Last Friday, Justine Sacco killed her career as a public relations officer with just 75 characters. But 75 seconds’ worth of reflection could have saved it. Okay, I’m lying. The amount of wrongness in the tweet shown above could not be rectified by a minute’s pause; she truly needed the benefit of all her 30Continue reading “The Affluenza Problem with Justine Sacco’s Apology”
Tag Archives: race
Michael Ealy’s Android Paints Black Men “Almost Human”
Data was the first android I ever loved. I am a Trekkie both by inheritance and by choice, so I grew up watching the humanoid robot’s struggle to define himself as not-human. So, androids are my people. Yesterday, I tuned into Fox’s new show, Almost Human, starring Karl Urban and Michael Ealy as a traumatized human cop andContinue reading “Michael Ealy’s Android Paints Black Men “Almost Human””
Why I Did Not Want to See “12 Years a Slave”
I will be honest and admit that I did not want to see 12 Years a Slave. Oh, sure, no one forced me to buy tickets, but I still wasn’t enthused. Not in the conventional sense, where I am brimming with excitement over seeing my favorite actor/actresses leave it all on the screen, wondering where the plot willContinue reading “Why I Did Not Want to See “12 Years a Slave””
F$%^ the Police?
Sometimes fear is the four-letter F word. Red and blue lights flash in my rear view and my pulse quickens. I glance over to make sure my glove compartment box is still there, as if, at the sound of the siren, it would have magically vanished with my papers in it. I roll the windowContinue reading “F$%^ the Police?”
Decoding Ratchets, Respectability, and Racism
I think of the word ratchet like a friend you graciously let stay on your couch: it was cool at the beginning, but it’s really overstayed its welcome by about a year. The first time I heard the word was in a 2009 song by Hurricane Chris called “Halle Berry (She Fine),” where the rapperContinue reading “Decoding Ratchets, Respectability, and Racism”
dara t. mathis 