Topic: Race

Student Arrested for Science Experiment Won't Face Charges After All

by ALEXANDER RATHS via Shutterstock

Kiera Wilmot, a 16-year-old Florida high school student who was arrested last month for what was essentially a failed science experiment, won't face criminal charges.

By Philip Bump

May 10, 2013

Heritage Foundation Cuts Ties to Jason Richwine

Jason Richwine, co-author of a controversial report from the Heritage Foundation that criticized the potential cost of immigration reform, has resigned from the organization.

Comments | 6,040 Views

By Philip Bump

May 9, 2013

A State-By-State Look at the Record Black Turnout in 2012

The Census Bureau has verified that turnout among black voters for the first time topped that among whites in 2012. That shift may have affected the results in some states — and could affect perceptions of the Voting Rights Act.

Comments | 609 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 29, 2013

Obama Is Not the Reason There Aren't More High-Profile Black Politicians

Answers to a Politico story today amount to a polite way of noting that since Obama's election, the national conversation about race hasn't always been enlightening. But while racism among some people, particularly in the South, plays a role, there are other barriers keeping black politicians from winning statewide.

Comments

By Esther Zuckerman

Apr 12, 2013

Jon Stewart on the GOP's New Yada Yada Yada Strategy

Jon Stewart used a famous Seinfeld joke to explain how Republicans are approaching trying to woo black voters.

Comments | 2,731 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 10, 2013

Kansas Politician Is the Latest Accidental Racist After Dropping the N-Word

After country star Brad Paisley kicked off a national conversation about white guys who don't want to be called racist just because they say or wear things with racist connotations, we find a fascinating case study in Salina, Kansas, where a county commissioner suggested the county should avoid "n— rigging" repairs to a local building.

Comments | 3,495 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 10, 2013

Rand Paul's Twisted History Blames GOP Race Problem on Depression-Era Gifts

Rand Paul's explanation for how Republicans lost the support of black voters, at a Howard University speech Wednesday, sounded a lot like Mitt Romney's explanation for why he lost the 2012 election — that Obama won because he offered "gifts." Rand Paul's explanation is wrong.

Comments | 5,937 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 9, 2013

Rand Paul Confronts the GOP's Race Problem

As the 2016 contender, GOP libertarian spokesman, and son of Ron prepares to give a speech at Howard University about the history of black voters and the Republican Party, it's impossible not to be curious about which story he decides to tell: the one in which the GOP just forgot to campaign for black votes, or the one in which the GOP made a bad bet on racism and is trying to fix it.


Comments | 3,427 Views

By Richard Lawson

Apr 8, 2013

Brad Paisley and LL Cool J Have a Conversation About Racism

It seems that country singer Brad Paisley is having an identity crisis. See, he's from the South and he's proud of that, but one time a (presumably black, possibly invented for the purposes of storytelling) Starbucks employee was not a fan of his Confederate flag T-shirt. So he's written a song called "Accidental Racist."

Comments | 12,795 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 20, 2013

Conservatives Worry Latinos Aren't Worth Pandering To

If Latinos won't reward Republicans, why should Republicans do anything to help Latinos? 

Comments | 1,555 Views

By Philip Bump

Mar 20, 2013

All This GOP Infighting Keeps Revealing a Deep Divide on Race

Day four of the weird War of the RNC All-Stars saw Michael Steele and Reince Priebus battle over minority outreach, inadvertently exposing why Republicans will have two outreach plans going forward: one to Latinos, and one to blacks.

Comments | 2,937 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 18, 2013

Can the Official Wing of the GOP Rein in the Angry Wing?

There were really two CPACs this weekend: official CPAC and angry CPAC. This is where you could see the conflict between the party's attempt to get new voters and the rebellion of its old ones.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 15, 2013

CPAC's 'Trump the Race Card' Panel Derailed by Actual Segregationist

 A panel about how conservatives can fight back when liberals call them racists descended into shouting when an actual segregationist joined a CPAC panel titled "Trump the Race Card: Are You Sick and Tired of Being Called a Racist and You Know You're Not One?" We're not making any of this up.

Comments | 27,753 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

Feb 5, 2013

How White Male Tech Writers Feed the Silicon Valley Myth of Meritocracy

As a counter-argument to a much discussed post on why white males dominate the tech blogging world, white male tech blogger Jason Calacanis took to Twitter today in using his own successful experience — and pretty much only that — to prove that such racism doesn't exist.

Comments | 23,308 Views

By J.K. Trotter

Jan 22, 2013

Stephen Colbert and Ta-Nehisi Coates Talk About Obama and Race

The Atlantic's Ta-Nehisi Coates appeared on last night's Colbert Report, where host Stephen Colbert interrogated him about politics; the ascendance, election, and re-election of President Obama; and how race continues to bear on American life, both public and private.

Comments | 1,207 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

Dec 14, 2012

ESPN Has a Really Hard Time Talking About Race

In the latest of its problems with sports and race on TV, ESPN has suspended commentator Rob Parker for calling Redskins quarterback Robert Griffin III a "cornball brother."

Comments | 3,240 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Nov 1, 2012

How to Tell If Your Empty Chair Lawn Display Is Racist: Does It Have a Noose?

Today, some conservatives complain that you can't attack President Obama without being called racist. That might have something to do with confusion over what is racist. Today, The Atlantic Wire offers help with one touchy subject area: empty chair lawn decorations.

Comments | 6,725 Views

By Serena Dai

Oct 25, 2012

Chart of the Day

Charting the Racial Makeup of America

The denser the place, the greater the racial integration—or, in other words, cities tend to be more racially diverse while less dense areas generally have higher percentages of white people, according to this chart from Bill Rankin at racialcartography.net.

Comments | 1,618 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Oct 24, 2012

Was It Racist for Palin to Accuse Obama of 'Shuck and Jive'?

Sarah Palin condemned President Obama's response to the attacks in Benghazi as a "shuck and jive shtick" in a note on her Facebook page Wednesday.

Comments | 7,731 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Oct 3, 2012

Ad Watch

Obama Declares Romney 'Not One of Us'

Today in Ad Watch: President Obama accuses Mitt Romney of using coal miners as props, Romney talks straight into the camera again, the Romney campaign admits Joe Biden is better at selling their economic message, and an anti-immigration group targets black voters.

Comments | 2,242 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Oct 3, 2012

Who Was Helped by The Daily Caller's Obama Video Stunt?

The moment Twitter figured out that Drudge, Sean Hannity, and The Daily Caller had coordinated to make a big production out of an Obama speech that was covered by a ton of news sites five years ago spawned anxiety among some conservatives.

Comments | 3,511 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Oct 2, 2012

Actually George Will's Been Obsessed with Race for a Long Time

The real story about race in this election is not that racism might hurt President Obama, but that it might help him, The Washington Post's George Will writes.

Comments | 2,829 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Sep 28, 2012

No, You're the Racist, or Blogging About Obama Phones

Yesterday we asked "How Racist Is the Obama Phone Video?" It turns out that we didn't just need to explain the degree of the racism, but whether it was racist at all. Okay, here goes.

Comments | 366,671 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Sep 27, 2012

Just How Racist Is the 'Obama Phone' Video?

There was a video leading the Drudge Report on Thursday afternoon of a poor black woman with messed-up teeth saying she's voting for President Obama because he gave her a free phone, and perhaps you have some questions about it.

Comments | 139,922 Views

By Connor Simpson

Sep 3, 2012

Chris Matthews Accuses Romney of 'Encouraging White Anger'

Chris Matthews accused the Romney campaign of "encouraging white anger" in order to win in November during an appearance with Andrea Mitchell live from Charlotte on Monday afternoon.

Comments | 12,635 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Aug 27, 2012

Race Takes Over the Race

Mitt Romney says that Obama allowed a waiver for the work requirement for welfare -- if states have a better way of getting recipients into jobs -- so that the President could "shore up his base." Romney probably didn't mean the Republican governors who asked for the waivers but, fitting with his campaign's recent message, poor black people who take white people's money.

Comments | 10,741 Views

By John Hudson

Aug 23, 2012

Why Obama Can't Talk About Race

Why is it that, despite being one of the most gifted orators on race in America, President Obama rarely addresses the issue?

Comments | 1,209 Views

By Esther Zuckerman

Jul 16, 2012

Poll Watch

Opinions On Race and Mormonism; Swing State Races Are Tight

Views on race impact Obama more than views on Mormonism impact Romney, Americans have mixed opinions on health care, and nothing's clear in swing states. Here's our guide to today's polls and why they matter.

Comments | 1,605 Views

By Rebecca Greenfield

May 30, 2012

Today in Research

Once Fat, Always Fat; Another Close Asteroid

Discovered: Another close-to-Earth asteroid, even the formerly fat are remembered for being fat, and TV only improves the self-esteem of white boys.

Comments | 2,518 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 23, 2012

A Familiar Stripe of Anti-Obama Discontent Runs Through the South

Why did two in five Democratic voters in Kentucky and Arkansas vote against President Obama in their states' primaries on Tuesday? Different theories have been floated. But one factor that can't be ignored is race.

Comments | 5,271 Views

By Alexander Abad-Santos

May 17, 2012

GOP Super PAC: Obama Is a 'Metrosexual, Black Abe Lincoln'

Apparently, being a black, well-groomed version of one of America's most beloved presidents is a bad thing. And along with a lot of chickens and Reverend Jeremiah Wright--it's the skeleton of a conservative Super PAC's $10 million attack plan.

Comments | 12,060 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

May 17, 2012

White Babies Are Now Less Than Half of All U.S. Births

White Americans have officially passed a major — though not unexpected — milestone as they now represent less than half of all births in the United States

Comments | 4,659 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

May 9, 2012

How Arguments Against Gay Marriage Mirror Those Against Miscegenation

North Carolina became the last southern state to adopt a constitutional amendment banning gay marriage Tuesday, and like its fellow southern states, it has a long history with regulating marriages.

Comments | 19,742 Views

By Jen Doll

Apr 26, 2012

Y.A. for Grownups

The Ongoing Problem of Race in Y.A.

In 1965, 11 years after the Supreme Court outlawed segregated schools, Nancy Larrick wrote an article titled "The All-White World of Children's Books" for the Saturday Review. Much has changed since then. Some has stayed the same.

Comments | 15,267 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 19, 2012

'Girls' Writer Is Learning There's No Such Thing as Ironic Racism

Sometimes when someone says something racist, it's an accident -- that's what happens in The Human Stain -- but other times, upon closer examination, it becomes clear that the person knew what she was saying because they keep saying the same things.

Comments | 85,199 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 18, 2012

'Girls' Writer Responds to Critique of 'Girls' with Horrible Joke

All writers know how tough it can be when your work is criticized and sometimes it's hard not to respond with a mean joke at the critic's expense. But even when succumbing to the temptation of a one-liner, most of us manage to avoid sounding like racists.

Comments | 49,206 Views

By Richard Lawson

Apr 18, 2012

Please Drop 'The Bachelor' Discrimination Lawsuit

Yesterday, two football players from Tennessee, Nathaniel Claybrooks and Christopher Johnson, announced that they plan to sue ABC and the producers of The Bachelor for racial discrimination.

Comments | 1,940 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 11, 2012

Racist Writers Are Right to Feel Threatened

Scan a few racist websites and you'll find a pervasive fear that white people are persecuted and threatened with extinction. But this is actually just a bit of projection, because it's actually the people who make a living off being racist who are the endangered species.

Comments | 4,708 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Apr 10, 2012

John Derbyshire Abides

A day after getting dismissed by National Review and hours after undergoing chemotherapy, John Derbyshire seems unperturbed by the uproar he caused with his awful "non black" version of "The Talk." 

Comments | 2,650 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 9, 2012

Here Are the Racists Sad to See Derbyshire Go

White supremacists are rallying to John Derbyshire's side, but not without reservations.

Comments | 7,859 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 8, 2012

Two Men Arrested Over Racial Shootings in Tulsa

Police have arrested two men in Tulsa for the murders of three black men and the shooting of two others that happened on Friday.

Comments | 3,660 Views

By Connor Simpson

Apr 7, 2012

John Derbyshire Has (Finally) Been Fired

National Review editor Rich Lowry has finally announced the firing of controversial writer John Derbyshire.

Comments | 11,208 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 6, 2012

Why John Derbyshire Hasn't Been Fired (Yet)

National Review columnist John Derbyshire doesn't write the most racist stuff on the Internet -- not even close! But Derbyshire does effectively demonstrate, year after year, exactly how racist you can be and still get published by people who consider themselves intellectuals. 

Comments | 38,796 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 6, 2012

Rick Perry, Your Trayvon Martin Tweet Doesn't Mean What You Think It Means

Texas Gov. Rick Perry is well known for loving guns and threatening vigilante violence, so it's pretty easy to guess what he'd think of Florida's Stand Your Ground law that has come under criticism after the Trayvon Martin shooting.

Comments | 5,915 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Apr 2, 2012

In Defense of the Media's Coverage of Trayvon Martin

The headline on New York Times media critic David Carr's column on media coverage of Trayvon Martin is only five words, "A Shooting, and Instant Polarization," but it really contains two arguments, neither of which bear up to facts.

Comments | 17,428 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 30, 2012

What Did Trayvon Look Like? That Depends on Your Politics

When Trayvon Martin became national news earlier this month, many Americans were shocked that anyone could think such a sweet-looking kid was a menace. But some media outlets want readers to see him differently.

Comments | 21,036 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Mar 27, 2012

A Conservative Conundrum: Racism Can't Kill If Racism Doesn't Exist

Race can be a very uncomfortable thing to talk about. It is so uncomfortable for some conservative writers to talk about that they feel moved to call for everyone to stop talking by declaring racism dead.

Comments | 8,966 Views

By Adam Clark Estes

Mar 26, 2012

Comment of the Day

Who Was Standing Their Ground in the Trayvon Martin Shooting?

It was exactly one month ago that George Zimmerman shot Trayvon Martin, and so we decided to pick a comment somewhat at random out of our most active thread of the day. 

Comments | 1,657 Views

By Dashiell Bennett

Mar 6, 2012

Minority Students Get Arrested, Suspended More Than White Students

A new study of large school systems shows that the racial gap in the punishment of students is similar to the disparities found in the criminal justice system for adults.

Comments | 2,759 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Jan 5, 2012

Now It's Santorum's Turn to Learn the Downside of Media Attention

Rick Santorum protested for months that he couldn't get any media attention, but now that he's earned it with a near-tie for first place in the Iowa caucuses, he's learning attention isn't always so much fun.

Comments | 6,340 Views

By Elspeth Reeve

Dec 28, 2011

Five of the '22 Reasons Ron Paul's Not Racist' Are Compelling

Ron Paul's fans are passing around an illustrated list of 22 reasons Ron Paul isn't racist, as Politico's Ben Smith points out. 

Comments | 8,224 Views

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