by Dr. Boyce Watkins
Barack Obama’s voice booms high into the clouds as our nation’s president. But it is also a voice that is sometimes muted by policy, distorted by conflicting agendas and distracted by the complexities of the world in which we live. I find myself mildly disturbed by the excessive celebration within our community, as if winning this political popularity contest has somehow finally validated us as a people. It is scary when the measure of a Black person's success is captured by the degree of favor he has obtained with his historical oppressors. I will never believe that winning the White House is the greatest achievement in Black History, nor was it the greatest sacrifice. The greatest achievements were made by those who worked for us to be truly empowered and the sacrifice was made by those who died to clear President Obama’s path. Achieving prominence on the plantation is not nearly as meaningful as achieving independence.
Before we conclude that we live in a post-racial America, we must remember that many of the men and women who voted for Barack Obama would not be happy to see your Black sons dating their daughters. While we see that the White House has a Black face, we must remember that the majority of our nation’s most esteemed universities still only bring in Black people to dribble basketballs (if you went to college, count the number of Black Professors you had during your 4 years who were not in an African American studies Department). Most of the media outlets you watch on TV are controlled by people who are not Black, yet they consistently impact the self-perception of Black children by bombarding them with negative Black imagery (i.e. DL Hughley's new show on CNN). Most of our nation's wealth is controlled by the descendants of slave masters, with poverty being inherited by descendants of slaves. There is a lot of work to do, we can’t forget that.
So, while having a Black President is a wonderful thing, it’s not the most wonderful thing I can think of. I would GLADLY trade a Black President for any of the following:
Another Malcolm X – Malcolm is likely the most under-appreciated American in our nation’s history, since his legacy is not as amenable to the excessive commercialization and mainstream comfort of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. Dr. King achieved political gains and Barack gave us the White House, both of which can be taken away in an instant. Malcolm gave us something far more permanent – our self-respect and desire for economic independence. Since America will never give Malcolm much respect, it is up to us to remember that he is every bit as significant as Barack Obama and Martin Luther King, Jr. We should all memorize Malcolm's birthday right now.
10 Black Warren Buffets – my good friend and wildly successful money manager, Bill Thomason, brought up an undeniable point: if we as African Americans do not get ourselves together financially, we will never have true power. America is a capitalist democracy, and we cannot forget that money makes this world go round. Rather than teaching our children to get jobs, we need to teach them how to CREATE jobs. Rather than trying to wiggle our way up the corporate ladder, we should be creating the buildings that the ladders lean against. Wealth is more powerful than racism any day of the week.
An era of enlightened and educated professional and college athletes – The Black male athlete possesses many keys to the economic and social liberation of Black America. Many HBCUs can’t pay the light bill, but Black Athletes earn at least $2 Billion dollars per year for universities that don’t hire Black coaches or Black Professors (March Madness, for which athletes are not paid, earns more ad revenue than the Super Bowl and the World Series COMBINED). The powers that be know the potential influence and reach of an educated and empowered Black athlete, which is why they work overtime to keep them uneducated: when many athletes come to college, coaches pick their classes for them and some can’t even read at graduation. They keep them focused on the bling so they will take their eyes off the prize. These young men are taught like sheep to embrace intellectual mediocrity so their handlers can earn fortunes at their expense. They are granted the greatest power in our society as long as they prove that they are unwilling to use it. If these men were to ever wake up and fight for something bigger than themselves (as Muhammad Ali and Jim Brown once did), it would be absolutely earth shattering.
A Quality Public Education System – Rather than declaring a War on Terror, we should declare War on inferior inner city education. Instead of bailing out the rich guys on Wall Street, we should be bailing out our children who are stuck in the preschool to prison pipeline. Hundreds of thousands of potential Barack Obamas are being tossed in an educational landfill every year, as Black boys are 5 times more likely to be placed in Special Education as White kids (I was one of those boys). This is a damn shame.
Complete Overhaul of the Prison System – If you ever want to see slavery in the 21st century, one only need look as far as our nation’s prisons. There is little effort to rehabilitate, and the impact on the physical health and socio-economic stability of the Black family has been devastating. President Obama and others should confront the prison industrial complex immediately and stop the human rights abuses taking place in our nation's prisons.
Now that people are saying that President Obama’s success implies that there is no more racism, our job becomes much more difficult. President Obama and others must be consistently asked to pull their weight so that we can get a return on our investment in the Presidential popularity contest. But while we expect President Obama to lead us, we must also remember that it is important to lead him as well. The fight is just beginning.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com. To join the Dr. Boyce Money list, please click here.
6 comments:
Reading your part about ten Black Warren Buffets reminds me of a book I read a few years ago called Black Titan, about the late, great AG Gaston. He had numerous businesses, tons of influence, and served as an inspiration to cats such as myself, even though he made his mark long before I was here.
Boyce you doing your Nat X imitation again. Let me break it down for you:
"Another Malcolm X"
You and other educated folks might know about Malcolm, but he is largely forgotten. Don't believe me? Go to any college campus and ask some basic questions about the brother.
"10 Black Warren Buffets"
Tsk tsk. If we could just get dollars to stay in our community we would be alright. We too busy spending our cash in other folks hood. 20 Warren Buffets and 5 Bill Gates can't help us with this problem.
"An era of enlightened and educated professional and college athletes"
Whats stopping the rest of you guys? Tell em to shit or get off the pot Dr. Boyce.
"A Quality Public Education System"
Then quit running teachers away and tearing up your own schools. And get them damn parents to step up to the plate and control their kids.
"Complete Overhaul of the Prison System"
Real simple. Quit breaking the damn law and quit fucking killing each other in record numbers.
See how simple it is?
You know how certain symbols have a great impact on people's mindsets? For example, the Hollywood sign (represents creative & entertainment opportunities), the Statue of Liberty (represents freedom & better life opportunities), the dollar bill/currency (represents access & great opportunities). I believe that for many Black people (not just Americans), Barack's win as president of the U.S. symbolizes some kind of new opportunity for them that they've never seen before. This moment in history is significant for a lot of Blacks because this is a first, and it's a first that they can identify with on a more personal level.
Dr. Boyce, you touch on a lot of valid points, but we all have to keep in mind that Black Americans have had less than 50 years to learn how to be leaders (the head) and not just followers (the tail), compared to the 200+ years that White Americans have had. Unfortunately, our Country's history towards Blacks has scarred so many, and generations later, those scars are still a factor. Being 'taught' that your value in society is less than that of a dog, men being belittled and their
masculinity torn down in front of their women, being taught to live in fear... those negative teachings have had a debilitating impact on Blacks (then and now). Think about it -- when you were growing up, do you ever recall your parent(s) teaching you to get an education to become a business owner, or encouraging you to become a doctor, or professor at a
college, or a community organizer? Also, think about this -- how many cheers and ongoing celebrations (praise) have we given to the qualified Black woman who runs for political office and wins, or to the Black man who teaches high school math and has a high % of his students passing the class every year? What we (society at large) have been taught, post segregation, is to openly cheer for and celebrate the Blacks whose
talents are bringing in the most money, in relation to an activity that we deem entertaining (sports, music, movies). Every other profession outside of these 'magic three', are devalued to a degree, by Blacks and others.
Sure, we could and should have Blacks who run their own TV stations or film/TV studios so there'll be more projects made that represent Black life, and have more people of color working behind the scenes. But in order to achieve that, a group of people (a village) need to see value in it and support it. The money is out there, but the people who possess it have to see value and then respond. The film "My Big Fat Greek Wedding' cost $5 million to make and it grossed around $700 million worldwide. Black people may have not learned how to be supporters of something bigger than themselves, but it's not too late to start.
Sure, we could have ten Black Warren Buffet types appear and go on TV or radio sharing their wisdom and knowledge about financial matters, but since Blacks rarely see this, many are living paycheck to paycheck, and many have an insecurity about trusting other Blacks with their money, the impact of 10 WB's might not be as great as it could be. So maybe the answer isn't having 10, maybe it's having a coalition of 50 (one representing each state) so that Blacks can see a united front on financial matters.
Sure, Black male athletes are the fastest growing population of millionaires that the U.S. produces, but people have to keep in mind that the majority of these men are YOUNG men; some even as young as 18 or 19 years old. Think back to when you were that age. If you came into a lot of money, your priorities probably didn't include becoming a "world changer" or resource for a struggling community. Now with time and maturity, many of these athletes create a charity of some sort, but the majority of them are for the children of the community.
With the election of Barack Obama, I believe that many Blacks are changing the way they see themselves, are looking outside of their own lives and seeing areas where they can do some good in the community, or in the lives of others. The president of the U.S. might not be the most popular position amongst Americans (remember the magic three), but it is the most powerful. So, maybe seeing a man of color in this powerful position will inspire Blacks (and others) to say to themselves more frequently, 'yes I can!" Will Smith said it best, "...the excuses are gone." It's not on Barack's shoulders to change every single solitary thing that is wrong in America; it's on us to do our part, everyday. It's on us to teach our children to dream bigger dreams for themselves (don't just pass a class but excel in it; don't just get a job, be a job creator), and it's on us to support the areas that need it most (like the prison inmates).
There's a great show on the Food Network called the Chef Jeff Project: he's a former inmate who learned how to cook while in prison, earned his G.E.D., got mentored when he came out, opened his own catering business in Las Vegas, and now uses his business to mentor other young people who are going down a bad path (drugs, gangs, etc). In the show, he mentored 6 young people, taught them culinary and life lessons, and as a result, each of them earned a Food Network Scholarship to the Culinary Institute! These are the types of stories/testimonies that Blacks need to flood their homes & communities with. These are the discussions that need to happen more frequently at the dinner table. The more you talk about a good thing, the more you want to be a part of a good thing. I'm not talking about someone's ability to acquire expensive stuff for self-enjoyment. I'm talking about being a contributor that makes a positive difference beyond one's personal paramaters.
C. Fox
Holy shit...now that was powerful C. Fox
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C.Fox I was with you until you went into these waters "...the excuses are gone."
My question is what is an excuse?
I have heard people label actual circumstances and someone merely explaining why something may be a certain way as excuses and I have found it dismissive and arrogant. This thought process has lead to decades of our society marginalizing imperative issues.
People like Will Smith have mad it as celebrities so they don't give a damn. I could care less if he choses to repeat a century old line. People have been saying that "black have no excuses" since Emacipation. They said it when blacks were freed from slavery, they said it after the Civil Rights Acts that were signed in the 1890s, they said it when my great great grand uncle came to this country to study medicine in the late 1930s and early 1940s, they said it after the signing of the Civil Rights Act and it has gone on and on and on.
I would like to know what are these excuses?
I want to know what white people's excuses are since they have been plenty of white Warren Buffet's and white presidents? Why are some of them complaining about a neglected working class and middle class. Why are they complaining about a plant being shut down? Why not build a plant! Hello! I will tell me to stop making excuses and to stop complaining when I drive by the next "strike".I will also tell them to stop asking for handouts.
You see I come from an extremely wealthy black family were business ownership and investments are common practice. I am in the process of starting my own business: I am 22 and freshly out of college.
However I know how unfair it would be to head over to an inner-city and say "look, look, at my family, they are black and successful! What is your excuse?"
Everyone has different circumstances. You help others through empowerment not lecturing, scolding or using lines that have been used for years to avoid speaking about certain realities.
In my eyes, it is a CLASS issue. However when class and race intersect it becomes a horrible force.
You see, I am not for small-minded thinking. I beat all odds growing up. When I was young, I was diagnosed with dyslexia, ADHD and another cognitive impairment. I needed certain arrangements. I was not because of was intellectually inferior, I was actually intectually superior however these ailments effected my ability to complete certain assignments in certain time frames, take tests, read aloud, complete basic assignment amongst other things though I possessed the know-how.
I had to go through life, black, female and technically disabled. My teachers, friends and family never understood nor cared, they claimed that I was making "excuses". It was always, "if I could do it, you could do it" instead of trying to aid me. I was lucky however to ave known people who cared and understood. Who helped empower me. We helped solve certain problems head on instead of denying them. My parents said at my graduation in May, "you see, instead of making excuses and trying to be lazy, you did what you had to do and look what you accomplished" Yup...because it was all so easy. Imagine if I never found people who cared enough to see the actual problem.
While many would say that the two don't relate, they do. Poverty is a circumstance. Lack of access to certain resources is a circumstance. We need to work to solve and confront these issues. When someone brings it up, it is not an excuse but an actual reality.
I am the biggest proponent of self-reliance, independence (esp. financial), empowerment etc... However one cannot do it on their own. Mere symbolism is not change. Symbolism without substance cannot work. What you mentioned and Dr. Watkins mentioned comes with a committment by those inside of the community as well as outside. There are actual problems to be solved. I am still shocked that so many black people in this country ave little to no idea of what and how institutionalized racism works. So many have bought into the propaganda presented to them over the years. Institutionalized racism did not end on Nov. 4.
Admiring statements like Will Smith's which is not unique to him (conservatives like O'Reilly, Bennett and their ilk jumped all over that even before the election could end) almost made you sound no better than the anonymous poster who I chose to ignore.
Lastly, I have always loved Chef Jeff but what is so sad is that due to the Omnibus bill many prisons do not have such programs. As Dr. Boyce Watkins rightfully said, there is no rehabilitation going on in our prisons. Our prisons are producing criminals not transforming them.
Anyway Dr. Watkins, excellent post!
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