At the last Black People of America meeting, we reviewed the Official List of Things White People Shouldn’t Do to Black Folk. Obviously, the biggies—no bigotry, slavery, racially motivated murder, racial slurs, profiling, or cultural appropriation for their own gain (ahem, Iggy Azalea)—needed no updating. But then there are more subtle things that need to be added to the list: Don’t use the last of the cocoa butter, talk during an episode of Empire, or attend a black family cookout and say Lionel Richie blows. I mean, you’re really asking to get stabbed with a Capri Sun straw if you say
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