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'Let's Be Clear; This Was an Execution': Family Incensed After Viewing 20-Second Snippet of N.C. Police Killing Andrew Brown Jr.
“An execution” was the first response of one of the few people allowed to see a snippet of the video that showed the police-involved shooting of Andrew Brown Jr. After numerous delays, officials in Elizabeth City, N.C., finally allowed the family and representatives of Andrew Brown Jr.—who was killed by a Pasquotank County sheriff’s deputy…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Maybe America Isn't Racist
Michael Harriot is on assignment this week. Before he left, he asked someone to fill in for today’s mailbag but everyone on staff was really busy, so The Root hired me as a one-time freelance writer to fill in. Honestly, I was surprised to get the call. After all of the insults and draggings I’ve…
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Why Do Blacks Have a 'Victim Mentality?' and Other Questions From an Ohio School's White History Assignment
An Ohio high school district is probably not under fire after a recent history assignment helped students explore the subject “How to be a pro racist.” According to the National Center for Education statistics, Waverly High School in Waverly, Ohio is 96 percent white, boasting a grand total of six Black students during the 2019-2020…
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How You Can Honor George Floyd's Life With Real Police Reform, Explained
A jury found Derek Chauvin guilty. He is going to jail. Whether or not convicting one man can effect change in the way Black and brown communities are policed is yet to be seen. However, using the momentum of this tragedy to transform the culture of policing does not depend on police chiefs and powerful…
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Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin Celebrated 4/20 by Sending 15,000 Marijuana Convictions Up in Smoke
While the twentieth day of the fourth month holds no special significance for anyone outside of the incense industry (for some reason, it always smells like something’s burning; maybe it’s just me), Birmingham, Ala., Mayor Randall Woodfin gave residents a reason to celebrate when he officially pardoned anyone convicted of misdemeanor marijuana possession by the…
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Justice, I Guess.
On May 25, 2020, George Perry Floyd, was alive. On that day, and every day prior to that day, George Floyd walked and talked and prayed and fell in love and – again, I cannot stress this enough – most of all, he was alive. Then he wasn’t. When George Floyd was two years old,…
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What if White People Are Wrong?
Of all the toxic traits that white supremacy offers, perhaps its most oxymoronic byproduct is the supreme confidence with which it endows its adherents. At this very moment, someone reading these words is absolutely certain that they are excluded from the group most Black people consider to be racist. Meanwhile, perhaps the most anti-racist white…
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Daunte and the Debt Collectors: How the Cops Became Robbers
On Sunday, April 11, 20-year-old Daunte Wright was driving with his girlfriend in Brooklyn Center, Minn., when an armed posse, under the color and authority of the law, recognized the fact that he hadn’t paid for a sticker on his license plate. After stopping Wright for not having the decal that permitted him to drive…
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Maybe America Is Racist
A few years ago, while covering a story on Republican New Hampshire legislator Werner Horn, I summoned the best and brightest scholars that America had to offer. Horn, who represents his 95.9 percent white hometown in his state’s House of Representatives, confounded people who actually know things by stating that “owning slaves doesn’t make you…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: Cotton Pickin' Facts
This edition of the Mailbag is dedicated to all of the people out there fighting racism. Not the ones who want to eliminate white supremacy. This is also not for those who want to wipe out education, employment and economic inequality. If you’re against police brutality, this is not your Mailbag. Today, we are celebrating…
