John H. McWhorter

Three of the Billboard top ten songs in the country have titles containing the F-word. On this year’s Grammys telecast, Cee Lo Green played a rollicking version of the smash hit everyone knows isn’t really called “Forget You.” Has one of the most powerful curse words in the English arsenal become toothless? We get some straight talk on profanity from linguist  John McWhorter and New York Times pop critic Jon Pareles. 

People accusing Barack Obama of being insufficiently “angry” need a Shaft fix. After that, they should get back to evaluating our President as a human being rather than as a stereotype.

Yes, stereotype. How “angry” are people waiting for a United States president to look, and why so much concern about it with this president?

As of the NAACP’s recent report on racism in the Tea Party, the media is again abuzz with concern that bigotry is a prime motivator of the movement. We are also being told that the wise American today should worry about a new onslaught of racism.

I doubt both claims. What should depress us most about the Tea Partiers is that they, complete with racist freeloaders as well as an airheaded tantrum masquerading as a political ideology, may never be going away.

"If we are truly interested in changing the rates of obesity issue, our take cannot simply be that sugary and high-fat food is all that is within walking distance to poor New Yorkers....

If Barack Obama and the Democrats really wanted to re-arouse the coalition of voters that gave Obama the White House two years ago, all it would take is a single issue we aren’t h...

“You’re not as conservative as I thought!” I hear this all the time. I’ve learned that when media outlets seek me out, it is best to let them know early on that I cannot serve as right-wing “balance” in a quest for a “diversity” of black voices, and that my politics are best described as cranky liberal.

But that’s not the reputation that precedes me. Why the confusion? Because I write about race politics, and when you venture into that territory, today’s narrow view of what’s acceptably liberal quickly distorts ideological labels.

There is an element of ahistoricism in the idea that American politics is uniquely “broken” today. The forward-looking essence to the American spirit discourages the near-obsessive fo...

These days, we're hearing profanity from the mouth of an 11-year-old girl in a box office hit and from the Vice President of the United States. Is cursing becoming more acceptable?

Senate majority leader Harry Reid's comments about the candidacy of then Senator Barack Obama and the use of the word "negro" on census forms has caused some controversy. John McWhorter, linguist and senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, discusses the controversy and the word.

Yesterday the NAACP wrapped up its Centennial Convention. The Takeaway has been covering the convention all week, from DJ Spooky’s artistic take on the African-America experience to P...

Rev. Floyd Flake Pastor, The Greater Allen A.M.E.Cathedral of New York, and John McWhorter, Senior Fellow, Manhattan Institute, discuss the Obama presidency, the stimulus bill, and other matters.

How have people's ideas about race changed the political landscape for the upcoming general election? NYT magazine contributing writer Matt Bai, Ronald Walters professor of Government and Politics at the University of Maryland, College Park, and John McWhorter, a senior fellow with the Manhattan Institute, talk about the shift.

Ta-Nehisi Coates, journalist and author of The Beautiful Struggle, and John McWhorter, senior fellow at the Manhattan Institute, discuss Jesse Jackson's comments that Barack Obama talks down to black audiences.