Heather Ellis, a college honor student in Kennett, MO, is facing 15 years in prison for an incident three years ago in which she was accused of cutting in front of someone in a Walmart checkout line. Like many people have done and do, Ellis and her cousin split up to find the shortest line, and since her cousin was in the shortest line, Ellis joined him. The cashier then accused her of cutting in front of the other customers, an argument ensued, the manager and security and, eventually, police were called.

Online dating website OKCupid has posted an entry on its blog that takes a close look at its users’ email response patterns according to race. The results might not be surprising, but they’re nevertheless significant—a sender’s race plays a large role in whether he/she will get a response. By comparing the write-back rate of Asian, black, white, Hispanic, Middle Eastern, Pacific Islander, Indian, and Native American men and women, the website finds that correspondence is noticeably less or more than what the write-back rate “should” be. In a nutshell, OKCupid breaks down the research, which analyzed about a million users. White men get the most responses. Black women respond the most yet receive far fewer replies. White, Asian, and Hispanic women largely prefer white men. OKCupid calls this racism:

“[We] are about to basically prove that, despite what you might’ve heard from the Obama campaign and organic cereal commercials, racism is alive and well.

Do you think it’s racist to have race preferences in the man or woman you date? Are you a racist if you’re not attracted to a certain race? [Blog.OkCupid.com]

“American white women can suck it, right, brah? They’re such ‘fat, whiny feminist bitches’—I mean, every single one that I dated wanted to eat food and be treated with respect and ridiculous stuff like that. Total feminazis, right? Cuz, you know, white women invented feminism and they’re the only people in the world who believe in things like equality in health care and education. Like I said on my blog, ‘I’ve lost ALL sexual interest in them, in fact I just about puke walking down the sidewalk on any day, seeing all those s**tty, rude, mean, snotty American women!’ Yeah, brah let’s go write more on our blog about how much American white women can totally suck it!

But first, let’s get out of the basement and see if Mom cooked me some dinner….” [I Hate White Women]

We (and the rest of the world) have eagerly been devouring the Obama ladies’ fashions like a pint of Ben & Jerry’s. And while there’s been some mild criticism when Michelle wears something that any normal celeb would, most of the world has taken the role of friendly fan. Yet, things became serious this weekend when it wasn’t Michelle, but Malia under the spotlight. And let’s just say things got really, really ugly.

On January 23 ,1973, when the Supreme Court decriminalized abortion in the landmark case Roe v. Wade, President Nixon remained mum on the decision —  publicly, that is. In private conversations, tapes released this week recorded by secret microphones in the Oval Office from January and February 1973, reveal Nixon expressing both ambivalence and shocking racism. He worried that easier access to abortions would foster “permissiveness” and that they would “break the family.” But he acknowledged that “sometimes an abortion is necessary,” like “when you have a black and a white,” he told an aide, before adding, “Or a rape.” Wha?? I wonder what he’d say about our current “black and white” president.

Michelle Obama is catching it from all sides. First legendary supermodel Iman says Michelle is “no great beauty,” then comedian Jay Mohr compared her to a linebacker, and now a South Carolina politician is calling her a “gorilla.” After a news report that a gorilla escaped from Columbia Zoo in South Carolina, state activist Rusty DePass posted this snarky comment on Facebook: “I’m sure its just one of Michelle’s ancestors—probably harmless.” Of course, once the media caught on to this, DePass followed up with a statement which sounds almost as insulting as his first one.   “The comment was hers. Not mine,” he said in reference to Michelle’s earlier statement that we are all descendants of apes. [Huffington Post]
 

A new photo series shot by Norwegian fashion photographer Sølve Sundsbø, featuring Gisele Bündchen and a crew of super-buff, super-naked, super-dark-skinned male models, is causing a bit of an uproar online. Over at Project Rungay, a commenter wrote: “wow, those photos are fierce. can’t tell if the guys are her slaves or if they’re raping her. interesting race dialogue. the first photo is super sexy.” At Racialicious, they’re “wary of the color contrast idea in fashion photography,” explaining that “darker skinned minorities always seem to end up as background color.”  Commenters there questioned why Gisele is clothed and the men aren’t, and wondered if the race and gender issue would be the same if the series featured a black female with white male models (sounds like a Janet Jackson music video circa 1990). Some worry these types of photos reinforced the antiquated idea that white females are adored by everyone, especially black men. Others suggest without the charged racial and gender stereotypes, the photos would be mediocre at best. Personally, I found these issues more provocative when Robert Map[lethorpe addressed them in his photos in the early ‘80s. This isn’t a question of gender and race, but, rather: “Are artists running out of original ideas?” What are your thoughts? [Click after the jump to see more of the photographs.]

I have a love/hate relationship with Sean “Puffy” Combs. I love his drive, style, and his unwillingness to take s**t from anyone. But I can’t stand his arrogance or his destruction of his Bad Boy artists. Recently, I’ve been feeling a bit of love for Puffy after reading his top 10 forms of bitchassness and that he hired only black models for his Fall 2009 Sean John fashion show. But I have to call Puffy out for some bitchassness of his own. A promotion casting call for Ciroc Vodka, which Sean endorses, requires models to be “white, Hispanic, or LIGHT SKINNED African American;” 5 feet 6 inches or taller; and size 7 or smaller. 

Some folks have gotten their panties in a bunch over Beyonce’s cover for the “Shape Issue” of Vogue. Beyonce is one of only five black women to grace the cover of Vogue since it was founded in 1892, but blogs like Jezebel and Sociological Images think the magazine was being sexist and racist by putting her on the cover. I agree to some extent, but not for their reasons.

So we’ve all heard of celebrating the holidays with traditional food items. Thanksgiving has turkey. Christmas has ham. St. Patty’s Day has beer and, uh, corned beef. Black History Month apparently has collard greens and catfish. Rainbow Grocery Store decided to print the dumbest ad featuring “black people food” in what they consider to be an attempt at celebrating Black History Month. The selection of food is supposed to be what the typical black person eats. So pork hocks and frying chickens are what black people eat on a regular basis? Because I know it’s not in my diet. All they are missing in the ad is grits and chitlins. There’s nothing wrong with eating those food items, but why are such items like seafood and ham considered to be black people food? Do white people have white food? A company rep explains, “This ad was intended to celebrate Black History Month and African American culture by sharing with our customers some of the contributions African Americans have made to the grocery industry.” Mm, ‘kay. Click past the jump to see the full ad! [Gawker]

I am white.  My husband is black.  Our daughter is…well…she’s like that great flavor of “World Class Chocolate” at Baskin-Robbins, which is a sweet, delectable combination of white and dark chocolate, blended to perfection. When the grocery store checker, or the dentist, or our insurance salesman, or the shoe store clerk, or one of my college students who sees her picture in my office asks where she gets her curly hair or if she’s “mixed,” I usually reply, “Yes, she’s biracial,” (for I’ve always thought “mixed” to be used only for dogs and cocktails).  I answer this question three or four times a day and often wonder if I should just stick a sign on her that reads “Yes, my father is black.”

The lack of black models on fashion runways and in ad campaigns has become a persistent issue in the fashion industry. The issue was most recently highlighted by Vogue Italia’s “Black Issue,” which featured only black models on its pages. Some, including editor Amelia, saw the magazine as a gimmick, but it nonetheless got people talking about the issue of race in fashion. Unfortunately, all they did was talk.

If you haven’t heard already, the July issue of Italian Vogue was unprecedented. All the models in it were black. Amidst the buzz that followed, the much-hyped “Black Issue” became such a popular success that distribution was increased by 40-percent, an amazing feat. Some (including me) saw the concept—race as an “issue”—as a gimmick, an attempt to shush critics who frequently point out how little page-time the fashion industry gives to anything other than white faces. But, without a doubt, the issue got people talking about the issues. Now, let’s hope their attention isn’t squandered.

The National Children’s Bureau, an organization in the U.K. that receives about $23 million in funding a year, has issued guidance to “play leaders and nursery teachers” advising them to be alert for little kids expressing racist attitudes about food. The NCB published a 366-page guide for staff in charge of preschool children, and, among other things, it says children might “react negatively to a culinary tradition other than their own by saying ‘yuk.’” Despite this possible negative reaction, the guide advises that “No racist incident should be ignored. When there is a clear racist incident, it is necessary to be specific in condemning the action.” As silly as this sounds, learning to be more accepting of unfamiliar foods could be a great way to teach children about different cultures. In my hometown, we didn’t even get an Indian restaurant until I was in high school. One of the only things I knew about Indian culture was that my friend Nivedita had amazing gold hoop earrings and a nose piercing, and her mom was okay with this because they were part of their culture. Yeah, I was pretty ignorant. [The Telegraph, U.K.]

I can’t remember the last time I picked up a lady mag and saw an African-American woman on the cover that wasn’t Halle Berry. The beauty and hair advice doled out in these magazines is targeted at white women unless otherwise noted and the major runway shows are pitifully powder white (Eastern-European is very in). It’s sucky, to say the least. Vogue Italia decided to do something about it, declaring their July issue “The Black Issue”—all of the featured models would be Black and all the featured content would address Black women. This is all fine and dandy on a purely surface level I suppose, except that by making this issue “special” they’ve defined all other, white-centric issues as the usual and the norm. Rather than having more women of color in every issue, targeting a single issue at one ethnic group doesn’t really do anything to increase diversity, now does it? That’s weak. [NY Times]

I am amazed by the rise of the slogan t-shirt. You know, “Everybody Loves An Italian Girl”, “Barack ‘N’ Roll”, “More Cowbell”, “What Would Jesus Do”...I blame Urban Outfitters. But anyway, the most annoying aspect of this clothing phenomenon is that it’s given people the false impression that it’s okay to wear their stupidity, sexist attitudes, and sexual habits on their chests. After the jump, five t-shirts that are total dealbreakers.