Michelle Obama: Fox News Calls her Barack Obama's "Baby's Mama"

Fox News referred today to Michelle Obama as "Barack Obama's Baby's Mama" (video below). What is interesting about this statement is that it was clearly made because she is African American. I can't imagine them saying the same thing about the wife of John McCain.

This clearly shows that Fox News is engaged in a consistent campaign to use race to undermine this election. This election has really told us alot about our country and proves many of the points I've made in the past about racism. Subtle racism of the 1990s is out the door, since Fox News has given America permission to show just how racist they really are.


Just for the record, Michelle Obama would not be considered a "baby's mama". A baby's mama is typically unmarried. Michelle has been married to Barack for a long time. So, unless you are going to start calling Hillary Clinton, Barbara Bush, Nancy Reagan and other women "baby's mamas", you better not say that about Michelle Obama.


Michelle Obama is one of the most distinguished women in the history of this country. Fox News cannot and should not be allowed to undermine her greatness with such pathetic language.

The video is below.

Barack and the Election: My morning thought

I had a morning thought today, as I slept like a baby last night. It was in response to a question about an article I recently wrote for BlackProf.com, a site for black professors. The question was quite valid: What would I do if I were in Barack Obama's position?

The question and reply are cut and paste below. I should begin by saying that I remain adamant about the fact that many interpret black love to imply white hate. But that is what oppression is all about. If a husband is used to raping and beating his wife without resistance, any resistance that occurs is going to be interpreted as a violation of his rights. I have had thousands of white students over my 15 years as a professor, and I've loved every single one of them (except one guy in 1998....he was (excuse my Chinese) an asshole). People don't realize that calling me a racist for standing up for black people is actually the conditioned psychological training they've received from a highly racist society. Fear of labeling by people of color keeps us from doing what is right.


The black community is in shambles, this is because of 400 years of slavery and oppression. If making that statement and fighting to fix the situation has me labeled as a racist, then so be it. But recall: a man who sues the family of the man who raped, murdered and robbed his mother is not a rapist and thief himself. That is the flaw in that logic.

The email is below. Enjoy!

Reader Comment to me

I believe Barrack has been wittingly placed between a rock and a hard stone i.e.

Either have his candidacy racialized (process that is already in motion) and lose the nomination or election for sure.
or
Renounce his blackness and win ‘mainstream’ validation, then maybe just maybe “they” might give him the ‘prize’.

Given the dilemma, I believe Barrack needs more empathy than castigation from “his people”.

Maybe I should ask Dr. Watkins and Terrez this question. What would you or should anyone do if in Barrack’s position?

Seize a once in a life time opportunity of becoming president (a milestone in the history of African Americans and Americans at large) and publicly disown any form of blackness that make the white mainstream uncomfortable - no matter how true - the truth does hurt?
Mind you, they have the numbers (votes) and everything does come with a price.

Or


Forego the opportunity of becoming president because you woun’t lose the “black thang”? White will never understand why AA can’t get over their past and embrace (like other Americans) the “can’t-we-just-get-along” philosophy.

Mind you America might one day elect a latino, asian or native american president and AA’s might live to ‘regret’ the opportunity they missed of “making it in the big leagues”.


[reply this comment]

Boyce Watkins reply on June 3, 2008:

You may click on your name and/or comment to edit. ( 11 minutes)

Hey brother (or sister),

you make a very good point, one that I agree with 100%. I don’t demonize Obama for his choices, per se. I only ask: where does one draw the line? If a woman wants to desperately get married, does she drop her panties for every man that comes along?

I make that strong analogy above because there is a mentality in the black community that says that white validation means everything. Obama will get far more respect for being President than he ever would for being a strong black leader and helping black children. I would get far more respect for being president of Harvard than I would for being president of Spelman College.

One cannot fight oppression and simultaneously remain addicted to the need for validation from the oppressor. Black people NEED whites to tell us that we are smart, that we are good, that we are important. That is why we consider being President of the United States to be one of the, if not the most significant achievement in history for a black man. I do not agree. If a wife is being abused by her husband, she can’t say “get your damn hands off me” and then turn around and say “Do you still think I’m pretty?”

If the wife above can’t find a safe place to keep her self-esteem, her abusive husband is going to use that against her. White America does that to black america. When we do things they find objectionable, they collectively say to us, “you see, that’s why we think you people are savages.” We then work hard to adjust our behavior because we fear being told that we are not pretty enough for our oppressor. I even saw where one brother on this blog mentioned being “embarrassed” by the behavior of other African Americans. On the other hand, I rarely hear white males show any concern for how they are perceived by us.



You asked what I would do if I were in Obama’s difficult position: I would figure out where I am going to draw the line. I am not sure if any Jewish candidate would allow the American people to force him to denounce someone who speaks out against those who claim the holocaust never happened. A Jewish candidate would not denounce someone who believed in unconditional support for Israel. I doubt any Jewish candidate would miss the birthday celebration of Rabbi Leo Baeck or Dr. Otto Hirsch, great leaders during the Nazi Holocaust. However, Obama felt comfortable missing the 40th anniversary of the assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr because he was worried about what white America would think about him attending this legitimate event.

As African Americans, we have to figure out where our own line of self-respect is going to be drawn. The presidency is not worth teaching every black child in America to give away their dignity to obtain it. I would be just as proud of Obama if he were to drop out of the race and use his amazing fundraising ability to raise half a billion dollars to educate thousands of black youth at an HBCU. That would have a far more direct and powerful impact on the black community, in my opinion, than being another president who embraces the same old policies as the presidents before him.

I am sure Obama knows where he is drawing his line. As this election progresses, I am curious to see if he ever takes any stand against the attacks of the right wing. From what I’m hearing from journalists behind closed doors, the attacks are only going to get more vicious. Michelle Obama is next on the list, and the attacks are going to paint her as a racist. For some reason, many associate black love to imply white hate. Again, that is the same double standard we’ve always dealt with: when we integrate and demand fairness, people claim that we are co-dependent whiners. When we become independent and work toward unity, strength and self-love, we are called racists. The bottom line is that this country has been trained to hate us, and there are some who will get angry at us no matter what we do. That’s why we must learn to truly love ourselves. If we do that, then we can reintegrate into white America from a position of strength.

OK, this is my morning thought. Now it’s time to get back to work!

Barack Obama Advice: Just Denounce All of Black America- That Might Work

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

Barack Obama is a nice guy, and I really want to see him have the chance to become president. After all, it appears that we’ve decided that having the first African American integrated into the highest office in the land is more significant than anything we must sacrifice in order to make that happen. It’s up to us (as a good friend of mine explained to me) to prove that we can “make it in the big leagues” (since it’s clear from History Class that we haven’t accomplished much of anything to this point). So, we must be willing to do whatever it takes to get elected, no matter how degrading. We should denounce any leader, group or institution in the African American community that does not meet the approval of the broader white American majority. After all, if it weren’t for our willingness to play in the “big leagues”, we would still have to deal with that trifling, pesky Negro League that was fortunately destroyed when we were integrated into Major League Baseball. Also, were it not for complete integration and assimilation, we wouldn’t have access to the excellent inner city school systems across America.

For just a minute, I am going to ignore reports of US racism, such as the recent report by Human Rights Watch showing clearly that the United States is a country mentally ill with racial discrimination. I am going to be a team player from this point on. We don’t want to give the Republicans (and Democrats) anymore ammunition by forcing Senator Obama into the embarrassing position of having to denounce yet another black person or group who doesn’t meet the approval of the rest of America.



So, I put together a list of suggested denunciations that can keep Senator Obama out of trouble in this campaign. He’s already denounced several black religious leaders and abandoned his church of the last 20 years, so he might as well get rid of anything else that might keep him from having a chance to receive complete validation from America. Black children should learn a lesson from all this: give up whatever you must in order to become successful. You are not quite good enough by being who you are, so disowning all threatening aspects of your culture is a necessity for “mainstream” acceptance.

Suggested denunciations for Senator Barack Obama:

1) Medgar Evers – Evers was defended by Father Michael Pfleger, and we all know that Father Michael Pfleger can’t be trusted. Spending your entire life helping black youth in the South Side of Chicago gives you no right to speak about the black experience or racial injustice. God forbid Father Pfleger try to speak the truth in the house of God, that seems to be the last place the truth belongs.


2) Martin Luther King – We have to get rid of Dr. King too, just to be safe. This trouble maker agreed with many of the points being made by Father Michael Pfleger and Medgar Evers. We can’t have Barack Obama agreeing with someone who agrees with someone he’s supposed to disagree with. That wouldn’t make any sense in such a rational election environment. Obama already understands where I’m coming from on this, since he missed the 40th anniversary marking Dr. King’s assassination. Good job!

3) The other black “rabble rousers” - While we’re at it, we should also denounce Malcolm X (of course), Marcus Garvey, the Nation of Islam, Cornel West, Michael Eric Dyson, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Julianne Malveaux and anyone else who brings up this stupid racism thing which we all know doesn’t exist. We can get Ward Connerly for the denunciation press conference. He’s got black skin, so he’ll do.

4) Harriet Tubman and Frederick Douglass - Tubman and Douglass are shoe-ins, since they contrast with the great American slave owners George Washington, Thomas Jefferson and Benjamin Franklin. You obviously can’t have our president supporting the ideas of someone who conflicts with our country’s greatest American heroes. The president should be 100% patriotic, and patriotism obviously mandates unconditional acceptance of your nation and its leaders, both past and present. Michelle Obama learned of the necessity of unconditional acceptance with her snotty little “proud of my country for the first time” comments. We also know that Jeremiah Wright wasn’t patriotic. Pastor Wright’s little stint in the Marines was nothing more than a publicity stunt, and it’s a myth that Trinity United was one of the most respected black churches in America. If it was so well-respected, then why did Oprah leave after only 8 years?

5) Fried chicken or any other kind of soul food - This unhealthy African-American habit should not be embraced by our nation’s president. We can’t have our president endorsing the idea of high cholesterol. Obama should try eating whatever it is they eat on Seinfeld; that might work.


6) Hip Hop music and culture - I am not sure how any sitting president can support the vile, disgusting behavior of those hippity-hoppers. Barack: if they ask you about 50 Cent or Kanye West, deny even knowing who they are. You might also want to add a cherry on top by stating that “George Bush REALLY DOES care about black people”. That will really make em feel good!

7) The electric slide, step shows or any other form of African-American dance….wait a second. It’s ok for black people to sing and dance. We’re licensed for that one. In fact, it’s a requirement. Scratch that one from the list.

Every African American Studies department in America – After all, African American studies departments speak out about racism with all their “hate speech”, and we just can’t have that kind of talk in a fair, integrated society. In fact, an excellent campaign promise would be to get rid of these “racist” departments as soon as Obama is elected. Yeah, that one would really go over with Hillary’s self-proclaimed “Hard working white” supporters. While you’re at it, you might also want to denounce any and all forms of Affirmative Action. Sure, whites have inherited all corporate capital and nearly every good job in America for 400 years, but we can’t have this kind of reverse racism putting unqualified black people into jobs that others truly deserve.

After all of the appropriate denunciations and when the dirty nature of black culture has been sufficiently cleansed, Barack Obama might just be pure enough to be president. He’s already (according to Joe Biden) “the first African American candidate to be so articulate and bright and clean”. Perhaps I should take more showers, since 12 years of post secondary education still hasn’t made me clean cut enough for the world in which I live.

Barack Obama may just want to denounce every black person in America, or at least get rid of the millions who had the audacity to cheer when Father Pfleger and Jeremiah Wright were preaching. He should also denounce the millions of women who cheered when Michelle Obama made her statement about finally being proud of her country. It seems that being silent about the atrocities of the past 400 years is the requirement to get into the White House. I wonder if Jews would be willing to remain silent about the Nazi holocaust in order to have a Jewish president? Probably not, since they seem to actually respect their ancestors by being proud of who they are. How pathetic is that?

Barack Obama Denouncing Again, Quick thoughts

I woke up this morning to gobs of email from the lovers and haters of the piece I wrote supporting Father Michael Pfleger in the latest of Barack Obama's racial problems. I also read this morning that Senator Obama has denounced the Trinity United Church of Christ and all the individuals in that church who have supported him all these years. This reminds me of the superstar athlete who is told to leave "the hood" and not associate with friends and relatives who supported him when he was just a scrub. It was the love and support of the people of Illinois that got Obama's career going, I am not sure how I feel about his denunciation of his church home.

That led to some quick thoughts I have on the matter.

1) Why hasn't Hillary Clinton been asked to denounce any of her friends who speak strongly about race? In fact, didn't Condoleeza Rice say something racially controversial recently? Perhaps President Bush should be asked to start denouncing also. It seems to me that America simply wants to make sure that Barack Obama is not "too black to be President." This appears to be a social clensing, the same that many of us go through in middle class Black America.



2) Why doesn't Senator Obama just cut to the chase and denounce all of us? I think that might make things easier, since there are hundreds of thousands of African-Americans who agree wholeheartedly with Pastor Jeremiah Wright. It might seem that simply getting rid of the entire black community would give him fewer headaches. Black people are just too much damn trouble.

3) How would the Jews feel if America refused to acknowledge the holocaust? What if America had no desire to protect or support Israel from hostile forces in the middle east, claiming that anti-semitism is "just a myth" that they made up? I don't believe, for one second, that anti-semitism is a myth, but perhaps that puts things into context when understanding why African-Americans are so livid over America's lack of willingness to be honest about racism. America has not even apologized for the 400 year holocaust on black families, and they get angry when we bring it up. If this were done to the Jewish community, they would be outraged.

Those are my thoughts. I still stand by Jeremiah Wright, Father Michael Pfleger and Senator Barack Obama. They are my brothers in truth, and unlike the McCarthyists on the other side, they will end up on the right side of history.

Video below: Dr. Boyce speaks on Barack Obama leaving Trinity

Dr Boyce on XM Satellite: Liz Trotta, Hillary Clinton, Barack Obama

I have alot of respect for Keith Murphy, host of The Urban Journal on XM Satellite Power 169. Keith has been there with me since the very beginning, when no one wanted to hear anything I had to say. He has the perfect radio voice, the kind of deep voice that I wish I had. It seems that women like that kind of thing. Instead, I was stuck with a voice that might work for a cartoon character.

At any rate, the topic of discussion was Liz Trotta, the woman on Fox News who publicly wished death on Senator Barack Osama....I mean Obama. Yeah, she got his name wrong too, and it just so happened that she confused it with the most notorious terrorist in the world. We also talked a bit about Hillary Clinton, the 2008 Presidential election, and my experience at Syracuse University. Some people don't like this, but I am honest in all my interviews. It takes too much effort to lie, mislead or spin things in a certain way. So, everything you hear from me is real. So, when Keith asked me about how Syracuse University has responded to my work, I've been quite honest about it. The truth is that I have been almost completely ignored and disregarded by central campus. I send emails to them, they rarely email me back. I request to be involved in their inner city initiatives with black students, but I am considered "too radical" to be involved with black kids. This is sad because these kids come from the inner city and they need me to motivate them toward educational achievement. The kids, like many kids in inner city schools, are not responding to the individuals being sent by the university because they have nothing in common with them. Myself, on the other hand, not only grew up around these kids, but I specialize in motivating black kids to want to go to college. So, you can imagine my disappointment when the woman responsible for sending faculty to talk to the kids was told that because I am radical, she should keep away from me. I actually saw these words written in an email, I was a little bit shocked.



What is sad is that I am honestly not that radical. I was made fun of as a kid for "talking white" and "acting white" (whatever that means). I love my students, 99% of whom are white. But as Malcolm X discusses so eloquently, whenever a black man stands firmly and strongly for something, America wants to paint him as radical. Bill O'Reilly, Ann Coulter, Bernard Goldberg and others can be as indignant and angry as they want to be. But if I were to be equally angry, I would be labeled as an "angry black man." Such labels are unfortunate, for they undermine the rights of African Americans to honestly share their frustrations with our country. Jeremiah Wright, for example, is a patriot who put his life on the line for our country (unlike many of the right wing pundits who criticize him), yet he has been painted as radical and unpatriotic. This should make any American upset.

If I didn't have such a strong sense of self, this double standard would confuse me. I would never have been able to imagine how a black person can be kind, honest and supportive of other human beings, yet be labeled as radical and dangerous. I am neither a liberal, nor a conservative. I am certainly not a radical person, but rather, I rely on common sense and a basic commitment to human decency.

Some fallaciously assume that uplifting black people means oppressing white people. They think that black love equals white hate. I love and uplift, I do not hate and oppress. I reject these confused notions and have no fear of such irrational labeling. Such labels are used to mute the voices of oppressed people around the world, and I refuse to be oppressed. Anyone who doesn't get it is encouraged to go take a black history class to help them understand exactly why their anger toward me is similar to the mob mentality that has plagued our country for 400 years. I don't get angry at people who respond in this way, because the response is nothing more than a reflection of the fact that our country does not properly teach racial history. In other words, some of our minds have been poisoned and miseducated, including my own. The desire to learn the truth and educate yourself must come from inside and must be a lifelong process. It is a journey I embrace every day of my life.

At any rate, please click the image below to watch the interview. Keith Murphy is a damn good interviewer, so I expect you will enjoy it.

Liz Trotta's Death Wish on Barack Obama: What Fox News Needs to Do

As you know, Liz Trotta, a Fox News Analyst, made a joke about her desire to see Senator Barack Obama killed. This is no joke, this is serious. I don't think I ever thought, in my lifetime, that a major news network would have an analyst joking about killing the possible future President of the United States.

Senator Barack Obama is already getting threats from domestic terrorists who want him dead. Even my death threats are being taken very seriously by the police, so I can't imagine what Senator Obama must be feeling. The fact is that we must deal with the reality that Liz Trotta's words were a CRIME. The federal authorities should investigate this and prosecute to the fullest extent of the law. The mere suggestion by a leader in media that someone should be killed is REAL. When Bill O'Reilly attacks me, his thousands of minions take his words overboard, calling my house all hours of the night, threatening to do terrible things to me. So, whether it is Bill O'Reilly, Liz Trotta, Sean Hannity or some other bigot on national television, the fact is that this kind of activity CANNOT go on ignored.

Fox Analyst Wants Barack Obama Dead

Wow.....we now have a major network with analysts who are hoping that Barack Obama gets assassinated. If anyone didn't understand why we are going hard after Fox News in our protest, now you understand why. Liz Trotta is the woman committing the federal crime that occurs on the set of Fox News below.

Here's the video.




Those of you who continue to defend this behavior can now officially shut up. Your ability to argue in support of the actions of the right wing have now been invalidated.

Bill O'Reilly, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and other members of the "Axis of Ignorance", have continued to condone this type of social terrorism that reminds us just how racist our country continues to be. Bill O'Reilly joked a couple of months ago about "having a lynching party" on Michelle Obama, and now an analyst on the same network literally states that "if we could", we would wipe Barack Obama off the face of the earth.



As a black man who receives death threats every single week for my words, I can't explain to you how it feels to see major networks in the "mainstream" hoping for men like yourself to be killed. I can't possibly explain the challenge of being ostracized by my colleagues for speaking the truth on racism. Were it not for the encouraging words of supporters outside of my campus (including a nice phone call from the daughter of Syracuse alum Jim Brown), I would truly feel like I was on a suicide mission, at least professionally and perhaps physically.

This commentary is not off the cuff....it's not just "silly analysis"....it is a reflection on exactly where our country stands as it pertains to race, and I am sick and tired of pandering to the horrifically sick attitudes of individuals who don't want to deal with the truth.

Racism is alive and well in America. Even Hillary Clinton is noting that race is giving her an advantage in the election. Barack Obama is afraid to tell the truth on this matter, because he knows that any mention of race will cause him to lose votes. But I am not running for office and I am not being paid, so unlike Senator Obama, I am going to give you the truth.

US Code 18 Chapter 19, Section 373(a) of the Federal Criminal Code reads as follows:

(a) Whoever, with intent that another person engage in conduct constituting a felony that has as an element the use, attempted use, or threatened use of physical force against property or against the person of another in violation of the laws of the United States, and under circumstances strongly corroborative of that intent, solicits, commands, induces, or otherwise endeavors to persuade such other person to engage in such conduct, shall be imprisoned not more than one-half the maximum term of imprisonment or (notwithstanding section 3571) fined not more than one-half of the maximum fine prescribed for the punishment of the crime solicited, or both; or if the crime solicited is punishable by life imprisonment or death, shall be imprisoned for not more than twenty years.

Please join the YourBlackWorld Protest Against Bill O'Reilly and Fox News

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How I can Always Tell When I was on the O'Reilly Factor

I don't ask my friends when Bill O'Reilly talks about me. Most of my friends don't watch Bill's show, and have little respect for him. But even as I continue to ignore this little man like an angry 4 year old, he continues to put his little disciples on the job. I give it up to Bill, he's got his cyborgs in check. When he says "Get that negro!" His followers get right on the job. Perhaps my actions have qualified me for the "lynching party" he wanted to put on Michelle Obama. Such a comment clearly implies that Bill O'Reilly hates our great nation. Discussion of lynching the possible first lady, putting her in a concentration camp or any other kind of crazy hate speech has no place in our country.

The chart above shows the spike in traffic to my homepage that occurred on an otherwise boring Friday night on Memorial Day Weekend. My personal webpage usually has about 1,000 visitors a day, and YourBlackWorld has another 6,000 or so. But I can always tell when Bill O'Reilly was screaming my name.


Along with a slew of interesting emails, I also received a nice phone call from someone who called me a "fat monkey nigger", or some other entertaining descriptor. Yes, I have been gaining weight, so maybe he has a point...except for the monkey nigger part. I would prefer to be described as a "fat, hunky sex machine".

I hope he doesn't have some kind of fatal attraction toward me, since I don't roll like that. Either way, I've rarely seen Bill O'Reilly, nor anyone else so obsessed with someone who doesn't even return his phone calls. But then again, I guess intelligent black men have that effect on racists like Bill O'Reilly. I am an honest believer that educated black men are Bill O'Reilly's worst nightmare, which is why he has gone so hard after Barack Obama.

Keep screaming Bill....you and I both know what's going on.

Barack Obama’s Trip to Kentucky: The Ultimate Plantation

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

In the writing of my book, “What if George Bush Were a Black Man?”, I spent a great deal of time talking about my experience growing up in Kentucky. Kentucky is nothing like the unfair stereotypes presented by Hollywood: images of hillbillies in straw hats, running moonshine on horseback with no shoes. However, when given a chance to defy stereotypes and prove that it has moved beyond its commitment to racism, the state usually fails with flying colors.

This week, Senator Barack Obama was pummeled in Kentucky by Senator Hillary Clinton. While voting against Obama is no proof of racism, the truth is that many voters admitted that they voted against Obama because he was black. Even Hillary knows this, as she continues to brag about how she has support among “hard working whites without a college degree.” Kentuckians do work hard, many of them are white and the state is one of the worst in the country when it comes to education. So, these must be Hillary Clinton’s kind of people.


Race still matters in Kentucky, a fact that throws itself in my face every time I return to my home state to give a speech. The last speech I gave at The University of Kentucky led to my not getting a handshake from the mayor, nor many other dignitaries who’d greeted me so graciously when I arrived. It wasn’t because I said anything radical: I simply noted (quite precisely I must admit) that the campus stated in 1990 that it would dramatically increase the presence of black faculty, and as of 2005, they’d had a net increase of 1. Not 1%, just 1. I wanted to tell the university that killing the messenger, while fitting with tradition, would be counter productive. Rather, they should kick themselves for not having the personal responsibility to keep their commitments.

I stated what much of Kentucky already understands: there is an equilibrium in which black people are second class citizens in Kentucky and when this equilibrium is violated, people get upset. There is an expectation of weakness, fear and silence among the black community in Kentucky, and my violation of the “Good negro behavior protocol” led to a backlash from those who “don’t want your kind round here”.

I love my state, but that is why I must be honest in my assessment.


I grew up in the school system in Kentucky, one that destroys the dreams of black children by the boat load, tossing them into classes for the learning disabled at dramatic rates and killing their dreams of going to college. I recall confronting the counselor of my god daughter, who tried to explain to me why “college isn’t for everyone”, while the kids at the suburban schools with equal intelligence are sent to the next level. What was most sad was that the counselor was black.

I went to college at The University of Kentucky, a campus that continues to make excuses for not hiring black faculty, yet is always able to somehow find the next great black basketball player. I once saw two pictures in the law school: one of the faculty, one of the janitorial staff. One of the pictures was 100% white, the other, 100% black.

I still have family in Kentucky, where black people truly know their place. The Kentucky Derby is not an event for everyone to celebrate at the track: it’s the day where most black people either clean up the horse crap or barbecue in their mama’s backyard.

People don’t get upset about the way things are in Kentucky, they are trained to accept it. High powered whites are the jockeys, and people of color are the horses. Any black person accepted into higher circles must be socially neutered in order to gain admission. No radical negroes are allowed in the country club.

Muhammad Ali was treated so poorly in the state of Kentucky that he refused to return for years. 12 years ago, when a black female student was attacked at The University of Kentucky in a racially-motivated incident, she claimed that campus administrators asked her to remain quiet because the basketball team had made it to the Final Four. You know, the whole bad publicity thing.

What is most ironic that I spent most of my time in Louisville and Lexington, two of the most socially-progressive cities in the state. It sort of goes down hill from there.

I had a mentor at The University of Kentucky, Tommy Whittler, the only black professor they’d tenured in the entire business school in their 130 year history. Tommy, and others, gave me good honest advice. They said, “Boyce, if you’re ever going to advance in this world, you have GOT to leave Kentucky.”



So, I left Kentucky and I advanced. I left that state for the same reasons that Senator Barack Obama never campaigned there in the first place. Now, I come home and everyone is afraid of me. That includes some of the black people, who may get upset that my honesty on racial equality is going to “get them into trouble.” It doesn’t matter if my words are true, it only matters that they are traumatic. But call me crazy, I still love my home state. That is why I want it to be cured of the disease of racism.

One thing I can say about the state of Kentucky is that the people are fundamentally good. The “country boy” who refuses to vote for a black presidential candidate is also the guy who will fix your car for free and allow his kids to play at your house. He cheers for the black guys on the University of Kentucky basketball team, even though he never thought about going to college. Ultimately, he represents the great paradox of Kentucky that creates racial inequality. Both the whites and the blacks are victims of this sickness.

I love my home state, and I would love to move back. But when I come home and see the same old oppression, I want to run for the airport. When I wrote my book about Kentucky and spoke of growing up there, I wrote from a position of intense pain.

The bluegrass state is beautiful, but it almost stole my dreams. Kentucky continues to be a dream killer for African Americans.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, NBC, ABC, CBS and ESPN. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.