Race Matters
-
We Need to Talk About the 'Twisted Tea' Incident and Why This Story Matters
Let me first just say that we at The Root do not promote violence. We believe that you should use your words and that “an eye for an eye leaves everyone’s sticks and stones unturned.” (I don’t think that’s how it goes, but whichever adage means “don’t punch people” is what I’m saying.) We believe…
-
Atlanta Exxon Owner Plans to Sell Gas Station After Months of Anti-Racism Protests. Black Protest Organizer Wants to Buy It
It looks like the owner of an Exxon gas station in Atlanta is finding out the hard way that being racist while owning a store in a largely Black neighborhood is a recipe for all sorts of problems. After suffering more than two months of accusations of racism and anti-racism demonstrations, the store owner has…
-
'Racism Is Not Welcome Here': Minnesota Residents Speak Out Against Whites-Only Church Permitted by City Council
Earlier this month, The Root reported that in Murdock, Minn.—a small city of around 280 residents—white nationalist group Asatru Folk Assembly was granted permission via city council vote to turn an abandoned Lutheran church into a whites-only church for worshipers to…oh, I don’t know…be white and racist together in the name of whatever Klan-ish deity…
-
Oregon Man Accused of Shouting Racial Slurs at Black FedEx Delivery Driver and Chasing Him Down With Pellet Gun
I want to say that 2020 really has white people wilding wilding, but really the actions of passionate racists typically aren’t terribly surprising in any given year. In Aloha, Ore., a Black FedEx worker said he found himself on the wrong side of a bigots rampage while he was trying to make deliveries Sunday, and…
-
Black Pastors Call Kelly Loeffler’s Attacks on ‘Radical’ Raphael Warnock Sermons an ‘Attack Against the Black Church’
There’s a reason why white people—especially conservatives—are always so blind to their own racism: They view everything through a lens of whiteness. On Saturday, a group of Black pastors, mostly from Georgia, penned an open letter to Republican Sen. Kelly Loeffler and her campaign in response to recent “too radical for Georgia” attack ads against…
-
Wyoming Congressman Apologizes for Tweeting ‘Where the White Women At’ GIF to State’s First Black Sheriff
Man…I really hate wypipo apologies. What I mean is that I hate the way white people frame their apologies after doing or saying something that was clearly racist and intentional. It’s always different variations of: “It was a stupid yet innocent mistake. I didn’t mean it that way. Everyone who knows me knows there isn’t…
-
White Man Who Shot and Killed Two Black People in Kentucky Kroger Sentenced to Life in Prison
Gregory Alan Bush—the white man who walked into a Louisville, Ky., area Kroger supermarket in 2018 and fatally shot two elderly Black people—pleaded guilty to murder on Tuesday and will spend the rest of his life in prison without the possibility of parole. Bush—who is reportedly schizophrenic and was unmedicated at the time of the…
-
Newly Released Body Camera Footage Shows Police Questioning the McMichaels After Ahmaud Arbery Shooting
Newly released body camera footage has provided details regarding the moments following the shooting of Ahmaud Arbery in Glynn County, Ga., on Feb. 23. The video shows officers questioning Greg and Travis McMichael and William “Roddie” Bryan directly after the shooting. Of course, all the body-cam footage really shows us is a thing Black people…
-
No Charges Filed Against Minneapolis Pawn Shop Owner In Fatal Shooting of Black Man During George Floyd Unrest
In July, The Root reported that 43-year-old Calvin Horton Jr. was allegedly shot and killed by a Minneapolis pawnshop owner during civil unrest two days after the killing of George Floyd. As Horton’s family and their attorney, Ben Crump, took part in demonstrations demanding justice for Horton, police officials asked the public to come forward…