Racial Issues

Has Tyler, the Creator Finally Gone Too Far?

Tyler, the Creator has never been known for being a sensitive man. Quite the opposite, he's known for unambiguous lyrics about controversial and disturbing subjects such as rape, murder, homophobia, and infanticide. One of his most infamous lyrics is from the song "Tron Cat," where he promises to "r ... More >>

5 Simple Ways to Tell Hate Bands From Non-Hate Bands

(UPDATED) Burn the Lies: CNN Calls Hatebreed a "White Power" Act CNN caused an uproar earlier this week when it ran a hastily-slapped-together story on racist hate bands in knee-jerk reaction to Sunday's utterly reprehensible Sikh temple shooting in Oak Creek, Wisconsin. In the story, columnist Lon ... More >>

Comment of the Day: You Might Be a Racist

We have some great commenters here on Hair Balls, and it's time we paid some damn attention to them. So we'll be highlighting a Comment of the Day each morning or afternoon from the previous day's work. Maybe two comments, even. This will all be determined by a highly rigorous scientific formula i ... More >>

Whitest Man Alive Tries To Curry Favor With Blacks, Somehow Doesn't Succeed

Mitt Romney, the whitest Republican presidential nominee since every single Republican presidential nominee before him, informed an auditorium of black people at the National Association for the Advancement of Colored People conference in Houston today that he, stilted awkward whiteness aside, knows ... More >>

Crossing the Line: Welcome Back, Jim Crow

New laws in dozens of states could take out Barack Obama this fall.

Joseph Adams: Some Thoughts on Our Interview with the Dude Behind SaveWhitePeople.com

If there's one thing Hair Balls can't get enough of, it's racists, which is why we were thrilled to hear this week from a Houston contributor to a site called SaveWhitePeople. The writer (known on the site as Erich) wanted to know if we'd like to interview the NYC-based site's founder, Joseph Adams. ... More >>

''The Impact of Racist Ideologies: Jim Crow and the Nuremberg Laws''

Company Brings in Guy in a Gorilla Suit to Celebrate Juneteenth, Lawsuit Claims

Employees to Carey: Slow your roll.​Here in post-racial America, where having a black president gives Americans a carte blanche to throw political and humane correctness to the wind, race is something to be joked about at all times. It's Juneteenth, the day reserved to celebrate the end of sla ... More >>

White Rappers & The N-Word Conundrum: 4 Case Studies

"You're talking to the wrong white man, my friend. My people were the white man's nigger when yours were still painting their faces and chasing zebras." - Herman 'Hesh' Rabkin (Jerry Adler), The Sopranos Yes, that was their name.​Freshman year of college. One of my good friends was a white ki ... More >>

Contestant of "Mr. Prime Choice" Claims Racism at Leather Pageant; Anonymously Called A "Coon" On His Poster

Photo by Thomas RivasTim Angelle is not Mr. Prime Choice.​Every year, Montrose leather bar The Ripcord crowns the king of all things leather: Mr. Prime Choice. Men over 40 vie for the title by picking an LGBT charity, fundraising for it, and strutting their best leather get-ups onstage. This w ... More >>

Is "Brown Pride" the Same as "White Pride"?

And are there Mexican Jews?

Getting Past the Bouncer

Local nightclub door policies aren't always black and white

Racism And Houston Clubs: The Nightfly's Story

​Is there racism within Houston's nightlife community? Of course there is. It's certainly not early 20th-century racism, but it's still very much there. In three-plus years of writing the Nightfly column for the Houston Press, I've only ever had one club owner or manager go on record as say ... More >>

Jennifer Peto: Holocaust Controversy Reaches Houston

Houstonian defends his grandmother in dispute​There's a mini-storm in Canada these days over the University of Toronto awarding an advanced degree to a student for a thesis that calls Holocaust-education programs "racist." Jennifer Peto's thesis, entitled The Victimhood of the Powerful: White ... More >>

Worst Hanukkah Ever: Gifts From Anti-Semitic Hate Websites

America X might be on the gift list​If you spent Black Friday fighting for Hanukkah gifts for your Jewish friends, chances are you completely forgot about the people who feel especially left out during the Festival of Lights: anti-Semites.While Jews everywhere spin the dreidel and light the menora ... More >>

Racists, Driving While Mexican and Used-Tire Shops

Special Mexican Independence Day Edition

Reliance Foundation: Controversial Billboards Come To Texas

The Reliance Foundation billboard​Perhaps because it would take up too much room to say "Honk if You Love Insane Conspiracy Theories," the new super-creepy billboards in Bryan simply show an African-American child under the terrifying slogan "Black & Unwanted." Welcome to life as viewed throu ... More >>

"Paper or Plastic?"

What's lighter? You or the bag? You? That's good. The bag? Not so much.

The Latest ACT Scores: Not Much Improvement In Texas

​The ACT scores are just out for the 2009 graduating seniors who took the tests as sophomores, juniors or seniors and it is not great news across the land, and certainly not in Texas. As far as biology goes, we're not exactly wowing the galaxy with our knowledge.And the ethnicity gap remains stark ... More >>

Kroger Fired Him, But They Kept Using Him In Ads Because He's Black, Man's Lawsuit Claims

Kroger will do anything to lure African-Americans inside their stores. At least according to one former African-American employee who is accusing the grocery store chain of repeatedly airing a TV commercial that he starred in -- aimed at buttering up a black audience -- well after the company had fi ... More >>

Crips and Bloods: Made in America

Web exclusive!

The Monster Among Us

Web exclusive!

Quanell X

The Houston activist says he's dumped the hate

Shylock, The Jew of Venice

A Complete Work of Shakespeare (Abridged and Encamped)

HPD Taser Audit Is Out; Black Officers Always Get The Easy Arrests

Not As Simple As Black and White

Trouble at Home

Sunday Coffee

"Double" Vision

The CAMH hosts an ambitious show about black conceptual art

Black and White

Good ol’ boys prosper at the Harris County Sheriff’s Office. Many African-Americans don’t.

Brotherly Love

Author J.L. King exposes men On the Down Low

Party of One

Ron Wilson gets down on fellow Democrats

As the Jim Crow Flies

Court art attracts heat but no media light

Best Democrat

District 147 State Representative Garnet Coleman

Unmasked At Last

After a half-century of effort, local African-American artists are emerging to the forefront of the arts, both in Houston and nationally

Playing Hardball

Quentin Mease's drive to desegregate the Dome gave rise to a new black power in Houston

George's Jungle

Author sees women and Europe surpassing men and New York as the prime exponents of black culture

The Malcolm X Files

Spike Lee's scathing satire of network television goes out with a bang

Baby Bush: Closet Liberal or Precocious Trickster?

Living in Dreads

The Insider

The Great Decolorizer

As a student radical in the late sixties, Ed Blum fought for affirmative action. Now, as a middle- aged neocon, he wants to destroy it.

The Art of Darkness

Paintings of racist images have made UH alumnus Michael Ray Charles a star in the art world. Some say his Sambos and pickaninnies have a healing power. But others claim all they do is hurt.

What's Wrong With Wheatley?

It has history, it has heritage. But does Wheatley High School have a real future?

The Art of Community

Soul on Ice

As one of hockey's few black players, the Aeros' Graeme Townshend has had to pick his fights carefully

The Race Matter

Sam Nuchia in Black and White

Houston's top cop has been a pleasant surprise to the city's black community. But in his own department, it's a different story.

Black on Black

A roundtable discussion with African-American artists about working in Houston