Should Ebonics Be Taught in School?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

I wrote recently about how the Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) is now seeking to hire Ebonics translators to help them to apprehend drug dealers. The group seems to believe that by learning the underpinnings of urban language, it can find a way to bring down "Pookie nem" on the corner. The website Newsy.com covered the article that I wrote, with a few other scholars providing their own insights into how and why this decision might be implemented. While I am certainly listening to the discussion, I am not sure what it would mean to establish Ebonics as it's own language or to try to teach it in school.

Does the teaching of Ebonics mean that we treat urban dialect as a class? If the kids and teachers acknowledge the language structure of Ebonics, do we continue to reinforce the use of what some might consider broken English? If the language is acknowledged in school, does that mean Employers and universities will accept graduates who speak and write in Ebonics? If not, is there any sense in solidifying a student's desire to speak in a way that doesn't match the rest of us? I'm not so sure.

 

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Black Student Helps Invent Electric Car that Goes 400 Miles Per Gallon

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

 

Kansas City, Missouri is one of my favorite places in the world. I have friends there that I respect, and I've grown an appreciation for the African American community in that city. One of the things I noticed about Kansas City is that there are both reasons for despair, and rays of light that provide tremendous promise. One of those lights is a student by the name of Kelvin Duley.
Duley was part of a team at De LaSalle High School, which invented an electric car that can travel 300 miles per gallon. Last month, Dooley said he wanted to grow up to be a professional basketball player. Now, he says he wants to become an engineer. This experience has changed him for life.

 

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Dr Boyce on AOL – 7/19/10

The Obama Deception Video Creates Claim Censorship

• I watched a recent video apparently made by Alex Jones, the creator of the film, "The Obama ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 19th 2010 7:04AM | Comments (2)

Tea Party Express Spokesperson Expelled for Racist Remarks

• The National Tea Party Federation, a group that represents the interests of Tea Party movements ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 19th 2010 6:28AM | Comments (2)

Mel Gibson: What You Probably Don't Know About His Money

• Most of us have spent a great deal of time hearing the most shocking details of the relationship ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 16th 2010 11:52PM | Comments (16)

Dr. Boyce Video -- Sherri Shepherd Stops by for a Conversation

• I like Sherri Shepherd very much. No, really I do. Unlike some of the less desirable creatures I've ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 16th 2010 1:10AM | Comments (6)

Rush Limbaugh Insults Black People With 'Cracker' Remark

• Rush Limbaugh is at it again, earning his paycheck from Premier Radio Networks. Recently on his ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 15th 2010 8:09PM | Comments (47)

Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton Downplay Tea Party Racism

• To the surprise of some, Revs. Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton have pushed attention away from the ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 15th 2010 1:58PM | Comments (9)

How to Financially Destroy Your Children Right Before You Die

• I had a friend who shall remain anonymous. Actually, this person was a very close friend, almost ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 14th 2010 3:19PM | Comments (3)

Major Legal Problems for AKAs

• The women of Alpha Kappa Alpha Sorority, Inc. are in the middle of a crazy legal situation that ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jul 14th 2010 1:21PM | Comments (30)

Dr. Boyce Watkins and Dr. Christopher Metzler on CNBC: Should the Rich Be Taxed More?

 

Watch Dr. Boyce Watkins and Christopher Metzler on CNBC - should the rich be taxed more than the poor?  Click here to watch

 

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News: Black Scholar Says NCAA Legally Exploits Black Men

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World

Professor Billy Hawkins of The University of Georgia has released a controversial new book that describes the experiences of NCAA athletes by comparing them to slaves on a plantation. According to the research of professor Hawkins, black athletes are exploited by the NCAA physically, financially and intellectually.

Hawkins cites the massive revenue earned by the NCAA via March Madness, which includes a 14-year, $10.8 billion contract with CBS sports. In spite of seemingly unlimited revenues to encourage athletes to stay focused academically, Hawkins notes that nearly one-fifth of the 64 teams participating in the NCAA tournament had graduation rates of less than 40 percent. Across the 36 sports monitored by the NCAA, men's basketball has the lowest graduation rates, where less than two-thirds of the players earn degrees.

The dismal graduation numbers for the NCAA support Dr. Hawkins' research, in which he argues and shows that black athletes at predominantly white institutions are being exploited while being neglected academically. In his book, "The New Plantation," the well-respected Professor of Sport Management and Policy uses a plantation model to present the black male athletic experience as part of a broader historical context.

 

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Teenage Boy Beaten by Police in Indianapolis

The Latest

Brandon Johnson: 15-Year Old Boy Beaten by Police in Indianapolis

• Indianapolis Police Chief Paul Ciesielski called for the firing of a white officer who's been ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 11th 2010 1:25AM | Comments (1)

OJ Simpson Fights to Get a New Trial in Nevada

• OJ Simpson's attorneys are planning to try to convince a group of Nevada judges to overturn his ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 10th 2010 11:58PM | Comments (0)

Oscar Grant Trial Has No Black Jurors

• On New Year's day of 2009, Oscar Grant was shot in Oakland, California. The shooter was a Bay ... Read More
• By Boyce Watkins, PhD on Jun 10th 2010 6:58PM | Comments (8)

How To Fight Like A Celebrity!

• From the Urban Daily: Have you ever noticed that celebrities always have beef, but never actually ... Read More
• By Lucette Jefferson on Jun 10th 2010 5:50PM | Comments (1)

Around the Web -- Jay-Z in Rolling Stone, Drake Was Rihanna's 'Pawn'? + More

• In his third Rolling Stone cover article, Jay-Z speaks on aging gracefully in a youth-oriented ... Read More
• By Journey Ade on Jun 10th 2010 5:45PM | Comments (2)

Julianne Malveaux Questions the Kagan Nomination

I was among the many who were disappointed that President Barack Obama did not nominate an African American woman to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. After all, there are six white men, two women, one Latina and one white, and a nominal African American man on the Court.  Why not an African American woman?
The Black Women's Roundtable, led by Melanie Campbell, was so disappointed that they shared their concerns with the President in a letter that spoke both to the contributions African American women have made and the qualifications of a few good women that President Obama should have considered before nominating Ms. Kagan to the nation's highest court.

I won't even speak on what I perceive as some of the shortcomings of the Kagan nomination.  The Solicitor General has earned the support of some colleagues that I fully respect, such as Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree.  At the same time, we have to pause at the fact that her definition of diversity is ideological diversity, not racial and ethnic diversity, and that she seemed to make Harvard a more welcome place for conservatives, if not for African American faculty.

 

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News: African American Scholars Speaking Up on Elena Kagan

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

I started the day thinking about Elena Kagan, Barack Obama's most recent nominee to the Supreme Court. I was wondering how in the world the president could appoint someone who has no experience on the bench, given the number of highly qualified judges he had to choose from. Then I was informed that this might be a good thing, since the Republicans don't have a judicial record to scrutinize. No problemo.

I then noticed that Kagan has past affiliations with The University of Chicago, The Harvard Law School and Goldman Sachs, and that she was appointed to her position at Harvard by Lawrence Summers, the head of the President's Council of Economic Advisors. I was starting to get uncomfortable at that point, because Kagan's appointment would mean that the entire Supreme Court would be filled with Harvard and Yale grads, which effectively says that every other law school in the country need not apply (so much for having a meritocracy). I also saw a very disturbing pattern of cronyism, elitism and Wall Street loyalty that lets us know that perhaps the President of Hope and Change is not quite what we ordered, making back room deals with his buddies, all for the sake of keeping American power locked into tiny social circles.

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Obama Family Portrayed as Sanford and Son in Newspaper

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Phillip Sciarello, a publisher and part owner of the Smithtown Messenger in Long Island, is defending his newspaper after a picture appeared that some believe to be a racist stereotype of the first family. The picture depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as characters from "Sanford and Son." The public backlash has led the paper to announce that it will issue a retraction in its next edition.
The picture is part of a "before and after" sequence of the last six presidents, showing how much they age once they get into the White House. The "after" photo of the Obamas show Barack Obama as Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and Michelle Obama as Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page). The characters are standing ready to fight, as was typical on the 1970s television show.The pictures led the Brookhaven town board to remove one of the company's sister publications, the Brookhaven Review, as an official newspaper. This means that the paper will no longer publish town government notices.
"The reference to racial stereotypes is where the line was crossed," Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko said to Newsday.
Hazel N. Dukes, president of the state NAACP conference, stated that the county should pull advertising from any publication that runs the photo.

 

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African American Social Commentary from TheGrio - 3/15/10

Dr. Boyce Watkins

Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

Democrats' crack-cocaine compromise is still 'racist'

9:00 AM on 03/15/2010

OPINION - While some might call this political pragmatism, others might describe this outcome as the modern-day version of the Three-Fifths Compromise...

> MORE

Earl Ofari Hutchinson

Journalist, author and broadcaster.

California police stop proves racial profiling is alive and well

8:37 AM on 03/15/2010

OPINION - In an address to a joint session of Congress in 2001, then President Bush blasted racial profiling, "It's wrong and we will end it in America." It hasn't...

> MORE

Talia Whyte

Journalist & Activist

Is the average single black woman really worth just $5?

9:02 AM on 03/12/2010

OPINION - If this disturbing new study doesn't prove once and for all that America isn't 'post-racial' I don't know what does...

> MORE

Christopher Chambers

Professor of Journalism at Georgetown University

Prison shouldn't be a publicity stunt for Lil Wayne

8:22 AM on 03/12/2010

OPINION - If Lil Wayne regards his cell as an extension of his studio or his label's offices, he will suffer...

> MORE

Dr. Boyce Watkins

Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

'March Madness' isn't amateur, it's big league exploitation

8:17 AM on 03/12/2010

OPINION - The amount of money made during March Madness exceeds that which is earned in the playoffs for the NFL, NBA or Major League Baseball...

> MORE

Dr. Janet Taylor

Psychiatrist

Too many Tigers, not enough Trojans

7:05 AM on 03/12/2010

OPINION - What's notable is reportedly not only did Woods not wear a condom, but his partner's didn't insist upon it...

> MORE

Dr. Boyce Watkins

Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

Why African-Americans are more optimistic despite fewer jobs

11:10 AM on 03/11/2010

OPINION - A new study shows that blacks are more economically optimistic than whites, with 36 percent stating that we expect our financial future to improve...

> MORE

Dr. Janet Taylor

Psychiatrist

How black women can combat genital herpes crisis

10:42 AM on 03/11/2010

OPINION - According the Center for Disease Control nearly half of all African-American women are infected with the HSV-2 virus...

> MORE

Marcus Vanderberg

Sports and social commentator

Torii Hunter is right about blacks in baseball

8:57 AM on 03/11/2010

OPINION - By associating Dominican players with blacks, it disguises the fact that MLB has a long way to go in competing with the NFL and NBA in urban communities...

> MORE

News: Jay - Z Gets PushBack on His New Stadium

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

I curiously watched the press conference held last week to celebrate the New Jersey Nets (well, not quite New Jersey anymore) stadium set to be built in Brooklyn. A group of investors, led by Bruce Ratner, were joined by many prominent New York public figures to celebrate the ground-breaking of one of the highest impact economic endeavors in the history of Brooklyn. Jay-Z is part of the group of investors who bought the Nets, so of course he attended the ceremony.

The excitement of bringing a professional sports team to a city is overwhelming. Teams can bring out a sense of community spirit and unity which ultimately helps provide a little meaning in a complex world. Cities compete to bring teams to their town because the fans want them. Cities give teams extensive tax subsidies and even offer to use eminent domain to take property away from residents who are not willing to sell their homes in order to have the stadium built. Sounds terrible, doesn't it? Well, sometimes it can be.

Click to read

Black People Economically Optimistic

• by Dr. Boyce Watkins

According to a recent survey by Experian, African-American consumption grew by over 50 percent from the year 2000 to 2008 ($590 billion to $913 billion), and it is expected to grow to over $1.2 trillion dollars by the year 2013. The study also shows that blacks are more economically optimistic than whites, with 36 percent of us stating that we expect our financial future to improve, as opposed to 31 percent for all adults.

The Experian study says a couple of things: First, it says that black people love to consume and that we are getting better at it. In fact, black people have historically been very good at buying things and working hard to get them, but we are not very good at production, investment and saving our money. We grab our tax refunds and run to the mall. We become highly paid corporate lawyers in order to purchase the house and car we really can't afford. We are chubby kids in the economic candy store, accelerating our collective addiction to the monetary engines controlled by corporate greed.

 

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The FAMU Sex Tape May be a Big Ol Lie

Read more about DR. BOYCE: The FAMU Sex Tape May Be A Big Ol’ Lie

TAGS: FAMU, HBCUs, sex scandals

 

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Dr. Boyce Watkins: Anderson Cooper 360 Weighs in on the Heather Ellis Case

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Heather Ellis is facing 15-years in prison for allegedly cutting line at a Wal-Mart store in Missouri.

Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World  
Special to AC360°

Heather Ellis is in trouble. The 24-year old preacher’s daughter has spent most of her life doing the right things: Going to college, getting ready for medical school and staying out of trouble. What Heather didn’t realize is that even when you do the right things, your margin of error as a person of color in America is virtually non-existent.

When I wrote my book, “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” the key point was that America’s justice system has a difficult time understanding that punishments must match the magnitude of the crime that has allegedly been committed. The actions that a “frat boy” can get away with 20 times during college can send an African American to prison for the next 20-years. America is a country that has, without question, consistently over-charged, over-searched, over-incarcerated and over-sentenced African Americans for the past 400 years of its existence.

Given its ugly past, the criminal justice system has very little credibility, and even police reports are subject to being questioned – especially in a town like Kennett, MO. My father’s a cop, so I know how all this works. Even when black men were lynched 100 years ago, there were always “witnesses” and police reports to say that he was a bad person. Fortunately, lynching does not occur anymore (although a black boy – Walter Currie Jr. – was burned alive by his white classmate in the same area as Heather), but the noose has been replaced with the long prison sentence as the most typical and most devastating form of punishment. As a result, black men and women are filling up America’s penitentiaries at an alarming rate, and it is destroying the core of the black family.

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U. Michigan and the “Optional” Practices

by Dr. Boyce Watkins 

The University of Michigan football team has a storied tradition when it comes to winning. The program is equally storied when it comes to making money by putting athletes on the field no matter what. This football factory rivals the other bastion of athletic exploitation down the road: my alma mater, The Ohio State University.

It was recently unearthed that The University of Michigan has been using "optional" practices as a way to push athletes against their will. Players and their families have reported that any athlete who doesn't attend the "optional" practices has a strong likelihood of being punished by the team.

I have just one question: why is anyone surprised? The only thing surprising to me about the University of Michigan case is that someone is actually willing to testify against the university. I am simply stunned that the players are bold enough to stand up for their rights in light of the fact that there are extreme penalties for athletes who have the audacity to think for themselves.

For college athletes, loyalty to the NCAA is not a choice. The officials who run college sports serve as the judge, jury and executioner in all cases related to athletic conduct. Like Michael Vick's pit bulls, athletes within the NCAAsystem are domesticated, indoctrinated and brainwashed from the minute they set foot on a college campus.

The same way that many major retailers look the other way when five year olds are employed in third-world factories, the NCAA doesn't do a very good job of enforcing the standards within its very own rulebooks. The only standards that seem to be applied strictly are those that keep the athletes and their families away from the multi-billion dollar revenue-generating machine that pays for the massive salaries of college football coaches. This is nothing less than a slap in the face to the players and their families, who give so much on the field.

 

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