Dr. Boyce and Lola Adesioye Talk about the Black Agenda

by Lola Adesioye, Huffington Post - www.LolaCreative.com

Should there be a "black agenda" in America? And if the answer to that question is 'yes,' what is the black agenda?

These are the questions that black leaders and black people have been discussing more and more since President Obama took office. Last week, Reverend Al Sharpton hosted a leadership summit addressing this very issue. Today a group of black leaders got together on an MSNBC special to talk about this issue in more detail. And many will remember the on-air argument that Tavis Smiley and Rev Sharpton had a few weeks ago about this topic.

Tavis believes that Obama isn't doing enough. Sharpton believes that Obama need not 'ballyhoo' a black agenda. I think most agree, though, that something needs to be done.

With a 16.5% unemployment rate (compared to 9.7% for white Americans), an education system that is under serving black children, higher than average rates of death from diseases like breast cancer, and continued social issues, it is hard to disagree that there is need for some kind of targeted and focused approach to dealing with the issues that affect African-American. But many are divided on whether or not the president is doing enough for black people, whether or not it's incumbent on him to do anything at all, and what should or shouldn't be done.

 

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"The Express" Path to Racial Equality

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

“The Express” is a new film featuring the great Ernie Davis, one of the most amazing college athletes in American History and the first African American to win the Heisman Trophy. He was also a football player for Syracuse University, the campus on which I teach.

I watched the trailer for the film with pride, feeling good about this man and what he accomplished. I saw all the ads, the banners around campus, the website pictures and other excitement as the city prepared for the film’s premiere. I then had a couple of thoughts.
First, I thought about the residual impact of historical racism. Most of the time, when liberal universities talk about racism, the context is one in which racism is something that happened “back then”, and “we are all better now”. The conversation is one of (relatively justifiable) celebration for just how far our nation has come in the fight for social justice.

What is most ironic about this analysis is that it forgets one important fact: the past is not something that existed once and then disappeared. The past is all around us. The present and past CANNOT be disconnected because the present is created by the past, and the past consistently manifests itself in the social infrastructure of our institutions. For example, in the days of Ernie Davis (not that long ago), African Americans were rarely allowed onto my campus (along with many others) and were certainly not allowed to be part of the decision-making bodies of these campuses. This led to a skewed inter-generational transfer of power that reflects itself in the vast degree of (in Georgetown University scholar Christopher Metzler’s words) “academic imperialism” that we see today. If you take a tour of most campuses, you see that there are few Black faces on the faculty, almost none of them tenured. Black students rarely have professors who look like themselves, as if their price of tuition is to embrace some degree of cultural dilution in their efforts to successfully assimilate. Black scholars are told that research on the Black community is “Ghetto scholarship” and effectively marginalized to departments that have little say in how the campus is run. The attitude is “This is our campus. History and tradition are everything here, and the tradition is that our rules apply and you need to just fit in where you can. We have no problem with you, as long as you remain grateful that we’ve allowed you into our house. Now, here’s a picture of one of our great black athletes to prove that we can’t be racist.”

The second thing I’ve noticed is what I call the “Old people effect” in dealing with historical racism. This effect is one that ideologically disconnects African Americans who attended college during the 60s and 70s from those who attended in the 90s and 00s. It is one where the campus shows tribute and respect to those who were mistreated 30 years ago, while simultaneously continuing the historical pattern of ostracism toward those who are the academic descendants of the older alumni. The “Old people effect” essentially says, “Yes, we will honor ex-athletes Art Monk and Ernie Davis, but they are nothing like the dangerous negroes Adam Banks and Boyce Watkins. Because we put a picture of Ernie Davis on our website, this clearly proves that we only hate the “bad” black men, which therefore justifies our desire to ostracize young African American scholars and students who choose to challenge our historical educational paradigm.” In other words, it’s like respecting the father of a family, but dishonoring him by beating his child. I am not sure there is any respect or honor in that. Also, one should realize that by honoring Davis and Monk but dishonoring their African American counterparts and intellectual descendants, you are effectively engaging in the historical act of celebrating well-behaved black athletes while demeaning progressive black intellectuals. The same can be said for the administrator who pats Carmello Anthony on the back while deliberately separating Anthony from the African American student activists across campus.

But truth be told, Syracuse is not much different from many campuses across America. The reality is that Americans are limited in our ability to fight racism, because many of us can’t even define it. We end up swinging at ghosts in the wind, believing that a more expensive Martin Luther King Celebration, attacking hate groups or inviting speakers from the Civil Rights era is our path to racial cleansing. The truth is that in order to truly fight institutionalized racism, you must be willing to engage in the painful act of surgically decomposing the subtle biases of your social, academic and economic infrastructure like a doctor committed to fighting cancer. The cancer of historical racism festers among us and, in some ways, has the greatest impact on those who truly believe they’ve been cured. Ineffective fights against racism (like giving a cancer patient the wrong drugs) lead to deformed efforts to fulfill Dr. King’s Dream, thus turning the dream into an even greater and more elusive nightmare for those under the thumb of such oppression.

It is my hope that “The Express” will inspire us to get off the express train for racial equality. 400-year old habits die hard, and it takes more than 25 years of good intentions to correct them.

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.

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.