biden’s first after he took a beating on the…
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Mom Says Arizona Teacher Had Class Shame Black 9-Year-Old to Teach a Very Important History Lesson on Racism
The mother of a student who attends an Arizona charter school alleges that a third-grade teacher had the class reenact an important moment in the history of Jim Crow because, of course, the only way kids can learn about racism is through lynch mob role-playing exercises. “It is with a heavy heart that I have…
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Taraji P. Henson Brings Ann Atwater's Activism to Life in The Best of Enemies
It is a biblical fact that Taraji P. Henson has never been the one, and so it is fitting for her to play activist and disruptor Ann Atwater in the new film The Best of Enemies. Atwater was a civil rights activist who wasn’t here for anyone’s shit, making it her mission to make sure her…
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New York City’s Afrocentric Schools Get More Love as Segregation Increases Nationwide
As school districts across the country grapple with deepening segregation, Afrocentric schools in Brooklyn, N.Y., are drawing more interest from parents and educators alike. In a story published by the New York Times last week, reporter Eliza Shapiro spoke to the teachers, administrators, and parents of students enrolled in the “half-dozen or so” city schools…
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‘More Racist than Ferguson’: Hoover, Ala., and the Inevitable Death of Emantic Bradford Jr.
While I don’t know who shot Emantic Bradford Jr., I can tell you that his killer works for me. Every time I go to buy groceries, I pay his salary. My property taxes paid for the bullets he fired. And everyone knew it was going to happen. When a Hoover, Ala., police officer shot 21-year-old…
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Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen on What Has Changed Since the Civil Rights Movement and Jim Crow
In the new film Green Book, Mahershala Ali and Viggo Mortensen play a black musical genius and the hard-nosed Italian he hires to drive him through the Jim Crow south on a concert tour. The Root recently sat down with both actors to get their take on the ways in which not much has changed…
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Intense Segregation Is Returning to Boston's Public Schools, Report Finds
Boston is the latest city that is facing resegregation in its school system, an issue that many education advocates and experts say can intensify stark racial and economic divisions in the city. A new report from the Boston Globe details the city’s problems, finding that nearly 60 percent of Boston’s schools are “intensely segregated”—meaning students…
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J. Kenneth Lee, Who Was Among the 1st Black Students to Attend UNC at Chapel Hill, Dead at 94
J. Kenneth Lee, one of four black students who joined a lawsuit that would ultimately lead to the desegregation of the University of North Carolina School of Law and who became one of the first black students to attend UNC at Chapel Hill, has passed away at the age of 94. Lee passed away last…
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Private School for Rich Kids Announces Plans to Segregate Students By Race
If you’re reading this thinking it is one of those clickbait-y headlines for a perfectly reasonable policy, you’re probably going to be disappointed because a New York City private school for the children of wealthy parents has announced that it will begin separating its students based on their race. And, according to numerous reports, for…
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Court Rules Alabama Town’s School Segregation Too Racist … Even for Alabama
A federal appeals court on Tuesday struck down a lower-court ruling that allowed an Alabama town to essentially segregate its schools, finding that the new school district’s intentions to split from Jefferson County schools were racially motivated and typical of how white people will do whatever it takes when black people get too close. OK…