"The next time you see someone dressed up as a chief with a headdress and painted skin at a Kansas City Chiefs game, or doing the Tomahawk chop at a Braves game, ask yourself: is it OK to use that imagery and represent Native Americans the way we do, despite their demonstrated anger at those stereotypes and the tragedies they suffered as a result of American colonialism and expansion?"
With 124 days and counting since the last live sporting event from the NCAA or any of the United States' five major professional leagues, sports fans across the country have had an empty space in their daily routines.
After 93 years, it’s time to change the name of UNC’s football stadium.
"We need to do better, and as a student newspaper that claims to train the next generation of journalists, that change has to start with us. So, we’re changing our social media and conflict of interest policies to remove barriers that prevented our staffers from expressing themselves, as a recognition that our identities can enrich our reporting."
Nowadays, sports channels' daytime programming is a glut of shows that all feel the same. Starting before sunrise, you can watch a mix of experts and big personalities debate each other for hours on end on a redundant set of topics that make up the day in sports.
"We must adjust our 'diversity' initiatives to take this important distinction into account, because recent descendants do not have to face the same generational trauma that long-standing descendants experience every day. All Black people experience racism in America, but descendants of recent African immigrants may not always face the systemic injustice long-standing descendants do."
If you claim to not be racist because you have Black friends, it is time to show it. If you claim to support diversity and inclusion, it is time to show it. If you claim to be against white supremacy, now is the time to show it. If you are not willing to put actions behind your words, please stop talking. Black Americans are tired of hearing it.
"I started writing this column early last week, with renewed hope that this culture of online performativity could have positive results. A few days ago, however, I woke up to the Blackout Tuesday trend on Instagram and felt like we’d all taken a step back."
Even in a game filled with numbers, throwing a perfect game is unpredictable — and many of the game's all-time greats never accomplish it. But maintaining perfection for nine innings isn't all about the numbers, and that's what makes it one of sports greatest accomplishments.
"Black Americans endure racial discrimination, microaggressions and antagonization from nearly every American institution. It’s visible in the disproportionate incarceration rates, unemployment statistics and home ownership demographics. Unsurprisingly, this disparity appears, too, in one of the systems most vital to public safety — health care."
Michael Jordan's impact on UNC goes beyond a game-winning shot in the 1982 National Championship game. His legend and personal brand will continue to influence generations of kids who want to 'Be like Mike.'
A requiem, written in iambic pentameter, for Babes Who Blade, the Facebook group with over 7,000 members that moderators shut down this past weekend.
From my first story on a UNC volleyball match in October 2016 to this column — my 239th Daily Tar Heel story, according to the website — it’s been a heck of a journey filled with its share of chaos and joy and fueled by a nonstop supply of medium caramel iced coffees from Dunkin’ Donuts.
The world of computer science is daunting. But we don’t often get a bigger picture of the compassion, creativity and collaboration that is seen in this world — something I have gained from my experience in the computer science department at UNC.
"How can I put such profound, earth-shattering news into one article? How can I sum up every emotion I’m feeling in a mere 700 words? How can my life ever continue on in the same way, knowing a human being with Gigi and Zayn’s genes is going to exist soon?"
I applied to The Daily Tar Heel on a whim, like many others, because I liked to write. I was a pre-admitted business major at the time and I thought I was on a linear career path to some future job in the business world — one of those jobs people see as impressive, but actually mostly consists of bullshit.
As previous editors have mentioned in their own farewell columns, The Daily Tar Heel can be an unforgiving place to work, especially if you are a person of color.
"I leave The Daily Tar Heel with less outright sadness than might be expected. But I also leave it with respect for an institution that has spent more than a century turning students into journalists, and lost girls into strong women."
Several programs have made statements that although pass/fail grades would be accepted, letter grading would be strongly preferred during the application process in the upcoming years.
"I have made sure to document their odd practices each step of the way. I am aware that the articles may at times feel over-exaggerated, paternalistic or pessimistic. This is because, out of respect, I have been doing my best to follow the same writing style that the Nacireman folk use when writing about the African continent — that is, portraying a single story."
