A Sincere Apology to the Strong Black Men Being Attacked by #TheRootArticles

Michael Harriot

As someone whose job is writing about race, I often receive a broad spectrum of criticism from people aggrieved by my inherent bigotry. My inbox is constantly wet from the salty white tears of mayo Americans upset about The Root’s anti-white agenda. Apparently, when I and other writers at The Root point out white supremacy, we are actually perpetuating racism by simply talking about it.

While this belief is commonly found among the contingent of butt-hurt white people, it is not limited to the unmelanated. I’ve learned that most people have no interest in dismantling white supremacy, homophobia, patriarchy or anything else. Most people don’t want equality; they are simply seeking their opportunity to play the oppressor.



If I write about someone stealing from a cookie jar, I am simultaneously castigated as a cookie-thief apologist and an anti-cookie activist. When I explained why people still listen to Kanye West’s music, dance to R. Kelly’s remix to “Ignition” or think Donald Glover’s Atlanta is one of the best shows on TV, I was simultaneously contributing to the lynching of black men and stanning for problematic black men.

It comes with the job. In the course of the past week, I’ve been accused of promoting the gay agenda, intentionally ignoring homophobia, fueling the anti-black-male, black-feminist agenda and gaslighting black women, and I’ve had the Twitter police called on me for disparaging the entire white race.

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