ADC (a new MMW guest contributor!)
In this cellphone advertisement from Helio, a girl bringing a boy home to meet her parents seems innocuous enough, but the advertisement sort of plays on American’s perception of interracial couples as something unusual (or is it the commercial that makes it seem unusual in the first place?).
In this […]

JC & CVK
Check it out over at Irrational Point’s Soapbox.
Also, apologies that this site has been painfully slow or just down the last couple of days. Our hosting company has assured us that everything’s fixed now. So hopefully things will be fine moving forward. Thank you for your patience, everyone!

CVK
(Thanks to Tami for this tip!) Someone out there is making racial stereotyping an equal opportunity thing. Apparently this bulletin has been making its rounds on MySpace.
You’re asked to check off the items that apply to you, multiply that number by 5, and that is your score for “how white” you are:
1. […]

CVK
One of the big myths out there is the idea that interracial relationships are inherently good for ending racism. We’ve all heard the utopian notions that “we should keep mixing and soon we’ll all be mixed and there will be no more racism!”
The problem with this idea is that it assumes interracial couples and mixed […]

JC
Teen People talks to Cassie about her new single and how it was to grow up mixed.
TEEN PEOPLE: You’re of mixed heritage, Filipino and African-American. Was it difficult growing up in a culturally diverse family?
Cassie: Not for me. I was always so proud. I thought it was cool because I didn’t know anyone like me. […]

CVK
Check out this hilarious video montage from Best Week Ever of Barbara Walters’ inability to keep her hands off the hair of recent guests Brandy and Tanika Ray. The expressions on their faces are priceless.

CVK
I just read an interesting column by the ombudsman of The Washington Post, attempting to shed some light on how the paper handled two equally horrific murder cases. A reader had written in to note that the murder of the white man, Alan Senitt (pictured), landed on the front page of the paper, while […]

CVK
This past Sunday evening, Comedy Central finally aired the sketch that created the crisis of conscience for Dave Chappelle. You can watch them for yourself on YouTube: part 1 and part 2, which includes the audience Q&A.
A May 2005 Time magazine article described it this way:
He was taping a sketch about magic pixies that […]

CVK
The alternative title for this post could also be, our MMW guest contributor Geraly is really, really into fashion designer Ozwald Boateng, who has his own reality show right now on the Sundance Channel. And yes, of course I watch it! Looooove the fashion reality shows.
It’s nice to see that he’s using his position […]

CK (a returning MMW guest contributor!)
I’m a big fan of the FOX show “So You Think You Can Dance,” a show similar to “American Idol,” but in search of America’s best dancer. Once the top dancers are selected after a grueling audition process, they are coupled-off with partners that specialize in a different style to […]

JC & CVK
We’re excited to introduce you to the five wonderful young men (okay, man) and women who are making up our 2006 Addicted to Race intern team! They’ve already done terrific work, and we’re really looking forward to working closely with them this summer. Here they are, in reverse alphabetical order by last name. […]

JC
According to a review in CanMag, Clerks II deals expertly with race issues. There is a scene where the term “porch monkeys” is used. Not sure how that can be turned into a learning moment within a film of this genre, but I will keep the skeptic inside me at bay until I see for myself. Rosario stars […]

JC
The Pittsburgh Tribune Review takes a look at the ever popular debate between black men and black women - the back and forth about why black men and black women are not pairing up and settling down with one another. Apparently, an article from last week sparked a feud between the sexes. The article asked why black women have a […]

JC
This article reports that the latest count by Census Bureau showed that people of color amount to about 1/3 of the population here in the US. An even more shocking statistic is one that the Washington Post reported in May of this year — almost 50% of this country’s children under 5 years old are […]

JC & CVK
A brand-new episode of Addicted to Race is out! If you haven’t already, please subscribe to our podcast in iTunes. Click here to launch iTunes and subscribe today, it’s absolutely free.
RANT
The coded ways people talk about race without appearing to talk about race is the subject of Carmen’s rant today. For more on […]

BS (a new MMW guest contributor!)
According to Wikipedia, “Blackface” is a style of theatrical makeup that originated in the United States, used to affect the countenance of an iconic, racist, American archetype, that of the darky or coon.
For far too long in American history, white actors and actresses have used burnt cork to look […]

CVK
That’s the question posed by U.K. paper The Observer. Basically, the article ponders whether we demonise the obese purely on health grounds, or whether it’s a gut reaction based on prejudice. (Thanks to T for this tip!) I’m not crazy about fact that the reporter decided to go undercover in a fatsuit, a la […]

AAS (a returning MMW guest contributor!)
The June 26, 2006 edition of The New Yorker had a very interesting piece on the current battle surrounding South Dakota’s attempt to overturn Roe v. Wade through the House Bill (HB1215: Abortion - Crimes and Offenses).
The bill basically states that abortions, even in the case of rape and incest, […]

CVK
It’ll be interesting to see what direction Vibe magazine takes. It was just sold to a consortium of investors, including the people who publish BlackBook magazine. Editor-in-chief Mimi Valdes was fired, along with much of the editorial staff and they’re bringing back former Vibe EIC Danyel Smith.
Here’s Jeff Chang’s take on it:
Reports say they want […]

JC & CVK
We’re so psyched! The Yahoo! podcast directory is currently featuring our podcast, Addicted to Race, on its homepage as a staff pick!
Thanks to Rob at Podcast411 for giving us the 411 (hardy har). We actually had no idea we were up there. And thank you, Yahoo! for highlighting us!