Click the image to listen!
Showing posts with label barack obama. Show all posts
Showing posts with label barack obama. Show all posts
Tuesday, March 10, 2009
Thursday, February 19, 2009
New York Post - Time to Ride
As promised, here is the contact information for various staff members of the New York Post. If you feel that the portrayal of President Obama as a monkey is offensive, then please feel free to express your voice. Having a Black President is nice, but having a Black PRESENCE is even nicer. Let the New York Post know what you think.
The contact information can be found here. You can also visit my blog if you'd like to hear more of my thoughts on the matter. My original post is below in case you haven't heard the story yet. But most important are your own thoughts. Please feel free to make a comment to be sure that your voice is heard. This is our country too, and people need to hear our perspective.
Be well, stay focused, stay strong and keep getting educated.
Dr Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com
Sunday, January 4, 2009
Barack Obama's Economic Plan: What We Should Know
Hey Peeps,
I thought you guys might want to hear Barack Obama's latest pitch as he works to solve one of the greatest economic crises since The Great Depression. It is here if you'd like to take a look. I agree with the President that bold moves by our government are necessary. Where we differ is that I do not believe it to be reasonable to think that our economy, stock market, economic growth or employment numbers are going to reach prior levels any time soon. That's because much of our economy one year ago was an illusion....a mirage created by easy access to credit sparked by a poorly regulated financial system. We are effectively the great athlete trying to compete after his steroids have been taken away: The athlete might be good, but his natural talent will likely never match his performance when it has been enhanced by doping.
More importantly, it is critical that each of us seriously considers the long-term financial damage that has been done to our economy. Even worse than our financial system, our political system is one that promotes the kind of short-sighted behavior that will surely cause serious financial problems for our children and grand children. I apologize for sounding like an alarmist, but I must be blunt: Get your money together RIGHT NOW, or there may be hell to pay in the long-term. The data from my research show that this is simply the beginning of very serious long-term financial problems in our great nation.
Our money advice email list is here, feel free to join. If there is a way that my training in Finance can help you or your family overcome financial challenges, I'd be happy to share what I know.
As a finance professor, I become nervous when listening to the numbers being tossed around by our federal government. I hear “700 billion for this and 800 billion for that” mentioned as casually as a man tossing dollar bills at a strip club. Our government officials have been wasteful, incompetent and incredibly myopic in the way they’ve managed our money. Even conservative Republicans are spending like financially illiterate rap stars, and the Obama-mania train doesn’t seem interested in taking a different track.
Added to the $400 - $700 Billion that President Elect Obama wishes to spend on a stimulus package (not to mention bail-outs for automakers and other parts of the economy), the total amount of money our government has seriously considered allocating to solve the financial crisis has approached the $2 Trillion dollar mark. In case you’re wondering, that is A LOT of money, even for government officials who think that money grows on trees.
The truth is that, like the star quarterback who thinks his money will never run out, our country is going to wake up one morning, only to realize that we are no longer financially secure. We are going to be alarmed by the prospect that our government securities are no longer considered risk-free investments. Like the worried mother who notices she is one paycheck away from being homeless, we will see that we are one terrorist attack away from being stripped of our vast economic power.
To put the $2 Trillion dollar problem into context, consider this:
- Our government’s annual income (IRS receipts coming from money you and I pay in taxes) is about $2.5 Trillion dollars.
- Our national debt has reached the $10 Trillion dollar mark. That is like a man earning $250,000 per year, and sitting on a million dollars in debt, with full intention of obtaining more debt because he believes he is too rich to go broke.
- Roughly 42% of the Federal budget goes toward entitlements: Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Another 20% goes to making sure we can arbitrarily “liberate” other countries who happen to have plenty of oil (the military), and another 9 – 10% goes toward paying the interest on the national debt.
- Our population is aging – this implies that our productivity as a nation is going to drop over the next 30 years, and our real Gross National Product is likely to drop with it. In conjunction with our decline in productivity, our obligations for the "Big Government 3" (Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security) are going to grow. So, the guy I mentioned above with a million dollars in debt is also going to see his income decline, while watching his expenses go up.
Translation: our country is in serious financial trouble. Trickle down economics (as proposed by these bailout plans) almost never works. I am amazed that we live in a country in which the same irresponsible men who caused the crisis are the first to be rewarded with a government bailout. The next time someone attempts to argue that Black males or young single mothers lack personal responsibility, I am going to point to the bankers on Wall Street and our government officials as being far more damaging to our nation. The real welfare recipients live on Wall Street, Capitol Hill and in executive suites, as they beg and plead for government assistance that is being granted at will. All the while, I hear politicians (even the great Black man in the White House) tell Black males with nearly 50% unemployment that they just “need to be more responsible”.
What are the solutions to this problem? There really are no quick solutions, but this might be where President Elect Obama can start:
First, stop declaring expensive wars that don’t make any sense. The Iraq War costs our nation roughly $340 million dollars per day and a combined total of half a trillion dollars. That’s enough to send over 10 million kids to college or to pay a year’s worth of health insurance for 100 million people. You could also provide $100,000 dollars worth of mortgage relief to 5 million American families.
Second, stop electing incompetent people to the most challenging office in the land. Choosing President Bush to run our country means that we deserve whatever consequences come from allowing arrogant Ivy League privilege to override the importance of competence, intelligence and solid leadership. With all the bogus and racist claims that Black youth are crippled by anti-intellectualism, it’s funny that nearly 50% of our nation planned to elect a Vice President who doesn’t know that Africa is a continent.
Third, stop throwing our children’s futures into the garbage. Millions of powerful minds are being wasted each year by a horrible inner city educational system. The money spent on the war in Iraq could have saved the lives of these youth and turned them into productive Americans. Instead, many of them are only going to be prepared to milk the economy for more costly entitlements.
Fourth, stop incarcerating many of our most productive citizens. We pay roughly $23,000 per year to incarcerate criminals, plus an average of $24,000 per year/per inmate for community corrections officers and other supervisory officials. Spending that money to educate and rehabilitate these individuals would not only increase our nation’s productivity, it would further reduce reliance on government support given to those who’ve been marginalized or had their families destroyed by our barbaric system of incarceration. This doesn’t count the impact on health effects that would come by simply stopping the prevalence of prison rape and transmission of disease within many communities across America. All chickens eventually come home to roost, even when they’ve been given 25 to life. The incarceration of productive Americans is an inter-generational loss, since their ill-nurtured children then become society’s worst nightmares.
Finally, our elected officials must stop thinking that they have a blank check. Sorry Senators, but you don’t. Money is finite, and when you keep piling up debt like MC Hammer, you’ll find yourself broke after your next album. Around the world, massive wealth appears and disappears in a flash, and by continuing our irresponsibility, we are setting the stage for the twilight of our great nation. Our officials must be more responsible and the American people must demand limitations on the use of federal debt.
Every great empire has a sunset. Many successful individuals and entities are brought down by a crippling vice, addiction or series of poor choices. America's love of debt, arrogance in leadership and unwillingness to plan for the future may be the poisons it has picked to undermine our global prominence. Protect yourself and your family, for there are bumpy times ahead.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, ESPN, BET and CBS Sports. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.
Sunday, December 14, 2008
Jesse Jackson Jr. - My thoughts
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com
I was concerned to find out that Jesse Jackson Jr. has been asked to defend himself against allegations that he is involved in the scandal plaguing Illinois Governor Rod Blagojevich. I have spent alot of time with the Jackson family, as I've appeared on the show of Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. more times this year than I can count. I have never met Jesse Jr., but I have a tremendous amount of respect for his father, as well as his sister Santita and his brother Jonathon, a fellow Finance guy. Jonathon and I spoke for hours about Economic and Financial empowerment in the Black community, and I was very impressed with what the brother had to say. Santita, whom I know better than the other "Jackson kids", has even given me advice on women, life and politics (this was especially relevant when I dealt with my university's backlash during the Bill O'Reilly situations a few months ago). I will always appreciate that.
At risk of not making everyone happy, here are my honest thoughts on the situation involving Jesse Jackson Jr, Barack Obama and Rod Blagojevich:
1) I am not sure who said what and who did what during this scandal, since I don't trust much of what any politician has to say. That goes for Rod, Jesse Jr., Barack and everyone else. Part of the reason I will never run for political office is because you are forced to lie and pander in order to get elected. That doesn't appeal to me. I have a strange habit of being honest, and as my mother used to say "Boyce, your mouth will either make you great or get you killed, I'm curious to see which one."
2) I do know one thing: Illinois politics is as corrupt as a crackhead on payday. Isn't the former governor of Illinois in prison also? The thing that worried me most about Barack Obama was that I am skeptical of any politician who rises to the top of Illinois politics. Like an athlete who dominates a sport riddled with steroids, you can't help but wonder if the winner is a little "juiced" himself. If Blagojevich is auctioning off a Senate seat and everyone knows that, it's not easy to accept the fact that the governor chose the winner because of his integrity and experience. While there was no clear winner of this Senate seat, anyone dealing directly with the governor is going to be under clear and logical suspicion.
3) I was incredibly disappointed by the way Jesse Jackson Jr. left his father hanging out to dry (politically speaking) during the Obama "I want to cut his nutts off" fiasco. Don't get me wrong, the words were highly inappropriate. Rev. Jesse Jackson Sr. called me the next day and I personally forgave him (after all, they weren't my testicles on the chopping block). I did, however, say that I was surprised that a long-time veteran of the media would make such a mistake and that it is disheartening that our most respected Black leaders still have to go to horrible places like Fox News to get their message out to the Black American public. But I was also saddened to see that his son, for the sake of political expediency, distanced himself as far as possible from his father. When your daddy is bleeding, you don't try to suck more blood out of his body.
I grew up in a world where a son remains loyal to his father, especially when he has done so much for him. So, I had a hard time understanding why Jesse Jackson Jr. would issue a statement detaching himself from his dad, all so he could continue enjoying the benefits of Obama-mania. Now that the "you-know-what" has hit the fan, I wonder how long it might be before Jesse Jr's new political friends start distancing themselves from HIM. No one loves you like family, and any reasonable man should think long and hard before attacking his own relatives in public. I say this as a man with several relatives I'd love to slap. But I have never considered issuing a press release to push the dagger a little deeper in a pre-existing wound of public humiliation.
The lesson I take away from all this is that if you are trying to swim with the pigs, you are going to get covered in slop. Whether Jesse Jackson Jr. is guilty or not, I don't consider him a bad person. The same thing goes for Barack Obama. But chasing the dream and intoxication of power, popularity and American validation can come at a price in this dirty and corrupt game called American politics (especially for Black men). As quick as you rose to the top, you can find yourself at the bottom, so perhaps it is important to remain grounded.
Keep hope alive Jesse Jr., you're going to need it.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of "What if George Bush were a Black Man?" He makes regular appearances in national media, including CNN, BET, ESPN and CBS Sports. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.
Tuesday, November 25, 2008
Friday, November 14, 2008
Wednesday, November 5, 2008
Why I am proud of President Obama
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
I recall endorsing Barack Obama back when it was simply wishful thinking to hope for a Black President. During a CNN appearance over a year ago, I mentioned that his backing by Oprah Winfrey would change Obama from being “Hillary Clinton’s black baby brother” into a man who could run one of the most significant presidential campaigns in American history. This is one of the few times when I enjoy being able to say, “I told you so.”
President Obama is, quite simply, the Tiger Woods of American politics: another Black man of mixed heritage, who used the power of tremendous focus, creativity, intelligence and preparation to do the impossible. Like his counterpart Tiger Woods (who happens to be a Republican), Obama went into the domain of White males and dominated in ways that simply transcended his chosen field. Similar to the way that Tiger’s greatness attracted droves of fans who’d never cared much about golf, Obama brought in millions of voters who would never have cared much about a presidential election.
I am proud of Barack Obama for the way he ran his campaign. His amazing campaign strategy has changed the face of American politics for the next 100 years. He dismantled the “Death Star Clinton Regime” through the use of innovative, daring and powerful tactics, a sound choice of advisors and lots of good old fashioned intelligence.
I am proud of Barack Obama for liberating our minds. For the first time in quite a while, millions of Black boys had a chance to see an intelligent Black man consistently profiled in “mainstream” media. This man showed our kids that you can be a “balla” without dribbling a basketball and a major “playa” without being played. Greatness is not achieved with a football, a hand gun or a microphone; it is achieved with a textbook, a college diploma and a sound economic plan.
I was proud of Barack Obama long before he became our president. I don’t need validation from the rest of America to feel good about who we are as a people. We were just as great, just as strong, just as accomplished and just as meaningful on November 3 as we are right now. The presidential election is essentially a popularity contest which leads to uncomfortable tradeoffs and “deals with the devil” that reduce the glitter of addictive political gold. The respect I give Barack Obama for raising hundreds of millions of dollars to get access to the White House is matched by the respect I give Dr. Julianne Malveaux for raising tens of millions of dollars to educate young Black women at Bennett College. Being President of the United States is not what makes Barack Obama a great man: He is a great man because he is a great man.
I am proud of Barack Obama for marrying Michelle, who served as one of my primary reasons for trusting him. I have a hard time imagining a man who can sleep with Michelle Obama every night and not be influenced by her beautiful mind. Michelle Obama is not a “buppy” soccer mom, Stepford Wife, or wannabe Barbara Bush. Michelle is a super sharp and relentless “sistuh girl”, who demands the most of her African American husband. She makes the first family as beautiful as Barack Obama makes it strong.
I am proud of Barack Obama for his willingness to take his life and career into the lion’s den. He inherits a terrible economy, an unjust war, a sickening healthcare system and an educational system which cripples our children for life. Like the first Black football coaches in the NCAA, Obama has been granted the reigns of a team with a serious losing record. Furthermore, he must bend and twist to satisfy citizens of the same country that was naïve enough to consider mediocre characters like George Bush and Sarah Palin to possibly run our great nation. I sincerely wish Obama the best as he attacks these problems, and I hope that this brilliant Black man with the middle name “Hussein” can negotiate the balance between our quest for a better world and America’s consistent commitment to anti-intellectualism.
As proud as I am of President Obama, I am also proud of America for showing that it has the ability to choose the right person for the job, instead of the right WHITE person for the job. By choosing Obama, we have shown our capacity for fairness, and how much progress we’ve made to overcome some of our racial demons of the past. The easiest thing to do, however, is to think that having a Black president is going to change the lives of most Black people. The reality is that BLACK PEOPLE THEMSELVES are going to change the lives of Black people and if we do not embrace the power of financial independence and unity, we will simply remain perpetual socio-economic slaves in the domain of a new overseer. The same way America rolled back the political gains of the 1960s, the Washington-based rewards of the new millennium could be just as fleeting.
President Obama did his job, now it’s time for us to do ours. Good luck over the next 4 years.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about College”. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, BET, ESPN and CBS. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.
Thursday, October 30, 2008
Barack Obama's 30 Minute TV Spot: Take a Look
Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com
For those who want to hear more of my take on the DL Hughley thing, I'll be speaking on it on the following shows over the next few days:
WDAS Philadelphia - Thursday at 1 pm EST
NPR ("Tell me more with Michele Martin" - National) - Friday morning at 9:15 EST
The Wendy Williams Experience (National) - Friday 4:10 pm EST
Hot 97 ("Street Soldiers" - New York) - Friday night at 9 pm EST
We also put a link which allows you to write the producers at CNN to tell them what you think.
I am going to meet with one of the major networks about a Financial show they have in development. As soon as I am given the green light to share what is going on, I will do that. I am honestly hesitant about dealing with the major networks however, since I enjoy making my own money and remaining independent. But if the terms are right and there's (in my friend Vigalantee's words) "no-jangling", I might consider doing such a show.
Barack Obama has my respect and I am going to vote for him. Here is a link to his 30 minute prime-time presentation for those of you who have not had a chance to take a look:
Finally, I want to give a shout out to the students at my alma mater, The University of Kentucky. They were recently hit with a nasty racial incident, in which an effigy of Senator Barack Obama was found hanging from a tree.
I spoke on a few media outlets on this topic and called for the President of the university to realize that it is the lack of true commitment to cultural diversity which created the social incubator that allows these incidents to happen. Racial incidents occurred at The University of Kentucky when I was in college, and they continue to happen to this day. It will never stop until the university makes an honest commitment to creating real diversity by allowing progressive African Americans to become involved in the decision-making structure of that campus. Most progressive Black faculty (myself included) left the state of Kentucky due to racism, and some were forced out by academic departments that, quite frankly, don't respect or appreciate Black scholarship. Perhaps the president can show his commitment by asking some of them to come back. I encourage the students and faculty to also stand strong and demand the fairness that the university has been promising (and delaying) for the past 40 years. It is time to be strong so that the next generation doesn't have to come to school to find their cherished leaders hanging from a tree.
Don't forget: if you want to get your finances straight, please join our list for financial advice. Economic freedom is a critical component of our socio-political freedom. Only you can save and protect your family.
Be well,
Dr. Boyce Watkins
Saturday, October 18, 2008
Why Obama Deserves to Win
I had some thoughts tonight after doing a couple of interviews on the financial markets, one with NPR and another with 99.5 FM in NYC. Those are two of my favorite stations, and anyone who follows me should know that I am going to be with my main man Mark Thompson at Sirius Satellite (channel 146) this Wednesday at 5 pm EST and WVON-Chicago Saturday morning. There's more this week, including The Donny Simpson Show (DC), Al Jazeera International, NPR again and some other stuff I can't quite remember right now (the details are on my site, www.BoyceWatkins.com). On each show, I've chosen to address the financial markets, and I have been deliberately avoiding discussing this election, because I don't want to say anything that might keep Obama from getting elected. Critical analysis means that almost nothing is black or white for me. So, I even critique people I love, and compliment people I can't stand (I've even said nice things about Bill O'Reilly).
Someone sent me an email the other day stating that my silence on the election has been "deafening". I agree. I've been deliberately silent on the presidential election for roughly 6 weeks. I have also been considered an "Obama hater" because I have not chosen to ride the Barack Obama-mania train that everyone else is on. In spite of my sincere respect for Mr. Obama as a person, I am still not buying a ticket. However, I can set the record straight right now:
1) Obama deserves to win this election. He has clearly shown that he is a far superior candidate to John McCain. He is sharper in debates and has shown himself to have far better decision-making skills than Mr. McCain, whose "Joe the Plumber" argument to support his tax policy was just flat out stupid.
2) I vote for my politicians, I don't worship them. Barack will get my vote, as I endorsed him long before it even appeared that he had a chance to win this election. But as his supporter, I feel that it is my obligation to also provide him with incentives to do the right thing for the American people and African Americans. Therefore, I am in agreement with Rev. Jackson and others who are working to provide Senator Obama with direct incentives to create policies that open doors for African Americans.
3) Sarah Palin scares me. When you are a 72 year old man who has a very strong likelihood of not even living to make a second term, you shouldn't choose someone like Sarah Palin as your running mate. That's like riding across the country on old tires without a solid spare in the trunk. Foreign and domestic policy are too serious right now for us to have a president who has less foreign travel experience than many 15 year olds.
4) The financial crisis threw Obama over the top. This is not the time to have a president (and mediocre student) who admitted that he doesn't know much about the economy.
5) Barack reminds African Americans of what our mothers told us as children: "You have to be twice as good when you are black to get half the reward." Obama ran the strongest campaign of any candidate in the past 30 years. He was cool under pressure. He carefully pandered to the kind of racism I refuse to accept. He deserves to be President of the United States.
6) I respect Barack Obama, but I dislike nearly all politicians. I don't enjoy working with anyone who has to lie for a living. I don't think politicians are all liars by nature. Unfortunately, they are required to feed lies to voters who can't quite handle the truth. When politicians approach me about being involved in their campaigns, I typically refuse. At best, I provide an endorsement if it helps. I truly believe that politicians are not going to be the ones who save Black people. Economics and Financial Activism are going to be our paths to power in a Capitalist society. That's the truth.
I head to Cornell University tomorrow and I won't be thinking about the election. Instead, I'll be thinking about family, freedom and financial prosperity. That matters far more than political popularity contests and that is what will make us free.
Saturday, September 20, 2008
Sorry Barack, You Can't Blame Bush for the Money Crisis
By Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com
I am no fan of President Bush. I made fun of the silly man long before it was popular to do so. However, in this case, I have to be one of the first to stand up and say that you can’t put all the blame for this financial crisis on his back. The War in Iraq? Yes. Hurricane Katrina? Absolutely. Damn near everything else? Sure, why not? But this financial mess should not, as our leading presidential candidates want you to believe, be slapped on the political tomb of Mr. Bush. That doesn’t mean he didn’t play a role, but Bush was more of a supporting actor in this horror story, not the star.
The horror story to which I am referring is that little news event surrounding a $700 Billion dollar bailout being sponsored by the Office Underwriting Corporate Hedonism (OUCH), also known as the Federal Reserve. Now, this is a different brand of corporate welfare, as taxpayer dollars are not being given away. At worst, taxpayer resources are being put at risk, as the Federal Reserve is making huge capital allocations to some of the nation’s most troubled financial institutions. As a lender of last resort, the Fed is responsible for investing money where the rest of us certainly would not.
To put it in layman’s terms, this is like using your savings account to loan money to an uncle who was fired for drinking on the job. Sure, he has been responsible in the past, and will likely be re-employed, but his recent behavior leaves you a little concerned. In the same light, taxpayer dollars in a financial crisis are like little soldiers being deployed to provide stability to the deadliest parts of the world. Many soldiers will come back home, while quite a few are going to be killed. Depletion of our government capital is quite likely in this scenario, for solving a global liquidity crisis with available reserves can be like using a kitchen sponge to soak up the ocean.
With that said, let’s discuss what this crisis is really all about. We must first understand the nature of our financial institutions. Banks and other entities providing credit to the consumer are a lot like drug dealers (both legal and illegal drug dealers are included in this example). Drug dealers give you something that you definitely want and even think you need. The drug (cash) is powerful, makes your problems go away and has a long-term consequence if you abuse it. That’s where the government steps in. The role of government is to regulate our financial drug dealers to ensure that they are not encouraging substance abuse from the users (American consumers), and to also ensure that consumers are relatively well-educated about the consequences of using the drugs (that’s where terms like “predatory lending” come from).
In order to make the economy appear strong, our financial drug dealers were allowed to run wild. Loans were being made to people who could not afford to pay them, causing the prices of homes to be bid out of control (it’s easier to bid a higher price on a home when your banker loans you all the money you need). Ultimately, consequences were felt when millions of Americans suddenly realized that they could not repay the amounts listed on the dotted line. This situation is not much different from what we are now seeing in the pharmaceutical industry, in which drug companies are using ads to encourage patients to walk into the doctor’s office and ask for whatever drug they saw on TV the night before (you hear that Rush Limbaugh?).
Now, before you go and burn down the nearest bank in your neighborhood, realize that it takes two to Tango. As Bill Cosby (perhaps naively) believes, “making good decisions makes everything ok.” We must remember that if all people made good decisions, drug dealers would have no customers. The truth of the matter is that in spite of the fact that our institutions and governmental authorities have failed us, one of the greatest culprits in this mess is the financial greed and myopia of the American consumer. We as Americans are among the most gluttonous and short-sighted consumers in the world. We borrow money to go on vacation without thinking twice, we don’t save for retirement, and we tend to do P Diddy/Paris Hilton imitations on every shopping trip. Money is our drug and we all rejoiced when there were more drug dealers in our neighborhoods.
So while Barack Obama and John McCain want to attack the clearly unqualified man in the White House over this mess, the truth is that we mostly have ourselves to blame. This crisis affects us all, and the corporate problems are nothing more than an aggregated manifestation of very bad individual decisions. Simultaneously, our legislators must be held accountable when ensuring that corporations are given incentives to engage in responsible lending. Perhaps a hybrid of the Cosby model is appropriate here: let’s get the drug dealers out of our neighborhoods, but let’s also make our neighborhoods a bad place to sell drugs.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of the forthcoming book “Black American Money”. He does regular commentary on CNN, CBS and NBC. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.
Sunday, August 31, 2008
Jesse Jackson, Barack Obama, and Paying for College
Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.net
Hey peeps,
I wanted to mention that Jesse Jackson and I are going to be on the radio Sunday morning at 9 am EST discussing the DNC and John McCain's "interesting" VP choice.
- BET did a good job on the election special last week. Most of my words were on Economics, Education and Politics. I thought it was interesting to hear from other people I respect: Al Sharpton, Russell Simmons, Hill Harper, Nas, Marc Lamont Hill and David Banner. We don't all agree, but I like the idea of us coming together to find solutions to American challenges.
- There is another BET special we're doing very soon comparing Barack Obama to Martin Luther King, Jr. I love Barack Obama and I love Martin Luther King Jr., but I do not consider them to be similar.
- Thank you to Rev. Jackson, Dr. Cornel West and Dr. Michael Eric Dyson for backing my fight for tenure here at Syracuse. I am in the process of explaining how Financial Activism in the Black Community is a necessary step in the Civil Rights struggle. I consider Black Public Scholarship to be one of the most significant and meaningful academic endeavors in America. If you wish to make a comment on my tenure case, please click here.
- Congrats to Senator Obama for holding it down at the DNC. He is a great inspiration and a first-class human being. My 24-year old brother looks like Senator Obama and even carries himself the same way. That's actually kind of weird. Also, they both attended Ivy League schools. When my respected mentors Julianne Malveaux and Cornel West critiqued the DNC this week, I think it is important to realize that they are not criticizing Barack per se. Actually, they are critiquing America and the fact that Barack Obama must exercise the will of those who do not love Black people. This effect is similar to the fact that Osama Bin Laden may not get angry at every American who pays taxes to a government with destructive foreign policy. But truth be told, when you are reaching for one target, you end up taking out all that lies in front of it. That is what you see with Obama challengers, and even with Osama hurting innocent Americans. In both cases, the outcomes are unfortunate, even when the intent is legitimate. Similarly, we must recognize the need to still have constructive critical dialog in our national discourse: I will support Barack, but I will never be on the Obamamania Train. In other words, never fall in love with a politician (people in love are blurry eyed, irrational and blind to the flaws of the target of their affection)....just vote for Barack Obama and then tell him what you need him to do.
- The students in my Personal Finance Class here at Syracuse are blogging on Financial Topics at this site: www.drboycefinance.wordpress.com. If you wish to join in on the discussion or read some of the articles, feel free to visit and hang out with us. The world is my classroom and anyone can be both my student and teacher.
- Speaking of money, education is right up there when describing the greatest social opportunities for our people. Also, there is an interactive effect in the sense that it's easier to get education if you can find the money and it's easier to get money if you can find the education. So, I've done 3 things:
- Rev. Jackson, Marc Lamont Hill and I are working on finding ways to get Black Males to want to go college. We're going to make this happen no matter what.
- My book "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about College" speaks on 529 College Savings Plans, so I included an article on the topic below for your review.
- If you want to know more about my educational perspectives and initiatives, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.org.
Paying for College is Not as Taxing as You Might Think
Worried about the high cost of college for your children? This concern is certainly legitimate. On average, the cost of a college education rises by twice the rate of inflation. However, the fear of a cost increase can be mitigated if parents and students are aware of the tools available to help them cover the expense.
The 529 prepaid tuition and savings plans are among the weapons parents and students can use to cover the cost of college tuition. The 529 plans, also known as “qualified tuition plans” are designed to encourage families to save for higher education. They provide incentives to save, and also allow for additional financial and tax benefits that can make the process easier for families who plan ahead. All 50 states sponsor at least one type of 529 plan, so there are options available for any citizen in any state.
Note that there is a difference between the 529 prepaid tuition plans and the 529 college savings plans. The 529 prepaid tuition plans allow parents and students to purchase credits for tuition at a chosen university and sometimes even room and board. The price of tuition, room and board is held fixed, with no inflationary changes for the duration of the investment (in other words, the cost of tuition doesn’t change for you like it does for everyone else). Most of the plans are sponsored by the state government and also have some kind of residency requirement. In exchange for meeting these requirements, the state government will provide a guarantee for the investment made in the 529 plan.
The 529 savings plans are similar to the prepaid tuition plans, with some mild variations. The plans allow an individual (usually the parent) to set up a plan for another individual (the student) with the goal of paying for the student’s educational expenses. The plans also allow plenty of flexibility in choosing the beneficiary, and you can even choose yourself as the beneficiary. The funds are not guaranteed by the state or federal government and you are given an array of investment options for the funds you’ve deposited into your account. In other words, the government lets you have more freedom of choice, but they take less responsibility in the event that your choice is incorrect.
The tax advantages of 529 plans are quite strong. While rules can vary by state, you are not typically required to pay state and federal taxes on earnings from either type of 529 plan. The only requirement is that any withdrawals from the plan are being used to pay qualified college expenses. Withdrawing the funds to pay for items not related to the cost of college attendance will lead to a 10% penalty in addition to any applicable federal and state income taxes.
My thoughts on the issue? Prepaid tuition plans are the safest bet, as long as you are sure that you don’t want to leave the state to attend college. While you are allowed out of the deal in most cases, there is a penalty for doing so. The 529 Savings plans are better for those who want to have a bit more flexibility in attendance options, as well as the chance to possibly outrun the cost of college tuition.
One other important thing to remember is that investing in your child also includes things like paying for tutors and after school programs, thus making your child academically competitive. Getting your child ready for college in the 9th and 10th grades is far more effective than waiting for the 11th and 12th grades. All of these investments can give you a very nice return when you consider the fact that many top universities are offering free tuition to low-income students who make good grades. You don’t have to use traditional thinking when it comes to paying for your child to go to college. I encourage you to think outside the box.
Whatever choice you make, money should not be the hurdle that keeps you or your child from higher education. Also, EVERY child is college material, no matter what the guidance counselor has said.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He is also the author of “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about College”, and “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good”. He is also the founder of YourBlackWorld.com, one of the top black news and commentary sites in America. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.net.
Monday, August 11, 2008
The New York Times is NOT the End of Black Politics
I read an article in The New York Times asking if Senator Barack Obama was the “end of black politics”. I couldn’t help but stop for a second and say “huh”? The statement confused me, since I wasn’t sure what the guy was trying to say. Was he saying that older Civil Rights leaders are no longer relevant? Was he saying that promoting a Black agenda is no longer important? I wasn’t sure. I only knew that, like CNN’s modestly degrading “Black in America” series, people were talking about this article. So I took a second to read the damn thing.
I am not so fond of the idea that a non-black publication and non-black journalist are writing articles trying to possibly kill Black politics. Not that they can’t have an opinion, but it always seems that their opinions of Black people are more important than the opinions that Black people have of Black people (notice how excited everyone was about Black in America on CNN). I grow tired of non-Black media, corporations and media personalities heavily influencing the direction of Black leadership in America. This is yet another reminder that African Americans must work to secure and patronize our own media outlets. Our socio-political destiny should not be determined by the New York Times. That would be like Ebony Magazine explaining to Jews that Nazis weren’t as bad as they think and this whole holocaust remembrance thing is just a waste of time.
I went through the article and thought about it. Essentially, the author was highlighting the generational rift in Black leadership, the one in which young hotshots (I guess I am in that group) are pitted against the tried and true, “I marched with Dr. King so you don’t know anything” generation. I respect my elders, but sometimes they think that way.
Personally, I have been frustrated by this rift and I’ve grappled with it. At the same time, I am equally frustrated by the desire of some to throw 40 years of hard work under the bus because we have the chance to have a Black President. It is disturbing that in spite of what many Black leaders have achieved over the past 400 years, people think that having a Black President is the single most significant achievement of any African American in history. Sorry, but it’s not.
Yes, getting enough votes to have a President with a Black face is important, but not the most important thing any Black man or woman has accomplished. Those who fought against slavery made the greatest sacrifices. Those who died during the Civil Rights movement made a grave sacrifice. Those of us who’ve climbed the ladder at predominantly White institutions have allowed the money and power of these institutions to blind us into believing that we’ve achieved more than we actually have. We are like the newly-signed NFL player who rolls through the hood with a beautiful woman and a new Mercedes (not even paid for), looking down on the hard working father who owns a grocery store to get his kids through school. For some reason, the wealth and validation of predominantly White institutions feeds into our own internal commitment to White supremacy by making us feel that we are more important than those who truly serve and support the masses of Black people. This is the same reason that Black professors choose to teach at Harvard over Howard, or why an athlete or entertainer feels that getting signed to a corporate endorsement makes him better than other entertainers who have lost favor with corporate America. If the American public gives you a carrot, that usually makes you a bunny who has to hop for it. Being POPULAR is not the same as being POWERFUL. What’s worse is that, for many of us, the carrot doesn’t even belong to us. So, many members of the Black middle and upper class, because they have no true ownership in the institutions with which they boast affiliation, are not much more than highly paid sharecroppers. But like an abused housewife, we avoid punishment by seeking validation from our historical abusers (no one wants to be the “bad negro” in the office) and it’s hard to maintain a commitment to Blackness when Blackness is not politically and economically convenient. In fact, Blackness gets you into trouble! (You should have seen the scowls I got after Bill O’Reilly’s last two attacks)
The author in the Times piece stated that Barack Obama’s success may cause “Black politics to disappear into America politics”. In other words, Blackness would become as coincidental as having red hair, or shopping at Best Buy. The premise is that a politician with a Black agenda can’t possibly expect to amount to anything in American society, since they would never be able to defeat a White opponent with broad White support. A businessman serving the Black community would not be able to possibly earn as much money as the man across the street catering his Business to the cultural norms of White America. A Black manager will never climb the corporate ladder if he doesn’t properly assimilate and denounce dimensions of his Blackness that make others nervous. I can’t disagree with this, since Blackness is not the easiest way to get power in a Capitalist Democracy (where money and political power are the rarest and most cherished commodities).
In spite of our temptations to let go of Blackness, the reduction of Blackness into a coincidental attribute is something that should concern us all. While I am fond of the idea of people respecting all dimensions of my humanity (i.e. CNN tends to only call me when they want to talk about “black stuff” – which makes me want to work with international networks), I choose to maintain a strong racial identity. One of the limitations of integration is that by being dependent upon predominantly White institutions to feed our children and pay our bills, we will remain subject to cultural domination. At my current position at Syracuse, no one hates me for having Black skin, they hate me for associating with “those people” (meaning Black males in prison, Black male athletes and African Americans from lower economic backgrounds).
The ultimate questions for us (which should be answered within ourselves and our community, not in the New York Times) should be the following:
1) What does it mean to be Black (to you)? I can’t tell you the answer to that question, but you should definitely answer it. Ultimately, we should be challenged to think beyond our prior limitations, those that say graduating from Harvard or Yale (with little connection to our community) automatically implies that we are a high Black achiever. The same is true for getting elected to office, getting a job promotion or having a high income. Not that these things are insignificant, but you also have a right to make your Blackness as meaningful as a Muslim’s commitment to Islam, or an American’s commitment to patriotism. Drawing these clear lines helps clarify tough choices you’ll have to make later, when someone tells you that “letting go of all that black stuff can help you make more money.” Your Blackness is like your religious or sexual virtue: If you never draw firm lines, then people will always convince you to sacrifice just a little bit more.
2) Does a Black President automatically become a Black leader, or does he become an American leader who happens to be Black? Barack Obama’s successful candidacy would imply that he is going to be an American leader, with a direct responsibility to the American people. This argues that we are still in need of Black leaders to directly promote and maintain a Black agenda without the biases that come from pandering to a fundamentally racist society. Someone has to be ready to hit the streets during the next Hurricane Katrina, Sean Bell shooting or Jena Six incident. Dumping Black leadership without finding empowered and independent replacements is a very dangerous move. You don’t kill your mother because you found a new daddy.
3) If we have a need for Black leaders, where do we get them? Not usually from mainstream American politics. American institutions are still too sick with the disease of racism to allow an individual to be both an effective Black leader and a powerful mainstream political leader, at least right now (Remember: “The O’Reilly Factor” is still the number one cable news show, which says something about our country’s mindset). Political leaders, by virtue of the fact that they are forced to “play the political middle”, apologetically pander and even demean African Americans in order to get more votes from a culturally self-centered constituency (note Barack’s 10 million apologies and denunciations), are not typically empowered enough to truly promote a Black agenda. You see, true power is not based on ACCESS to power. It is based on the ABILITY and the DESIRE to use that power for the greater good. A Black President could certainly do a great deal to help Black people and could even wipe out starvation in Ethiopia. The problem is that political constraints would not give that individual the desire or ability to do so.
- For the same reasons I mentioned above, we would also not get Black leadership from high ranking officials in media or corporate America. I am a Finance Professor and I can tell you that the incentives of American capitalism are not typically aligned with those of Black people, particularly the urban poor. Praying to the God of American money means you carry around a lot of demons.
- A reader made a great comment on my blog last month. They said “The smartest negro on the plantation was not the house negro or the field negro. The smartest negro on the plantation was the slave who ran away.” The problem is that, while the runaway slave was, in hindsight, the greatest visionary on the plantation, she was also the most disdained. She was the one who never had a chance to work in the “Big House”, and she was the one that all the other slaves chose not to associate with. When it comes to power in America, one of the great consequences of integration is that it leads to “dis-integration” of your cultural norms, Black identity and Black culture. The only solution to this problem is to use the spirit of the runaway slave to actively engage in the building of political and economic institutions in the Black community, those that are free from the cultural sacrifices we all make by trying to climb the White American corporate or governmental ladder. At that point, new relationships with White America can be established, interactions based on mutual respect and cooperation. I can say, for example, that I became truly liberated as a Black man when I learned to validate myself, educate myself and own my own business (I know that my university will never give me awards, promotions or validation for what I do in the Black community, because my work runs counter to the incentives created by the racially exclusive foundation of most American universities – in other words, there is an eternal price to pay when you go 130 years without hiring any Black professors). But building our own institutions requires patience, courage and a square ability to let go of our need for others to tell us that we are good or important. You are still significant, even if you don’t get that promotion.
To make a long story short, I don’t agree with the New York Times writer that Barack Obama will be the end of Black politics (the author is an admitted outsider to Black America). I am even offended that the New York Times feels that they have the ability to try to tell me that Black Politics is dead. Black people decide if Black politics lives or dies, and we are the ones who choose our destiny.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” For more information, visit www.BoyceWatkins.net.
-- If this message had been sent to a list and not as a test message, the footer and manage your subscription link would be here. To see this, add yourself to a test list and send a message to that list.
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
Jim Crow, Jesse Jackson and Barack Obama: What Needs to Happen Now
Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.net Quick Notes: I was on Jesse Jackson’s radio show again yesterday. Here is a link to Rev. Jackson’s first public speech since the Barack Obama incident. I also want to say congratulations to my attorney, Nicole Taylor, in Louisville, KY who just started her own legal practice. Nicole (one of the sharpest people I know) had a child at the age of 15, and then went on to graduate at the top of her class for her BA, MBA and JD degrees. She shows that we should never give up on our kids, especially young mothers.
The topic of Rev. Jackson's show was continuing the legacy of Dr. King. Most of us know how watered down Dr. King's dream has become and we sometimes forget the significant link between Dr. King's dream and the quest for economic equality. Here is a link to a study that you might find interesting. It shows that racism is still rampant in our country and that many people know it. This doesn't surprise me, since the United Nations Human Rights Watch has criticized our country heavily as a result of our nation’s commitment to maintaining a two-tiered society. In the report, they mentioned the following: 1) The disproportionate number of black men in the prison system (Note: this links directly to the high number of AIDS cases in our community, since the government does very little to stop prison rape). 2) Black men getting longer sentences for the same crimes. 3) Black men are far more likely to go to prison for the same crimes and less likely to receive adequate counsel (This links to the impact that Jim Crow and Slavery have had on the disproportionate allocation of wealth in our society - therefore, black men are statistically less capable of paying for expensive attorneys) 4) Black children are less likely to receive an adequate education (We know that many inner city schools are horrible. Also, the legacy of racial inequality creates lower wealth levels in the inner city and thus a lower tax base to support public schools). Senator Obama expects your vote, so I hope you also ask for his vote. The fight today is not so much against racism: it is against racial inequality. Racial inequality is what you get when you’ve built the foundation of your society on racially destructive habits, norms and activities that advance one ethnic group over another. Even when racism leaves the room, racial inequality remains long afterward. In light of the recent apology for slavery and Jim Crow by our Congress, we might want to consider the following: 1) Since the Federal Government (our largest and most powerful institution) has apologized for slavery, oppression and Jim Crow, does that also imply that many of the smaller institutions in America (universities, corporations and media outlets over 100 years old) should apologize as well? For example, my institution, Syracuse University, spent over 100 years excluding African Americans from opportunity, thus leading to an incredibly skewed distribution of decision-making authority on our campus today. This leads to a lower quality of education for students of color and fewer opportunities for black faculty to have leadership positions. This is not just true here, but EVERYWHERE. The first step toward fixing a problem is to acknowledge it. It is also important to realize that the past does not live in a vacuum: it lives all around us. Most people, places, objects and concepts are here today because of something that someone did in the past - so addressing the present is a way to address the past. 2) Given that Congress has apologized for slavery and Jim Crow, what should our government do next? If I do something to harm another person, the first step toward healing is to acknowledge and apologize. I applaud Congress for issuing an apology. The next step, once I have decided to apologize, is to ask “How do I make it right?” If we are truly on the path toward racial reconciliation in our country, we must be responsible enough to ensure that we actually correct the damage that has been done. That means affirmative action programs are not seen as discriminatory, but rather, necessary in order to take affirmative steps to correct the firm commitment toward inequality that has crippled our nation for the past 400 years. Affirmative Action programs for White males and privileged Americans have been built for several hundred years and exist in American institutions today. Only additional Affirmative Action programs can help us achieve equality. In a racist, sexist society, you don’t get equality by accident. You have to take affirmative steps to work for it. 3) In a recent news story, I was asked (as a Finance Professor) about the feasibility of reparations. I would like to hear your ideas on how reparations should occur, given that reparations is the only logical way to correct the damage of the past. My thoughts on reparations are that sending everyone a check would be expensive, counter-productive and infeasible. Personally, I would like to see Senator Obama or McCain work toward a commitment to the following: - Creating a path to ensure equal funding for inner city schools. When I speak at these schools, I notice a dramatic difference in quality from the schools I see in the suburbs. I don't want to see that anymore. - A commitment to maintaining Affirmative Action programs to ensure that African Americans have opportunities to obtain jobs and college admission – we can’t assume people are going to hire us within decision-making hierarchies designed to advance the ambitions and cultural norms of White males: if a company has never hired a black manager before, there is no reason to assume they are going to do it now. We are less likely to be part of the "good old boy" networks that lead companies to hire and promote those who are politically connected. Many of you work for corporations that don’t hire Black managers and live in cities with depression-era unemployment rates for Black people. THIS IS WRONG AND UNACCEPTABLE. - An assessment by a group of independent scholars and consultants to determine the institutional, social and economic damage of slavery, Jim Crow and a 400 year commitment to racial exclusion. For example, many universities have no tenured Black faculty as a result of racial exclusion, many corporations have no Black managers, White family wealth is 7 times higher than that for Black families and many media outlets have no Black hosts and little African American programming. All of this should be considered and put into proper context. - Programs and plans to support the development of Black Businesses: Personally, I believe that every Black child in America should learn entrepreneurship (whether you teach them or someone else). Even highly paid Black professionals who have not learned the importance of economic responsibility and independence can become high-paid sharecroppers with no latitude for political or moral courage. Financial liberation is the key to social and political liberation, since you will always be a slave to the person who feeds your children. - An increased commitment to head start and early education programs for children of color: Even the most hardened criminal started as an innocent child. It was our careless world that made him/her brutal. - An evaluation of the educational system to ensure that the public is properly educated on Black history and the impact of past racial exclusion on modern day America: Part of the reason Bill O’Reilly has a show is because our country is so horribly uneducated about the impact of racism. That’s why silly people like John McCain and Ward Connerly can convince others that getting rid of Affirmative Action is the same as fighting against racism. Any educated person knows the difference. Please state your own opinions by visiting our blog if you have something to say. My apologies for not being able to reply to every email. Either way, you know you have my love and support, and I appreciate your support as well. Sincerely, Dr. Boyce Watkins
|
 To be removed click here  |
View this message in the iContact Community:  View message  Comment on this message  Receive as RSS |
Share this message with others:  del.icio.us  Digg  reddit  Facebook  StumbleUpon |
Sunday, August 3, 2008
Dr. Boyce - Jesse Jackson Show Today
I am going to be on the Jesse Jackson Radio show this morning. I get the chance to appear on this show a lot, along with my good friend Marc Lamont Hill. I am glad to see Jesse back out there on the front lines of our conversations, we need him.
I hate the idea that we can be so willing to exchange all black leadership for a black president. Barack Obama is great, but he can't replace black leadership in America.
On a side note, I saw the movie "Batman" again last night. Heath Ledger's performance was amazing, and it was one of the best movies I've seen all year. So no, I am not always meditating on racial inequality every second of the day. However, I do give the Batman films kudos for a diverse representation of African Americans. I don't mind seeing black inmates in a film, but I enjoy the fact that Batman movies show us black police commissioners, black judges, and black scientists. That's certainly more than I can say for the film "Hancock", which showed black men as drunks and prison inmates. What was that all about?
Sunday, July 27, 2008
Do Whites Need More Personal Responsibility?
Dr. Boyce Watkins
I figured that since black male personal responsibility is on the table for discussion, we might spend a second talking about personal responsibility for others. This is not intended to be offensive, but rather, to change the discussion around a bit and allow us all to take responsibility for our actions. We've heard the chorus about how black males are failing to fulfill their roles in good citizenship, now let's talk about everyone else.
1) The recent mortgage crisis showed millions of Americans losing their homes, largely due to buying homes they could not afford, along with undersaving, overborrowing, underinvesting and overspending. The government followed up by providing a set of welfare packages designed to help these borrowers keep their homes. Perhaps middle class America needs a lesson in personal responsibility, rather than asking for a government handout to save them from their behavior.
2) Speaking of the mortgage crisis, perhaps we should take a look at the personal responsibility being exhibited by banks who made irresponsible loans that threatened to undermine the stability of the US economy. Personal responsibility check called for? I think so.
3) I was on campus last week and saw some statistics about massive alcoholism, rape, arrests and even murder occuring on college campuses every year due to campus drinking. Thousands of students walk off campus as alcoholics each year, and their parents, nor campus administrators do much to stop them. In fact, those who try to stop them are attacked by their parents. Lack of student responsibility? Yes. Poor parenting? Absolutely. Perhaps we need to call in Bill Cosby on that one. But then again, he is afraid to say much about white people.....most of us are. That's why police are quick to raid drug houses in "the hood" but wouldn't dare do raids on college campuses.
4) Speaking of drug use....did you know that most drug abusers in America are white and middle class? A New York Police commissioner took a tremendous amount of heat for noting that 70% of cocaine users are middle class Americans. It is ironic that black males are the ones most likely to be sent to prison for drug possession. It sounds like middle class America is dropping the ball on this personal responsibility thing.
5) Middle class Black America, are you listening? Before you stand and applaud Minister Obama's sermons on Black male irresponsibility, think for a second about the way you are raising your own kids. I can understand when a poor kid wants to be a gangster, since he actually lives near them. But I see alot of middle class kids from the suburbs who do the same thing, and I see their parents spending money like it's going out of style (one paycheck away from being homeless). You too are being hit by the mortgage crisis. You also must deal with the fact that some of you (or shall I say us) have dropped the ball completely in terms of your moral responsibility to actually reach back and help the communities from which you came. No, an annual donation to the NAACP doesn't count, and neither does being the first Black accountant with an all-white firm.
6) Black women, check this out. You know I love you and I am devoted to you. This is also not to say that your claims of Black male behavior are out of line, but let's think for a second. How responsible is it to presume that the breakdown of black marriages is always the man's fault? How have you contributed to your man not being in your home anymore? How good are you at picking the right man in the first place? How supportive are you of allowing that man to see his children when he wants to see them? How controlling are you in terms of jacking his parental rights and dictating the terms under which this man can spend time with his own child? Isn't it a bit irresponsible to say that Black men are the cause of all of your problems? Why not work together with committed brothers to find common ground, as opposed to villifying and further distancing us from one another? While it might be convenient to join the band wagon of Black male extermination, it certainly allows you a convenient alliby for your own broken commitments to personal responsibility. After all, these troubled Black boys are being taught by their mothers.
7) While conservatives stand in line to point fingers at fatherless Black families, have they noticed their own horrific divorce rates? Isn't it a bit irresponsible to condemn people for not getting married when over half of you are ripping your own homes apart via divorce? Don't divorcee homes also end up fatherless too? Perhaps you need to take a note in your own personal responsibililty before saying anything about Black men. In fact, perhaps we should be giving the advice: Most of you are not mature enough to get married in the first place and don't have the personal responsibility to make marriage work.
I am not here to throw down gauntlets of personal responsibility. I am as flawed as the individuals I write about in this article. However, before we start condemning poor Black Americans or Black men, it is important that we remember that we are not as perfect as we might think.
If you talk about personal responsibility, you must do it in a responsible way. Focus on your own house first.
Tuesday, July 22, 2008
Why Jesse Jackson Needs to Keep Moving
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.net
Today, I got a call on my cell phone. I wasn't going to answer the call, since I don't normally take calls from numbers I don't recognize. But this time, I made an exception. It was Jesse Jackson.
I like Rev. Jackson, and I find him to be an interesting figure in American history. I am also concerned about the recent spat with Senator Barack Obama, and how that is playing itself out in the eyes of the public. Honestly, I have a couple of perspectives on it, and I can see both sides of the issue:
1) For the longest time, Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton have been accused (rightfully) of not doing all they can to open the door for new black leadership. That is part of what fueled the jealousy accusations thrust at Obama. The problem is that a black leader is not the same as an American leader. Given America's incentives to continue habits of oppression of Black America, a Black leader must be willing to sometimes put himself at odds with the power structure in order to achieve progress. A president would not be willing to do that, which is why Martin Luther King would never run for political office.
2) I was concerned that Rev. Jackson, one of our most influential African American figures, still has to rely on Fox News to get his message to the world. You don't go into your enemy's house to get food you need to survive. This shines a light on the need for more black-owned media outlets.
3) I am not a fan of the notion that everyone assumes that anyone who holds Obama accountable to the black community must be jealous of him. That's just stupid. Wasn't he just trying to hold black men accountable last week? Does that make him jealous of us?
4) When Senator Obama spoke to Latino families, he spoke of a path to citizenship. When he spoke to Jews, he spoke of Israeli security. When he spoke to women, he spoke of abortion rights. When he spoke to the National Labor Relations Board, he spoke of government policies to create more jobs. When he spoke to black people, he didn't offer one single policy solution to the massive unemployment and health problems in the black community. He simply said "You people need to be more responsible." That was an incredibly irresponsible way to talk about personal responsibility.
My question is: Why does the speech change when he appears in front of African Americans? Don't give me that stuff about him being a black man and feeling the need to lecture us over everyone else. That is a flawed assessment because a) Obama is also 50% white but has not given one lecture to White America, b) he is everyone's president, not some kind of boss of Black America, and c) If you can't address racism fairly, including white accountability as part of the conversation, then you should probably not address it at all. That's like talking about the War in Iraq and not mentioning George Bush.
The final question is: Why are black people so quick to accept negative public statements about their own people? Why don't we demand the same pride and respect that other groups demand? Are we the only ethnic group in America with individuals who are less than perfect? If not, then why are we the only ones being lectured for poor behavior? Why can a conversation with African Americans not focus on policy solutions from OUR GOVERNMENT that allow us to overcome 400 years of negative policy toward our communities? Don't we need the same policies that white women, Jews, and Latinos need or are we the only group being asked to ignore the use of our taxpayer dollars to help solve our problems?
I have always been a full advocate of personal responsibility and tough love. But the key part of the term "tough love" is the word "LOVE". Tough love that is shared in order to appease and get votes from enemies of black people doesn't quite qualify.
No wonder Bill O'Reilly loved Obama's speech.
www.BoyceWatkins.net
Today, I got a call on my cell phone. I wasn't going to answer the call, since I don't normally take calls from numbers I don't recognize. But this time, I made an exception. It was Jesse Jackson.
I like Rev. Jackson, and I find him to be an interesting figure in American history. I am also concerned about the recent spat with Senator Barack Obama, and how that is playing itself out in the eyes of the public. Honestly, I have a couple of perspectives on it, and I can see both sides of the issue:
1) For the longest time, Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton have been accused (rightfully) of not doing all they can to open the door for new black leadership. That is part of what fueled the jealousy accusations thrust at Obama. The problem is that a black leader is not the same as an American leader. Given America's incentives to continue habits of oppression of Black America, a Black leader must be willing to sometimes put himself at odds with the power structure in order to achieve progress. A president would not be willing to do that, which is why Martin Luther King would never run for political office.
2) I was concerned that Rev. Jackson, one of our most influential African American figures, still has to rely on Fox News to get his message to the world. You don't go into your enemy's house to get food you need to survive. This shines a light on the need for more black-owned media outlets.
3) I am not a fan of the notion that everyone assumes that anyone who holds Obama accountable to the black community must be jealous of him. That's just stupid. Wasn't he just trying to hold black men accountable last week? Does that make him jealous of us?
4) When Senator Obama spoke to Latino families, he spoke of a path to citizenship. When he spoke to Jews, he spoke of Israeli security. When he spoke to women, he spoke of abortion rights. When he spoke to the National Labor Relations Board, he spoke of government policies to create more jobs. When he spoke to black people, he didn't offer one single policy solution to the massive unemployment and health problems in the black community. He simply said "You people need to be more responsible." That was an incredibly irresponsible way to talk about personal responsibility.
My question is: Why does the speech change when he appears in front of African Americans? Don't give me that stuff about him being a black man and feeling the need to lecture us over everyone else. That is a flawed assessment because a) Obama is also 50% white but has not given one lecture to White America, b) he is everyone's president, not some kind of boss of Black America, and c) If you can't address racism fairly, including white accountability as part of the conversation, then you should probably not address it at all. That's like talking about the War in Iraq and not mentioning George Bush.
The final question is: Why are black people so quick to accept negative public statements about their own people? Why don't we demand the same pride and respect that other groups demand? Are we the only ethnic group in America with individuals who are less than perfect? If not, then why are we the only ones being lectured for poor behavior? Why can a conversation with African Americans not focus on policy solutions from OUR GOVERNMENT that allow us to overcome 400 years of negative policy toward our communities? Don't we need the same policies that white women, Jews, and Latinos need or are we the only group being asked to ignore the use of our taxpayer dollars to help solve our problems?
I have always been a full advocate of personal responsibility and tough love. But the key part of the term "tough love" is the word "LOVE". Tough love that is shared in order to appease and get votes from enemies of black people doesn't quite qualify.
No wonder Bill O'Reilly loved Obama's speech.
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)