This is a recent comment that I missed concerning reactions to TheRoot.com. I need to make a little paragraph-ditty about it, though.

Revisions…and lots of cuts

Anonymous commenter “dopper0189″ from the Daily Kos say TheRoot.com should be welcomed: “Often news items that are of a particular interest to a smaller subset of any community can get lost in the general news. My own experience is that it also provides an important forum and portal, so that people who don’t often get a real sense of what’s important to ‘black people’ can learn. Too many people form their opinion of black people based on Rap videos, Sports, and TV shows. Places like this not only service the black community, but also the larger American community, teaching and informing.”

David Hauslaib, editorial director of Jossip, discusses the “unusual profit motive” behind the new site:

“Gates is also involved on the business end, with TheRoot teaming up with his own AfricanDNA.com, which is among a growing number of companies promising to link the black diaspora to its African roots through genetic maps. Readers of TheRoot are often directed to Gates’ website.

“Gates – and apparently WaPo – sees no conflict of interest, even though their new website (named TheRoot, after all) makes an explicit effort to focus especially on genealogy. Which is a convenient stance to take.”

THEROOT.com: One week, one day, and many reactions

It’s been one week and one day since the Washington Post launched their new “Black Slate” – The Root.com. Since the webzine’s launch there’s been quite the spectrum of interesting reactions across the blogosphere – particularly the black blogosphere. Some applaud the new website; others sneer, claiming it’s a way to target-advertise, or an extension of “separate but equal.”

To start, here is a selection of reactions from WashPost.com announcement/article (I’ve cleaned-up the quotes a bit in some):
Posted by “xenophile” 1/28/2008 8:56:52 PM:
So, let me see if I understand this:

Theroot.com is a so-called “Black Slate.com.” The content is written by black people. But the site was the brainchild of Donald Graham, it is totally owned and operated by the white-owned Washington Post Co., and it is really run on the nuts-and-bolts level by Jacob Weisberg. Which means that in reality theroot.com is a white-run enterprise aimed at sucking in Black readers in order to (eventually) deliver them to advertisers as a demographic, while simultaneously shaping opinion in the Black community in ways that conform to the needs of the aforementioned white owners of the site.

Exactly how does this “give a voice to the Black community”? One look at the posts on the home page of the site was enough to confirm that suspicion for me. At best it’s an illegitimate enterprise that deserves to be ignored; at worst, it’s just another attempt by the traditional media to control, restrict and silence Black people. It seems to me, as a Black person, that theroot.com is merely a new and novel way to run a 21st Century minstrel show.

Posted by “karenmarieromero” 1/28/2008 9:50:48 PM:
To xenophile…I read your post, and I agree that the media controls, restricts, and tries to silence people…black people and other people as well. I believe we are living in a soon to be fascist society. So, even if the Washington Post is owned by what I refer to as the good old white boys club…I am glad they are doing this.

It wasn’t too long ago they ran a series on black men. And, I learned a lot of stuff I didn’t know. I am a very empathetic person (however, many would disagree with that) but after reading the black men series I felt more empathetic towards some of the vile stuff they face on a daily basis.

The problem with a series like this or even a magazine is that few good old white boys will read it. And, possibly few white women will read it. This is sad to me. I believe it would help us all if there was a magazine focusing on Arabs as well. And, Mexicans, and Native Americans. Nobody seems to understand anybody anymore. That is exactly what the good old white boys club hopes for. You see, that way the old money stays old, and stays with one percent of the population. And, they sit back with their cigars behind their mahogany desks and thumb their noses up at the paupers. They don’t have a clue what it is really like to earn a living. To pay the rent, to buy groceries, to worry about paying off ones credit card debts. They don’t have a clue, nor do they care. I don’t resent people that have money. I resent the way in which many of them earn it…in dishonest, evil ways. Those that have a lot of money and don’t steal or cheat on their income taxes, and make their money in decent ways, then I say good for them.

What I want is more of a balance in this society. Not that everybody should make the exact same amount of money, but more sharing. More caring. And, the good old white boys club that actually think they can turn this society into fascism are not into caring or sharing. They are selfish, self-absorbed, men that don’t have a clue as to how the cosmic law is run! Sure, some of them give a lot of money away, but it is always with an agenda. Either a tax write-off, either out of guilt, or so they can go boast about how much they gave. How many out their give donations from their hearts and don’t take a tax write-off?

An interesting comment about Gates and/or the “black elite” (still from WashPost article here):
Posted by “Rhodesia” 1/28/2008 10:17:38 PM:
This whole thing is racist. Substitute the words black for white and see how this article reads! Why respect Gates when we have no idea if he got to Harvard on his own merit or because of Affirmative Action. He has an agenda and plans to profit at the expense of us- in this white-owned Jewish-controlled media. Get real.

Thought this was semi-appropriate, it being Super Tuesday and all:
Posted by “gbooksdc” 1/28/2008 6:58:41 PM:
Hey, it’s the Hillary Clinton of journalism! When we want to know what you blacks think, we’ll tell you what you think. Black face at the door, white control in the back.

Posted by “mortified469” 1/28/2008 6:26:14 PM:
King must be rolling over in his grave. Here he gave his life for desegregation and you, and blacks themselves, are re-segregating as I type.

We might as well go back to “separate but equal.” In many cases we have because when blacks move into an area, whites tend to move out. Look at PG County for one.

The Root can apply to anybody. This effort by the Post is blatant racism.

This comment found TheRoot.com analogous to “ethnic studies” in the classroom – I thought it a fairly strong argument:
Posted by “vsessoms” 1/28/2008 6:22:26 PM:
I think the “Roots” project is racist and a mistake, the same way ethnic studies programs introduced on college campuses nationwide was a mistake. The main problem with ethnic studies programs were not that they were not needed – the information was definitely crucial and vital in helping to improve race relations in the United States during the explosive 60s… and to set the record straight in regards to history. However, a very critical mistake happened…. Civil Rights activists were demanding that these programs be separated from the regular curriculum and course schedules – and that these courses be taught by African Americans or other ethnic group instructors or professors.

So, with few exceptions, all ethnic groups (Hispanics, African Americans, Asians, Native Americans and others) were given special facilities to house these ethnic programs. This isolation resulted the devaluing of ethnic studies. Oh, these courses were offered to the entire student body but only as ELECTIVES…. Not required or mandatory courses. Consequently, students didn’t take them. White history, however, remained as a regular part of the curriculum – and a requirement for graduation.

Without going into the permanent damage this arrangement caused, and how ethnic studies were marginalized and degraded by the white administrations – this separation did not work.

To me it sounds like the creation of “The Roots” is the same thing – Although it does not restrict African Americans or others from reading or participating in the Op Pages of the Washington Post – it does shield white readers and others from the views and opinions that are significant and important to African Americans and others.

The fact that Tavis Smiley, Tom Joyner and Mr. Gates and others, who are all cut from the same cloth will be in charge of the publication, means simply that opinions and views will be those of the “establishment” colored people, people like Cornell West and other such type of “Black intellectuals.” Informed African Americans or those seeking to change the status quo will be excluded. Will Angela Davis have an article? Will other African American community activists have equal access to present their view? I doubt it. This is exactly why I don’t regularly read Ebony or Essence – because it represents views of only certain types of African Americans who are not concerned with issues such as racism, poverty. Aids or the disparities in the mandatory sentencing practices of the Justice department which has resulted in millions of African Americans beings unfairly incarcerated for long periods of time.

I think that Mr. Graham of the Washington Post must have learned something from white college administrators decades ago as to how they “handled” the problem of integrating college curriculum by including other histories, and information regarding other cultures, other than white. By separating ethnic studies white America was able to continue to perpetuate deeply held, racist beliefs of white supremacy and the inferiority of all others.

I read the Washington Post because I find some of the articles interesting, and usually the writers unbiased in their reporting. But, I take this “Roots” thing as the same old racist game playing and an effort to keep the Washington Post the same lily white newspaper it has been since its inception. Shame on you Washington Post!

Still reactions from the WashPost, but I thought this was a fun exchange. (Plus, it’s finally a semi-positive reaction):
Posted by “dopper0189” 1/28/2008 1:11:30 AM:
This is a great idea. I can’t wait to read it. As someone who blogs at Daily Kos, and post a collection of “Black” related news items under the title “Black Kos” I can tell you how welcomed this will be. Often news items that are of a particular interest to a smaller subset of any community can get lost in the general news. My own experience is that it also provides an important forum and portal, so that people who don’t often get a real sense of what’s important to “black people” can learn. Too many people form their opinion of black people based on Rap videos, Sports, and TV shows. Places like this not only service the black community, but also the larger American community, teaching and informing. Sadly the people who will most likely come out strongest against this idea in the comments are the ones who would most benefit from reading it. You can’t break down barriers if you can’t understand what the other side wants. Bravo Washington Post.

P.S. I hope this will give voice to the silent black middle class. The media tends to focus on the black poor, or super rich. How often do you see someone representing the 40%+ black middle class?

Posted by “brucerealtor@gmail.com” 1/28/2008 2:44:45 AM:
dopper0189 — I must agree with your observations, but I wonder just how well received such a site would be if it target primarily white folks instead LOL.

Posted by “dopper0189” 1/28/2008 3:48:40 AM:
Brucerealfor I get your point. But not to be “cheaky” most of America’s media target white folk, they just don’t do it explicitly.

I’m not race baiting by that comment. For example look at the committee heads in congress. Committees that over see issues like immigration, taxes, etc. are held by Congressional Black Congress members. How often on cable news do you see them being interviewed on taxes, immigration issues etc. But let a “racial” issue pop up, and you see them everywhere, why? Do people think that is the only issue black folk care about? I mostly see the same old faces on news programs. Yes before you mention him, Charlie Rengal is the exception that proves the rule. Can you name another? Think of news magazines, TV shows, you watch. Blacks and Latinos together make up over 25% of the US population do the shows you watch reflect that? I remember watching “Seinfeld” and “Friends” set in NY city. How many years did they go before they even had a black character (friends went 8 years on TV without showing a black person even in the background google it). This was in NYC, did you notice? Did you find it unrealistic, or did it miss your eye? My point isn’t to whine, or to ask for quotas, I really don’t care that much what companies do with their own media properties. My only point is to point out that 1/8 people in the USA are under represented, and markets will always respond to under represented consumers, even in media.

I would rather stories like the ones I suspect will be talked about were integrated (not a pun) into “mainstream” news. Maybe the question that should be asked is, how are they not. If any reader objects, I would only ask them to petition their “mainstream” source to include these stories, not to disparage the new webzine. That would be a principled stand I would support.

(Sorry for the double post had to fix typos before the rude race baiters jump into the conversation, P.S. Bruce I respect the tone of you comment, I am not calling you a race baiter by any means I think you raised a fair point, I just have seen how these comment threads normally degenerate…)

Onto the blogs. I found a lot of the black blogosphere’s reaction to be pretty positive. Check it out:

Posted by “BlackSuperWomen.com” January 31, 2008 at 2:06 AM:
Ladies, you GOTTA go to www.theroot.com and check it out! It’s an online magazine dedicated to providing a voice for African Americans…and it was just launched on Monday by Washington Post Newsweek Interactive. Henry Louis Gates, Jr. from Harvard is the Editor in Chief, so you can’t go wrong here. The Root will highlight Black commentary on various issues and appears that it will contain a high level of critical analysis…I’m thinking we can never get enough of this! There is also a segment of the site that is focused on tracing your roots. Let’s see how this pans out…I’ll be on the site regularly over the next few weeks and will give an update at some point. I’m optimistic!

This guy used to work at The Post:
Posted by UndercoverBlackMan.blogspot.com January 28, 2008 12:27 PM:
Today, the Washington Post Co. (which used to employ me) planted a flag in the afrosphere by launching TheRoot.com.

Conceived by Post chairman Don Graham and Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. (pictured), and with the “sponsorship” of HBO, TheRoot.com strives to be a high-toned webmagazine for black folks.

Prof. Gates sees it as part of a 180-year continuum… from Freedom’s Journal to The Crisis to Ebony magazine to now.

The Root’s editorial team comes from elite mainstream news organizations – Lynette Clemetson (New York Times), Terence Samuel (U.S. News & World Report) and Natalie Hopkinson (Washington Post).

Given all those credentials, I hope The Root won’t be too very “respectable”… eating fried chicken with a knife and fork and shit.

I hope there’ll be room in that enterprise for some of the funkdafied free speaking and reckless attitudinizing that characterizes the best of the black blogosphere. (I’m talking about bloggers like AngryBlackBitch, The Assimilated Negro, Field Negro and Ernest Hardy.)

Either way, I’ll be checking out The Root regularly.

“rasx” commented January 28, 2008 1:47 PM:
Hey! This is a great opportunity for you to explain to a country rube like me why this Skip Gates Web project needs to be “conceived” in a “partnership” with The Washington Post. I can only think of what Farai Chideya has done and Harlem-Renaissance-style patronage for the “New Negro.”

UndercoverBlackMan responded January 28, 2008 3:57 PM:
Hey Bryan. What’s wrong with getting white corporate money behind a project? Particularly when there’s bills to pay before you even launch. (Hiring top-caliber journalists, etc.)

The more I read about TheRoot.com, it seems that the Post Co. was inspired, in part, by the success of Slate (which it now owns). Matter fact, the top two guys at Slate wet-nursed this Root concept to fruition.

And Prof. Gates apparently has his own entrepreneurial interest here, using TheRoot.com to drive customers to his genetic-mapping business, AfricanDNA.com.

None of which I have a problem with. I’m just saying… you gotta have some funk it. Just got to.

Comment from someone “not in the target audience”:
Posted by “rkaufman.wordpress.com” January 30, 2008 at 9:22 AM:
Well, The Root’s been online now for two days, and though I’m not the target audience, I thought I’d go take a look at it.

My first thoughts are that I’m pretty impressed with the look of the thing. It’s supposed to be “Slate for black readers” yet looks nicer than Slate. (I’ve never been impressed with Slate’s weird pop-out Javascript navigation menu.)

I like that the “stuff” in the left column changes–sometimes it’s the top 5 stories, sometimes it’s a list of blogs, sometimes video. But oh–why do the blogs have to look so different? That’s a big negative.

The news content is pulled from other sources on the web, and opinions/blogs are written in-house. It seems to be a good mix of current events and commentary, but after such a short time I can’t be sure.

There are pictures on the Views (opinions) page, but News seems to be devoid of photos. And, come to think of it, why exile blogs to a separate section rather than allow them to mix with Views?

A plus for The Root is it looks like comments can be posted by anyone. And the blogroll to the left is great.

What do y’all think?

Posted by “Bee Easy” on “thecoloredsection.blogspot.com” January 29, 5:03 PM:
I finally got a chance to visit TheRoot, the new online portal launched this week by Dr. Henry Louis Gates. I’m all for the idea of an online portal for black people (any excuse to use my Mac), especially one that offers more than the standard entertainment news and commentary. Along with keeping tabs on domestic happenings, the site is not afraid to put international news, like the latest on conflict in Kenya, up front and center. Plus it provides links to some of my favorite black blogs and features commentary from fresh voices that I love to read anyway. Dr. Gates is clearly up on who and what is relevant to black people.

What I think makes the site especially original is its emphasis on genealogical research. If you haven’t already seen the tire thing, you can view clips from Dr. Gates’ African American Lives special from the site. Plus there’s thorough advice for those about to embark on their own projects. If there’s anything black folks need now, it’s knowledge of self.

But that’s another post.

Where other portals (like those owned by that radio jock with an exceptionally strong work ethic and that cable network those young kids like) confuse me more with every click, TheRoot is clean, user-friendly and easy to navigate. All in all, both the media junkie and the cultural connoisseur inside of me are pleased. It still feels a bit empty, though, probably because it’s only days old. I hope and am sure that the site’ll offer more content in the future.

Spend some time on TheRoot and let me know what you think.

The ONLY reaction from media blog Romenesko (and it’s snarky!):
Posted by “Alex Dering” on “Romenesko” 1/28/2008 7:38:38 AM:
…I’m just curious:
…what exactly is “the black angle” on housing and health care?
…what exactly is “the black angle” on housing and health care?
“I would like a place to live and medical insurance.”?
Something like that?
Can I make a guess as to what the “black angle” is on pizza?
“Actually, yes, I’d love a slice.”
And I bet the “black angle” on child abuse is probably pretty unique, too.
“Abuse a child? My God, that’s just sick.”
Ought to be quite a site.

Good back-and-forth about the webzine as a merely a means to target advertise:
Posted by “jossip.com” Jan 28, 2008:
Seeing Slate’s continued success and the purchasing power of blacks, the Washington Post Co. has launched TheRoot.com, a news and entertainment site for people of color. Henry Louis Gates Jr., an African-American Studies professor at Harvard, comes on board as editor-in-chief, with folks like Malcolm Gladwell signing on to contribute.

Gates is also involved on the business end, with TheRoot teaming up with his own AfricanDNA.com, which is among a growing number of companies promising to link the black diaspora to its African roots through genetic maps. Readers of TheRoot are often directed to Gates’ website.

Gates – and apparently WaPo – sees no conflict of interest, even though their new website (named TheRoot, after all) makes an explicit effort to focus especially on genealogy. Which is a convenient stance to take. (And given our own interest in black web publishing, perhaps our skepticism is also convenient?)

Posted by “Derek” Jan 29, 2008 at 10:41 PM:
I would agree that the website has a profit motive behind it. Even before reading this blog, it was my first impression when visiting the site. But in order to make that conclusion, you have to be an informed individual. What I mean by that is 1: You would have to know that Skip Gates is a principal of the DNA genealogy service that is being prominently recommended on “The Root.” 2: That using DNA to trace genealogy is so inaccurate, that the results are symbolic at best. Going back just four generations, a person would have sixteen great-great grandparents, but the DNA test only reveals one. 3: The website opens just a week before the debut of the 2nd part of the documentary “African American Lives,” which covers the DNA genealogy research of a few prominent African Americans. As a matter of fact, clips of the new show can be seen on “The Root.” (it would be interesting to see which DNA company is recommended in the documentary.)

Most people will not connect these dots. I guess they are banking on the emotional aspect of African Americans wanting to know where they come from.

Posted by “pres” Feb 1, 2008 at 7:27 AM:
A profit motive? In America? I’m speechless!

Posted by “Sisters45.com” Feb 1, 2008 at 6:57 PM:
This is America and nothing is for FREE!!

Posted by “CantEvenGo” Feb 2, 2008 at 2:10 PM:
Methinks that it’s a tenet of web sustainability and longevity that your website has got to make some money. If the financial connection between Gates and WaPo creates or supports interesting, informative content AND they make money from it, why the beef?

Here’s a post suspicious of Gates:
Posted by “Critical Noir” at Vibe.com 01/30/2008 at 1:26 PM:
Washington PostNewsweek Interactive recently launched the interactive site The Root. Ostensibly a partnership with Henry Louis “Skip” Gates to promote the latest incarnation of his black “celebrity DNA” project, the site features a virtual cavalcade (literally) of smart Negroes. We can thank our man Barack for this.

With the Illinois Senator confounding pundit expectations about the legitimacy of his candidacy and the perceived capacity for non-blacks to support his campaign, there’s suddenly a need for highly articulate Negroes, who are actually armed with some quantitative and qualitative data. So unlike the Don Imus, Michael Richards or even the Jena 6 controversies–where the clear desire seemed to be to create spectacles around racist transgressions and Negroes who love to agitate–the Barack moment actually demands some sophisticated political analysis (read: Civil Rights Leaders need not apply). For example, in recent weeks political scientists such as Melissa Harris Lacewell and Paula McClain have weighed in thoughtfully on the issues of race, gender and white supremacy with regards to the barbed exchanges between the Clinton and Obama camps, in venues as diverse as Democracy Now! and CNN’s Anderson Cooper 360 Degrees. Such opportunities did not consistently exist prior to the Barack moment.

The Root offers Gates the opportunity to trade on his true gatekeeper status, by delivering smart Negroes to mainstream corporate news platforms. This is not a new hustle for Gates. A decade ago, Gates was the intellectual and marketing force behind Africana.com, an on-line journal that provided a regular and critical forum for thinkers such as Amy Alexander, William Jelani Cobb, Lester Spence, Jimi Izrael, and Bethany Allen. At the time the site was essentially an on-line vehicle to promote Gates’s Encarta Africana. Africana.com soon became part of a necessary intervention into public discourse during the early years of the Bush II presidency, when smart Negroes–excepting Secretaries Powell and Rice–were no longer in vogue and ThugNiggas (50 Cent, Allen Iverson, etc.) were concretized in the popular imagination. Africana.com was shut down in 2004, after it was purchased a few years earlier by Time Warner (AOL)–and the latter came to the realization, that “critical interventions” scare off advertisers and upscale chat rooms don’t.

As such one has to wonder if the shelf life of The Root will outlive Gates’ current vanity project, the whims of corporate media entities and the general skittishness of too many smart Negroes strolling the promenade with well-packaged critical analyses in hand. In any regard there is competition in the way; According to sources “Cathy Hughes and Radio One are about to initiate an online venture.”

And, I’m not going to quote the entire thing, but here’s a promotion for the genealogy side of the site:
http://www.blogher.com/shaking-family-tree-learning-your-personal-history-through-dna-genealogy-oral-history

Then, there are these global/French reactions about la culture noire (oh la-la!):
http://www.netlexfrance.com/weblogs/recent-links/2008/01/#rlink-3741
http://chaps.blog.lemonde.fr/2008/01/29/un-magazine-web-pour-les-noirs/

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