tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-39418658966860444202024-02-20T22:00:39.835-08:00African American scholarsBlack Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.comBlogger75125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-11655222341489289192010-06-19T12:02:00.001-07:002010-06-19T12:02:50.521-07:00Billy Hawkins: NCAA is Actually a Plantation for Black Male Athletes<p><strong><img alt="" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bvonmoney.com/media/2010/06/billyhawkins-1276971572.jpg" vspace="4" border="1" /></strong> </p> <p>by Dr. Boyce Watkins</p> <p><strong>Professor Billy Hawkins </strong>of The University of Georgia has released a controversial new book that describes the experiences of NCAA athletes by comparing them to slaves on a plantation. According to the research of professor Hawkins, <a href="http://blackathletes.wordpress.com">black athletes</a> are exploited by the NCAA physically, financially and intellectually.</p> <p> <br />Hawkins cites the massive revenue earned by the NCAA via March Madness, which includes a 14-year, $10.8 billion contract with CBS sports. In spite of seemingly unlimited revenues to encourage athletes to stay focused academically, Hawkins notes that nearly one-fifth of the 64 teams participating in the NCAA tournament had graduation rates of less than 40 percent. Across the 36 sports monitored by the NCAA, men's basketball has the lowest graduation rates, where less than two-thirds of the players earn degrees.</p> <p> <br />The dismal graduation numbers for the NCAA support Dr. Hawkins' research, in which he argues and shows that black athletes at predominantly white institutions are being exploited while being neglected academically. In his book, <a href="http://search.barnesandnoble.com/The-New-Plantation/Billy-Hawkins/e/9780230615175">"The New Plantation,"</a> the well-respected Professor of Sport Management and Policy uses a plantation model to present the black male athletic experience as part of a broader historical context.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.bvonmoney.com/2010/06/19/black-scholars-black-athletes/">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-73885186130492623962010-06-19T04:24:00.001-07:002010-06-19T04:24:05.608-07:00Dr. Julianne Malveaux Speaks on the BP Crisis<p><img height="300" hspace="5" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs079/1102675965702/img/1.jpg" width="250" align="left" vspace="5" border="0" /></p> <p>William Butler Yeats did a good job of capturing a harrowing pandemonium in his poem, The Second Coming. He wrote, in 1919</p> <p>Things fall apart; the centre cannot hold;</p> <p>Mere anarchy is loosed upon the world,</p> <p>The blood-dimmed tide is loosed, and everywhere</p> <p>The ceremony of innocence is drowned;</p> <p>The best lack all conviction, while the worst</p> <p>Are full of passionate intensity.</p> <p>I was twice introduced to the poem in college, first in a class that required the study of English poets, then in a class that examined African literature, including the powerful novel of Nigerian colonization by Chinua Achebe, ironically titled, Things Fall Apart. The poem is so emblazoned on my brain that from time to time it comes to mind, most recently when I contemplate the BP oil spill, its damages, its consequences, and its handling.</p> <p>I am writing from the Rainbow/PUSH Coalition Conference, 55 days after the Deepwater Horizon explosion that killed 11 people and started an oil leak that apparently continues. While BP says that the leak was only 5000 barrels of oil a day, scientists estimate that between 20,000 and 40,000 barrels of oil leaked each day between April 22 until June 3. If you use the midpoint of 30,000 barrels and a period of 42 days (assuming all leaking stopped when a dome to catch some of the leak was installed on June 3), we are talking at least 1.2 million barrels of an oil leak.</p> <p><a href="http://yourblackscholar.blogspot.com/2010/06/dr-julianne-malveaux-speaks-on-bp.html">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-10330088214730430122010-06-13T09:26:00.001-07:002010-06-13T09:26:06.375-07:00Rapper Slim Thug Speaks on His Black Woman Remarks<p><img alt="" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bvblackspin.com/media/2010/06/slimthugblackwomancomments.jpg" vspace="4" border="1" /> </p> <p>by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices </p> <p>Many of you may already know about the "interesting" comments made by the rapper<strong>Slim Thug</strong>, and his frustration about the lack of loyalty among black women. His comments were met with resistance by <a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/06/09/slim-thug-marc-lamont-hill/">myself and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill</a> from Columbia University, who gave him the stable advice to keep his mouth shut. I say that "Slim Thugga" needs to be quiet, not because he's wrong, but because this is a battle he can't win and still sell records. Getting every black woman in America to hate you is simply not good for business. Even <strong>Talib Kweli</strong>, a fellow hip hop artist, <a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/06/10/talib-kweli-rapper-replies-to-slim-thug/">had something to say about Slim Thug's remarks. <br /></a> <br />On his twitter page, Slim Thug went out of his way to try to protect his image in the face of all the backlash: </p> <p><a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/06/13/slim-thug-black-women/">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-46108238430105847542010-06-13T09:25:00.001-07:002010-06-13T09:25:51.985-07:00Slim Thug Responds on Controversy about Black Women<p><img alt="" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bvblackspin.com/media/2010/06/slimthugblackwomancomments.jpg" vspace="4" border="1" /> </p> <p>by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices </p> <p>Many of you may already know about the "interesting" comments made by the rapper<strong>Slim Thug</strong>, and his frustration about the lack of loyalty among black women. His comments were met with resistance by <a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/06/09/slim-thug-marc-lamont-hill/">myself and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill</a> from Columbia University, who gave him the stable advice to keep his mouth shut. I say that "Slim Thugga" needs to be quiet, not because he's wrong, but because this is a battle he can't win and still sell records. Getting every black woman in America to hate you is simply not good for business. Even <strong>Talib Kweli</strong>, a fellow hip hop artist, <a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/06/10/talib-kweli-rapper-replies-to-slim-thug/">had something to say about Slim Thug's remarks. <br /></a> <br />On his twitter page, Slim Thug went out of his way to try to protect his image in the face of all the backlash: </p> <p><a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/06/13/slim-thug-black-women/">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-8404428237457582002010-06-10T12:18:00.001-07:002010-06-10T12:18:43.350-07:00Black Scholars Kept From Getting Jobs at White Universities<p><strong><a href="http://blackamericanmoney/blackscholars"><img alt="" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bvblackspin.com/media/2010/06/blackmalegraduation.jpg" vspace="4" border="1" /></a></strong></p> <p><strong>by Dr. <a href="http://boycewatkins.com">Boyce Watkins</a>, <a href="http://drboycewatkins.com/thesyracuseprofessor">Syracuse University</a> <br /></strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p>Dr. M. Cookie Newsom</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><strong>is the Director for Diversity Education and Assessment at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also a trouble maker and an angry black woman, which is likely going to cause her serious problems with her colleagues (<a href="http://blogs.blackvoices.com/2010/06/09/barack-obama-angry-black-man/">we talked yesterday</a> about how being angry can get a black person into serious trouble). Dr. Newsom, however, has good reason to be angry. <a href="http://diverseeducation.com/article/13868/scholar-says-research-universities-not-serious-about-faculty-diversity.html">In a recent interview with Diverse issues in Higher Education,</a> Dr. Newsom stated in plain language that most major universities are not serious about diversifying their faculty and that this hurts all students, especially students of color. <br />"The dismal truth is academe doesn’t really want a racially-diverse faculty," Newsom said during a faculty diversity presentation at the American Association of University Professors’ (AAUP) annual national conference in Washington, D.C. "It’s totally a myth." <br /></strong></p> <p>Dr. Newson based her conclusions on statistics and data she collected which shows that most major universities are good at documenting plans to increase faculty diversity, but most of it’s nothing but lip service.</p> <p><a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/06/10/black-scholar-faculty-diversity/">Click to read more.</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-91305043439802172412010-06-10T12:17:00.001-07:002010-06-10T12:17:19.570-07:00Black Scholars Kept From Getting Jobs at White Universities<p><strong><a href="http://blackamericanmoney/blackscholars"><img alt="" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bvblackspin.com/media/2010/06/blackmalegraduation.jpg" vspace="4" border="1" /></a></strong></p> <p><strong>by Dr. <a href="http://boycewatkins.com">Boyce Watkins</a>, <a href="http://drboycewatkins.com/thesyracuseprofessor">Syracuse University</a> <br /></strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p>Dr. M. Cookie Newsom</p> <p></p> <p></p> <p><strong>is the Director for Diversity Education and Assessment at The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. She is also a trouble maker and an angry black woman, which is likely going to cause her serious problems with her colleagues (<a href="http://blogs.blackvoices.com/2010/06/09/barack-obama-angry-black-man/">we talked yesterday</a> about how being angry can get a black person into serious trouble). Dr. Newsom, however, has good reason to be angry. <a href="http://diverseeducation.com/article/13868/scholar-says-research-universities-not-serious-about-faculty-diversity.html">In a recent interview with Diverse issues in Higher Education,</a> Dr. Newsom stated in plain language that most major universities are not serious about diversifying their faculty and that this hurts all students, especially students of color. <br />"The dismal truth is academe doesn’t really want a racially-diverse faculty," Newsom said during a faculty diversity presentation at the American Association of University Professors’ (AAUP) annual national conference in Washington, D.C. "It’s totally a myth." <br /></strong></p> <p>Dr. Newson based her conclusions on statistics and data she collected which shows that most major universities are good at documenting plans to increase faculty diversity, but most of it’s nothing but lip service.</p> <p><a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/06/10/black-scholar-faculty-diversity/">Click to read more.</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-39216622742847907712010-06-07T11:02:00.001-07:002010-06-07T11:02:41.748-07:00Julianne Malveaux on the Jobless Recovery<p><a href="http://blackscholars.blogspot.com"><img height="300" hspace="5" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs079/1102675965702/img/1.jpg" width="250" align="left" vspace="5" border="0" /></a></p> <p>by Dr <a href="http://blackpublicscholars.wordpress.com">Julianne Malveaux</a></p> <p>Our economy generated about 431,000 jobs last month. Good news? Only if you don't count the fact that more than 400,000 of the jobs were temporary jobs connected to collecting data for the Census. Those jobs won't last for long and when the dust clears the current 9.7 percent unemployment rate, down from 9.9 percent a month ago, is likely to rise again.</p> <p>Still, those who are desperate for good news are clinging to the fact that there are more jobs out there. What they don't understand is that people are looking for something more than a few months of work here and there. Nearly seven million Americans have been out of work for more than half a year. What has this done to their finances?</p> <p>Of course the situation is worse for African Americans, even though black unemployment dropped from 16.5 to 15.5 percent last month. The 15.5 percent is a modest estimate of what is really happening. The U6 number in the Bureau of Labor Statistics Employment Situation report includes discouraged workers, those working part time that really want full time work and others peripherally connected to the labor market. That number dropped last month from 17.1 to 16.6 percent for the overall population. While the BLS does not report the number for African Americans, using the same relationships, the African American U6 number is at least 25.6 percent. That means that one in four African Americans is jobless!</p> <p><a href="http://yourblackscholar.blogspot.com/2010/06/julianne-malveaux-our-jobless-recovery.html">Click to read.</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-89436225673588197702010-06-05T18:15:00.001-07:002010-06-05T18:15:21.292-07:00Ron Daniels Gives Advice to President Obama<p><a href="http://blackscholars.blogspot.com"><img height="328" src="http://777denny.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/obama_oil_large_obamaprompter.jpg?w=428&h=328" width="428" /></a></p> <p>by Professor <a href="http://yourblackscholar.blogspot.com">Ron Daniels</a></p> <p><strong>Clearly British Petroleum Oil Company (BP) is responsible for the most disastrous oil spill in U.S. history and must be held fully accountable for its negligent behavior. Beyond overseeing the crisis and ensuring that BP is deploying the necessary resources to stop the flow of oil and clean-up the damaged beaches and marshlands, there is precious little President Obama can do to clean up the mess. However, I agree with <i>New York Times</i>columnist Thomas Friedman and other commentators that the crisis presents the President with an opportunity to offer bold and visionary leadership in terms of the future direction of the U.S. economy.</strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p><strong>Ever the pragmatist and craving “bi-partisan” support for his massive energy bill, prior to the horrific oil spill, Obama caved in to the McCain/Palin “drill baby drill” crowd and ordered more areas opened for off shore drilling. Earlier he threw another plum the Republicans way by placing priority on building new nuclear power plants. I strongly disagree with these decisions but chalk it up to Obama being Obama. It’s his inside the beltway method of trying to drag defiant Republicans to the legislative table at a time when they are out to create a “waterloo” moment by whatever means necessary to defeat him and advance their conservative agenda. However, the oil spill has potentially created a new political calculus.</strong></p> <p><a href="http://yourblackscholar.blogspot.com/2010/06/obama-needs-to-lead-on-oil-spill.html">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-10708185626259007902010-06-05T18:13:00.001-07:002010-06-05T18:13:40.665-07:00Ron Daniels Gives Advice to President Obama<p><a href="http://blackscholars.blogspot.com"><img height="328" src="http://777denny.files.wordpress.com/2010/02/obama_oil_large_obamaprompter.jpg?w=428&h=328" width="428" /></a></p> <p>by Professor <a href="http://yourblackscholar.blogspot.com">Ron Daniels</a></p> <p><strong>Clearly British Petroleum Oil Company (BP) is responsible for the most disastrous oil spill in U.S. history and must be held fully accountable for its negligent behavior. Beyond overseeing the crisis and ensuring that BP is deploying the necessary resources to stop the flow of oil and clean-up the damaged beaches and marshlands, there is precious little President Obama can do to clean up the mess. However, I agree with <i>New York Times</i>columnist Thomas Friedman and other commentators that the crisis presents the President with an opportunity to offer bold and visionary leadership in terms of the future direction of the U.S. economy.</strong></p> <p><strong></strong></p> <p><strong>Ever the pragmatist and craving “bi-partisan” support for his massive energy bill, prior to the horrific oil spill, Obama caved in to the McCain/Palin “drill baby drill” crowd and ordered more areas opened for off shore drilling. Earlier he threw another plum the Republicans way by placing priority on building new nuclear power plants. I strongly disagree with these decisions but chalk it up to Obama being Obama. It’s his inside the beltway method of trying to drag defiant Republicans to the legislative table at a time when they are out to create a “waterloo” moment by whatever means necessary to defeat him and advance their conservative agenda. However, the oil spill has potentially created a new political calculus.</strong></p> <p><a href="http://yourblackscholar.blogspot.com/2010/06/obama-needs-to-lead-on-oil-spill.html">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-91613151599578058992010-05-31T11:04:00.003-07:002010-05-31T11:04:57.686-07:00Setting the Record Straight: A Response to Henry Louis Gates, Jr.<p><img src="http://charlespaolino.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/henry-louis-gates-jr2.jpg" /></p> <p>Statement by the Committee to Advance the Movement for Reparations</p> <p>We, the undersigned, take strong exception to the Op-Ed, “Ending the Slavery Blame-Game,” published in the <i>New York Times</i>, April 23, 2010 by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. There are gross errors, inaccuracies and misrepresentations in Gates’ presentation of the transatlantic European enslavement system. Moreover, we are duly concerned about his political motivations and find offensive his use of the term “blame game.” It trivializes one of the most heinous crimes against humanity—the European enslavement of African people. Gates contradicts his stated purpose of “ending” what he refers to as a “blame-game,” by erroneously making African rulers and elites equally responsible with European and American enslavers. He shifts the “blame” in a clear attempt to undermine the demand for reparations.</p> <p>The African Holocaust or <i>Maafa</i>, as it is referred to by many, is a crime against humanity and is recognized as such by the United Nations, scholars, and historians who have documented the primary and overwhelming culpability of European nations for enslavement in Europe, in the Americas and elsewhere. In spite of this overwhelming documentation, Gates inexplicably shifts the burden of culpability to Africans who were and are its victims. The abundance of scholarly work also affirms that Europeans initiated the process, established the global infrastructure for enslavement, and imposed, financed and defended it, and were the primary beneficiaries of it in various ways through human trafficking itself, banking, insurance, manufacturing, farming, shipping and allied enterprises.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://yourblackscholar.blogspot.com/2010/05/setting-record-straight-response-to.html">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-21156065691790863582010-05-31T11:04:00.001-07:002010-05-31T11:04:06.435-07:00Setting the Record Straight: A Response to Henry Louis Gates, Jr.<p><img src="http://charlespaolino.files.wordpress.com/2009/07/henry-louis-gates-jr2.jpg" /></p> <p>Statement by the Committee to Advance the Movement for Reparations</p> <p>We, the undersigned, take strong exception to the Op-Ed, “Ending the Slavery Blame-Game,” published in the <i>New York Times</i>, April 23, 2010 by Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr. There are gross errors, inaccuracies and misrepresentations in Gates’ presentation of the transatlantic European enslavement system. Moreover, we are duly concerned about his political motivations and find offensive his use of the term “blame game.” It trivializes one of the most heinous crimes against humanity—the European enslavement of African people. Gates contradicts his stated purpose of “ending” what he refers to as a “blame-game,” by erroneously making African rulers and elites equally responsible with European and American enslavers. He shifts the “blame” in a clear attempt to undermine the demand for reparations.</p> <p>The African Holocaust or <i>Maafa</i>, as it is referred to by many, is a crime against humanity and is recognized as such by the United Nations, scholars, and historians who have documented the primary and overwhelming culpability of European nations for enslavement in Europe, in the Americas and elsewhere. In spite of this overwhelming documentation, Gates inexplicably shifts the burden of culpability to Africans who were and are its victims. The abundance of scholarly work also affirms that Europeans initiated the process, established the global infrastructure for enslavement, and imposed, financed and defended it, and were the primary beneficiaries of it in various ways through human trafficking itself, banking, insurance, manufacturing, farming, shipping and allied enterprises.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://yourblackscholar.blogspot.com/2010/05/setting-record-straight-response-to.html">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-71757906609301476282010-05-17T11:54:00.001-07:002010-05-17T11:54:32.589-07:00Dr. Julianne Malveaux: Obama Disappoints Black Women with the Kagan Nomination<p><img height="300" hspace="5" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs079/1102675965702/img/1.jpg" width="250" align="left" vspace="5" border="0" /></p> <p>I was among the many who were disappointed that President Barack Obama did not nominate an African American woman to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. After all, there are six white men, two women, one Latina and one white, and a nominal African American man on the Court.  Why not an African American woman? <br />The Black Women's Roundtable, led by Melanie Campbell, was so disappointed that they shared their concerns with the President in a letter that spoke both to the contributions African American women have made and the qualifications of a few good women that President Obama should have considered before nominating Ms. Kagan to the nation's highest court.</p> <p> <br />I won't even speak on what I perceive as some of the shortcomings of the Kagan nomination.  The Solicitor General has earned the support of some colleagues that I fully respect, such as Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree.  At the same time, we have to pause at the fact that her definition of diversity is ideological diversity, not racial and ethnic diversity, and that she seemed to make Harvard a more welcome place for conservatives, if not for African American faculty.</p> <p></p> <p><em></em></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://boycewatkins.blogspot.com/2010/05/julianne-malveaux-questions-kagan.html">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-8201964012521103562010-05-17T11:53:00.001-07:002010-05-17T11:53:53.054-07:00Dr. Julianne Malveaux: Obama Disappoints Black Women with the Kagan Nomination<p><img height="300" hspace="5" src="http://ih.constantcontact.com/fs079/1102675965702/img/1.jpg" width="250" align="left" vspace="5" border="0" /></p> <p>I was among the many who were disappointed that President Barack Obama did not nominate an African American woman to be an Associate Justice of the Supreme Court. After all, there are six white men, two women, one Latina and one white, and a nominal African American man on the Court.  Why not an African American woman? <br />The Black Women's Roundtable, led by Melanie Campbell, was so disappointed that they shared their concerns with the President in a letter that spoke both to the contributions African American women have made and the qualifications of a few good women that President Obama should have considered before nominating Ms. Kagan to the nation's highest court.</p> <p> <br />I won't even speak on what I perceive as some of the shortcomings of the Kagan nomination.  The Solicitor General has earned the support of some colleagues that I fully respect, such as Harvard Professor Charles Ogletree.  At the same time, we have to pause at the fact that her definition of diversity is ideological diversity, not racial and ethnic diversity, and that she seemed to make Harvard a more welcome place for conservatives, if not for African American faculty.</p> <p></p> <p><em></em></p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://boycewatkins.blogspot.com/2010/05/julianne-malveaux-questions-kagan.html">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-82874205076593686302010-05-15T05:16:00.001-07:002010-05-15T05:16:07.641-07:00Black Women's Leadership Groups Disappointed in Elena Kagan Appointment<p><a href="http://politic365.com/2010/05/14/black-women-speak-out-about-scotus-appointment/"><strong><img height="280" alt="E Kagan" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/blogs.blackvoices.com/media/2010/05/ekagan-e1273806715629-1273862999.jpg" width="420" align="left" vspace="4" border="1" />From Politic 365</strong></a>: The announcement of Elena Kagan could not really be called a surprise, since the White House went out of its way to all but announce her as their pick over the last week. The Obama Administration dropped hints by the dozens to their favored reporters, who dutifully shared their information with the rest of us. I had come to accept it as a done deal, even though I had been a little perturbed at the way the D.C. pundits only mentioned three or four names from the president's short list, as if the rest of the names on it, like Georgia's own<a href="http://bigthink.com/ideas/19605">Leah Ward Sears</a>, were invisible. </p> <p>It wasn't until I called a friend of mine, an African American lawyer here in Atlanta who had been a diehard Hillary supporter and then a reluctant Barack Obama supporter after he became the Democratic nominee, that I realized that others felt the same way. "First he puts a Hispanic woman on the court. Fine. He's paying back the Hispanics for their support," she said. "Then he puts a white woman on the court. Okay – he's paying them back for coming over to his side after Hillary lost. I see that.</p> <p>But why do I have to be last? Why do black women always have to be last? I don't think he cares." <br /><a href="http://politic365.com/2010/05/14/black-women-speak-out-about-scotus-appointment/"><strong>Where are the Sistahs? See Politic365 to find out</strong></a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-11758316333438801072010-05-12T16:04:00.003-07:002010-05-12T16:04:16.999-07:00Your Black Scholars Keep Weighing in on Supreme Court Nominee, Elena Kagan<p><img height="194" src="http://www.chowandiscovery.org/News/images/WilmerLeon-1-600.jpg" width="390" /></p> <p>by Dr. Wilmer Leon</p> <p>On Monday May 10th President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to replace retiring Associate Justice John Paul Stevens. Many see this selection as a prudent political move; as the sitting solicitor general, Ms. Kagan has already been vetted and confirmed by the current Senate. This means that President Obama will not have to expend much political capital in order to get his nominee approved.</p> <p>There are those who are questioning if not opposing the selection of Ms. Kagan for a number of different reasons. President Obama called her a "trailblazing leader… " and stated "Elena is widely regarded as one of the nation's foremost legal minds … " Some believe that while former President George W. Bush was eroding constitutional protections, Ms. Kagen, this “trailblazing leader” was conspicuously silent. </p> <p>Others question Ms. Kagan’s record of minority hiring while dean of Harvard University’s Law School. During her tenure Dean Kagan hired 32 tenured and tenure-track academic faculty members. Of these, 25 were white men, 6 white women, and one Asian American woman. During her six years in the position there were no African American or Latinos hired. Just 3% of her hires were non-white. It is important to note that according to Harvard’s 2009 Annual Report the entire Harvard faculty consists of 26% female, 3% African American, and 3% Latino.</p> <p><a href="http://youngblackstudents.com/wilmerleon/?p=41">Click to read more</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-22385180527001670122010-05-12T16:04:00.001-07:002010-05-12T16:04:12.048-07:00Black Scholars Keep Weighing in on Supreme Court Nominee, Elena Kagan<p><img height="194" src="http://www.chowandiscovery.org/News/images/WilmerLeon-1-600.jpg" width="390" /></p> <p>by Dr. Wilmer Leon</p> <p>On Monday May 10th President Obama nominated Elena Kagan to replace retiring Associate Justice John Paul Stevens. Many see this selection as a prudent political move; as the sitting solicitor general, Ms. Kagan has already been vetted and confirmed by the current Senate. This means that President Obama will not have to expend much political capital in order to get his nominee approved.</p> <p>There are those who are questioning if not opposing the selection of Ms. Kagan for a number of different reasons. President Obama called her a "trailblazing leader… " and stated "Elena is widely regarded as one of the nation's foremost legal minds … " Some believe that while former President George W. Bush was eroding constitutional protections, Ms. Kagen, this “trailblazing leader” was conspicuously silent. </p> <p>Others question Ms. Kagan’s record of minority hiring while dean of Harvard University’s Law School. During her tenure Dean Kagan hired 32 tenured and tenure-track academic faculty members. Of these, 25 were white men, 6 white women, and one Asian American woman. During her six years in the position there were no African American or Latinos hired. Just 3% of her hires were non-white. It is important to note that according to Harvard’s 2009 Annual Report the entire Harvard faculty consists of 26% female, 3% African American, and 3% Latino.</p> <p><a href="http://youngblackstudents.com/wilmerleon/?p=41">Click to read more</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-59929903816496751822010-05-12T09:23:00.001-07:002010-05-12T09:23:54.516-07:00Black Law Professors disturbed by Elena Kagan's Nomination by Obama<p><img alt="" src="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/2010/05/07/law_professors_kagan_white_house/md_horiz.jpg" /></p> <p>AP photo/Jose Luis Magana</p> <p>Reports suggest that Solicitor General Elena Kagan may be President Obama's choice for the Supreme Court vacancy.</p> <p>Like everyone in the legal academy over the last decade, we have watched with admiration the amazing changes that Elena Kagan brought to Harvard Law School. A fractured faculty, divided among ideological lines, seemed finally content, if not united. A boisterous student body was finally pacified. The logjam that had stopped faculty hiring had burst. Indeed, she hired so many new faculty the Harvard Law School’s newspaper’s 2008 April Fool’s issue <a href="http://www.hlrecord.org/2.4477/dean-kagan-hires-every-law-professor-in-the-country-1.577743">declared</a>, "Dean Kagan Hires Every Law Professor in the Country."</p> <p>The first woman Dean of Harvard Law School had presided over an unprecedented expansion of the faculty -- growing it by almost a half. She had hired 32 tenured and tenure-track academic faculty members (non-clinical, non-practice). But when we sat down to review the actual record, we were frankly shocked. Not only were there shockingly few people of color, there were very few women. Where were the people of color? Where were the women? Of these 32 tenured and tenure-track academic hires, only one was a minority. Of these 32, only seven were women. All this in the 21st Century.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.salon.com/news/opinion/2010/05/07/law_professors_kagan_white_house">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-44743910685347421582010-05-11T09:50:00.001-07:002010-05-11T09:50:40.288-07:00Black News: Obama's Supreme Court Pick Hired Zero Black Professors at Harvard<p><a href="http://newsone.com/nation/news-one-staff/kagan-hired-no-black-professors-while-dean-of-harvard-law/"><img alt="Kagan Hired No Black Professors While Dean Of Harvard Law" src="http://cdn1.newsone.com/wp-content/plugins/ione-core/phpthumb/phpThumb.php?src=http://cdn1.newsone.com/files/2010/05/dean-kagan.jpg&w=456&h=0&f=jpeg&hash=3e0211fa34f0b76c4f9cb35c58cc7236" /></a></p> <p>Read more about <a href="http://newsone.com/nation/news-one-staff/kagan-hired-no-black-professors-while-dean-of-harvard-law/">Kagan Hired No Black Professors While Dean Of Harvard Law</a></p> <p>TAGS: <a href="http://newsone.com/tag/education/">education</a>, <a href="http://newsone.com/tag/elena-kagan/">Elena Kagan</a>, <a href="http://newsone.com/tag/harvard/">Harvard</a>, <a href="http://newsone.com/tag/supreme-court/">Supreme Court</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-59332631168391161572010-05-05T21:01:00.001-07:002010-05-05T21:02:00.550-07:00Obama Family Portrayed as Sanford and Son in Newspaper<p><a href="http://yourblackpolitics.blogspot.com"><img height="272" alt="" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bvblackspin.com/media/2010/05/business-news.jpg" width="387" vspace="4" border="1" /></a></p> <p>by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University</p> <p><strong>Phillip Sciarello</strong>, a publisher and part owner of the <strong>Smithtown Messenger</strong> in Long Island, is defending his newspaper after a <a href="http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-president-pictures-controversy,0,5160702.story">picture appeared that some believe to be a racist stereotype of the first family</a>. The picture depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as characters from <strong>"Sanford and Son." </strong>The public backlash has led the paper to announce that it will issue a retraction in its next edition. <br />The picture is part of a "before and after" sequence of the last six presidents, showing how much they age once they get into the White House. The "after" photo of the Obamas show Barack Obama as Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and Michelle Obama as Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page). The characters are standing ready to fight, as was typical on the 1970s television show.The pictures led the Brookhaven town board to remove one of the company's sister publications, the Brookhaven Review, as an official newspaper. This means that the paper will no longer publish town government notices. <br />"The reference to racial stereotypes is where the line was crossed," Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko said to Newsday. <br />Hazel N. Dukes, president of the state NAACP conference, stated that the county should pull advertising from any publication that runs the photo.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/05/05/obama-family-shown-as-sanford-and-son-in-newspaper-picture/">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-12731736040318972102010-05-05T21:00:00.001-07:002010-05-05T21:00:36.501-07:00Obama Family Portrayed as Sanford and Son in Newspaper<p><a href="http://yourblackpolitics.blogspot.com"><img height="272" alt="" hspace="4" src="http://www.blogcdn.com/www.bvblackspin.com/media/2010/05/business-news.jpg" width="387" vspace="4" border="1" /></a></p> <p>by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University</p> <p><strong>Phillip Sciarello</strong>, a publisher and part owner of the <strong>Smithtown Messenger</strong> in Long Island, is defending his newspaper after a <a href="http://www.wpix.com/news/local/wpix-president-pictures-controversy,0,5160702.story">picture appeared that some believe to be a racist stereotype of the first family</a>. The picture depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as characters from <strong>"Sanford and Son." </strong>The public backlash has led the paper to announce that it will issue a retraction in its next edition. <br />The picture is part of a "before and after" sequence of the last six presidents, showing how much they age once they get into the White House. The "after" photo of the Obamas show Barack Obama as Fred Sanford (Redd Foxx) and Michelle Obama as Aunt Esther (LaWanda Page). The characters are standing ready to fight, as was typical on the 1970s television show.The pictures led the Brookhaven town board to remove one of the company's sister publications, the Brookhaven Review, as an official newspaper. This means that the paper will no longer publish town government notices. <br />"The reference to racial stereotypes is where the line was crossed," Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko said to Newsday. <br />Hazel N. Dukes, president of the state NAACP conference, stated that the county should pull advertising from any publication that runs the photo.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.bvblackspin.com/2010/05/05/obama-family-shown-as-sanford-and-son-in-newspaper-picture/">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-80279555099526028482010-05-03T06:14:00.001-07:002010-05-03T06:14:07.435-07:00Athletes Get Nothing from NCAA's New $11 Billion Dollar Contract<p><a href="http://drboycewatkins.com/payingcollegeathletes"><img height="237" src="http://i.usatoday.net/sports/_photos/2010/04/22/finalfour2x-large.jpg" width="341" /></a></p> <p>The <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Sports+Leagues/NCAA/National+Collegiate+Athletic+Association">NCAA</a> men's basketball tournament is expanding, starting next season, but not on the large scale once expected.</p> <p>The sport's signature event will grow to 68 teams from 65 in conjunction with a new 14-year, nearly $11 billion television agreement with CBS and Turner Sports announced Thursday. That gives the NCAA a 41% hike in annual media and marketing rights connected to the tournament — and "financial stability through the first quarter of this century," interim President Jim Isch said — without the controversy of a more dramatic move to a 96-team bracket.</p> <p>Negotiations with CBS/Turner, <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Publishers,+Media,+Music/ESPN">ESPN</a> and Fox Sports initially had targeted a 96-team field, drawing concern and criticism from traditionalists and others over the impact on the tournament's aesthetics, effect on college basketball's regular season and conference tournaments and potential for further intrusion on players' time and studies.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2010-04-22-ncaa-tournament-cbs-turner-agreement_N.htm">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-73243313942496869932010-05-03T06:08:00.001-07:002010-05-03T06:08:04.703-07:00Athletes Get Nothing from NCAA's New $11 Billion Dollar Contract<p><a href="http://drboycewatkins.com/payingcollegeathletes"><img height="237" src="http://i.usatoday.net/sports/_photos/2010/04/22/finalfour2x-large.jpg" width="341" /></a></p> <p>The <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Sports+Leagues/NCAA/National+Collegiate+Athletic+Association">NCAA</a> men's basketball tournament is expanding, starting next season, but not on the large scale once expected.</p> <p>The sport's signature event will grow to 68 teams from 65 in conjunction with a new 14-year, nearly $11 billion television agreement with CBS and Turner Sports announced Thursday. That gives the NCAA a 41% hike in annual media and marketing rights connected to the tournament — and "financial stability through the first quarter of this century," interim President Jim Isch said — without the controversy of a more dramatic move to a 96-team bracket.</p> <p>Negotiations with CBS/Turner, <a href="http://content.usatoday.com/topics/topic/Organizations/Companies/Publishers,+Media,+Music/ESPN">ESPN</a> and Fox Sports initially had targeted a 96-team field, drawing concern and criticism from traditionalists and others over the impact on the tournament's aesthetics, effect on college basketball's regular season and conference tournaments and potential for further intrusion on players' time and studies.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.usatoday.com/sports/college/mensbasketball/2010-04-22-ncaa-tournament-cbs-turner-agreement_N.htm">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-48420987881170390782010-04-23T18:20:00.001-07:002010-04-23T18:20:54.664-07:00Henry Louis Gates Gives Weak Slavery Argument in the New York Times<p><a href="http://yourblackworld.com"><img alt="Henry Louis Gates gets slavery's history all wrong" src="http://www.thegrio.com/assets_c/2010/04/henry-louis-gates-gets-slaverys-histroy-all-wrong-thumb-400xauto-8827.jpg" /></a></p> <p>by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World</p> <p><strong>Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr</strong>. recently wrote an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/opinion/23gates.html?hp">interesting piece</a> for the <em>New York Times</em> called, "Ending the Slavery Blame Game." In the piece, Gates effectively argues that the fight for reparations is convoluted and somewhat mitigated by the fact that African elites participated in the slave trade. While describing complex business deals made between some African leadership and the Europeans who brought Africans to the New World, it almost appears as though Gates is saying that this disturbing relationship somehow undermines the right of African-Americans to hold our government accountable for its involvement in crimes committed against our people.</p> <p>At very least, I am under the assumption that by "ending the slavery blame game," Gates is arguing that we should stop blaming the United States government and white America for the rape, murder, castration, lynching and beating of our ancestors.</p> <p>Sorry Dr. Gates, but I must respectfully (or perhaps not so respectfully) disagree. If a young girl is sold into prostitution by her own parents, the pimp must still pay for the suffering he caused the young woman. He can't simply say, "Her parents made a deal with me, so you should stop the blame game."</p> <p>In other words, the United States, as a broad and powerful industrial entity, benefited from slavery to the tune of several trillion dollars. Much of this wealth was passed down from one white man to another, and was always out of the grasp of the black men, women and children who gave their lives on American soil in order to earn it. As a result, the median net worth of the African-American family is roughly one-tenth that of white American families and we have consistently higher unemployment due to our inability to create jobs, since white Americans own most businesses. These facts hold true without regard to how the African-American holocaust started in the first place. They also hold true because wealth and power are commodities that are passed down inter-generationally, and we missed out on all of this because we were slaves. What occurred after we left Africa can and must be considered independently from what happened while our forefathers were in the mother land.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.thegrio.com/opinion/henry-louis-gates-gets-slaverys-history-all-wrong.php">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-59166323523137348652010-04-23T18:19:00.001-07:002010-04-23T18:19:42.957-07:00Henry Louis Gates Gives Weak Slavery Argument in the New York Times<p><a href="http://yourblackworld.com"><img alt="Henry Louis Gates gets slavery's history all wrong" src="http://www.thegrio.com/assets_c/2010/04/henry-louis-gates-gets-slaverys-histroy-all-wrong-thumb-400xauto-8827.jpg" /></a></p> <p>by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World</p> <p><strong>Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr</strong>. recently wrote an <a href="http://www.nytimes.com/2010/04/23/opinion/23gates.html?hp">interesting piece</a> for the <em>New York Times</em> called, "Ending the Slavery Blame Game." In the piece, Gates effectively argues that the fight for reparations is convoluted and somewhat mitigated by the fact that African elites participated in the slave trade. While describing complex business deals made between some African leadership and the Europeans who brought Africans to the New World, it almost appears as though Gates is saying that this disturbing relationship somehow undermines the right of African-Americans to hold our government accountable for its involvement in crimes committed against our people.</p> <p>At very least, I am under the assumption that by "ending the slavery blame game," Gates is arguing that we should stop blaming the United States government and white America for the rape, murder, castration, lynching and beating of our ancestors.</p> <p>Sorry Dr. Gates, but I must respectfully (or perhaps not so respectfully) disagree. If a young girl is sold into prostitution by her own parents, the pimp must still pay for the suffering he caused the young woman. He can't simply say, "Her parents made a deal with me, so you should stop the blame game."</p> <p>In other words, the United States, as a broad and powerful industrial entity, benefited from slavery to the tune of several trillion dollars. Much of this wealth was passed down from one white man to another, and was always out of the grasp of the black men, women and children who gave their lives on American soil in order to earn it. As a result, the median net worth of the African-American family is roughly one-tenth that of white American families and we have consistently higher unemployment due to our inability to create jobs, since white Americans own most businesses. These facts hold true without regard to how the African-American holocaust started in the first place. They also hold true because wealth and power are commodities that are passed down inter-generationally, and we missed out on all of this because we were slaves. What occurred after we left Africa can and must be considered independently from what happened while our forefathers were in the mother land.</p> <p> </p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.thegrio.com/opinion/henry-louis-gates-gets-slaverys-history-all-wrong.php">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-3941865896686044420.post-20111027156793374832010-04-18T21:10:00.001-07:002010-04-18T21:10:54.363-07:00Dr. Boyce and Lola Adesioye - What is the Black Agenda?<p><a href="http://yourblackpolitics.blogspot.com" target="_blank"><img src="http://frankpaulgambino.files.wordpress.com/2009/08/rev-al-sharpton2.jpg" /></a></p> <p>by Lola Adesioye, Huffington Post - <a href="http://www.LolaCreative.com">www.LolaCreative.com</a> </p> <p>Should there be a <a href="http://blip.tv/file/3502484">"black agenda"</a> in America? And if the answer to that question is 'yes,' what is the black agenda?</p> <p>These are the questions that black leaders and black people have been discussing more and more since <strong>President Obama</strong> took office. Last week, <strong>Reverend Al Sharpton</strong> 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 <strong>Tavis Smiley</strong> and<strong> Rev Sharpton</strong> had a few weeks ago about this topic.</p> <p>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.</p> <p>With a 16.5% <a href=" http://newsone.com/nation/boycewatkins/dr-boyce-obama-needs-to-fix-the-black-jobs-situation">unemployment</a> 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.</p> <p> </p> <p><a href="http://www.huffingtonpost.com/lola-adesioye/should-black-leaders-deba_b_542169.html" target="_blank">Click to read</a></p><div class="wlWriterHeaderFooter" style="margin:0px; padding:0px 0px 0px 0px;"><br /><br /><script type="text/javascript"><br /></script><br /><script type="text/javascript" src="http://tweetmeme.com/i/scripts/button.js"></script></div> Black Scholars Consortiumhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03172060994969422125noreply@blogger.com0