Menthols: Is It Racist To Ban Menthols?
“[A] lot of CBC members are in fact in favor of banning menthol, many because of the fact that it disproportionately kills black people.”
(tags: via:rahsheeda race government politics)

Playstation 2 component incites African war – Video Game Feature – Yahoo! Video Games
“According to a report by activist site Toward Freedom, [...]

by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Addicted to Race Premium is the premium version of New Demographic’s podcast about America’s obsession with race.
Since this is the public RSS feed, you will receive just a 15-minute preview of the interview. If you’d like to hear the hour-long interview in its entirety, subscribe to Addicted to Race Premium today!
Here’s what [...]

I watched this clip and had just one thought:

Does Wendi Williams have to cut a bitch?
Part 1:

Part 2:

You can read the recap here.

La Chola » Blog Archive » thinking through machismo
“Contrary to popular belief, what machismo has become is not a concept that is blindly accepted by Latin@ cultures. But it also is not a concept that is considered completly disgusting either. It, like so many things in U.S. culture, is considered complic
(tags: latino culture language)

by Guest Contributor Cheryl Lynn, originally published at Digital Femme

Long ago, when I was much younger than I am today, my aunt purchased a VHS tape of cartoons for my cousins and I to watch. She quickly removed the plastic wrapper, slammed the cassette into the VCR, and promptly left the room in order to [...]

What responsibilities, if any, do satirists have to their audience? Are they obligated to deliver a message while also making us laugh?

McGRUDER: I don’t think anyone can define the rules for satire. We operate with the message — that’s the easy part. Everyone sits at home with their political opinions. The important thing is making [...]

Jay Smooth goes into a nice, rational explanation of how to have a very awkward conversation.
Unfortunately, most of the people involved in said conversations are not rational and will immediately start with the derailing process. *sigh*

by Special Correspondent Thea Lim

Excuse me if I seem a bit dim, but this week I’m having trouble figuring out exactly what satire is. When satire takes the form of straight-up replication of offensive images and ideas, is it still satire? Or is it just imitation? And if it’s the case [...]

Tribe says border fence restricts sacred rites – USATODAY.com
“Leaders of the Tohono O’odham nation say the fence, currently being built along the U.S.-Mexican border by the Department of Homeland Security, will prevent members of their nation from crossing into Mexico for traditional religious ceremonies.”
(tags: via:robin nativeamerican americanindian religion immigration)

R.I.P. Estelle Getty | Dlisted
Nooooooooooo! – LDP
(tags: [...]

by Carmen Van Kerckhove
FYI – I’m live-Twittering from Chicago today at the Poynter Institute conference on “Diversity in the Digital Age.” It’s a small gathering of journalists and we’re discussing the role that diversity plays in online or new media.
If you’d like to follow, check me out at http://twitter.com/newdemographic

by Special Correspondent Nadra Kareem

I first met my significant other at a literary reading featuring writer Sherman Alexie. Those fortunate enough to have encountered the author of The Lone Ranger and Tonto Fistfight in Heaven know that he uses comedy during his performances to explore race. That said, it came as no surprise to me [...]

by Latoya Peterson
Talk about hipster racism:

Livesteez recaps:
A 25-year-old New York City graduate student is threatening to sue a T-Shirt designer after being assaulted for wearing one of his designs. [Ed Note - The designer of the shirt is pictured above.]
The woman bought a $69 shirt from Apollo Braun’s Manhattan boutique that bore the words, “Obama [...]

by Guest Contributor Plasma Rit, originally published at Girl in the Machine

Sid Meier’s Civilization series comprises of turn-based strategy games with a focus on growing a budding nation. Begun in 1991, the games take place in a variety of eras–you can build an empire as far back as 4000 BCE and nurture it long enough [...]

By Any Other Name | Views | TheRoot.com
“The New Yorker’s latest “satirical” cover provides an almost too perfect footnote to Nas’ visual and vocal meditations on the implications of Obama’s potential presidency.”
(tags: hiphop music politics)

The End of White Flight – WSJ.com
“Whites make up 66% of the general U.S. population, but only about 40% of large [...]

by Carmen Van Kerckhove
Just a quick post to point you to a couple items. First, Latoya wrote a great piece for CNN’s AC360 blog yesterday:
If this isn’t a double standard, then what is?
Second, I made an appearance on CNN earlier today to discuss this issue (You’re fast, Minotaar!) and emerged relatively unscathed. [...]