Opinion
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Everything You've Been Told About Botham Jean is Wrong
Come. Let me show you something. Let me show you what it is to be black. To be forever erased from the realm of the living with a bang and a puff of smoke. To disappear silently into an empty void or, even worse, to have your death dissected in a desperate futile search for…
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I Want to Build a Wall Around Anyone Who Thinks Taco Bell Is the Best Mexican Restaurant in the Country
As a native Los Angeleno, I recognize that I have grown up with a certain amount of taco privilege. I basically live in northern Mexico, and good, authentic tacos and Mexican food can be found relatively easily with minimal effort. It is one of the perks of living here, and I don’t take it for…
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Why the Serena Williams Cartoon is Racist, Sexist Trash, Explained
When cartoonist Mark Knight tweeted an image of his cartoon depicting Serena Williams’ disagreement with Umpire Carlos Ramos in the Finals of the U.S. Open, he responded to the public criticisms of racism by asserting that “it had nothing to do with gender or race,” according to Melbourne Australia’s Herald Sun. “The cartoon about Serena…
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When in Doubt, Blame the Dead
Dallas Police Officer Amber Guyger should be facing a murder charge. There are too many holes in this carefully-crafted narrative that is being doled out to us a teaspoonful at a time. Too many things don’t add up. The more they dribble out to us, the more questions we have. Earlier Monday, a law enforcement…
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Competition, Compassion and the Stories We Don't Hear About Black Women Athletes
By now, many of us know the story of what happened at the Women’s U.S. Open finals on Saturday. During the match between Serena Williams and Naomi Osaka, in which Osaka was ahead, Chair umpire Carlos Ramos pushed Williams towards the breaking point, personally and with regard to the match, with a series of mystifying…
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The Root’s Clapback Mailbag: Feeding the Trolls
I can tell when I’m being trolled. I know I’m not supposed to feed them but sometimes I have to let people know that I’m not as gullible as they think I am. Take The Root’s News Editor Breanna Edwards for instance. Even before I started working at The Root, I knew she wasn’t real.…
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Why I Hate Biopics
So the title is a lie. Any list of my all-time favorite movies would include both Goodfellas and Malcolm X in it—both of which are biopics—and there many others that I’ve enjoyed watching. So, as a rule, I do not actually hate watching movies that are based on a real person’s life and the events…
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Dear People Who Don't Respect Personal Space: WTF Is Wrong With You? I Hate You
I was at the mall the other day procuring some procurables from one of those spots that sells shit. It is my experience that many malls in America have ample free parking, but not the Fashion Centre at Pentagon City, locally know as Pentagon City. Parking is $3 for two hours, $4 hours for three,…
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Jasper Williams and the Stupidity of Respectability
There exists a piece of video with a quote I have been trying to find for years. I know it happened at the Reebok Grand Prix on May 31, 2008, because I was watching. I know the quote was made by sprinter Usain Bolt, who had just set a new world record. After the race,…
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You Are Not Part of the 'Resistance' If You Are Hiding Behind Anonymity
On Wednesday, the New York Times skirted its normal editorial policy and allowed a senior official in the Trump administration to write an anonymous op-ed essay titled “I Am Part of the Resistance Inside the Trump Administration.” The official explains in their essay that there is a contingent of administration officials who have “vowed to…