Opinion
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: The Evidence of Things Not Seen
Nigga, I ain’t shitI just know how to rhyme a lil’ bitI’m just trying to squeeze fit my fat ass in wherever I can fit. — Cee-Lo Green Ninety-nine percent of the time, I already know what I’m going to say before I even begin to write the Clapback Mailbag. Today is the other one…
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Auntie Unfiltered: Black People Can’t Save You; We Tryna Save Ourselves
Attention white people: It is not up to black people to educate you and help you understand racism. It is not up to black people to tell you what you need to say to your white racist friends. It is not up to black people to undo racism. It is not up to black people…
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A Letter Not From a Birmingham Jail
“If it falls your lot to be a street sweeper, sweep streets like Michelangelo painted pictures, sweep streets like Beethoven composed music, sweep streets like Leontyne Price sings before the Metropolitan Opera. Sweep streets like Shakespeare wrote poetry. Sweep streets so well that all the hosts of heaven and earth will have to pause and…
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White-on-White Violence: Piers Morgan and Rudy Giuliani Engage in the Worst Verszuz Battle Ever
I don’t know what started it, and truthfully, I don’t care. But at some point during an interview between antifa and the Proud Boys, the mud started slinging, the wheels fell off the wagon and mayonnaise went flying everywhere. In what can only be called white-on-white violence, Piers Morgan and Rudy Giuliani got into a…
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Wypipo Wite-Out: K-Pop Fans Use Social Media Privilege to Drown Out #WhiteLivesMatter Hashtags
We have to admit—#BlackOutTuesday didn’t go the way its originators intended. Though we tried to alleviate a bit of confusion with a quick explainer that morning, some of the spiraling was unavoidable and unfortunately, the intended message was lost in the muddled mess. However, today is a brand new day and a new opportunity to…
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And the Pulitzer Prize for Caucasity Goes to…
This weekend, as I watched COVID-19’s racial disparities blow a 104,600-point lead to extrajudicial police killings, I pondered the effectiveness of nonviolent protest versus “riots.” I imagined strategies that might deter police brutality. I even considered if chaos was a good thing. But, of all the things that crossed my mind, there was never even…
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White People Are Doing White People Things During the Fed Up-Rising Riots
Some white people have been showing up for the ongoing protests against the George Floyd killing with thoughtfulness and in solidarity, including by putting their bodies in between cops and black protestors. Other white people have been showing their whole entire asses. In the ‘whole entire asses’ category, are the various disaffected suburban whites across…
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To Black People Who Say Violence Isn't a Solution
Protest violence has surged in cities across America, fueled by the racist brutalization and attendant mental traumatization of black people in this country that has continued unabated even during a deadly pandemic. Racist white people, Republicans, and the racist white Republican president have predictably responded to the not-so-peaceful protests with feigned disgust at violence—which they…
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The Root's Clapback Mailbag: White People Be Knowing
Thanks, Caucasians! This week’s mailbag was mostly filled with white people offering advice to black people on how to protest, how to respond to white supremacy and how to think in general. Although the unbelievable depth of white people’s brazenry knows no bounds, it’s always enlightening to learn about dealing with oppression from people who…