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Joyner Lucas Breaks Down "I'm Not Racist"

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Joyner Lucas Breaks Down "I'm Not Racist"

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The central message of this song focuses on the lack of understanding and empathy for other races, particularly the misunderstandings between black and white Americans. The shocking and provoking lyrics restate many of the the hot button topics commonly discussed in modern America concerning race. When these topics are brought up many people become defensive and caustic towards each other, allowing aggression to overpower reasonable understanding. This ignorance is commented on by Mark Twain, who used Huck Finn to point out the hypocritical beliefs of white Americans in the 1880's. Characters such as Pap, with his beliefs towards the laziness and worthlessness of black people in America, while being a self destructive and unproductive member of society himself, served as an ironic characterization of ignorant beliefs that still exist in America to this day. This song calls for resolution and understanding between people of different races, to prevent the cycle of ignorance and aggression to continue.

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Joyner Lucas Breaks Down "I'm Not Racist" On Genius' Video Series 'Verified'

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Massachusetts rapper Joyner Lucas went viral earlier this month with "I'm Not Racist," a two-part, hookless song rapped from the perspectives of a racist, Trump-supporting white man and a black man respectively. The song elicited a range of...

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Megyn Kelly's Fox News Christmas war: Santa Claus 'just is' white

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Megyn Kelly's Fox News Christmas war: Santa Claus 'just is' white

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These comments are the result of "white-washing" both historical figures and icons of popular culture. While they are a clear cut sign of ignorance, there is much deeper problem under the surface. Denying people (of any age) the ability to relate to figures they look up to can easily be seen as a form of cultural oppression. It excludes members of those denied races from feeling the same connection that white people have to these figures, culturally segregating the oppressed from symbols they wish to relate or look up to. It also can be used as a tool for religious oppression, forcing black Americans to worship or look up to white figures.

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Megyn Kelly. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles...)

Megyn Kelly is representing for Santa Claus. And according to the Fox News host, the chubby dude in the red suit is white.

He just is, OK?

On Wednesday's "The Kelly File," the newswoman criticized a Slate article written by a black journalist that questioned cultural depictions of Santa as white and suggested that the traditional jolly and zaftig elf should be replaced by a penguin.

"For all you kids watching at home, Santa just is white," Kelly informed viewers. "Santa is what he is.... I wanted to get that straight."
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Were there not a War on Christmas underway (Fox News has a helpful "war room" map and other details here), Showtracker would counter that some scholars have debated whether Santa is at all and whether it would be possible to deliver presents to millions of homes around the world in a single night assisted only by a sleigh and a team of reindeer. But such musings might incite further hostilities in this war, which we hope is over soon so the troops can return home to their families.

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Megyn Kelly's Fox News Christmas war: Santa Claus 'just is' white

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Megyn Kelly. (Carolyn Cole/Los Angeles...) Megyn Kelly is representing for Santa Claus. And according to the Fox News host, the chubby dude in the red suit is white. He just is, OK?

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As modern America becomes more aware of hate crime and racially provoked oppression, the opportunity arises for people to use the new awareness for such acts for their own personal gain. This abuse of power is a serious issue, as it can both ruin the lives of innocent people, and delegitimize actual reports of hatred. The false claims can be used as by both the oppressors and skeptics, scaring victims into not reporting incidents of hatecrimes, for fear of not being believed. Furthermore, it shows another level of ignorance that can exist within society, as those who make false claims are either ignorant to the severity of such claims, or are aware of such power, and abuse it to gain the trust of others.

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Report: MA Had Highest Rate of Reported Hate Crimes in 2016

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Report: MA Had Highest Rate of Reported Hate Crimes in 2016

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This news article shows how racial tensions exist all over america, and not just in the South as we may assume. Large urban areas such as Boston have widespread diversity, meaning more incidents of racially driven crime. This is due to not only a larger number of different races, nationalities, or religions, but also the creation of defensive feelings in people who believe their city or home has been "invaded" by outside races. This connects to Huck Finn as Jim experiences many examples of hateful behavior and mistreatment.

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Report: MA Had Highest Rate of Reported Hate Crimes in 2016

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In Massachusetts, there were 5.9 hate crimes for every 100,000 people in 2016.

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The student who wore the Indian head baseball cap to class: Teaching “race” in “post racial” America

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The student who wore the Indian head baseball cap to class: Teaching “race” in “post racial” America

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In modern America, many people may not fully understand the racist implications of every day symbols. While it may not be done out of malice, this promotion of insulting or offensive icons reveal problems that can be seen within American society. It shows how deeply ingrained these offensive symbols can be, as many people can become so used to these caricatures being the norm, leading people to refuse the removal of these symbols, as it would undermine what many Americans see as just a way of life. An example of this would be the recent disputes over the removal of Confederate flags and monuments. Those fights for their preservation could simply believe that it truly if a part of their heritage or normal lives, without understanding the historical implications that those symbols actually stood for.

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The Black Family Pledge - Poem by Maya Angelou

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The Black Family Pledge - Poem by Maya Angelou

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This poem talks about how as time has gone by, cultures have been stopped from carrying out traditions and living a peaceful life, leading to the break down of said culture in society. This connects to Huckleberry Finn, as we can see the roots of cultural denial in American society take place. One such denial is seen when Huck doubts Jim's ability to be a father, unable to take care of his own family. In modern America, this breakdown of cultural values is often used by the oppressing groups as a weapon, blaming the oppressed culture for the lack of tradition that they themselves looked down upon or made illegal throughout history.

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BECAUSE we have forgotten our ancestors,
our children no longer give us honor.

BECAUSE we have lost the path our ancestors cleared
kneeling in perilous undergrowth,
our children cannot find their way.

BECAUSE we have banished the God of our ancestors,
our children cannot pray.

BECAUSE the old wails of our ancestors have faded beyond our hearing,
our children cannot hear us crying.

BECAUSE we have abandoned our wisdom of mothering and fathering,
our befuddled children give birth to children
they neither want nor understand.

BECAUSE we have forgotten how to love, the adversary is within our
gates, an holds us up to the mirror of the world shouting,
'Regard the loveless'

Therefore we pledge to bind ourselves to one another, to embrace our
lowliest, to keep company with our loneliest, to educate our illiterate,
to feed our starving, to clothe our ragged, to do all good things,
knowing that we are more than keepers of our brothers and sisters.

We ARE our brothers and sisters.

IN HONOR of those who toiled and implored God with golden tongues,
and in gratitude to the same God who brought us out of hopeless desolation, we make this pledge.

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The Black Family Pledge Poem by Maya Angelou - Poem Hunter

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BECAUSE we have forgotten our ancestors,our children no longer give us honor. BECAUSE we have lost the path our ancestors clearedkneeling in perilous undergrowth,our children cannot find their way. BECAUSE we have banished the God of our ancestors,our children cannot pray. BECAUSE the old wails of our ancestors have faded beyond our hearing,our children cannot hear us crying.

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Poll: Most Americans Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination

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Poll: Most Americans Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination

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In this poll, NPR asked black americans whether or not they felt discriminated against by other citizens and the government. Many felt they were victims of prejudice when interacting with police of trying to purchase property. However, a majority of those asked believed that the discrimination was driven by the individual, and not from systems of government or private policy. These opinions open up new areas for conversation. If there is no systematic element to racism, then how many individuals would have to share these beliefs, in order to enact laws or create environments in which so many people have experienced prejudice? Or has systematic negligence towards these issues created the sense of conspiracy that many Americans still feel.

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Majorities in many ethnic, identity and racial groups in America believe that discrimination exists against their own group, across many areas of people's daily lives, according to a poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

The poll asked a wide range of questions about where Americans experience discrimination - from the workplace to the doctor's office - and people's perception of it. The groups polled include whites, blacks, Latinos, Asian-Americans, Native Americans and LGBTQ adults.

White Americans are among those who feel their group is discriminated against, with 55 percent saying discrimination exists against whites in the U.S. today.

These results are part of a large national statistically representative survey of 3,453 adults from Jan. 26 to Apr. 9.

We will be releasing the full results of the poll over the next several weeks, starting Tuesday with results from the survey of African-Americans. We will highlight and analyze the particular acts of discrimination that each group experiences.

The African-American results, in 802 adults, provide insight into the historically high levels of discrimination blacks have faced since arriving in America. These experiences happen across a broad range of situations: interacting with police; applying for jobs or seeking promotions; trying to rent an apartment or buy a home; or going to a doctor or health clinic.

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The findings on African-Americans have a margin of error of plus or minus 4.1 percentage points at the 95 percent confidence level.

The perceptions of discrimination are not primarily based in actions by institutions, as some might expect. "Most African-Americans believe that discrimination is due to the attitudes of individuals that they interact with," says Robert Blendon, the poll's director and professor of policy and political analysis at the Harvard Chan School. "A smaller share believes it's actually government or institutional policies."

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Fear of discrimination, possibly triggered by past encounters, plays out in different ways. We found that this fear significantly influences people's decisions whether to seek medical care, to call the police when in need, and even whether to drive or attend social events. Nearly one-third (32 percent) of African-Americans polled said they have personally experienced racial discrimination when going to the doctor or a health clinic, with 22 percent avoiding care out of fear of discrimination.

"If someone is avoiding seeking medical care out of fear of discrimination, they're at risk of going undiagnosed for serious conditions," says Dr. Richard Besser, president and CEO of the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation. "We know that repeated stress from discrimination and racism can actually make some of those conditions more likely in the first place and shorten lives."

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And repeated stress comes from many kinds of discrimination and the fear it engenders. Numerous studies have shown that African-Americans are more likely to be stopped by police compared with other racial groups. In the poll, 60 percent of people told us that they or a family member have been unfairly stopped or mistreated by police because they are black.

That has consequences for them personally and across society - 31 percent of poll respondents say fear of discrimination has led them to avoid calling the police when in need. And 61 percent say police are more likely to use force on a person who is African-American than on a white person in the same situation.

Where people live can make a big difference, too. Our survey found that 64 percent of blacks live in non-majority-black areas. For these people, perceptions of local discrimination, opportunity, police and government and community environment were generally better when compared with majority-black areas, sometimes by wide margins.

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Our poll found substantial numbers of African-Americans who say they have been slurred or have been the target of insensitive or offensive comments or negative assumptions. A story later in our series will explore the split by income and gender in the chart below.

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Persistently higher premature death rates in blacks compared with whites was one of the issues that inspired this poll and series. The most recent statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show that gap at 16 percent, even though it has narrowed since 1999, when death rates for blacks from all causes were 33 percent higher than whites.

Many factors play into the gap, including a considerable drop in crime rates involving African-Americans over that period and improved access to medical care for many people. What we're trying to explore with our "You, Me and Them" series and poll is how the stress-inducing experiences of discrimination in everyday life affect health.

"Over 200 black people die prematurely every single day in America, in part because of racism in society," says David Williams, a professor of public health at the Harvard Chan School who has pioneered work in the field of racial disparities in health care. "This poll helps us see where we need to take action to address the problem."

The poll was conducted in the first quarter of 2017. A final report discussing major highlights from the series will be released in December.

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Poll: Most Americans Think Their Own Group Faces Discrimination

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Majorities in many ethnic, identity and racial groups in America believe that discrimination exists against their own group, across many areas of people's daily lives, according to a poll from NPR, the Robert Wood Johnson Foundation and the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health.

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"This Amazing, Troubling Book" By Toni Morrison

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"This Amazing, Troubling Book" By Toni Morrison

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Black readers of Huck Finn can relate the underlying feelings of Huck and Jim's relationship to childhood friendships they had with white children. The knowledge that childhood experiences will differ because of race deeply affect Morrison, as well as others with similar knowledge/ experiences. Huckleberry's inability to fully expose his feelings for Jim as a friend to the reader. This hesitation connects to Huck's doubts of Jim as a father figure to his children, which continues in the stereotypes present today. The lack of comment on Huck's feelings and concerns towards his and Jim's connection opens space for introspection of the reader, and for society to ask the question of why they themselves might avoid commenting on the uncomfortable subjects or hard realities of the novel.

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The N-Word: An Interactive Project to Explore a Singular Word 

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The N-Word: An Interactive Project to Explore a Singular Word 

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People's opinions towards the N-word are varied, as they all have different experiences with the word. For some it is not an important issue, while others with a more personal experience with the words historical connotations feel it should still be discussed. The casual use of the word by those who aren't black, and therefore don't fully grasp the underlying cruelty of its use, are ignorant to the offense it may cause those who have experience with the term in a caustic and harmful context. Those who understand the power of using as an insult can still abuse that power, as it instills the connotation that the person using it is superior to the person being insulted. This shift of power is what the term was originally used for, and has no place, even casually in a modern, equal society.

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Explore perspectives.
Select three to see a custom video.

Start your own conversation

Add a question or use one of the submitted questions to start a conversation with your social network. (Note: The n-word has not been filtered from submissions.)

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n-word; donte stallworth; neal brennan; dave chappelle show; nfl; national football leagues bans nword; nfl bans the nword; nigger; nigga; nigger vs nigga; kkk; ku klux klan; jay z; oprah;

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The n-word: An interactive project exploring a singular word

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After the National Football League made the controversial decision to ban the n-word on the field this year, a team of Washington Post journalists explored the history of the word, its evolution and its place in American vernacular today.

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"What Kind of Asian Are You?" By Alex Dang

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"What Kind of Asian Are You?" By Alex Dang

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Racial slurs that labelled other races were used to put down and differentiate those other races from whites. The emotions presented in this piece show how racial prejudices still affect people today and must be commented on. The piece connects to Huck Finn by commenting on how the racial prejudices of society affect children, like Huck. It also shows the anger of those affected and critiques those injustices which were considered part of the norm, as Twain used Huck Finn as a vessel for social commentary. This piece also shows how different forms of expression can be used and are used in modern life to critique.

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Alex Dang - "What Kind of Asian Are You?" (NPS 2013)

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Subscribe to Button! New video daily: http://bit.ly/buttonpoetry If you loved this poem, check out Sam Cook: http://bit.ly/1qP8vvM Alex Dang, performing for Portland, OR at the 2013 National Poetry Slam. Follow Button on Facebook: http://bit.ly/SG5Xm0 About Button: Button Poetry is committed to developing a coherent and effective system of production, distribution, promotion and fundraising for spoken word and performance poetry.