Donald Trump became president. White supremacy became normalized. Black women had to strap on their work boots to prevent an alleged pedophile from becoming a U.S. senator. We discovered that men everywhere were sexually harassing women. The Atlanta Falcons blew a 25-point halftime lead in the Super Bowl ...
Let’s face it: 2017 sucked.
And The Root was here to cover it all for you. Looking back at our most popular 25 stories is like watching a highlight reel for 2017, and it teaches us that some people’s idea that we live in a post-racial America is laughable at best.
Let’s look back at this year through the lens of our most popular posts, including the horrific tragedy of The Root’s deputy managing editor continuing to oppress one of the company’s most dedicated employees by forcing him to write unneeded introductions.
I won’t call any names.
[Editor’s note: Would it make you feel better if I said, “No more intros in 2018?” Of course it would. That’s why I’m not saying it. —Yesha]
Here are the top 25 stories:
25. White supremacists went wild.
DeAndre Harris was brutalized at the Charlottesville, Va., Unite the Right white supremacist rally, and we were the ones to get his story first.
24. We realized whom we should have been listening to all along.
Black women know things. In 2018, please listen to black women. But we know some of y’all won’t.
23. Cops still had no chill.
Does the abbreviation FTP come to mind?
22. Did I mention white supremacists?
If there’s anyone who really needed a GoFundMe, it was DeAndre Harris after he received concussions from a beating inflicted by a group of white supremacist thugs.
21. Everyone watched Dem Thrones ...
... except Yesha Callahan because she doesn’t have good taste in television.
20. White people explaining why they were #NotRacist was a thing.
It happens on a daily basis in Kinja.
19. Very Smart Brothas joined The Root and broke the internet ...
(Which then turned into a big-ass pool of black-guy tears after folks were offended by Damon Young’s post.)
18. ... twice.
Panama Jackson and his white mother definitely make for interesting family dinners.
17. The NFL vs. Colin Kaepernick was the matchup of the year.
He’s still unemployed.
16. Men apologizing for acting like trash was a recurring theme.
You think you’d treat your rib better.
15. White-on-white crime continued to plague the country.
Wypipo gone wild ... again.
14. White people began whitesplaining immediately after Charlottesville.
Editor-in-Chief Danielle Belton even got a few page views of her own.
13. A high school student’s visual protest went viral.
But did you cop the T-shirt?
12. We still don’t know why racists love Facebook so much.
Big Brother is always watching.
11. White people kept loving everything black ... except black people.
This woman is two fries short of a Happy Meal.
10. Black Lives Matter ... except to police.
The boys in blue couldn’t give a damn about a black life if you paid them to.
9. Playas gon’ play. Haters gonna hate. White men gonna mass shoot.
Another day that ends in “y” in ’Murica.
8. Incidents of public racism exploded.
Becky with the good fists got some punches in.
7. We no longer believe that children are the future.
And you can blame their trash-ass parents.
6. Even the national anthem was exposed as racist.
When an evergreen post proves what evergreen means.
5. One of the oldest Beckys returned to the spotlight.
That lady is a lying tramp.
4. I think we may have mentioned white supremacy. And violence. And kids.
What are y’all teaching these white kids?
3. Omarosa convinced Donald Trump to invite HBCUs to the White House. I’m sure everything worked out OK.
Omarosa is now Unemplomarosa.
2. White women are the white people of all people.
I don’t like to toot my own horn, but ... toot toot, motherfuckers.
1. A lying-ass, Trump-loving, Confederate-flag-waving, racist white woman and her kid—what more could you want?
Deputy Managing Editor Yesha Callahan is the greatest. She did not make me type that. She typed it herself.
As America’s unmelanated population prepares for another year of Caucasian shenanigans, we promise to bring you the best in news, politics, humor and insightful takes from a black point of view.
Whether it is politics, pop culture or white people popping off, The Root will be there to cover it all.