Examining the kickoff of Black History Month as well as the Sochi Olympics, this week’s Remix offers some new perspectives with which to view race and popular sports.
The history white people need to learn
Salon’s Mary-Alice Daniel reminds us that “white” is a race created in the early 20th century and defined by class rather than color. “Being proud of being white doesn’t mean finding your pale skin pretty or your Swedish history fascinating,” she writes. “It means being proud of the violent disenfranchisement of those barred from this category.”
The Global Map of Homophobia
In light of the Sochi Olympics, Richard Florida of The Atlantic compares Russia’s resurgent homophobia to that of the rest of the world.
Herbalife Detractors Meet with FTC
The League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) recently met with the Federal Trade Commission to discuss an alleged illegal pyramid scheme run by Herbalife, a nutrition company, that is tareting Latinos to become distributors with false promises of wealth.
Stokely Carmichael’s Legacy Is Less Recognized Black History
The Root’s Peniel Joseph calls on us to celebrate a black power icon who may be lesser known but just as important as MLK and Malcom X.
Coca-Cola’s Long Culture Wars
Coca-Cola’s multicultural Super Bowl commercial sparked a Twitter storm of racial slurs and misguided xenophobia. Jeff Chang of Colorlines looks back on the first time the soda company catalyzed national discourse on culture wars – in 1971, Coca-Cola aired a similar commercial in which a multi-ethnic row of Coke-drinkers sing “I’d like to buy the world a Coke.”
Check more of our favorite stories of the week on our Flipboard magazine: