Tracy Morgan’s Ill-Timed and Embarrassing Remarks on TNT

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

Turner Network Television took the interesting step of apologizing for lewd remarks on the network made by comedian/actor Tracy Morgan. During an interesting back and forth with Charles Barkley in which they were debating the “hotness” of Sarah Palin, Morgan said the following:

"Now let me tell you something about Sarah Palin man, she's good masturbation material. The glasses and all that? Great masturbation material."

Of course my own jaw dropped when I heard what Morgan said, and you could see the white guy on the scene, Ernie Johnson, rushing to get Morgan off-camera. Everyone was clearly nervous after Morgan’s remarks, for good reason. A lot of jobs were on the line as the words leaked out of his mouth.

In spite of my serious disdain for Sarah Palin, I found the comments to be sad and pathetic. Palin is a married mother of five children, so to force her kids to hear of their mother being referenced in this way was nothing short of despicable. I would be outraged if he’d said that about my mother.

I also thought about the nature of media in general. As Charles and Tracy were yucking it up on camera with another “Yea man, let me tell you!” I thought about how mainstream media is always interested in accommodating black men in media who are most willing to fulfill silly stereotypes.

If Morgan or Barkley were intelligent, conscientious and serious black men, there’d be no place for them on the airwaves. Turner Network Television is the same company that owns CNN, the place where no black person as of yet has been allowed to host a prime time news show. But they were, however, very quick to give comedian DL Hughley a show in which he fed an endless supply of embarrassing racial stereotypes to a predominantly white audience right before President Obama was elected as the first black president. Perhaps black men are far more interesting when we portray ourselves as irresponsible sexual deviants who make people laugh, but being educated is simply “not black enough.” That's why men like Flava Flav will always get more network opportunities than Dr. Cornel West.

You can’t blame Tracy Morgan for being ignorant, that’s just who he is. But you must confront mainstream corporate media for always giving ignorance a platform.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is the founder of the Your Black World Coalition. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

LA Times Quote that we can never forget

"A word to the Black Man. … Do not point your nose too high. Do not swell your chest too much. Do not boast too loudly. Do not be puffed up. … You are on no higher plane, deserve no new consideration, and will get none. … No man will think a bit higher of you because your complexion is the same as that of the victor at Reno." – The LA Times, Shortly after Jack Johnson became the heavyweight champion of the world.

My interpretation of this quote: America will always dislike a proud black man and do what they can to humble him. Be proud and don't let ANYONE steal your manhood.

Bumping into Jay Z in Nigeria

Dr. Boyce Watkins

http://www.boycewatkins.com/

I just returned from an awesome speaking event in Lagos, Nigeria. Pastor Poju Oyemade, a visionary leader in the Nigerian community, created a semi-annual event called “The Platform”, which is one of the most respected economic empowerment venues in the country. The Pastor invited me and some other business leaders to discuss the entrepreneurial spirit and how it can be best used to unleash the awesome potential of the Nigerian economy.

The event organizers met us with Barack Obama-like security, complete with serious looking brothers with dark suits and even darker sunglasses. I felt completely safe in a country that has been falsely presented to the world as a haven of danger. Nigeria is not nearly as scary as the media depicts it: like any other nation, there is both good and bad. Unfortunately, the bad has gotten more attention than it deserves.

I arrived in my hotel, a swank and comfortable spot right on the beach, ready to sleep off the jet lag. I was ready to take a nap in the hallway if necessary, since I was as tired as you can get. I crawled toward my bed with my last ounce of energy, shocked at who would be greeting me in my room: It was Jay-Z.

Well, it wasn’t the real Jay-Z, just his face on the cover of a magazine. Here I thought I’d escaped the Jiggaman by heading across the world, and there he was, diamonds blinding me with his undeniable floss. The megastar “bling-aholic” was being featured in a Nigerian magazine promoting the very same thing I was there to discuss: the power of entrepreneurship.

I respect Pastor Oyemade, the organizer of the event, for the same reasons I respect Jay-Z: they have both learned that Black men and women are strongest when we are economically free. I am not always in favor of everything that the Jiggaman does, but I certainly appreciate the progress he has shown throughout his career. He makes megadeals behind the scenes that will ensure that he is getting paid well into old age. When I addressed my audience in Nigeria, I talked to them about a few things:

1) The value of ownership – it’s difficult to get wealthy in America if you don’t own anything. I know a lot of doctors, lawyers and professors with high incomes who still have not yet learned how to let their money work for them.

2) Entrepreneurship should be taught to our children – every Black child in the world should be taught how to create a job, not just how to go out and get one.

3) Start your business around your passion – if you love what you are doing every day, you will get a paycheck even when you don’t make any money.

I didn’t just go to Nigeria to teach, I also went there to learn. I learned a long time ago that you can never be a good teacher if you are not also a good student. So, here are some things I learned from our Nigerian brothers and sisters across the sea:

1) We are really blessed as Americans. While we might feel that we don’t have as much as we deserve, we’ve actually got quite a bit to work with.

2) You can overcome a great deal if you put your mind to it. There are people in other parts of the world who endure things on a daily basis that we can’t possibly imagine.

3) The best investment opportunities are now in Africa. A smart investor with solid, honest contacts can make more money in Nigeria than they could almost anywhere else. Africa is the next China.

I enjoyed my trip to Nigeria, but I was as much student as professor. I learned from Jay-Z and his success in hip hop, and I also learned from my Nigerian family. All in all, I can say that this trip helped complete me as an investor, a professor, a Black man and a human being. I look forward to my next trip already.

Hail To The Chief

Brought to you by The Great Black Speakers Bureau, the #1 Black Speakers Bureau in the World.
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By Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

During my recent trip to New York, I was stunned after watching US Airways passengers standing on the icy wings of an airplane floating on the Hudson River. It was only after looking at my cancelled ticket that I realized I was scheduled to fly out of the same city, in the same airport, with the same airline on the same day, at the same time as the people on that flight. They were going to Charlotte and I wasn’t, but that’s still too close for comfort.

In spite of invitations I have to speak and live in big cities, I stay isolated here in Syracuse so I can search for my personal perception of truth within the deepest components of my heart. I seek ideology that is disconnected from hype, politics, financial compensation or other tools used for the tainting of souls and manipulation of minds. I chose not to go to the inauguration and I’ve rarely watched television, all because I wanted to figure out how I feel about recent events without allowing CNN or anyone else to tell me how I should feel.

This morning I watched a Black man….a real brother, Barack Obama, stand and take the oath as President of the United States. When I endorsed Barack long before he appeared to ever have a chance of winning, it was honestly just wishful thinking. I supported the campaigns of Barack, Jesse and Al, mainly because I never believed Bill Clinton to be (as some called him) the First Black President. I also saw something in Barack’s eyes and mannerisms that made me trust him. My “brother radar” gave security clearance, and I knew that only a real Black man would marry an amazing woman like Michelle Obama (the woman I came closest to marrying is actually a beautiful attorney who reminds me of Michelle). I also saw something in Obama’s poise and intelligence that made me believe that he would be good for our nation. My only concern was that I was not sure if a nation willing to elect incompetent men like George Bush would have the vision necessary to choose the best man or woman for the job.

I don’t do media appearances on Fox News anymore mainly because I was disappointed by their attacks on Barack Obama and Jeremiah Wright. I was even more upset with Bill O’Reilly’s statements about having a “lynching party” against Michelle Obama, and the light-hearted death threats made by Fox News Analyst Liz Trotter, who stated that she would “take (Obama) out if she could”. I love Barack Obama, and I was inspired by his ability to make the impossible possible. Like all of us, I was happy to sacrifice to help get him into the White House.

But while I support Barack Obama, I never let myself get into Obama-mania.

While I felt the need to show up and vote, I never chose to “Barack the Vote”.

My position has always been simple: Falling in love with a politician can be a very dangerous thing, and I simply wasn’t going to do it.

Like Barack Obama, Franklin Delano Roosevelt was another President who took over our country during a tough economic time. When Black leaders met with Roosevelt to discuss their justifiable indignation over Civil Rights abuses throughout the nation, Roosevelt simply told them, “I agree with you and I want to do it. Now go out and make me do it.”

The interpretation of Roosevelt’s words is that after the celebrations are over and we’ve come back to reality, we must be sure to do what is necessary to effectively utilize this opportunity. Barack Obama is a good man, I know this from speaking to my contacts on the South Side of Chicago. But we must work hard to ensure that Barack THE MAN aligns squarely and firmly with Barack THE POLITICIAN. We must always be aware of the difference between BARACK OBAMA and the OBAMA ADMINISTRATION.

BARACK OBAMA believes that public schools should get all the funding they need and that education is critically important.

The OBAMA ADMINISTRATION knows that children don’t vote or pay taxes.

BARACK OBAMA knows that 30 – 40% Black male unemployment is an economic tragedy.

The OBAMA ADMINISTRATION knows that being too closely aligned with issues effecting Black men is neither politically productive nor popular in a country that still doesn’t like Black people all that much, especially if they are poor.

BARACK OBAMA knows that, in spite of having a Black President, institutionalized racism in wealth and income levels, health care disparities and other areas will take at least another 100 years to eradicate. He is also intelligent enough to know that reparations are long overdue.

The OBAMA ADMINISTRATION knows that talking about racism using the same language as the United Nations (who states clearly that America continues to maintain a two-tiered society) is something that many Americans simply do not want to hear.

So, as we live in the bliss of “Obama-mania”, please consider this:

The dictionary defines “mania” as “A severe medical condition characterized by elevated moods, energy, unusual thought patterns and sometimes psychosis. Some symptoms are fixation, madness, compulsion, craving, craze, delirium, dementia, derangement, disorder, fad, fancy, fascination, fetish, insanity, lunacy and obsession.”

Like bottles of strong liquor, mania feels good. However, it should only be temporary. You also need designated drivers to keep the political house party under control and get everyone back home safely. Those who remain “high” and detached from reality are easy targets for emotionally void and disturbingly rational political administrations. Any good politician with constituents living in the midst of mania logically understands that there is very little work to do. No one campaigns in the regions they already control.

So, as Roosevelt explained in the example above, we can best show our love for President Obama by being politically intelligent, diligently resourceful, well-organized and focused on the issues. Political engines like the Obama Administration only understand those with the power to churn those engines. The easiest trick in the world is to make us think that racism is over because we have a Black President. Let’s keep our eyes on the prize.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, BET, ESPN and CBS. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

Personal Email I want Everyone to See

I wanted to share an email conversation I had today. I get a lot of emails from supporters every day, but this conversation has a message and theme I wanted to share with others. The general theme is that you always have to move forward in life, and optimism always pays off. I've always been amazed at how some people will look at what a child has done before the age of 18 and use that to define what they can do for the rest of their lives. If you really think about it, any 25 year old garbage man who studies 6 hours a day for the next 10 years could be a college professor. What happens is that the mistakes of our past can be a cancer that spreads to our future, keeping us from ever reaching our goals.

For example, I had a friend who was 28 and always complained about how he'd wasted his life. He felt that if he'd only gone to college, he'd have a better job and be in a better position. I told him that he should drop everything and go to school. He didn't. Instead, he chose to continue complaining and doing nothing.

5 years later, he was 33. Still complaining. I told him that if he had started going to school when he first brought the issue to me at the age of 28, he'd have a masters degree by now. I told him that he should pick up his sh*t and get moving down his educational path. He did nothing. He chose to keep complaining.

5 years later, my friend was 38. His life had not changed since he was 28. I told him that if he had started going to school at 28, he would have a bachelors degree, a masters, and either a PhD, JD, or MD degree by now. But instead, he was 38 years old, working on the same job that he had at 28. His depression over wasting the past had become a cancer that caused him to waste his future.

My friend is now 46 years old. Nothing has changed. He still complains. He still argues about how he is just as smart as his friends who went to college, and how he should be in a better place. I agree with him, he is every bit as smart as my students at Syracuse University. The difference is that they are in school and he is not.

Don't let your past be a cancer to your future. You made some mistakes, get over it and get crackin. Life is too short for BS.

My email conversation with the young man is below. I hope this helps someone.




I am a 26yr old african american male and I am a very BIG fan of yours of just recently being exposed to you.
I read up on your blog about music and the responsibility that Lil Wayne has that he isnt taking. I totally agree with you and I believe that he should use his voice and star power to ignite the intellect of our youth. Tupac did it, he made you think and was not afraid to speak out about the social injustice in America. I'm no scholar, nor GED grad for that matter...but I know what is right & whats wrong. My lack of proper schooling if you will, allows so many to look down on me and at the same time I am answering questions that even they do not know. My motivation for self-education is not in money, but to survive in this messed up economy. I know the streets, and I know the ins and outs of formal business. The thing now a day is that no one wants to do what they have to do to make it, and embarrassingly enough...I was (am) one of those people. I wonder what type of difference would be made if I obtained a GED? The satisfaction of personal achievement would suffice to some extent, but would that be enough to survive? I was presented with obstacles in my youth that allowed me to lose focus of my goals, another "broken home" story.

I would like to acknowledge you as a positive light that gives me hope of what a GED could do for me.. So many times in the past I sulked and moaned about what I didnt have, and not what I do have. I made excuses, but I know that I have it in me.. Thank you for succeeding where I have not, and for that I applaud you. My diligence is of importance when it comes to exceeding expectations, and in my own right I believe that I have managed pretty well with the circumstances that was given. Thank you, for representing for Brothers without the voices.

You are the man, but then again.....you already know that.



Here is my response



Thanks for the kind words brother. Here are my thoughts:

1) Yes, I am the man, and so are you. You are no different from me, we just have differences in some of our choices and our ages. If you work hard every single day, you can be right where I am when you are 37 like me.

2) Yes, the GED is critical....get that damn thing no matter what it takes. Then, go to college or community college, then get a masters, and then get a law degree, MD or PhD. I promise - if you study 4 - 5 hours a day, 6 or 7 days a week, you can be a damn neurosurgeon. Don't let where you are determine where you can go, it's just a matter of picking up the damn book and reading it.

3) Never be negative. Never look down. Never look back. You are a young man and how you spend the next 50 years is up to you. It would be a waste to allow the first few years of your young life to determine all the rest of the years you still have left. You are early in the game brother, study hard, every single day, like your life depended on it. That's what I do.

Good luck man, nice to meet you.

B

Dr. Boyce Thoughts on College Sports And Black Coaches

Dr. Boyce Watkins
http://www.boycewatkins.com/

I am sending out this article because the NCAA should be held accountable for the fact that African Americans are giving their lives and bodies on the field, but not given opportunities to be involved on the sidelines and in the administrative offices. The article below highlights this issue, as Miami's Randy Shannon is now one of only 3 African American coaches remaining in D-1 men's college football (the lowest total since 1993). Excuse my french, but this is a damn shame. With all our community gives on the field (the NCAA earns at least $1B per year from uncompensated African American labor), there should be opportunities off the field as well.

The NCAA has much work to do when it comes to fairness and equity. Please join our fight.

To join our Money advice list, please click here.

Boyce
http://www.boycewatkins.com/

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Miami's Shannon will be only black BCS coach, says things haven't changed

ESPN.com news services

Of the 65 coaches leading programs affiliated with the Bowl Championship Series, Miami's Randy Shannon is about to stand alone.

A week from now, he'll be the only black man in the group.

Miami coach Randy Shannon says mandating a graduate assistant job for minorities would help provide a more diverse base.

After Sylvester Croom resigned Saturday from Mississippi State, along with the recent firings of Kansas State's Ron Prince and Washington's Tyrone Willingham -- who'll coach his final game with the Huskies on Saturday -- Shannon is one of three black coaches left in major college football, and the only one at a BCS school.

The last time there were only three black coaches at the Division I-A level was 1993, and Shannon, who waited many years before getting his first legitimate chance at becoming a head coach, simply can't understand the lack of progress in bridging the sideline race gap.

"It's sad that we keep talking about the same things," Shannon told The Associated Press on Sunday. "Maybe Sylvester was tired. I know a year or two ago he had surgery on his hip or back. But after a while, you say to yourself, how much longer can we keep going just talking about this? We can't keep talking about the same issues every year."

And yet, at this time every year, the issue keeps coming back.

Bowl season hasn't even started, but already, some marquee jobs have come open -- and, in some cases, apparently been filled.

Tennessee will name Lane Kiffin as Phillip Fulmer's replacement on Monday, and ESPN.com's Ivan Maisel is reporting that sources say Clemson will promote interim coach Dabo Sweeney as soon as contract details are worked out.

One of the few black candidates believed to have legitimate interest from a BCS school that's changing coaches is Illinois offensive coordinator Mike Locksley, who has been mentioned as a replacement for Greg Robinson at Syracuse. Buffalo's Turner Gill -- who, along with Shannon and Houston's Kevin Sumlin, is one of the three black coaches who have jobs for '09 -- is also thought to be a Syracuse candidate.

The only other prominent black assistant to be mentioned so far is Notre Dame offensive coordinator Michael Haywood, who reportedly was interviewed by Washington to replace Willingham.

Floyd Keith, executive director of the Black Coaches and Administrators, has said many times he'd like to see the number of black college football coaches get to at least 10 -- but now the total is headed the other way, even though nearly half of the players at the level formerly known as Division I-A are black.

Shannon, though, knows there's no easy solution. But he likes one idea.

"If they want to give minority coaches more of a chance, they should let there be three graduate assistants and one of them has to be a minority," Shannon said. "At least then, you'd be giving a minority coach a chance to develop. If you want to address the issue, allow a third spot to be a minority position and if you can't fill it, then you can't fill it. But give them a chance."

Gill told The Buffalo News for a story published Sunday that he always heard the same thing when he interviewed for various jobs before moving to western New York.

"Not the right fit," Gill told the newspaper. "The words 'not the right fit' can be looked at in several ways. Not to say that you weren't qualified but maybe they want a guy who's going to be there for four [or] five years or has a different offensive or defensive philosophy. There's so many different dynamics to the word 'fit."

In South Florida, diversity seems to fit.

Not only does Miami have a black football coach, it has a woman -- Donna Shalala, who served as secretary of health and human services under President Bill Clinton -- as university president. And, a black men's basketball coach in Frank Haith.

A few miles away at Florida International, Cuban-Americans serve as university president (Mitch Maidique), athletic director (Pete Garcia) and football coach (Mario Cristobal).
"It's a diverse community," Shannon said. "You can see every ethnic group in Miami. Coach Cristobal, he does a good job, and white, black, Hispanic, we've been this way for years in Miami.

It's a melting pot more than anything."

It's hardly that way everywhere. According to a recent BCA hiring report card, only 12 of 199 vacancies between 1996 and 2006 went to blacks.

But the need to label -- and track the number of -- minority coaches is still puzzling to Shannon.

"I think we all should be treated as coaches equally," Shannon said. "But it's just how society is. The minority deal is always going to be there."

Information from The Associated Press was used in this report..

Strictly for the Ballaz: By Dr. Boyce Watkins

Hey Peeps,

first, for those who want to know what I think about the Palin-Biden debates, I have few opinions (the election doesn't excite me very much, since our liberation will come through economics, not through skewed American political systems). I can only say that Sarah Palin impresses me as the least qualified human being I've ever seen run for political office. If she were a Black man with similar qualifications, she would probably be unemployed.

For those who want to keep talking about the Financial Crisis and managing money, please join our group at this link.

My students and I are blogging about money at www.DrBoyceFinance.com and YourBlackMoney.com. I had an interesting conversation the other day with my father about the financial crisis. He has a Bill Cosby mindset, and many of you know what I think about Cosby (he irritates me). However, I believe you can learn from anyone, so I have respect for my father and Cosby, and I listen to them both. When it came to the crisis (which my father was able to fortunately avoid), he had these interesting thoughts:

1) He never let anyone mess with his money....that even meant relatives and friends asking for loans. It wasn't because he didn't love them or feel the strain on his relationships. It was because he knows that when the doo-doo hits the fan, there would be no one there to save his butt.

2) He never let credit card companies pimp him for his resources - His perfect credit made him a target of every company seeking to dupe him into some kind of home equity or credit card loan. He ripped the offers up and put them in the garbage.

3) He never let anyone mess with his good credit - when you have good credit, someone is always seeking to try to use your good credit to make up for their own bad credit (i.e. co-signing for friends and relatives). His logic was that if you don't care enough to protect your own credit, you probably would not care very much about his.

While my father and I argue on a regular basis (he thinks that many of my ideas on social issues are a bunch of garbage), I find that hearing alternative viewpoints gives me balance. So, like Bill Cosby, I will always l love my father and respect him. Now, Juan Williams, another Black conservative, is nothing more than an educated version of Flavor Flav. Fox News will always be able to pay some Black man to say ridiculous things about his own people. I have no respect for Juan.

I was feeling the need to be poetic today, so I thought I would share another lyrical piece on the NCAA. This is dedicated to every brother in the NCAA who thinks or thought he was going to the NBA or NFL because some coach put false dreams in his head. You might be a great athlete, but you're never truly a balla if you fail to educate yourself. Even if you get rich, an uneducated man is a vulnerable man.

Strictly for the Ballaz

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

The balla on campus has now just arrived.

I'll sign all your footballs for 9.95.

The cheerleaders and honeys all treat me real nice

My coach calls me “The Messiah”, just like Jesus Christ

My head may be swollen, like a big blimp.

But I deserve all these props cause I'm such a big pimp.

They even told me "don't worry bout class"

As they shake my hand softly and fill it with cash.

My hummer is blingin, with TVs in the back.

My 24s spinning, like my nickname was Shaq.

My diamonds are placed in my radio clock.

My system be boomin from way down the block.

The fellas get jealous as I roll through the spot.

Them fools always scheming to get what I got.

My girl is so tight, as she sits in my ride.

But she's not as tight as my girls on the side.

My greatness rivals the angels above

They treat me so special, this has got to be love!

About game number 5, I jump for a pass

And this 6 foot 5 brother knocks me right on my ass.

I leap from the tackle, "Man, you didn't hurt me!"

But I fall back to the ground, with a crunch in my knee.

The doctor says to me as I swell up with tears

"This might be the end of your football career”

Now that I can no longer jump for the ball.

The coach that once loved me ain't returning my calls.

I once got the line "Your tuition is paid"

I now get the line "Did you try financial aid?”

My girls on the side done got kind of rude.

They look at me funny, not stuttin me dude.

As I watch my gold hummer get towed down the street.

All I can do is stare at my feet

I then see the joke, and I was the butt.

The coach didn’t love me, man I was his slut!

While they lined my pocket with a few hundred bucks.

Their dollars were delivered by flat bed trucks.

Did you ever take a second to think?

Why the coach's wife shows up to games wearing mink?

While my mama is slaving as somebody's cook.

Thinking her baby's off hitting the books.

She goes Greyhound on game day, so her back is in pain.

The coach and his wife came by private plane.

One hit, then pow! I'm in a chair with steel wheels.

I bet the coach's son will never know how that feels.

As the athletic department decides on my fate.

They then figure out that I am only dead weight.

No paper in hand, I'm shipped back to the hood.

I can't pay for college, man I'll be home for good

I sit on the corner, as the summer heat steams.

I live in the bottle to wash away broken dreams.

Rather than getting calls from scouts, fans and coaches.

I'm in my mama’s crib, with mice, rats and roaches.

I once was defined by my strength and my speed.

But I now realize that wasn't all that I need.

What would I change if I could press rewind?

I would work a lot harder to strengthen my mind.

Dr. Boyce As a Baby

I wasn't always as big and wierd as I am right now. Some might think I am too cool to put some baby pictures up on my blog, well here they are! As you can see from my fluent sprinting style at the age of 3, I was always working to become the Runaway Slave.

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?

Do Whites Need More Personal Responsibility?

Dr. Boyce Watkins

http://www.boycewatkins.net/

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.

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.

Dr Boyce Watkins: Michael Pfleger, Black People, Barack Obama

As I prepare for my road trip to several states for various meetings and speaking engagements, I wanted to leave people with a question of the day. These are the things that sit on my mind as a black man at 1:18 in the morning. So, in spite of the belief that all black men are out figuring out ways to be bad fathers or stealing from little children, this black man is at home thinking. I think a lot and that's the benefit of living by yourself. In spite of my presence in the world, you would be surprised at how much time I get to spend with internal dialogue. Personally, I think this is an important part of finding out who you really are and rising above all the crap in our society.

Here is my question:

Have you noticed that most people who agree with Senator Obama's critiques of the black community are the people who are not affected by the critique? Women agree that black men need to stop being deadbeats. Good fathers agree that bad fathers need to stop being bad fathers. Middle class black people agree that the poor need to have better morals. My follow-up question is: how would these individuals respond to Obama's critiques if they were leveled at THEM? What if he were to say that black women need to be kinder to men so they won't leave their relationships? What if he were to criticize middle class African Americans for forgetting about their responsibility to those they left behind in the inner city? What if he were to criticize black academics for spending too much time in petty ivory tower politics and too little time engaged in meaningful intellectual leadership?

I don't agree with any of the critiques I've mentioned above, although I've heard people state them. I personally believe that all cultures are heterogeneous, with good people and bad. No group is worthy of being cast aside as solely demonic. I used these examples because I noticed that it's easier for all of us to accept a critique when it is directed at someone else. It is much harder to accept criticism when it is directed at us.

While many in White America enjoyed hearing Obama criticize black men for needing an upgrade in personal responsibility, they did not respond similarly when Jeremiah Wright and Father Michael Pfleger criticized White America for an irresponsible commitment to racial inequality.

It's funny how people behave when the tables are turned. I would not, like Rev. Jackson, say that I want to remove Obama's testicles for his unwillingness to critique White America. Based on the fear he is showing in this election, it appears that they may have already been removed. Impress me Barack: "Tell it like it is" to someone else. Unless, of course, black people are the only group in America with something wrong with them, or perhaps you're just afraid to do so.

I'll be Talking Money on Al Jazeera Today

Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.net

It appears that the Federal Reserve is making big moves to prepare for the possible failure of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, two major players in the housing market. Treasury Secretary Henry Paulson speaks of using up to $300 Billion dollars to extend a line of credit to these institutions in order to avert their failure.

I'll be discussing our nation's financial irresponsibility on Al Jazeera, an international news network. I like Al Jazeera, it's a great place to give commentary. Al Jazeera viewers exist mostly in Asia, Europe and the Arab world, so it's audience is much bigger than CNN or networks we are familiar with. What I love most about Al Jazeera is that they love me as a financial expert. Most American shows don't consider black men to be financial types, so they only call me when they want to talk about "black stuff". Al Jazeera understands that a financial expert can also have brown skin.

When it comes to the Fed stepping in with billions to bail out irresponsible home buyers who can't afford their mortgages, I don't want to hear A DAMN THING about black male irresponsibility. Again, as I continue to explain, black people are not the only ones who deserve to be lectured by our leaders. I hope Obama hear's this. Holding Obama responsible doesn't mean you hate him. It only means you are holding him to the same standards he is allegedly holding black men....the last thing we need is another black man not wanting to be held accountable (LOL).

If Obama, McCain or anyone else wants to find someone to lecture about irresponsibility, they only need to visit a frat party on a college campus on a Friday night. Perhaps they can find one of the hundreds of thousands of new alcoholics and rapists created in these embarrassing environments. The next time someone talks about kids in hip hop, you can make reference to the drunken frat boy as a counter model. The point is that irresponsibility knows no racial boundaries, so we need to stop thinking that way.

I refuse to accept racial stereotypes or ostracism of black males. It is wrong and unfair, and what's worse is that many black people continue to buy into the notion that we are more flawed than everyone else. Black people, let's learn to love ourselves, ok? We will never be perfect enough to deserve love from those who see black men as less than human. That's just a fact.

Yes, we've got to do better, but if a conversation starts with "This is what's wrong with you", it's not going to get very far with me. I am getting sick of the self-hate and I refuse to accept it.

Black Fathers, FISA, Muslims: All Part of the Same Agenda

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.net

I had a friend who sent me an email in which he was livid over Barack Obama's recent flip-flop on the FISA Bill. He was outraged that Obama would allow his right-leaning agenda to cause him to embrace a bill that clearly violates American civil liberties.

I agreed with my friend, since I too have been shocked at the lengths to which Obama has gone in order to appease the right wing. He is losing supporters on the left fast, and the wide-eyed optimism he met during the primaries is long gone. I hope he knows what he's doing.

What I found most ironic about my friend's irate email is that he and others had just told me that I should "chill out" over my concern about Barack Obama's Bill O'Reilly-like Father's Day Speech. During the speech, Obama clearly implied that black fathers are the worst dads in the country, and that black men not living in the homes with their children are behaving like little boys instead of men (listen carefully to his words: "Nowhere is this more true than in the black community.....too many fathers are not in the home.....they are behaving like little boys instead of men"). He mentioned nothing of the Draconian child support laws that put men in tough financial positions (thus threatening them with prison time for trying to see their kids without having the money to do so), nor did he mention the rampant parental alienation that can occur when the custodial parent refuses to allow the father to see his child or poisons the child against his/her dad. What's worse is that black men who are doing the right thing were forced to have their special day marred by a politician appeasing conservatives by spending the entire day talking about those who are screwing up.

Obama's attack on black men is like my showing up to your birthday party with a list of all the things I hate about you. I could say "On most days, you're a good friend, but on a lot of days, you're just a bastard and a bad person." That would be a tough way to spend your birthday. It's also a bad way to spend Father's Day, a day to celebrate good fathers, rather than holding an entire ethnic group responsible for the bad ones.

What's even more interesting is that these attacks provide excuses for discrimination against black men, not educating black men and the continued mass incarceration black men. After all, if black men would just behave better, we wouldn't have any reason to continue attacking them so much. This is all part of what I call "The good negro behavior protocol", in which our community truly believes that if we would just behave ourselves, the world will stop attacking us. The truth is that if someone doesn't like you, they are always going to be quick to point out your imperfections.

I can further analogize the hypocrisy of these attacks on black fathers to be like my telling you that you are a bad person because your breath stinks and leaving the smell of my own breath off the table for discussion. While over 50% of white males also divorce their spouses and don't live with their children, I dare Obama to give a speech telling them that they are behaving like little boys. Don't give me that stuff about him being a black man and having the moral authority to give that speech. He is also 50% white, so he has just as much moral authority in the white community. Also, whenever he is asked to take a stand against racism (i.e. standing by Jeremiah Wright and his church for the past 20 years), we are firmly reminded that he is "everyone's president" and not just the "black candidate".

What people have to realize is that Obama's support for FISA, his insults to the Muslim community and his recent attacks on black men are all part of the same agenda. There is a REASON that the great racist Bill O'Reilly agrees with everything this man has been doing for the past 3 weeks. It's because it all fits neatly into the same bucket of conservative thought: black men are flawed, the constitution is dispensable and being a Muslim is associated with terrorism. In other words, Obama is being forced to abandon his own intellect to cater to racial ignorance, all so he can have access to the White House.

My friend and some of my other colleagues are so irate with Obama that they are considering taking away their support and backing Cynthia McKinney. I am going to continue supporting Obama. But I could not help but chuckle when seeing my friends who told me to "chill out" suddenly going up in arms when the gun of the right wing was pointed at them. Racial ignorance is like a contagious disease: if your friend is attacked by the symptoms, you are not too far down the list. Obama's Right Wing push is hitting everyone.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University. He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, BET, CBS and ESPN. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.net.

How I learn from the Black Community

One of the best things about having nearly 100,000 people come through our website each week is that I get such enlightening information from the community. That is part of the reason I invited readers to comment on Senator Obama as I prepare my thoughts for the upcoming BET special.

One email I received this week was from a man named Justin White, political science expert in Cleveland. I felt that his email was so insightful that I wanted everyone to learn from it:

Email from Justin White, a YBW Family Member from Cleveland, OH


A little personal background...This political process supports an hypothesis that I have submitted to students in classes for nearly 20 years while doing adjunct faculty work. Among other social science coursework, I teach social welfare policy and urban politics. Naturally, the current political culture, with respect to recent history, results in spirited discussion and interesting papers. I also speak as a brother; a baby boomer and; a resident of an almost exclusively black and not too prosperous suburb of Cleveland, Ohio.

The above mentioned hypothesis...It has been apparent to me for some time that African-Americans, for good reasons (and some not so good) do not understand the fundamental differences between electoral politics and protest politics. But, this election due to its duration and complexity, is becoming a graduate course for the community. Friends and colleagues are redefining themselves with respect to the manner in which they and other black folk should demonstrate civic participation. We are volunteering thoughts and feelings to each other unlike anything I have seen since the "rap sessions" of the early seventies.

Rather than applying the "conventional wisdom" that so frequently results in myths and derogatory conclusions, I believe we need dialogue and research that addresses the relationships between black civic/political participation and the existence (absence) of the types of institutions that engineer and support political participation. All the while remembering that African Americans are a minority people and the blueprint for these institutions generally reflects the dominant culture.

Today's political process, at least as we view the percentages of black voters who support Obama, indicates the utility of electoral politics as a factor in creating cultural bonds that offset social and economic divisions. (sounds like another hypothesis in the making)

I hope that of African American academics like yourself and Michael Dyson can assist us as we negotiate the political, cultural and social learning curves related to blacks taking on leadership responsibilities in electoral politics. This is not to place an unbearable onus on you. That would be unfair. The often amorphous, but real, "black community" must become engaged in every respect, by all forms of media to overcome the habit of ignoring its scholars. Your website is so important in that regard.

Barack Obama is living the "Jackie Robinson Syndrome" as he negotiates the dominant cultures' institutions in the absence of black institutions designed to support and strengthen him. Stokely Carmichael and Charles Hamilton forewarned us 40 plus years ago in the classic book Black Power about the need to develop political institutions that are reflective of the culture. Again, I believe there is a a basic assumption to be considered...politics, whether they be electoral, protest or those politics associated with specified public policy, can and will define culture.

Additionally, Black Power's thesis was, in some regards, old wine in new wineskins if the messages of DuBois, Garvey and some others are carefully examined.

So now that we have all been caught unprepared by the politics of today, the leadership of academicians who still have a semblance of a resonating voice, is "so welcomed". We must support you and dialogue with you just as we make every effort to do the same for and with Barack Obama. I hope Obama's organization functions so that he can be reasonably receptive. I worry because I do not see the strong black institutions required to support this idea.

Personally, I cringed twice-over at Obama's politicizing of black fatherhood just as you expressed on your website. I heartily agree with your sentiments about that. I also believe that Obama, as a politician needs the fuel for more cogent commentary and that must come from all of us...ie black educators, researchers, teachers, social workers etc.

In addition, that unfortunate commentary was an example of the need for social science to provide us all with knowledge that countervails the current diatribe that currently prevails about black folks.

Again, I highlight the merits of your website as well as Michael Dyson's book that answered Bill Cosby . I just wish I could receive your beautifully thought out sentiments directly. I will sign on again.

Very Sincerely,

Justin White

Black People Catering to Lies and Ignorance: Nothing Ever Changes

I did a recent reflection on the life of boxer Joe Louis. One thing I didn't mention was a part in the documentary mentioning journalists who argued that Joe Louis should not be allowed to fight for the heavy weight title because it would lead to chaos. When the previous black champion, Jack Johnson, fought for the title and won, there were riots around the country. Whites could not stand the idea of a black man being champion, so they took out their anger with lynchings, and other forms of violence across America.

When I saw the journalists' arguments that "this black man should not engage in free will because white people might get mad", I thought about the election of Senator Obama. I continuously get one email after another, from well-meaning people who want to see the Senator get elected. In the emails, they say something to the effect of "Please don't talk about racism, even if it's true. White people might get mad and Senator Obama will not get elected."

In other words, not much has changed. We are still forced to run from the truth and hug a lie, all so white people don't get mad at us. I'm honestly tired of that crap.

Here is a response I sent to a reader who asked me to hold back my words on Senator Obama during an upcoming BET special so that I don't jeopardize Obama's chances of getting elected.

I hear what you are saying about "keeping quiet till the election". But I was not raised to cower in fear over what White America thinks of our words. I am also not a fan of encouraging leaders to point out flaws in African Americans, while simultaneously ignoring the flaws in other ethnic groups. This is a 400 year tradition, and it's time for this to stop.

So, I'm sorry brother. I plan to hold Barack accountable. That doesn't mean I don't support him. But just like in an abusive marriage, if you don't ask for respect, you won't get it. Black people must support Obama from a position of respect, or we will get another politician with a black face and not much else.

On the parenting issue, I know quite a few kids who aren't black who don't have fathers in their homes (50% of white Americans have absentee fathers). So, this notion that African Americans behave as animals who care less about our children than other ethnic groups has got to stop. We must think highly of ourselves and encourage brothers to try harder, while simultaneously having the courage to challenge the systems that make it difficult for a man in the inner city to provide for his family. We must not be victims of the system and silently take this abuse.

Obama was wrong to attack black fathers on father's day. I would never attack mothers on mother's day, no matter how many bad mothers I've seen. That would be wrong, but for some reason, we feel it is ok to do that to black men. This is not uncommon, since it is not a coincidence that black men are most likely to fill the prisons and black boys are 5 times more likely to be placed in special education (I was one of them). Even successful black men look down on other black men, which I find regrettable. As a successful black man, I encourage brothers to keep trying, and when I point out bad daddies, I don't just point my finger at the black man.

Remember: "tough love" should also involve the word "love". I saw no love in spending all of Father's Day embracing conservative stereotypes and acting as though black men are the only bad dads in America. To hell with that: I didn't hear ONE SINGLE SPEECH GIVEN IN ANOTHER VENUE where Obama took the same tone with any other group. There was a REASON that Bill O'Reilly applauded Obama's comments. O'Reilly, the man who was recorded in the middle of a sexual harrassment lawsuit, feels that he and other white males are morally superior to black men, and such comments by Obama only affirm that stereotype. I won't stand for that kind of behavior, not on my watch. Black people should not accept these double standards either and stop allowing ourselves to be demeaned in ways that are not acceptable for other groups. If I yell at your child and tell him "Your feet really stink and so does your breath. In fact, kids in your family tend to have the smelliest feet in the world.", that is not a positive comment, especially if my breath stinks as bad as his does. The truthfulness of my words becomes secondary to the fact that I have only berated him and excluded him, as if my own feet don't stink. Of course, he may go home and wash his feet and brush his teeth, but the truth is that I don't like the kid and I want to make him feel inferior. Making such a comment, without balance of judgement and positive reinforcement, is not going to lead to a productive interaction, especially if I then try to argue that the scent of my own breath is off the table for discussion.

Black men must move forward with positivity. Negativity won't work and I consider it unacceptable. I respect black men as much as I respect black women. We must respect one another if we are going to strengthen our community.

Again, I support Obama, but I am not an "anything goes" kind of brother. People who fall for the "anything goes" mentality usually get ignored and left behind. I am not interested in being a victim, and I will challenge the systems of this country until the day I die.

Stop hating yourself. Love yourself, improve yourself, and fight diligently against anyone who chooses to berate your people under the guise of "tough love". If they are doing it to black men in the inner city, guess what? They are sitting in the back rooms of your corporate executive suite saying the same stuff about YOU. Don't get it twisted, we are in this boat together.

Statistics Show that Barack Obama was Wrong about Black Fathers

Earl Ofari Hutchinson wrote an excellent piece citing a study that shows that black absentee fathers are more engaged with their children than white absentee fathers or absentee fathers of any ethnic group.

Many black males continue to be insulted by Barack Obama and his speech writers relying on stereotypes rather than hard evidence in his Father's Day Speech. Barack is a man whom I will always respect, but what he has done is unforgivable.

What's more interesting, as Earl correctly points out, is that Barack's father was not African American. He was a Kenyan National who wanted to leave the country. So, perhaps we should spend some time asking ourselves why we were so quick to accept this blanket indictment of black men, while allowing Obama to use his own father's choices to provide moral authority for him to use stereotypes.

I consider Barack to be one of us. But he also represents "all of us". Rather than pandering to the crowd and telling them what they want to hear, I hope that one day he can gain the courage to tell people what they NEED to hear.

What Barack Obama did to the good black fathers of America was wrong. My urgency in supporting him is not as great as it was before. With each passing day, I become more and more confused as to whether we are putting a black man in the white house, or a man who is afraid of being associated with other black men. When it is time for him to take a stand against racism, I hear that he is "everyone's president", not the black candidate. But when it comes time for him to attack black men with petty stereotypes, I hear that he is a "black man" and therefore, able to engage in these sorts of attacks.

Which one is it? I grow weary of the games.

Barack Obama and Black Fathers, Why Black Men are Still Fuming

I received a lot of email from both men and women about my comments on Barack Obama's Father's Day speech. I watched the speech, hoping that I could find some way that I was wrong about Barack. Perhaps his speech writers, surely the best in the business, slid in a line or two conditionalizing his statements to remind us that Father's Day is a day to celebrate good fathers, not to spend all our time mulling over the bad ones.

I looked and looked for that one line of salvation and never found it. That makes me sad, since many of the emails I received were from black fathers who came right out of the Bill Cosby book of parenthood (even though Cosby has made some dirty mistakes of his own as a dad). These men, some of whom were conservatives or in the military, did not understand why little time was spent giving them the same respect we give women on Mother's Day. Instead, they were fed the same old stereotypes of black male irresponsibility. These were the same stereotypes that allowed their ex-wives or mothers of their children to feel completely vindicated for any poor treatment bestowed upon them as they worked hard to stay in their childrens' lives. They were the same stereotypes that keep the 50% of divorced white males of America comfortable that their broken homes are not as bad as the broken homes of black men. After all, the presidential candidates conveniently forget to critique White America in the same way they critique the black male. I thought Obama was 50% white? Doesn't that mean that he is as much a part of White America (thus entitled to critique) as he is Black America? Or is he just the Black Candidate?

To spend father's day obsessing over what black fathers are doing wrong is like going to someone's birthday party with a list of all the things you hate about them. Even if I'd been born with a terrible mother, I would not spend Mother's Day saying "Mom, there are far too many days when you are not there for me the way you should be." It would be even worse if I then went on to tell my father that the breakup of our family was all my mother's fault and that he is completely relieved of any guilt whatsoever.

That is what Obama did when he patted black women on the back and essentially said "That's ok. We know how all those black men are treating you. They're just bad and you're good. Let's spend Father's Day talking about you and how disappointed we are in them." He was preaching to the choir, since I am willing to bet that many of the men in that church were loyal and dedicated fathers, either sitting confused that they were being chastised on their special day or nodding their heads in agreement that black men are collectively a pack of screw ups. "Some do the right thing, but doing the wrong thing is the norm". Does anyone wonder how deformed your existence becomes when you consider the most pathetic segment of American society to be people who look like yourself?

This strikes a chord with me because I have seen it up close. I have seen black women who swear up and down that the reason every man they meet doesn't want to be with them implies that there is something wrong with all men. I see black men who refuse to date black women because they feel that black women are all angry, bitter and nasty. In both scenarios, I correct the individual and encourage him/her to look in the mirror. If all of your relationships are falling apart, you are the only variable that is consistently present in every relationship you've ever had. Either you are consistently choosing the wrong person to procreate with, or you are consistently mistreating the right people who come your way. Women who choose good men and treat them well remain happily married. That's just a fundamental fact and I, as a man, know this because I have chosen the wrong woman at times, and there have been times when I've not given a woman the respect she deserved. In either case, I ended up disappointed.

What is true is that both men and women play a role in the survival of our families. When a divorce or breakup occurs, the children are usually given to the woman. Also, most divorces are not always the sole fault of one party or the other. So, if we are going to define the term "deadbeat dads", we cannot generalize that term to include any man who does not live with his kids. Senator Obama DID NOT, to my knowledge, make that distinction.

What is most interesting is Obama's claim that "far too many men are not in the home....they've chosen to be boys instead of men". This implies that if you get a divorce and the kids live with the woman, then you are effectively behaving as a little boy. This further signals that if Michelle Obama were to divorce Barack and keep the kids, he would effectively become a deadbeat. I am sure that Senator Obama, who would likely spend plenty of time with his children and pay plenty of child support, would become agitated to hear someone speaking about him and other black men as a pack of dead beats, especially on Father's Day. Perhaps he could be consoled with the words "No, we weren't talking about you. We just avoided celebrating you on Father's Day because we wanted to place all the blame on the deadbeats, which includes most black men."

That is where black men are coming from. On Mother's Day, I am not going to spend one second talking about how "there are too many bad baby's mamas keep their child's father from seeing his kids", that "angry black women are divorcing their husbands and taking their children and money from them", or that "black women treat men like crap and then get mad when the man leaves the relationship." I would say none of these things, even though I can name several instances in which this has happened. Instead, I am going to spend Mother's Day celebrating the successes of black women and the wonderful impact they had on me.

As I said before, it takes two to Tango, black men aren't doing the family break up dance by themselves. Also, the dance of child-rearing is not just being done by the black mothers. Black women are certainly the backbone of the community, but black men aren't just freeloading.

Juan Williams on Fox: The Flavor Flav of Social Commentary

I just heard from a friend that the "great" Juan Williams, the eternal happy negro on Fox News, has done a couple of interesting things. First, he wrote an article in The Wall Street Journal of all places, about disappearing black dads on Father's Day. I am not 100% sure where a black man feels he is making his point by writing in a predominantly white publication about the problems of the black community. Obviously, the only benefit of such a column would be to get the old "Yeah boss, these black people sho is messed up" brownie points. For that, I congratulate you Juan, you have continued to earn your paycheck at Fox News.

Of course, even though Juan Williams speaks to a predominantly white audience, he often fails to mention the growing divorce rates in the white community. I would love to see him attacking the millions of white men who have left the homes of their children. But then again, putting out White America's dirty laundry would surely get Juan fired.

Secondly, I read that Juan has actually asked Senator Barack Obama to apologize for being a part of The Trinity United Church of Christ. My man Roland Martin had him on his radio show, and I am sure Roland handled Juan. Juan Williams is not very intelligent, so he's an easy person to wear down in a debate. What is most ironic is that although Juan Williams seems to jock Bill Cosby like a bright eyed school girl (in his book), my inside indication is that Cosby doesn't have much respect for Juan.

You see folks, that's the difference between Juan Williams and Bill Cosby. Cosby says what he says (although I don't agree with him all the time) because he actually LOVES black people. He is like the father who loves his son so much that he beats him with a stick to make him act right. So, rather than getting better behavior, his child ends up with brain damage. Juan Williams is the person who goes across the street to his son's enemy, and then helps the enemy break into the house to shoot his son in the head. Juan Williams, in my opinion, does NOT care about black people and he is not a friend to African Americans. As a Finance Professor, I can say that Juan Williams is what I would call a sell-out. Cosby, on the other hand, at least deserves respect for being willing to take a major beating from the black community to say what he truly feels.

The most heated thing I've ever said on national television is when I explained on CNN why Juan Williams is Bill O'Reilly's Happy Little Negro (which I explained in detail later, since many of my non-black colleagues were appalled that I used such terminology. I am not sure if they've ever heard the word "negro" used in public before). I had to explain the history of racism to help them understand why these were the most appropriate words for that scenario). Any black man who spends most of his time defending Bill O'Reilly from black people is truly an enemy of African Americans and a reminder that black images on television, from 50 Cent and Flavor Flav to Juan Williams and Jesse Lee Peterson, are reflective of where our society stands when it comes to racial misrepresentation in media.

I think that Juan Williams must be going senile, for his desire to disgrace the black community grows more and more every day. I am glad that no one in the black community pays much attention to him anymore. Well, then again, there are people who listen to Flavor Flav, so perhaps I am wrong on that point.

I actually feel sorry for Juan Williams, I am sure he has a hard time sleeping at night. It's hard out there for a pimp, and even harder for a black journalist seeking to get pimped by the highest bidder.

Fox News: Black Women are Typically Angry

For those who may not understand why I had to challenge Barack Obama's contribution to the perception of black men being irresponsible, perhaps you can get it now. Fox News recently did a segment about "why black women on TV tend to be angry". In the segment, they make continuous reference to the "angry black woman", and point to several examples of black women who tend to be angry during interviews. The video clip is at the bottom of this comment.

I am not a fan of such stereotypes, and I hope that any black woman who is offended by this stereotype can understand why many black men are not happy with the stereotypes that are placed upon many brothers. I have always worked to be a responsible man. I personally find it offensive (whether Obama or anyone else is alluding to this concept) when others imply that black men as a collective behave irresponsibly. I agree with Malcolm, who felt that no matter how much respect people had for him, "if you insult my people, then you are insulting me".

I received about 130 emails yesterday from people who had mixed opinions about my article on Senator Obama's comments about black men needing to learn the art of fatherhood. They've been interesting and seem to call for more discourse. I noticed that the opinions were right down the middle and many of them were very strong in either direction. I will do a video on the topic soon, but I wanted to pose some quick thoughts I had as I was reading the emails (and yes, I do read my email and try to respond to you. I only ignore people who come off as flat out lunatics, since I don't mess with crazy people). Here are my thoughts.

1) Why do we assume that a broken family implies that a man "ran away from his responsibility"? Is it not also the case that many relationships also end due to actions of the woman as well? All of us know of at least one "insane baby's mama" - either you have dealt with one, been in a relationship with a man who was dealing with one, or perhaps you have BEEN ONE! This does not imply that the end of the relationship is most likely the fault of the woman, but it does take two to tango.

2) No. I didn't make my statement for political purposes or to make money. I don't get paid for what I do on the internet, and I am NOT a politician. I consider politicians, as a general rule, to be liars, and life is too short for me to spend all my time lying. Telling the truth is the only way I can sleep at night, even if it implies that some people don't like what I have to say. One thing you will always get from me is a straight shot, I assure you of that.

3) Yes, I support Obama 100% . Critiquing someone and keeping them honest doesn't mean you hate them. I critique my mama and I love my mama.

4) Obama has made a commitment to being race neutral in this election. However, if he or anyone else chooses to address race in this election I ONLY ASK THAT THEY BE FAIR. For Barack (or anyone else) to shut down anyone who speaks honestly about racism, and then to contribute to racial stereotypes about black male irresponsibility is not balanced. For those who feel that Obama was "telling it like it is", please remember this: Dr. Jeremiah Wright was also "telling it like it is", but he was shut down, disowned and told that his words needed to be muted. Honesty should not know racial boundaries. If Barack Obama is not comfortable going into a group of white males and being honest about racial stereotyping, then it is not acceptable for him to do that to black men.

5) There are ALWAYS going to be people in every group who do the wrong thing. White women are not stereotyped by the actions of Britney Spears and Paris Hilton. I would never stereotype black women for the actions of a few "insane baby's mamas". So, the notion that it is ok to define black men by the actions of a select few is equally problematic. However, it is comfortable to say "these brothers need to start doing right" because it alleviates anyone else of the guilt of whatever role they play in the breakdown of their families, and it also contributes to the 400 year tradition of defining black men as being socially inferior. A person could just as easily celebrate the great choices of positive black men as he could mulling over the actions of the irresponsible.

Here is the issue: I do not feel that Barack would go into any other venue and paint any other group with a blanket indictment. He would not say "too many Jews support killing Palestinians", or "too many Catholic Priests are molesting little children". So, I am not sure why it is ok to say that "too many black men are ignoring their responsibilities and not being fathers". While all three of these stereotypes may have some element of truth to them, it seems that "truth in stereotyping" is only acceptable when dealing with black folks.

Racial conversation must be HONEST AND BALANCED. If you would not say something to a group of white men, then please don't say it to me.