Fox Analyst Wants Barack Obama Dead

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

Here's the video.




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

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



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

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

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

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

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

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

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

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


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

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

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

Barack Obama’s Trip to Kentucky: The Ultimate Plantation

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

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

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


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

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

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


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

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

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

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

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

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

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



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

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

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

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

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

United Nations to Send Special Observer to US to Deal with American Racism

Fri May 16, 2008 2:48pm EDT
By Stephanie Nebehay, Friends of the Congo

GENEVA (Reuters) - A special U.N. human rights investigator will visit the United States this month to probe racism, an issue that has forced its way into the race to secure the Democratic Party's presidential nomination.

The United Nations said Doudou Diene would meet federal and local officials, as well as lawmakers and judicial authorities during the May 19-June 6 visit.
"The special rapporteur will...gather first-hand information on issues related to racism, racial discrimination, xenophobia and related intolerance," a U.N. statement said on Friday.

His three-week visit, at U.S. government invitation, will cover eight cities -- Washington D.C., New York, Chicago, Omaha, Los Angeles, New Orleans, Miami and San Juan, Puerto Rico.



Race has become a central issue in the U.S. election cycle because Sen. Barack Obama, the frontrunner in the battle for the Democratic nomination battle, stands to become the country's first African American president.

His campaign has increased turnout among black voters but has also turned off some white voters in a country with a history of slavery and racial segregation.

Diene, a Senegalese lawyer who has served in the independent post since 2002, will report his findings to the U.N. Human Rights Council next year.

However, the United Nations has almost no clout when it comes to U.S. domestic affairs and is widely perceived by many as interfering. The United States is not among the 47 member states of the Geneva-based forum, but has observer status.

In a report last year he said Islamophobia had grown worldwide since the September 11 2001 attacks on the United States, carried out by al-Qaeda militants.

DEATH PENALTY



A U.N. panel which examined the U.S. record on racial discrimination last March urged the United States to halt racial profiling of Americans of Arab, Muslim and South Asian descent and to ensure immigrants and non-nationals are not mistreated.

It also said America should impose a moratorium on the death penalty and stop sentencing young offenders to life in prison until it can root out racial bias from its justice system.

Racial minorities were more likely than whites to be sentenced to death or to life without parole as juveniles, according to the U.N. Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination. It monitors compliance with an international treaty which Washington ratified in 1994.

U.S. officials told the body, made up of 18 independent experts, that they were combating hate crimes such as displays of hangman's nooses and police brutality against minorities.

Some 800 racially motivated incidents against people perceived to be Arab, Muslim, Sikh or South Asian had been investigated since the September 11 attacks, they said at the time.

Substantial progress had been made over the years in addressing disparities in housing, education, employment and health care, according to a U.S. report submitted to the talks.

(Additional reporting by Matt Bigg in Atlanta; Editing by Jonathan Lynn and Jon Boyle)



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Dr. Boyce Speaks to Young Black Attorneys

Dr. Boyce addressing the National Black Law Student Association

Topic: Dr. Boyce Watkins speaks on working with Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton during the Don Imus situation. Using capitalism and the internet as a form of activism.

Dr. Boyce Watkins on the air with Dr. Rick Wright

Rick Wright, a radio show host and professor in the Newhouse School of Communications is one of my greatest heroes. He is also one of the top black radio personalities in America. Thanks to Lee Keitt and the NSBLN alumni network for providing the audio.

Bill O'Reilly vs. Keith Olbermann.....I just sat in the middle

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com

I learned something about the power of money last night. I received an email from one of our readers on Your Black World, who simply said, “Bill O’Reilly is coming after you again.” I took it in and got back to what I was doing. I expected O’Reilly to make another smear attack this week, since a good terrorist always hits the target multiple times.

O’Reilly Bin Laden’s latest target was my poor chancellor, Nancy Cantor. Sending one of his goons (some call them correspondents) to the campus, Dr. Cantor was asked why she is allowing “the good name of Syracuse University to be ruined by a ‘racist’ like Boyce Watkins.” Translation: to some, a “racist” is any black person who speaks up for black people. I accept that.

O’Reilly never really came at me directly, as I and some other black scholars have refused to appear on his show. I don’t fault the ones who choose to appear, but I don’t consider a platform legitimate just because it has a few viewers. Instead, he felt that going after my chancellor and the alumni of Syracuse University would be a more reliable tactic.



I couldn’t agree with O’Reilly more, perhaps the chimp is smarter than I thought.

Our campus is in the middle of a billion dollar fund raising campaign, and I am sure there are those who are sickened by the fact that one of the most visible faculty members on campus is the subject of racial controversy. Financial theory teaches us that risk management and minimization are critical to maximizing popularity and profitability. Controversy is risk, and too much risk hurts your ability to raise money. Oprah knows this all too well, as her political moves have diminished her show’s brand and base during the past year.

As Barack Obama’s experience reminds us, race is not a comfortable conversation, even when presented in the most diplomatic fashion possible. The backlash is far greater when you are direct and honest. What’s interesting is that O’Reilly couldn’t exactly cite why he was so obsessed with me, nor could he point to any strong evidence to support his “race baiter” assertions. The mere fact that he labeled me a “race monger” was enough to get his disciples up in arms. Bill O’Reilly should change his name to Bill Oprah-Reilly, as he has an amazing ability to manipulate his minions and their small, impressionable minds.

According to Bill O’Reilly, I am using the Presidential campaign to engage in “villainous pursuits” to promote a radical agenda. Being the good and noble American that he is, his goal is to ensure that “race hustlers” like myself don’t use their “hate-filled speech” to manipulate the results of the 2008 Presidential Election. Bill O’Reilly has become Martin Luther King Jr in his fight for truth, justice and political purity. God bless him.

My finance lesson this week came from watching Bill O’Reilly squirm. He was boiling mad at me, and even his fellow conservatives couldn’t quite figure out why (note the confusion on the face of the silly conservative radio show host, Laura Ingraham). The reason O’Reilly had become obsessed with me and my words is because of the dirty secret exposed by MSNBC host Keith Olbermann: A group with which I am affiliated, The Your Black World Coalition, has mobilized an intense email, phone and letter writing campaign to O’Reilly’s corporate

sponsors, the FCC and the producers of the show. The ultimate objective is to hold O’Reilly’s corporate sponsors accountable for supporting a man who has consistently engaged in dirty tactics to defame Jeremiah Wright, Barack Obama and other respected individuals in the black community. While O’Reilly is certainly entitled to Freedom of Speech, I won’t have him unfairly assaulting and defaming my respected colleagues, and using my money to do it. While I give O’Reilly credit for being a good financial student, he must remember that I am ultimately the professor.

In reference to my many “lies” to smear O’Reilly, Keith Olbermann asked Bill one simple question: “If that’s what Watkins said, where are the lies?” In naming Bill O’Reilly “The Worst Person in the World” for his attacks on me and the chancellor, Olbermann quoted my reference to O’Reilly’s statement about wanting to have a “lynching party” on Michelle Obama. O’Reilly speaks of lynching the potential First Lady of the United States, and then has the nerve to call others racist and unpatriotic.

Given my training in finance, I learned one thing about living in a capitalist democracy: money makes people move. O’Reilly also understands this. Money makes good people do bad things and gives bad people an excuse to do good things. Money is the reason Fox News exists, and why this form of “capitalism gone wild” has destroyed the integrity of American journalism. Money is the reason that Barack Obama went from being a non-factor to becoming a target of The O’Reilly Factor and the reason that President Bush is sweating over the price of gas.



It is the ability to acquire resources, mobilize resources and take away resources that will change this election. This election will, in turn, change the world. Race matters, there’s no question about that. But money matters much more.

Here is the video if you want to see it:



Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging Assets with Your Partner in Ways that Feel Good.” For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.

Bill O'Reilly? OK damnit, I'll talk about it

Yes, I was on O'Reilly last night. Yes, he did the whole "That black man is crazy" routine. Yes, my inbox was full of email from people who are dumb enough to pay attention to anything this ridiculous hack has to say. Here is my standard response. I felt the need to protect the poor chancellor, for I hated seeing her getting chased around by the cameras. She is a good woman, and she didn't ask to have Boyce Watkins on her campus. Curing the disease of racism is a nasty, scary process, and not everyone is ready for the backlash from a country that remains ignorant and in denial.

O'reilly and others are nothing new to America. For the past 400 years, there have been those who fight against racism and those who work to oppress those individuals. Terms like "reverse racist" or "black racist" are designed to alleviate America of the guilt of what it has done to every black man woman and child for the past 400 years. Our country has not even apologized, nor taken personal responsibility for the damage done by slavery. 400 years of continued, terroristic destruction doesn't go away with 20 years of Affirmative action.

O'Reilly, Hannity and Limbaugh are in the same tradition as those who killed Dr. King and Malcolm X. Unfortunately, such individuals and those who support them are always on the wrong side of history. But it is safe to stand with them because they tend to have the most power. I don't expect that any piece of my contribution to Syracuse University will be recognized today. Rather, it will be acknowledged 30 years from today, the same as that of Jim Brown and the 8 black students who protested racism on the football field. The pattern is: punish now, ostracize now, and apologize when the person is old and gray. I accept that.

Do not hold Chancellor Cantor responsible for my words.

I speak on my own behalf. The Chancellor is an amazing and capable human being who has brought wonderful intellectual light to the university and to this country. I even feel sorry for the headaches I cause her from my viewpoints. I cannot apologize however, because there are tens of thousands of voiceless Americans who agree with me.

I refuse to stand silent as Jeremiah Wright, an ex-Marine, scholar and accomplished human being, is reduced to a worthless hack by those who don't even have the guts to fight in the very same wars they promote.

Syracuse's business school, to my knowledge, has not tenured a black man in over 100 years, and I do not expect to be the first. So don't worry, I don't anticipate you're going to have to deal with me for much longer. But I am going to keep telling the truth, since someone has to make that sacrifice.

Be well,

Boyce Watkins

Dr. Boyce Video Response to Bill O'Reilly

Meet the Real Jeremiah Wright

I was concerned about the recent attacks on Jeremiah Wright, mainly because I understand what he went through. Last fall, Bill O'Reilly spent 5 days calling for me to be fired from Syracuse University. They claimed I was a racist because I criticized O'Reilly and his condescending views toward people of color. I also had the audacity to ask why my business school has existed for 120 years without granting tenure to an African-American. He, Hannity and others engaged in the same petty attacks that they used to undermine the credibility of one of Chicago's most respected pastors, Jeremiah Wright. Oprah, Obama and many respected members of the Chicago community have been in regular attendance at Pastor Wright's church, and it is non-sensical to allow the buffoons at Fox News to reduce this man's distinguished 40 year career to that of a worthless hack.

But truth is be told, this is to be expected: They did the same thing to Dr. Martin Luther King and other strong black pastors in the past. Even black people and scholars felt compelled to attack Dr. King and Dr. Wright, since that was the safe and "academicky" thing to do. Jeremiah Wright and most strong black intellectuals who've changed the world truly understand that white supremacy breeds a steady, bumper crop of "haterologists" who will attack your every move, every word, and every action. But I am a believer that the more empowered black men and women are, the more haters you will have, so black scholars should speak truth to power, engage in true intellectual leadership and be strong enough to withstand the backlash. That is what our forefathers expect from us, and I'm not talking about George Washington.

What is most interesting is that Jeremiah was a Marine and served his country with honor, while those who attack him hide behind their privilege to avoid fighting in the very war in which they so readily send others to die. Before you judge him, hear him speak. He is a scholar and an empowered leader of faith. I respect him. He is definitely smarter than Bill O'Reilly, but then again, most chimps can make the same claim.

Dog the Bounty Hunter's Son Photographed as a Neo Nazi

Come On People: Bill Cosby Has to Be Stronger than This

by Dr. Boyce Watkins - www.BoyceWatkins.com

Judgmental Judges, Big Chins and Big Egos: Come on People, Let’s Stop Being Afraid

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

I recently appeared on an episode of Good Morning America about a judge in Atlanta named Marvin Arrington. The show renewed my skepticism of mainstream media, and helped me remember why I love Bill Cosby so much.

Apparently, Judge Arrington was fed up with seeing one black defendant after another in his courtroom, and surely to the liking of Bill Cosby, Arrington took matters into his own hands. Judge Arrington took the unprecedented step of dismissing all of the white attorneys from his courtroom and holding a private session with the black defendants.

During the session, Arrington gave the defendants a piece of his mind, preaching values we can all agree with: hard work, good behavior, and human decency. He topped it off by reminding these men that they are destroying the black community with their behavior and that they just need to stop.

When Good Morning America called to ask me what I thought about Arrington’s actions, they spent more time asking me about Bill Cosby than Arrington. I was confused, since they apparently think I don’t like Bill Cosby. That’s not true. I have a lot of respect for Bill Cosby, but it is my respect for human empathy that leads me to share my point of view, even if Bill Cosby does not agree. I truly believe Bill Cosby cares for black people, even if he has a unique way of showing it.

The reporter asked me if I thought it could be appropriate for a black judge to have a conversation with only the black defendants, excluding everyone else from the court room. I informed the reporter that it’s O.K. for African-Americans to have private conversations, and the nature of the Marvin Arrington’s words would be the ultimate determinant of conversation quality.

Elitist finger wagging at members of an oppressed group is not only counter-productive, but it is consistent with how minority groups are dealt with around the world. From the Turkish minority in Germany to the Aboriginal population in Australia, it is always the habit of the elite to presume that minority groups can’t fit in because they are just lazy, stupid and bad. But a conversation from a point of understanding might actually achieve something. The problem is that some judges feel they are only there to talk, not to listen or learn. Also, Bill Cosby has shown Michael Eric Dyson, Marc Lamont Hill and myself that he feels no obligation to listen to anyone. Apparently, we have not yet created enough episodes of Fat Albert to earn the license of unconditional, single-minded self-righteousness.

I know a judge named Langston McKinney who would also hold the same kinds of private conversations as Judge Arrington. The difference with Judge McKinney, however, is that right after having a private conversation with black defendants, McKinney would be equally bold in having another “tough love” conversation with the very justice system responsible for giving these men longer sentences for the same crimes, inadequate legal counsel, disenfranchisement from voting and employment rights after they’ve been released and a horrifically bad inner city educational system that provides no options.

That’s what a real man does. You don’t just beat up on those who have less power than you, you go after those who might kick your ass.

I have never been one to say that either Bill Cosby or Judge Marvin Arrington hate the black community. I feel they both love African-Americans very much, and that is what distinguishes them from professional black bashers like Juan Williams at Fox News. But one thing Cosby might want to learn is this: given that all human beings are fundamentally equal and equally rational, individuals engaging in behavior that makes no sense to you are probably responding to factors that you have not taken the time to fully understand.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Inequality released a report citing that the United States has a horrific habit of incarcerating black men, giving them longer sentences for the same crimes, pushing them out of society and leaving them uneducated. It is hard to earn my respect when you accept rewards for attacking those who respond to the disparities, but you do not have the courage to address the disparities themselves.

If a husband is beating his wife because she talks too much, any man can come into the house and tell his wife to stop talking so the beatings will stop. Many men will not have the courage to confront the husband responsible for the abuse. America, according to the United Nations, has abused black families for the past 400 years and continues to do so until this day. Anyone can tell black people to stop misbehaving so the abuse will stop. But it is fear of losing stature with the oppressive majority that leads us to avoid taking further steps to actually deal with the abuse itself. Black people have survived this long by being AFRAID. There is the added opportunity to gain favor with the majority by allowing oneself to be used as an additional distributor of racial tyranny, hypocrisy and condemnation. That’s how you get invited to Fox News and Meet the Press, Cosby knows this.

Bill Cosby and Judge Marvin Arrington should learn that it’s time to stop being scared. If you are tough enough to yell at a poor single mother about how she raises her kids, then please be strong enough to yell at a court system that incarcerates black men 7 times more than it incarcerates white men. Be strong enough to address a public education system that puts black boys in special education 5 times more than white boys. Be complete with your boldness, and don’t feel that you are strong just because you can continue to pile onto the weakest members of our society. The same is true for any black man who is strong in “the hood” but afraid to go to the other side of town.

I had a friend who grew up on terrible conditions, went to a terrible school, was shot at on the bus stop and had a high school counselor that put her in special education. In spite of all this, she went on to college and had a great life. Her story would surely serve as a source of inspiration for one of Bill Cosby’s speeches. But my question is this: What if this girl had not been strong enough to overcome a situation that would have destroyed 90% of us? What if she’d shot a drug dealer, slept with a strange man to get money or became a prostitute to feed herself? Would that make her a terrible person or simply an individual who responded to a world that the adults around her have not had the courage to confront? Cosby’s argument that the little girl should “just behave herself” is not likely to be enough to help millions of children manage such dramatic racial inequality.

Barack Obama had it right. We must honestly talk about racial inequality, and we must begin the conversation with the correct assumptions. Mathematics teaches us that if you solve a problem using incorrect assumptions, this will lead to incorrect methods and ultimately, an incorrect conclusion. The simple-minded presumption that “black youth are simply screwed up” is not only incorrect, it’s what we’ve been hearing for the past 400 years.

To Bill Cosby and Judge Marvin Arrington, I say this: Come on people, we’ve got to have more personal responsibility than that. The same courage you command from youth to overcome the system must be the courage you possess when confronting the system. That’s REALLY how you keep it real.

Video Below: Dr. Boyce Speaks on Bill Cosby and Judge Marvin Arrington:

Why The United Nations Agrees with Pastor Jeremiah Wright

by Dr. Boyce Watkins
www.BoyceWatkins.com


Jeremiah Wright is the Pastor for Senator Barack Obama at The Trinity United Church of Christ. Pastor Wright was attacked for very strong comments he has made about race in America.

I am a huge fan of Pastor Jeremiah Wright and I consider Pastor Wright to be one of the great Americans of our country.

There, I said it. Now crucify me.

Just realize that by doing so, you will surely be on the wrong side of history. You will be on the same side as the founding fathers, who built a nation on the kind of racial bias that Pastor Jeremiah Wright and others are bold enough to honestly discuss in America. You will be on the same side as the generation before you, who swore that racism was a thing of the past and surely did not affect them. But when you look back at your grandparents’ generation, you can see their racism clearly. The problem is that your grand children will say the same thing about you.

I have been to Jeremiah Wright’s church, and I admire his spirit. He is truly a man who walks the walk of Jesus, who would also not stand idly by and allow this blatant discrimination to exist. But like Jesus, Jeremiah Wright finds himself being held up for bloody attacks by the American public. As Dr. Martin Luther King showed us, America is good at persecuting its heroes, especially when it comes to race.

The logical reaction to individuals such as myself and Pastor Jeremiah Wright, educated black men who speak honestly on race, is to say that we are extremists or perhaps even insane. I can’t help but agree. Both I and Jeremiah Wright must be insane for having the audacity to point out the obvious. We are no different from anyone crazy enough to point out the holocaust during the Nazi era, or to speak honestly on liberty during the height of McCarthyism. The point that Pastor Wright makes is both correct and clear: America is a racist country. It has been in the past and continues to be to this day.

You think Jeremiah Wright is a lunatic? Let’s look for objective analysis, shall we?

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination recently issued a scathing report about racism in America. In the report, the committee cited the following:

- The mass incarceration of black men in our prison systems. America has the largest prison population in history and half of those men are black. The problem is that black people are only 13% of the general population.

- Inadequate legal defense for these individuals, leading to a higher likelihood of incarceration.

- Longer prison sentences for the same crimes for black men and a disproportionate willingness of our government to kill these men when they are on trial for murder.

- Segregated school systems leading to far worse education for black children.

- The disenfranchisement of individuals with criminal records, denying them the right to vote, and significantly reducing their opportunities for employment for the length of their entire lives.

You see, I am with Jeremiah Wright on this one. I applaud him for having the courage to speak the truth in support of people of color. Pastor Wright is a doctor, offering medicine to a country that is truly sick. We allow the Rush Limbaughs, Sean Hannitys and Bill O’Reillys to continuously attack people of color, while millions of blind Americans listen to these uneducated monsters continue the most horrific traditions of our nation.

Well Jeremiah Wright and others like him are not going to sit by and let that happen. We’ve been taught to be honest and to fight back. I do it because it is what I am led to do. Jeremiah Wright does it because that is what Jesus would do. Either way, what we see is real and America needs to learn to deal with it. Silly terms like “reverse racism” are nothing more than ploys to alleviate our country of the guilt of what it has done to black families for the past 400 years. If you feel that someone is being racist for fighting against inequality, then this may imply that, deep down, you do not feel such individuals are worthy of the equality they seek.

Many have critiqued Pastor Wright’s assertation that AIDS was created by the US government to rid the world of black people. I have not seen evidence to support such an assertion. The problem is that Pastor Wright’s theory is NOT out of the question. Were we not the same country that injected black men with syphilis just to see what would happen? Did the CIA not play a role in allowing drugs into the black community before and during the Reagan era? Did the government not engage in illegal covert activities to undermine black leadership via CointelPro, in which Hoover said that the objective was to "expose, disrupt, misdirect, discredit, or otherwise neutralize" movements within the black community?

It’s not as if Pastor Wright, nor any other person of color, has good reason to trust the country that has made a market of exterminating black people. Sorry to break this to you, but those are just the facts. As I mentioned before, the United Nations agrees with us. Perhaps they are insane as well. By attacking people like us for speaking the truth, it is only perpetuating the global perception that The US is a self-righteous nation, quick to point out of the flaws of others, but unwilling to honestly assess its own areas for improvement.

On many other issues, Jeremiah Wright and I are in lockstep. America is a country that continues to allow racial inequality to fester and does nothing about it. We, for some ridiculous reason, have told our children that we can spend 400 years creating systemic inequality and then cure it overnight. Such a conclusion is not only nonsensical, but borders on the ridiculous.

Our government refuses to apologize for the atrocities of slavery, yet we are quick to condemn the Nazis for what they did to the Jews. What America did to black people was far worse, as the horror lasted over several centuries.

The United Nations Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, Jeremiah Wright and others are 100% correct when it comes to racism in America: many Americans just don’t get it and none of them want to understand how it works. But then again, that’s exactly how they were trained to think, so I am honestly not surprised.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of "What if George Bush were a Black Man?" For More Information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com.