Tasty Morning Bytes – On Interracial Dating, The A&P’s Legacy and That Earthquake

Conversations About Race: There’s a Limit “As many of us know, quite a few white people do not ‘get it.’ Maybe most of them don’t. It’s why we think of race as a ‘complex’ topic, of the sort where blacks are to speak and whites are largely to listen. This is what people really mean by America’s needing to have a conversation about race, for example.” (The Root)

Quake was a teachable moment “In Anacostia, several parents and grandparents whom I interviewed expressed worry that schools were slow to evacuate after the quake. ‘A lot of people were taking their time getting out,’ Kevin A. Thomas, 44, a car wash employee, said. ‘These buildings over here are old. If we get another one, they could come right down.’” (The Washington Post)

On Interracial Dating “Asking me to switch to Cheerios – just because the corner bodega ran out of them – when I’ve been eating Raisin Bran my entire life wouldn’t work either. This binary solution for black women – stay single or date outside of your race – approach needs to stop. Also – can we please STOP acting like Tyler Perry’s version of the blue collar brother actually exists! It’s just an awful fantasy.” (Racialicious)

How The A&P Changed The Way We Shop “Wal-Mart has received a great deal of criticism for many of its techniques, such as hard-bargaining with suppliers. Most of that was started by A&P back in the 1920s. Wal-Mart has learned a lot from A&P’s experiences and has followed many of the same methods of reducing costs. … Wal-Mart is a publicly traded company, whereas A&P didn’t have to answer to anybody. A&P was a strongly anti-union company just as Wal-Mart has been.” (NPR)

Haynesworth admits disgusting behavior — not sex assault “U.S. Attorney Ronald Machen and his prosecutors decided not to try Haynesworth for sexual assault. It’s tough to prove. It gets into intent. The waitress was reluctant to testify. ‘She will not be forced to relive this upsetting experience again in a court proceeding or to endure the harsh glare of the media spotlight,’ prosecutor said. But we should keep the glare on Haynesworth. The dude clearly does not believe society’s rules apply to him.” (Washington Examiner )