I don't know why, but yesterday I was thinking about "old school thought".
So, here's what it means to me:
Updates below:
To show what I mean, here are some examples of sayings I grew up hearing:
Wynton Marsalis writes about New Orleans in this week's New Republic. His ideas about sustained intensity resound with me. If I could only leave my kids with one skill? One trait? It'd be that of sustained intensity.
As an aside, one of the worst aspects of the blog as a form is that in most cases it detracts from sustained intensity.
But that's another discussion.
In pt. 1, I deconstructured Cosby's comments. It should be clear, if it wasn't before, that Cosby's comments reveal a significant degree of disdain for black poor citizens. In pt. 2, I talked about the distinction between enslaved Africans, and black slaves. A simple way to think about it is grammatically as far as adjectives and nouns. In the one case the adjective is "African" in the other case the noun is "slave".
Steve's response can be found here. In my short comments to his post, I noted that by not asking how whites were damaged by slavery we fall into the fakelore of white supremacy. In his response, and his first Bennett Cosby quote, Steve argues that one way to see negative conditioning is by looking at the way blacks took to white standards of beauty, preferred straight hair to kinked (or "natural") hair, left black communities, and took being smart to mean "acting white."
A lot to cover here.
Albert Murray and Ralph Ellison two of the deans of black literature write about the "fakelore of white supremacy." It refers to the degree to which blacks and whites buy into white supremacy, by arguing that blacks were psychologically and culturally damaged by the enslavement.
The entire "blacks have lost their religion, their culture, their god..." argument? Fakelore.
In point of fact, slavery and oppression may well have made black people more human and more American while it has made white people less human and less American... It is the political behavior of black activists, not that of norm-calibrated Americans, that best represents the spirit of such constitutional norm-ideals as freedom, justice, equality, fair representation, and democratic processes....It is the non-conforming Negro, not the median of the white population, who now acts like the true descendent of the Founding Fathers--who cries 'Give me liberty or give me death," and who regards taxation without representation as tyranny. It is the white American who, in the name of law and order, now sanctions measures that are more in keeping with the objectives of a police state than those of an open society.(Murray, pp. 36, 37)
To the degree that America is a democracy, it is a democracy because of the actions of enslaved Africans and their American descendants. But it is these people who are supposedly crippled? Take a look at lynching pictures if you can. What stands out to me are the smiling faces of white boys and girls, of white men and women. Proud. Happy. Gleeful.
Black people were the crippled ones?
Whenever I walk behind a white woman in the night, she clutches her purse...and often crosses the street. Physically I'm fit, but I'm nothing like Steve. I weigh 155 WITH CLOTHES ON, and am 6' tall. Hardly menacing.
But I'm the crippled one?
Check out that Rodney King tape if you get a chance. Police are given the authority by the state to use deadly force. It took what? A few dozen police officers to subdue him.
HE'S the one that's crippled--even though they had guns?
People who have bought into the fakelore of white supremacy--whether they be nationalists, or integrationists, radicals or conservatives--argue that blacks are crippled IN COMPARISON TO THEIR WHITE COUNTERPARTS.
Not politically or economically crippled--an argument I agree with.
Spiritually, culturally, and psychologically crippled.
And buying into the fakelore means buying into such things as: the myth of acting white, white standards of beauty, good hair, and consumption to ape whites. I don't want to get deep into the social science literature because I don't have a lot of space. I'll just say this. The social science literature on acting white? Mostly Bunk.
On consumption patterns? Bunk too. White standards of beauty? Check out rates of black vs. white anorexia. Black female self-esteem rates (very high compared to whites).
I've been blessed with the ability to do this type of research for a living. To study, research, and write about black life. To be an expert on race and politics, and American politics. Through synthesizing the social science literature with my own experience as a product of seventies and eighties Detroit, I've come to pretty much shirk off the fakelore of white supremacy. Ellison and Murray are on point here.
Next? Steve's got some powerful ideas on thought processes at the individual level. But he attaches this to culture, and to large social groups, in a way that ignores politics and economics. I think this is what I'll talk about...and given I've got a book of my own to write, I may finish there depending.
Black Americans have to be the most internally questioning people in the U.S.
The idea that Blacks "speak behind closed doors" is a farce. Things are mentioned on Black talk radio. Things are mentioned in Black print media. The idea about Blacks "speaking behind closed doors" rests on the idea that it's "behind closed doors" because media appointed "Black leaders" aren't QUOTED as saying certain things. Then, critics of the American Black community, white and Black, say that because those "leaders" aren't saying things, it isn't being said.
False.
Then those same critics will say that those "Black leaders" don't speak for all Blacks.
True.
Then those same critics will say that the Black community, in general, is being "lead" by the "Black leaders".
Then those same critics will point out where the "Black leaders" are not sychronized with the general Black community.
Ummm.... Ain't there some contradictions there somewhere?
Based on an intentionlly provacative post from LaShawn Barber, and the comment thread I've become a part of, I've come up with the following questions.
For those who want to label themselves conservatives, and for those who believe that conservatives are "people who think vs. feel", I want you to think about the following questions:
1. It's well known that the membership numbers of the NAACP has been steady since about the 70s. Given that the American Black population has grown, essentially, the NAACP membership has fallen. If the NAACP is a group that "leads thoughts" of Black people in the U.S., how is it that its membership numbers are steady with the average age of NAACP members rising?
2. With question #2 in mind, how is that public Black conservatives only point out the membership troubles of the NAACP, but never publically point out the criticisms of the NAACP by "non-conservative" Blacks?
3. With questions #1 and #2 in mind, why is it when it is reported that Blacks who have been polled favor "conservative" ideas like vouchers or support heterosexual marriage only, none of the conservative critics of said "leaders", try to find out other areas of disagreement?
4. With #3 in mind, do you believe that the images of Blacks, by "news media" is accurate?
5. With #4 in mind, if you do NOT believe the images of Blacks are totally accurate, have you ever wondered why conservatives, of any race, have tried to give a more complete picture of the Black community.
6. To go further, if there is indeed a "silent conservative Black population", why are there no efforts by conservatives to profile the everyday "conservative Black population"?
7. If you believe that "standard" conservative image of Blacks, do you believe that Earl Graves, publisher of Black Enterprise is someone who is castigated or cheered?
Bonus questions:
1. Why is it that the biggest critics of the NAACP, Jesse Jackson, and Al Sharpton, are not white conservatives or Black conservatives, but the general Black population?
2. Why is it that the biggest critics of Blacks in the U.S., are Blacks?
3. If the media distorts the picture of Black conservatives, and the media distorts the picture of progress of American Blacks, why trust the picture of Blacks following "Black leaders"?
Cobb wrote this about his view of the Black Political Spectrum.
I put the following in the comment section.
Thinks a bit...
I think my relation to society is that I am part of a society that has set high goals for itself, but has only historically recently, really started to live the goals that it has set for itself.
There are definitely problems that still abound, but some of those will always be around: crime, poverty, deviency. Society sets the standards and society addresses those that live outside of the standards.
"As Black folk", we are a part of the society as a whole, even though there are many who view us outside of society and still not willing to be a part of society. For "Black folk" in general, that view is garbage. And, IMNSHO, speaks to the ignorance and bias of those who think so, regardless of race.
Thinks...
But racism or other's ignorance ain't our greatest foe, though it is one that can beat down those who aren't prepared. Our own ignorance is greater. But I'm hard pressed to think of something that IS our GREATEST foe.
After writing that, I'll add some more thoughts.
There are those who will say that morality is our greatest issue. I understand that point as well and have some sympathy for it, but if you go strictly by the Bible, most of America is immoral. If you don't believe me, look up the statistics on out of wedlock sexual activity of those under 21 and ask yourself if it moral to have sex outside of marriage.
Education definitely is a problem as well as business creation. The latter is improving, the former has some bright spots and some bleak spots.
Now for the big "DUH" moment: it's not one thing is the combination of all things that provide the biggest challenge.
But African-Americans are Americans, and most Blacks know and understand this. I say to you, question all of those who say otherwise. Question all of those who say Blacks are not part of the mainstream. No matter what they tell you to support their idea, the are shoveling muck.
On Cobbs analysis, it breaks down in my view because it doesn't take into account the role of government. Despite what the critics state, the view of Blacks toward the government is more complex than "depending on the government for everything." Welfare doesn't define Black America, neither does "depending on the government."
Liberal, conservative, progressive, whatever. Trash those labels. Blacks can't afford to be a part of that nonsense.
My daughter working for the summer, seeing her way over the rough spots called college/university life.
The wife feeding "D.S. 2.0" with a look that tells me there's nothing between the 2 of them but pure love.
Standing over a grill, puttin' my foot in salmon steaks, chicken, lamb chops and grilled veggie kabobs.
Love and life baby. That's what it's all about.
Yeah....
Queue up Change and other Luther old school records.
Searchin' searchin'
For so longggg...
Searchin'
Tomorrow, the youngest of the family sees the family matriarch, again.
Love. Right. There.
My wife. My daughter. My son. The family matriarch.
Love. Right. There.
Life is good.
I'm blessed.
So a comment on Cobb has me somewhat torqued. And the comment can't get past a filter, so I'm putting it here and trackin' back.
I think he did answer your question, DarkStar; he simply declines to be constrained to answer it in a manner demanded by you. Because the question includes a presumption he doesn't accept, right?
Wrong, but thanks for playing.
Look at all that I wrote:
Why is that that "Black conservatives" and conservatives in general, in denouncing "Black leadership", never promote the people and organizations like those listed here, as being "Black leaders" or being representative of the Black community or the strengths of the Black community?
Note the bolded part?
I'm not pulling this question out of thin air. It's based on LONG TIME observations as well as taking part in a past "Black conservative email list" where they, THEMSELVES, were asking each other the same thing.
Look, I saw a dang near civil war over the 1st Trent Lott and CofCC association mess on that email list. What blew me away was a list of self proclaimed Black Republicans saying the same things about themselves that Black Democrats say about Black Republicans. When "sellout" was flying between them and when the phrase "Black CON-servative" was used, from a Gingrich staffer no less, I took notice.
So back up. I'm not constraining anyone. And I don't ever expect a straight forward answer from Cobb, based on experience. And that's not a bad thing, that just is what Cobb is.
I don't accept that Blacks are not mainstream. I've traveled outside of the country enough to know that line is garbage.
A separate nation is foolish. A separate agenda is NOT foolish but will never happen because the Black community is not monolithic; radicals, conservatives, liberals, apathetic, all have a place in the mix.
I recognize and say that the civil rights battle has been fought and won and the next needs are economic and moral. You pick the order of importance.
Straight up, the questions about Black politics are annoying on all sides. I'm not being wishy washy or a "stick my finger in the air and see which way the wind blows" or whatever slander some conservatives place on those who proclaim the "moderate" label. BTW, I proclaim no label.
Straight up, it's all b.s. and I call 'em all on it. "Both sides" are equally pessimistic, negative, and degrading of the Black community. Neither show the positives going on. And as a parent who has one on the cusp of standing on her own damn 2 feet, and another just on the breast, I don't have the patience for the garbage being spewed.
When a proclaimed liberal calls a man like Clinton a brotha and gets cheers, and Fox News proclaims a semi-literate, race pimp reverend named Jesse Lee Peterson a "Black leader" while at the same time denouncing the label "Black leader" and the need for such, some Blacks need to stand up and call people on their b.s.
Yeah, I called Jesse Jackson a punk some years ago. And I just called Jesse Peterson a race pimp. What other man of God would say that if a person wants to get saved, they should not go to a Black church? No, he didn't say a particular type of Black church, but any Black church.
Yeah...
I'm pissed.
I'm sleep deprived 'cuz the new baby has "cholic", plus the ish is hitting the fan on the "9-5".
It took WHITE CONSERVATIVES to point to good goings on in urban schools across the country. Something REEKS about that.
Breathe....
Presumptions my fanny...
So you are in the operating room, sitting at the head of your wife, while behind the curtain, two doctors and a medical student are working on doing their thing on your wife's "stomach".
A nurse, with a white towel with red and blue stripes drapped across both outstreached arms, comes to the side and waits. And then all of a sudden, you see a "big head" covered in wavy black hair appear from behind that curtain and placed on the towel. They announce, "There he is!" and rush off to do some things.
Later, while the doctors are still doing their thing behind the curtain, they bring him back, tightly wrapped in towel.
They place the boy in the father's arms, and as he gazes down, he looks over at his wife to introduce the two, and the husband sees the look on his wife's face that says it all: the bond between the mother and son will never be broken. Dad, the love your wife has for you is nothing compared to the love your wife has for her son.
And that thought is a wonderful realization.
"DS, 2.0" -- Thanks George! -- welcome to your life!
I'm your dad. I'm charged by God to guide you through your life.
This is your mom. She's charged by God to guide you through your life.
We will do as God commands, in the best way that we know how.
God first, us second.
I proclaim here and now, that God has great things in store for you. "DS, 2.0", prepare for the time of your life!!!!
Dad, mom, and big sis love you.
"Let's get it started!
Let's get it started in here!"
Wisdom. One definition:
Wisdom comes when you are old enough to have made quite a few mistakes and have learned from those mistakes so that you don't make them again. You know that if you see situation A, last time you reacted by doing B, but you learned that C was better. So next time, situation A comes along and you go for C, instead of B.
Given that the youth aren't joining the NAACP, and the membership is getting older, isn't the NAACP reacting from their learned experiences, hence "wisdom", when the come out against vouchers?
For those who care to look into the history of vouchers, vouchers first came about in reaction to school desegregation rulings. For example, in Virginia, private academies were created and public funding when to white parents to send their children to private schools.
So, when critics, rightly, say that they seem to be stuck in the past, it may be because, collectively, they are reacting to situations that they learned from yester-year.
That's what I find interesting about the "Black liberal" vs. "Black conservative" sham that the Black community -- me included -- has allowed ourselves to be sucked into.
By targeting the "under 40" crowd of Blacks, the focus is being paid to those without the institutional memory to help form a basis for making some decisions. To put it more bluntly, and probably grammatically correctly, the "under 40" crowd is being targeted because of their "ignorance".
That is not an attack this is just an observation.
"It is an unhappy truth that racism is a way of life for the vast majority of white Americans" Martin Luther King, Jr., March 1968
If you aren't familiar with Harold Cruse and his works, and consider yourself a scholar of American life, whether you are a social scientist, or a philosopher, you're on crack. I had the chance to take a class with Cruse as an undergrad, and a number of chances to talk with him while in grad school at the University of Michigan. A few of my boys and I held a conference in his honor several years ago, and Jelani Cobb (no relation to Mike) came out with an edited collection of his best pieces. In fact it was through Jelani that I'd gotten word that Cruse passed in his sleep on Friday. I wish I could've found out sooner. We were in the middle of our annual conference for black political scientists, and it would have been an excellent time to reflect on his legacy. Vision Circle would not be here if it weren't for people like Cruse. He'll be sorely missed.
For the sake of argument, let's accept the premise that the "pro-life side" of the Schiavo mess is a result of "the religous right" being given their due because of their support of the Republican party.
Given that, what does it say about Black politicians who couldn't get Clinton to let the cocaine and crack sentencing disparity to sunset?
What does it say about Black politicians who couldn't get Clinton to pay more attention to the situation in Rwanda?
What does it say about Black politicians who tried, late in Clinton's last term, to address the slavery issue in Sudan and other countries?
What does it say about Black politicians tried but couldn't get Clinton to change the U.S. policy towards Haiti?
What does it say about the CBC?
What does it say about the Democratic party and it's core base?
So, if Republicans are trying to get 20% of the Black vote by going to Black preachers, good for them as long as Blacks get something out of it this time.
Ok. The Fryer meme has been going around and hitting up some of my boys. Bomani emailed me about my thoughts after reading Cobb's take...and I've already weighed in on Prometheus' ideas on him. In as much as the number of black social scientists with blogs is currently at two (Melissa Harris-Lacewell has one but doesn't really claim it as such) I thought I'd weigh in.
Here's the deal. I don't know Fryer personally, but I heard of him around the same time I heard of Steven Levitt. I don't think Levitt's conclusions are all that deep. Those who are in the know have always known that drug dealing doesn't REALLY pay more than McDonalds. If it really did, then the ghettoes wouldn't all look...well, like GHETTOES. Hell, one of the reasons that the drug of choice in urban areas shifted from crack to heroin was because the supply was so great that the profit margins on the product were so slim that fools couldn't really make loot off of it.
So they shifted.
When I hung out with Cobb (and as an aside the moment was just as he captured it. If I didn't have writing deadlines up the wazoo I'd write more. Suffice it to say that it was one of the best times I've ever had in my life.) I said as much. For Levitt this question was interesting enough to ask...whereas for us (that is, black social scientists with access to drug dealers and even some intimate knowledge about dealing) these questions weren't as interesting.
I mentioned this to Prometheus. I know a couple of mid level drug dealers well enough that if I wanted to I could've gotten this information from them. I NEVER THOUGHT ABOUT DOING SO. And I'm decent at what I do. This in and of itself separates Levitt from me. And this in and of itself qualifies him as a talent.
So even though Levitt is simply a riff off of the Dalton Conley story (I don't feel like linking, do a google search if you're so inclined) I admire his chops.
Now where does Fryer come in?
Fryer co-authored the naming paper with Levitt, so that in and of itself identifies him as having skills. The article though doesn't focus on his work half as much as it focuses on the hurdles he overcame on the way to Harvard.
Here's a dirty secret--while there ARE actually a number of second and third generation black PhDs floating around, most of us come from hard knock environments and had to work our asses off to get to where we are. There is a reason why you can count the number of black professors at Washington University on a couple of hands sans some fingers. My best friend in the discipline grew up in Mississippi when it was Mississippi. Segregation isn't an academic concept for him--he was there.
Hard knock stories and a few dimes will still leave you a buck short if you're trying to get from Union Station to Dupont Circle on the Metro. You can't convince me that someone is the next Dubois (a title I do aspire to) based on a hard knock life.
It also isn't clear that Fryer really wants to tackle the hard questions about black behavior. Throw a rock blindly in the prominent black blogging cirlces and you're bound to hit someone who believes that black culture is inferior to white, and that Affirmative Action hurts more than it helps. You want to go against the grain in the most conservative of all social sciences? Tackle white supremacy, jack. So whereas Levitt is asking interesting questions (granted, coming up with non-interesting answers but still...) with innovative datasets, the best that Fryer can come up is a salt narrative???
With with that said, I'm willing to bet that Fryer is as cool as the other side of the pillow as far as a running buddy. He'd probably fit in well with me, Bomani, and at least SOME of our boys. But I'm not going to hold my breath. As far as I'm concerned the best social scientists of my generation are: Claudine Gay, Mark Sawyer, Melissa Harris-Lacewell, Vincent Hutchings [political science], Stephanie Rowley, Rob Sellers [psychology], Dalton Conley, Tyrone Forman, Mary Patillo [sociology]. And Bomani has a much better shot at being a Dubois-style economist (that is, one who publishes in high quality journals AND in public fora) than Fryer does. Now if he just gets that diss finished....
I have just determined that I'm not Black.
It is impossible for me to be Black.
I say this because I keep being told that Blacks follow "Black leaders" like Jesse Jackson, Sr, Al Sharpton, the NAACP, etc, but I keep missing out on them telling me what to think or how to think.
Where are the mind meld sessions being held?
I am missing the sessions. So I cannot be Black.
How can most Blacks not support "gay marriage" but the "Black leadership" support "gay marriage"? How else can most Blacks support school vouchers but the "Black leadership" not support school vouchers?
I guess "most Black people" are missing the mind meld sessions. Does that mean "most Black people" are not Black?
There's a domain name purchased for 2 years.
It's called blackselfhelp.info.
I hope that for at least 2 years, it will house information about Black self help groups across the country.
You can help set it off by submitting information about Black self help groups to submitinfo at the domain name given.
Your help is appreciated.
Other than mental masturbation, what was my trip down memory lane all about?
Let's try multiple viewpoints from the same situation shall we?
In the grade school years, I noted actions taken by my family and teachers to help me in my education. I also noted hurdles faced during that time. I tend to like to point out the "positives" of things but I'm also a realist, so I feel compelled to point out the "challenges" of things.
Critics says that Black students don't take advanced classes in grade school and the numbers back them up. However, you can't take what isn't available.
Is it "liberal" to point out that I faced "acting white" charges, not in general, but only from a few who weren't doing well? Is it "liberal" to point out my "advanced" high school had the challenging classes but the "general" high schools didn't? Is it liberal to point out when Jesse Jackson said something right?
Is it "conservative" to point out the family intervention on my behalf? Is it "conservative" to point out the teacher intervention on my behalf?
In the college years, I noted who went to college, who didn't, and who didn't stay. I pointed out things that happened during my four year stay at the college I attended.
Is it liberal to point out that some people dropped out of college because of money or because of disinterest? Is it liberal to point out, because of this background knowledge, more information than just "drop out rate" is needed to determine if affirmative action is the reason why students drop out?
Is it liberal or conservative to point out what I had to go through just to take regular classes my first semester? Is it liberal or conservative to point out that I was the only Black person to graduate with a computer science degree? Is it liberal or conservative to note that whites and Blacks dropped out?
Is it liberal or conservative to note the differences in fighting "the war on drugs"?
Is it liberal or conservative to point out problems with the Honor System?
Is it liberal or conservative to point out that a school that graduates Black students at about the same rate as white students is targeted by Linda Chavez as being discriminatory to white students?
Is it liberal or conservative to point out that, despite the problems, I got through in "normal" time?
In the running the street years, I pointed out actions by citizens and inaction by the police. Is that conservative or liberal?
Is it liberal or conservative to point out that the general images of welfare don't always match the reality? Is it liberal or conservative to point out that there are Black students who do want to do well in school? Is it liberal or conservative to point out "Black civil rights groups" as well as other groups who helped tutor kids?
In the parent years, is it liberal or conservative to point out actions taken for the benefit of my child? Is it liberal or conservative to point out that as a parent, I tried to do what was best for my child? Is it liberal or conservative to point out that other parents made sacrifices for their children?
Is it liberal or conservative to point out a high performing majority Black high school, sending most of the kids to higher education, still being short on books and getting cuts in funding?
Or, is it just plain silly and stupid to assign a political label to a person because they may argue "one way" on a topic?
I said before and I'll keep saying, Blacks can't afford to get caught up in this "conservative" vs. "liberal" nonsense.
It's crap.
Both sides stink. Both sides are too damned self absorbed.
Again, a pox on both camps.
My kid was born and life did a major flip.
I had a chance to work a few years in Spain and turned it down because I didn't want to miss her growing up. Same for a chance to work in England for 3 years. The same for a chance to lead a team of Indian software programmers, in India, before the software outsourcing really became an issue.
But I'm skipping ahead.
She was born. Within a few days, I set up to have money taken out of my paycheck to purchase U.S. Savings Bonds. From my upbringing, that was the smart thing to do.
Years later, I learned about mutual funds from a co-worker. After doing my homework, I decided to invest money for college into a mutual fund. The company even had a plan that would keep the funds in a small-cap, large-cap blend until I stated and then would start to transfer the money into a money market account.
SWEET!!!!!!!
[ As an aside, later, a family member who I looked up to, mentioned mutual funds in passing. "Mutual funds! Can't beat 'em! Been doing it for awhile now!"
He told me, then! Not before... Anyway...]
I told my friends with children the things I was doing to save money. Hopefully, hey are doing what they can. I know in one case, they didn't. But the parents can be trifling.
When it was time for her to attend school, she went to a private school. After 2 years, she was placed into another private school. She had a well earned reputation for talking too much. But a teacher suggested that she be put on Ritalin and that was enough.
She couldn't handle the class, in general, and she wanted more than just one kid put on that crap.
My daughter stayed in the second school through the 8th grade. During that time, I meet many Black parents, some single, who made sacrifices to send their children there. Some parents had no problem affording the school. One set of parents won private voucher money and was able to send both of their kids to the private school.
Before, they wanted to send both kids to school, but even with the father working 2 jobs, they couldn't afford to send both kids, so instead of making the hard choice, neither kid went to private school.
They did poorly in school and got into a lot of fights. Within 4 weeks at the private school, the daughters grades went up and the behavior improved. By the end of he first quarter, the boys behavior improved and his grades shot up. That's why I support vouchers.
Then came high school. We visited many private high schools, but my daughter wanted to attend a "academic magnet" public school. The school had 90% of its graduates continuing their education. Of the 90%, 95% attended 4 year accredited schools or military academies. This is a school that has a graduation rate of 97.5% for Black students. The attendance rate for Black students is 94%. The dropout rate is 0.9% for Black students.
I let her talk me into it, but I believe it was a mistake. She got a decent education. She took AP and IB courses. She encouraged other students and they encouraged her.
But the first day of school, she told me that I should show up to support the school because they wanted to cut the school budget and give the money to other schools. Why? Because the school performed well on the state assessment tests. She also didn't have an English book her first year because there were not enough books to go around.
The second year, on the first day of school she told me that the students are being asked to bring reams of copy paper to school because the school doesn't have enough. She also didn't have enough English books.
The third year, on the first day of school, again, not enough English books. The class size was increased. Plus there is talk of the school losing more money.
The fourth year, we battled the school board because they wanted the academic magnet schools to retain students who had not performed well in school. When that happened, the students were "sent back" to their zoned school.
We went to the school board meeting where the zone school representatives made speeches saying that the money for kids "sent back" does not come with them, so there is a strain on resources. The representatives of the academic magnet schools said it is unfair to keep failing students in the schools when the zone schools could do a better job educating them and getting them back on the track to graduate.
Then, the students who were "sent back" came up to speak. Wouldn't you know it, each student said they did well in middle school, went to the magnet schools and didn't do well because they didn't do the work required to do well.
My daughter was told that to get a C, you had to do about 2 hours of work a night. To get a B, you had to do about 3 hours of work a night. To get an A, you had to do about 4 hours of work a night.
She graduated with a 91.5 average. But her mother and I had to place our foot up her butt one quarter a year to keep her in line.
The U.S. savings bond money was used to purchase a very nice laptop. She has a partial scholarship at a HBCU. The money saved comes in handy.
She has friends who are in the military because they needed to get out of the city and they had no desire to go to college. She has friends in the military to "get money to go to college." She has friends in 4 year schools. She has friends in junior colleges.
I've asked and she's never been accused of acting white. She has been told that she's boug-hetto. (Bougie and ghetto).
She is still a work in progress.
"Running the street" is what my family calls it when single men are living the single life. It's also what they call it when men are up to no good.
The area where I hung out, we called it "The Way". "The Way" came from "around the way". So, instead of "The Hood", we had "The Way". The group I hung out with was called "The Fellahs". That came about because we were walking up a friend's steps when his mother said, "Here come the fellahs!"
The "inhabitants" later took down the boards and went back in. Some time later, an old woman who lived across the street from that house, was raped by people in that house. The woman hurt no one, was nice to every one, and seemed to have no enemies around The Way.
As word spread, a teenage girl came forward and said she had been raped in that house before.
People around The Way had complained about that house before, but the police and the city did nothing about it until after the rapes. They tore down the house.
They bragged a lot and claimed they were hard core. Then the Jamaicans came and told them that they would sell the dope provided by the Jamaicans, or they would be killed.
They sold the Jamaican dope. So much for being hard.
One of The Fellahs confronted them about it and said that he hoped they all got killed because they destroyed the neighborhood.
The tutors were women from 100 Black Women, men from Concerned Black men, people from the D.C. Urban League, people from the D.C. NAACP, and others.
Another family rented another house. They also received section 8 vouchers. They sat outside on the summer evenings, being very loud and rude. The home owners association put up signs saying sitting outside was not allowed. I lived in a town home community where the town homes shared a common entrance walkway. The chairs tended to be in the common entrance walkway. They got thrown out of the home. The signs came down. They were Black.
People tried to get the home owners association to restrict home owners from accepting section 8 vouchers. The language used by proponents was racially tinged.
Allow me to ramble for a bit.
Now I'm about to enter college.
Some of my friends went into the service, either enlisted or military acadamies. Some went directly into the work force. Most of them had no desire to go to college because, for them, it wasn't a good fit. Some went to college and dropped out because they realized it wasn't there thing. Some dropped out because of funding. In fact, one friend dropped out because it came down to him or his sister going to college, and he decided to give her the shot.
Now...
It's now my 3rd day of my first year in college when I get the list of classes I'm supposed to take. I compare my classes to other engineering students when I see that I'm taking pre-101 level classes. I go to my advisor to find out why I have such an easy load when I find out that because I'm from Baltimore, whose students have not done well historically at the school, I'm in a "transition program." Simply put, I'm in a program to ease my way into the college life.
If I had attended any public school in Maryland, I would have qualified to go in at the sophomore level. If I would have attended RIT or Virginia Tech, I would have qualified to go in at the sophomore level.
And now, this school wants me to go in at a "pre-college" level. My SAT score exceeded the average score by more than 100 points. My senior year of high school was, essentially, a freshman level of college work except for English. In fact, some students in the A course, took an English class on Saturdays for their entire junior year, so that they could graduate a year early!
After discussing things with my advisor, I was told that the only way out was to get the approval of the transition program head. She told me I had to do exceptionally well on a placement test that all transition students had to take.
I was paired with a Black room mate. I was one of the very few Black students who was paired with a Black room mate. It turned out that he was also a transition program student. I told him about the situation and he said I should just go with the program. But I wasn't about to spend an additional year at that school if I didn't have to do so. I was paying for my schooling and I worried about my funds.
He studied hard for the test. I didn't study. We took the test. I finished the test in under 1 hour. I was the first one to finish. The proctor, who was the transition program head, asked me how I did. I told her I got every question right. She laughed and said we'll see. I was wrong. I got a 98 out of 100. I was let out of the program and scrambled through the ADD/DROP process to get a full load.
At the end of my first year of college, I chose to major in computer science, as did many other students. By many, my guess was that it was greater than 30 students, with a fair number being Black students. By the end of the first semester of my second year, about half of the computer science majors switched majors. By the end of the second year, most had switched majors. That means, most white students and most Black students.
I recall one major computer science project in the 2nd semester of my second year. One woman cried because she couldn't get it right. One man kept cursing and banging on the table. Another man just looked, stood up, flicked off the computer terminal, smiled, said he quit, and walked out of the computer lab.
I was an engineer. I was an athlete. I graduated in four years. I was the only Black person to graduate with a computer science degree from the engineering school that year.
My first full weekend at the school, I found out which frats were known for having drug parties. All frats had keg parties so that was no big deal. By the end of the first year, I found out that the police raided the Black "townie" area on a regular basis for drug raids. Meanwhile, one particular white frat was known for marijuana, mushrooms, and speed. But it wasn't raided until the year after I left. It took 4 years, and federal funding, for them to go after college kids. In the end, some college kids did time, one who was well known and later had a pro football career, and a national frat lost a frat house with the frat being kicked off of campus.
There was a house on campus that housed the Black student union. Near that house was a college bus stop. "We" knew it as the BBS -- Black bus stop. One day, someone decided to spray paint "NIGGER" on the sidewalk of the BBS.
The school has an honor code system. Black students were being disproportionately charged with honor code violations and many believed that racism played a part. A Black professor stated that Black students should sit as far apart from each other as possible when taking tests. They should not look at each other during tests or look at someone else's direction during tests. Years later, one student was thrown out of school for an honor code violation. His parents sued the school over lack of due process. They won in court but by the time the case was one, the student had attended another school and graduated. He was vindicated and the school's honor system took a hit.
The school responded by re-evaluating the honor system and how it functions. The student run re-evaluation, one where white students dominated the process, suggested changes which made the system MORE unfair. For example, they suggested that those accused not be given the chance for defense! The school ignored the recommendations, and made other changes.
Close to 10 years after I graduated, I attended a cookout where I met the mother of a student at the school. She told me she was trying to keep her son in the school, even though he didn't like the school. She, like I, am Black. I then listed the reasons why he didn't like the school and she shook her head in agreement. Things had not changed.
Four years ago, I was in the process of selling my previous house. The realtor, who was Black, had a daughter at the same school. In talking, she said that the daughter liked the school, but there were issues that bothered her. I gave the reasons and the realtor said I was correct. It was the same list that I gave previously.
About 5 years after I graduated, the school complained about high schools not properly preparing students for college work. They decided that the high school of students who needed to take remedial courses, would pay the cost of the student's remedial classes. About 2 years later, the school said the cost of remedial classes were too high. They were no longer going to offer the classes. It would be up to junior colleges to fill the gap.
The school graduates Black students at a similar rate as white students. It also has the highest graduation rate of Black students in the country.
Yet, Linda Chavez says that the affirmative action program at the school is unfair because white students, more qualified than the Black students, are not let into the school.
See the mixed bag here?
My mother had a friend who was a grade school teacher. After talking with her friend, my mother and father brought me a blackboard, magnetic letters, and instruction books concerning reading, writing, and simple math. On the first day of school, I was placed into the class of students who were already reading and writing.
This was a private school. My mother was a nurse at a public hospital, my father was a policeman. Gasp! Government workers!
At the start of the second grade, because of a family situation change, I was now in a public school in Baltimore. I was considered "smart", most likely because I was ahead of my peers.
At another school, in the 5th grade, some people said I was "acting white." But I recognized, even as a kid, that the people saying it were the FEW who were not doing well in school, so I ignored it. With very little effort, my grades were fine.
In the 7th grade in junior high school, I was placed into the "fast track" section. It was in the 7th grade that I discovered girls were nice in a different way. ;-) By the 8th grade, I was still in the "fast track," still getting good grades, and still doing so with very little effort.
We played spades at lunch, tried to flurt with the girls, and took life for what it was. One day, I noticed Tank and Billy talking about going to Poly. I owe Tank and Billy a big thank you because they said I was "too stupid" to get into Poly. Well, I got in. We all applied for Poly's "advanced college prep" course. We all got in.
In high school, we were in the "higher section" of the A course 9th grade, which meant we had a high probablity of leaving the A course. I faced a Spanish teacher who, really, just chose me to make an example of. I faced a self-professed redneck pig farmer who threw me out of class for responding "yeah". I faced a counselor who insisted that I wasn't capable of doing the work and should "fall" to the B course, which was the college prep track. Billy and Tank dropped, but I refused.
We were already behind when we entered Poly. Some had already had alegbra and geometry in jr. high. We had "pre-algebra."
To get up to speed, which took 1 1/2 years, my mother enlisted the aid of family members who were engineers. There was also the help of the counselor, who hated the "pig farmer" because he didn't like her son, who was Jewish. There was the help of 2 Black teachers, one in math the other in history. Mrs. Wade, the history teacher, had her son, a Naval Acadamy attendee, tutor me.
I caught up and, in my senior year, was taking advanced calculus, electrical engineering, and thermodynamics.
I took the SAT test. After the test, I noticed some people leaving the test shaking their heads, literally, in dispair. It turned out that I knew some of them from elementary or jr. high school.
One girl who I knew from jr. high was crying. She kept saying she was never taught most of the things on the math test, nor were the words on the verbal portion familiar to her. She was just getting into a harder form of algebra. She was just taking geometry. Meanwhile, I had had algebra and geometry in the 9th grade. I knew she was smart. She just was not educated as well as I was at that point. We had taken the PSAT. Before that, we were given practice PSAT and SAT tests. We. Were. Prepared.
Tank, Billy, and I all attended a major four year college. I don't know what happened to the girl who was crying.
Again, Tank and Billy, THANK YOU. My grades were good in jr. high school. I was in the "fast track". When my mother checked with other parents concerning what their public school children were doing, I was doing well. But Tank and Billy teased me to going to an engineering and science high school. At that time, I had no such desire to go that route. Your teasing made a difference.
During this time, I happened to attend a speech given by Jesse Jackson, Sr. It was during this time when he was famous for his "Keep hope alive!" speeches. During this speech, he told us to stay in school. He told us to do the best that we could do. He told us to study. He told us to stay away from drugs. He told us to not give into crime. He told us to stay away from drug users and dealers. He told us to not be sexually active until we are married. He should have took his own advice on that one. Well, he should have only been with his wife.
Next, the college years.
Many times, the "Black left" presents an image of Black America that is one of poverty and near hopelessness that cannot be overcome unless outside intervention is made.
Many times, the "Black right" presents an image of Black America that is one of poverty, laziness, and mired in self-induced hopelessness. A Black America that is incapable of thinking unless one of the appointed "leaders" tells Black America what to think.
That's what I get from much of the commentary by the elite "Black left" and "Black right" media figures.
"Both sides" are full of it. "Both sides" are negative. Both sides, for the most part, push negativity, in my opinion.
It's my strongly held belief that the "Black left" dwells too much on the plight of Blacks who are not achieving instead of also highlighting those Blacks who are achieving.
It's my strongly held belief that the "Black right" dwells too much on the plight of Blacks who are not achieving, instead of also highlighting those Blacks who are achieving.
The only difference between the two is how they go about their hyper-criticism. And, frankly, it's to the testimate of Black America that Blacks, as a whole, aren't more mind scrambled.
I had the opportunity to be a part of a "Black conservative" email list for a time. There were conflicts among the "Black conservatives" that took me by surprise because at the time because all I read from "Black conservatives" seemed to indicate a "Black conservative unified front."
All "individual thought" but thinking as a unified group. But, that wasn't group think...
But on that email list, I read Black conservatives calling some other Black conservatives "sell out" or "Black CON-servatives".
From that point on, you couldn't tell me nuthin' about the so-called "Black left" vs. "Black right" debate. From that point on, I've been convinced that it's all a bunch of useless nonsense that Blacks shouldn't be taking a part in.
Seeing that debate solidified the idea that I had in my mind at the time: the view of the Black community, be it from the outside or the inside, was too simplistic and all of the noise from the "elite" members kept it that way. And the Black community as a whole should be ashamed because no one is calling "both camps" out on their foolishness.
This is a prologue. I intend to give insight to what I have seen in my now four decades of life. I hope that I'm capable of showing the mixed bag to which life in the Black community is. I'll touch on:
If I do my job well enough, you should be able to see that the "Black left" and the "Black right" media elite are selling a bunch of goods.
P.S.
One last thing, the major driver behind this series is the inability of people to take questioning of ideas (dogma?) without assigning a political label to it.
I challenge global warming support, anti-capitalistism comments, ultra-Black nationalism, the "definition of Blackness", the Black support of Democrats, the Black support of Bill Clinton, etc, and I get called a conservative.
I challenge the dogma that the support of Democrats is not based on Republican action/inaction, the idea of "victimology" in Black America, that Blacks are some how anti-American, that Blacks are sheep of "Black leaders", etc, and I get called a liberal.
Can't a person intellectually embrace both? Seems like many people don't think so.
It's my strongly held belief that the "Black left" dwells too much on the plight of Blacks who are not achieving instead of also highlighting those Blacks who are achieving.
It's my strongly held belief that the "Black right" dwells too much on the plight of Blacks who are not achieving, instead of also highlighting those Blacks who are achieving.
The only difference between the two is how they go about their hyper-critism. And, frankly, it's to the testamate of Black America that Blacks, as a whole, aren't more mind scrambled.
Please take the time to see the request I sent to the NAACP and the request I sent to Project 21.
So, besides the mental masturbation, what is this entry about? Read the title.
I'm requesting that you send to me any information about Black self help organizations that you know about.
I'm buying a domain that will be used to house this information.
Your help is appreciated.
A: The same folk afraid of uplifting interpersonal communion.
I've been struggling for the past several days with the problem of collapsing a huge number of (to me) interwoven threads on identity and authenticity. This morning, I chanced upon a critique of Stanley Crouch's "The Artificial White Man - Essay's on Authenticity" and the orchestrated objective reduction of these disparate threads finally jelled.
In my opinion, what Crouch and other deeply frustrated old school black public personae have been struggling to say about the tectonic shift in Black identity and nationalism in America - has been paralleled for centuries in the schism separating the authentic Church from the western catholic, protestant, and evangelical sickness.
Looking at the critique of kwanzaa and the threat of an apologetic for the so-called Christian Christmas as it is desecrated in America, only increased my sense of urgency for driving out the common theme which ties these disparate quests for authenticity together.
I believe the itch that the frustrated old-schoolers cannot scratch is rooted in nostalgia for a lost sense of interpersonal communion which formerly characterized segregated black communities. THAT is the secret *vitality* which formerly endowed black communities with a specialness which produced a distinctively black sensibility and aesthetic. It was also, I believe, a byproduct of the heroic collective interpersonal defence black folks maintained in the face of enforced and overt racist oppression. I'd go so far as to say that socio-economic necessity fused blacks in America into a therapeutic bond of interpersonal communion that has its closest socio-historic parallel in the orthodox Christian Church as an intentional therapeutic bond of interpersonal communion.
To get past the surface of identity and authenticity issues, it's fundamental to understand that racism is far more than simple ideological difference. In practice, it is a neurobiological weapon of mass destruction used by one human collective to sicken and parasitize another. Organization to defend oneself against racism is a biological imperative.
It is not my intention to argue the merits of one brand of Christian writing and preaching over another. Those arguments need not be recreated here, as they've been conclusively engaged on numerous scholarly fora. Not only that, but I believe that any such doctrinal argument here would be the equivalent of enacting the type of politicomedic theatre that Jon Stewart so aptly lampooned on Crossfire, IOW - the rhetorical posturings of public personae would quickly overshadow the possibility of serious and substantive exegetical engagement.
Any genuinely interested student of Christianity can easily explore the [hidden in plain sight] history and substance of Orthodox Christianity to their heart's content beginning at orthodoxinfo.com and make their very own determination of the respective doctrinal merits for themselves. No point misdirecting, anathematizing, or punditizing around doctrines that can be readily compared without the distraction of personal advocacy.
The other overarching influence for this collapse - is Earl Dunovant's piquant serialized essay on The Care and Feeding of White Folks. While I don't know whether Earl is familiar with the fiery writings of Fr. John Romanides who calls western Christianity a neurobiological sickness;
"The sickness of religion is caused by a short-circuit between the heart and the brain. This is what causes fantasies which distort the imagination and in varying degrees cuts one off from reality. The cure of this short-circuit has three stages which will occupy us in some detail later. They are: 1) the purification of the heart, 2) the illumination of the heart, which repairs this short-circuit which produces fantasies, of which both religion and criminality are by products, and 3) glorification, which makes one uncreated by grace and by which one sees the uncreated ruling power of God which is a simple energy which divides itself without division and saturates all of creation being everywhere present, though not by nature, and ruling all of creation. The Bible calls this the "glory" and "rule" of God and those who reach glorification "prophets" and "sent ones (apostles)."
Romanides and Dunovant share many themes in common.
My strong assertion is that the niggerati and negrotarian objective during the Harlem Renaissance was to ignite a separate, secular, and aesthetic mode of interpersonal communion using cultural production as the framework for glueing it all together. I would not be the first to make such a claim, Jon Woodson made a similar claim in his book To Make a New Race Gurdjieff, Toomer, and the Harlem Renaissance - and while his claims are on the right track, had he gone to the Orthodox root of Gurdjieff's teaching, he might have seen the deeper taproots undergirding the complete enterprise.
As time permits, I'll attempt to explore that in much greater detail over at niggerati.net.
This letter that appeared on Black Electorate.COM, to me hits it almost squarely on the head.
This is just a SMALL section of the open letter that really resonated with me.
The immediate challenge for the Black conservative is to find a way to make their ideology and partisan relationship serve the Black community at least as much as it serves the White Conservative establishment and the bank account of a relatively small group of opinion leaders who have commercialized their expression of conservative thought in a growing communications niche and business model. The Black conservative, if sincere, in my view, must do so in a way that does not misrepresent the Black community to those outside of it.The Black conservative opinion leader has to balance the power and influence they have, largely derived from a platform provided them by Whites, with finding a way to engage the Black community in a meaningful dialogue that results in positive change on the ground. Many Black conservatives fall into the trap of painting an unrealistic picture of the community overstating the influence that political liberalism has on Blacks and exaggerating the potential that political conservatism has to "save" the Black community. It appears, too often to me, that Black opinion leaders on the right revel too much in the one-variable approach of explaining to overwhelmingly White audiences what is wrong with the Black community rather than building bridges or expanding their influence within Black America. This does not mean that the truth should not be told. It should. But I think, in a way that establishes it, not just in the minds of White listeners and readers, but within the community around which the discussion revolves - Black America. I have often found it peculiar that many Black conservative writers and talk show hosts seem to believe that they are changing Black America by almost exclusively communicating in media outlets majority controlled and read by White Americans.
And this one...
To me it is simple, a Black conservative should care more passionately about what is going on in the Black community than what is happening at the Heritage Foundation, Republican Party, CATO Institute, or Conservative talk-radio. And they should be mindful that they do not further the Black inferiority-White supremacy complex in how they personally relate to their non-Black peers, when the subject is money and intellectual ideas.
This isn't a 100% agreement on my part, but I get where Cedric Muhammad is coming from.
Big hat tip to Angela Winters.
To continue on Cobb's piece.
Cobb writes:
Black Conservatives don't play the 'Positive Black Images Game'.
I disagree with this one.
I can point to the examples of Black conservatives speaking out against the negative imagery of Black life put forth by rappers. If "Black conservatives" don't play the "positive Black images game," then why worry about the negative images put forth by rappers.
Woodson resigned from AEI over Dinesh D'Souza's, End of Racism. In a response to a press release, the president of AEI responded:
Loury and Woodson not only called the book racist but made the charge the headline of their press release (“Black Conservatives Resign From American Enterprise Institute in Response to ‘Racist’ Book by AEI Resident Scholar Dinesh D’Souza”). Mr. Woodson has several times, and with great relish, called Mr. D’Souza “the Mark Fuhrman of public policy.”
It seems the imagery in the book disturbed Woodson.
But that's on the macro level of Blacks as a whole. After re-reading the piece, and re-reading what I wrote, maybe I addressed what was written at too high of a level.
Maybe I need to go lower.
One day I saw Woodson on Tony Brown's Journal. On the show, along with other things, he addressed the view of many Black conservatives by the Black community. If I remember correctly, he said the negative imagery bothered him some. He then went on to attack "Black leaders". But, if I remember correctly, he did say that some of it is self inflicted. If Woodson is comfortable within himself, as Cobb wrote, then why say he was bothered and then why go on the attack against "Black leaders"?
There are many other "Black conservatives" who attack the negative imagery that they are tarred with. So, I can't agree that "Black conservatives" don't play the "Positive Black Images Game". They are trying to improve their image. They are trying to be seen as positives, not negatives. That's playing the "Positive Black Images Game."
But, then if the comment was intended to say that Black conservatives don't feel the need to point out positive Blacks because of "individualism" issues, then, again, I disagree. For example, Condi Rice and Clarence Thomas are regularly written about as being positive models for Blacks to follow.
The battles are fairly shallow and interminable. They go on and on about the same idiot things. It's a trap that liberals never seem to tire of baiting. Black Republicans take a measure of false pride in their embattled status and do a good deal of sniping back.
I agree that the battles are fairly shallow. I really don't like it, though I engage in it. But many comments being made, initially, from "Black conservatives" are simple minded. That's not to say that many comments initiated from "Black liberals" are not simple minded, because they are simple minded.
At this point, I want to say something about what was quoted. Black Republicans take a measure of false pride in their embattled status.
I'm sorry, I don't see why that is not "victimology" as expoused by "Black conservatives".
And there I go, on a tangent about the shallow "victimology" label thrown around.]
It's late, this is getting long. I've re-written it a number of times and still the thoughts flow. Let me finish this edition. These last paragraphs are intended for "Black conservatives" in general and not Cobb in particular.
If "Black conservatives" are about the business that is claimed, then doing the work that needs to be done will change the image. If there is seriousness in the drive to do it, then why not hook up with people who have the benefit of a doubt? Hence, why I bring up Earl Graves, Sr.
Read the man's bio. Then read about The Black Wealth Initiative. Then read a few issues of Black Enterprise.
There is a real need to get more Black businesses going. Would it be hard for "Black conservatives" to coordinate some activities with Earl Graves, Sr. and/or Black Enterprise to get some real work done?
Or is it really about the "Black conservative" image, just not within the Black community?
It's late.
Gotta digest this one by Cobb.
( Baldilocks tracks back to it, so I do the same for her)
I have much to do outside of cyberspace.
Much respect to Cobb. Much respect. I'm not feelin' it though.
You see, "Black conservatives" as well as "white conservatives" say that instead of looking up to Jesse Jackson, et. al., other role models should be followed: Larry Elder, Thomas Sowell, Clarence Thomas, etc.
Actually, I'd rather, and do, look up to my mother, my aunts, my cousins, and a few of my friends. I take bits and pieces and build on their strengths. Anyway...
If I'm told to look at American Express CEO Kenneth Chenault as an example, why should I not include Earl Graves, Sr.? Both, to me, are impressive people.
If you take a good look, Graves is in more control of things than is Ken Chenault. Or, at least that's how I look at it. Both control companies, but Graves owns his. Chenault, is "just" the steward. You feel me? It's not a slam, though.
Right is right. Wrong is wrong.
If you point out when people do wrong and then take the time to point out when people do "right" when they agree with you on a certain topic, then be consistent in pointing out when they do right, in general. So, hence my points about Mfume.
And let's be real. What I do, in part, is in no way different from many of the columns that Larry Elder does, when he points out the inconsistancies of "Black leaders" and/or the "left".
I've spent the past 18 years trying to build up the self-image, self-reliance, drive, and confidence of my daughter. I just spent the last 20 minutes trying to pump her up over a rough patch of her first semester in college. It's cool, and rewarding to me, that she's exploring ways to help herself out after getting a little down.
Yeah. We get knocked down. But we g.t.f. up and battle again.
Yeah, let me brag a little more...
She was in the 10th grade, encouraging others in her class to do well. She was in the 11th grade, doing the same, even for the 12th graders. She was in the 12 grade, still encouraging others in her class, and below, to do their best.
EVEN THOSE IN COLLEGE WHO SHE KEPT IN TOUCH.
It's about self image.
And I don't do it out of some liberal self-image blather, I do it because of what I've seen growing up and learning that the people who pumped me up, helped me when people, of all races, tried to knock me down.
<Flashback>
Self image.
I quickly noticed in the 5th and 6th grades, that those who slammed me for trying to do well in school, were those who weren't doing well. They had more issues with themselves than with me. They didn't view themselves as being "good enough."
That's how I looked at it then. I ignored them. In Jr. High, I was put into the "fast track". Everyone in that class tried to do our best. Meanwhile, others in the "regular track" tried to get into our track.
I attended a college prep high school. I was in the "advanced college prep" track, the "A Course". I had friends in the "college prep" track, the "B Course".
The teachers pumped both tracks up.
"Those of you in the A Course will be the leaders of industry, thought, and innovation." Meanwhile the same teachers were telling the B Course, "Look. Most of the A Course are way over their heads. They will get low grades and get into lower level schools. On the other hand, you will get the good grades, get into the top schools, and are still well prepared. You will be the bosses of the A course!"
There was also a vocational-technical track, the "T Course."
I witnessed as teachers said that they just want them to finish high school, with a trade, because that's all they can do. I witnessed as some of them appeared to settle for the lower ring instead of going for the ring hanging off of the stars.
You can't tell me that low expectations had nothing to do with that! And if anyone says I'm biting G. W. Bush, Imma pimp smack you to the womb because "Black leaders" and Blacks of all stripes have been complaining about low expectations for years. Anyway...
Self image.
I tutored in D.C. for a bit. I tutored one on one for kids I knew. It disturbed and continues to disturb me that kids place limitations on themselves because people around them put limitations on them.
"You from the hood and gonna stay here in the hood. That's just how it be."
Bull.
</Flashback>
So, here we have "Black conservatives" who are saying they are positive about Blacks. They are saying that all Blacks can achieve if they follow the basic rules and don't let racism get them down. (I've heard that from "Black liberals" too, but never mind that for now).
But yet some of the more damning self-images of Blacks comes from "Black conservatives" themselves!
I've listened to Jesse Lee Peterson's 'net show. I had to stop because it raised my pressure and at the same time, left me wanting to shoot myself just because I'm Black!
I've listened to Ken Hamblin. Lawd... That's a Black man who said it's right for companies to ignore Black media, no matter what the demographics, because Blacks are undesirable clientile. OK, tell that to the cruise line Tom Joyner uses for his cruise. Tell that to the travel agencies and island businesses that made bucoup money off of Sinbad's old school parties. Or tell that to New Orleans who makes money, during the summer(!), off of the Essence Festival!
I mean, for goodness sake! How can Black conservatives, on one hand, point to the growth of the Black middle class, then on the other hand, say that Blacks aren't achieving?
Or that most Blacks are lock step behind "Black leaders" all of the time, yet it's also pointed out that Blacks diverge from "Black leaders" when it comes to vouchers or homosexual marriage?
And somehow what's being said from "the right" is better than those on "the left" giving the image of all Blacks being poor and down?
For the likes of me, I can't see how!
Really.
From Cobb:
But I believe that even when we say what we are all about and try to exemplify, we're never going to win the images battle. Nevertheless, we have the reality of individuality and truth on our side. That's good enough for me.
I'm in this for the image battle. I have a young relative that I have to help look out for. I have kids of friends and godchildren I have to help look out for.
If the image is rotten and coming from "Black liberals" or if the image is rotten and coming from "Black conservative" or if the image is rotten and coming from whites, or if the image is rotten and coming from rappers, ... I'm going to do my best to fight it with facts and positive imagery.
That's behind my "jabs in the ribs" of Cobb and others.
Cobb, in a previous incarnation, you called me a vanguard of Blacks of sorts. Well, I guess it can fit.
Damn.
I gotta go to sleep.
More later.....
I'm not done.
Nope.
Not. One. Bit.
Done with respect.
Let me say from the start, I don't agree with saying someone who is Black, isn't "really Black" for some silly reason or another. That really makes no sense to me. But it also is asinine to say Blacks are prone to "group think." The fact is, if you take any amount of time to provide some thought to the idea, you realize "group think" is the standard of every society that is not in anarchy.
Think about the phrase "community standards". The people within the community, in some way, work to maintain the standard. When people step outside of those standards, the community works in some way to bring them back in, denounce them, or shun them. That's what the "not Black" charge is about.
When people use "group think" and apply it towards the Black community ( is it ever not applied to the Black community? ), it is always given a negative context. Then any "debate" from that point on is defending against "the negative" which is always harder.
Let's flip things just a little bit.
When J.C. Watts refused to back the anti-affirmative action package being developed in The House of Representatives, Wes Pruden, an editor at The Washington Times, wrote a column which stated, literally, that J.C. Watts knows why the Republicans need him to head the effort. Thus, he should get in line. When Watts refused to "get in line," Ken Hamblin used a segment of his radio talk show to denounce J.C. Watts.
As a side note: Did anyone else notice that for a short time, there were references to J.C. Watts being a pastor?
Then there is the saga concerning friends Shelby Steele and Glenn Loury. Those two, along with others, formed the now defunct Center for New Black Leadership. But guess what happened when there was a disagreement over Prop. 209:
http://phuakl.tripod.com/eTHOUGHT/Loury.html
A few days later, Steele phoned him. ''Where do you stand on race?'' Loury says Steele asked him. ''It's as if you're a racial loyalist here. I thought we all agreed.''''No, Shelby and I didn't agree,'' Loury says now. ''I was always aware that, whatever I thought about race, I'm still black. Shelby's position. . . . '' Loury starts to laugh. ''I was about to say, Shelby's position was that we had to completely transcend race, though I can imagine saying those words, too. But my heart wasn't in them, whereas he really meant it. How could it have been otherwise? His mother was a white woman. His wife is a white woman. When he looked at his own children's racial identity and wondered about an oppressive world that would say to those children, 'Choose sides' -- a dilemma I'd never faced -- Shelby's angle of vision was really quite different from my own. So in all honesty, it was I who betrayed him, not he who betrayed me.'' The two men have not spoken since that conversation.
What about the recent events of the current political season? Alan Keyes has mentioned his support for reparations for Blacks. After that, there was a mini-firestorm of opposition to Keyes for supporting such an idea.
"How dare he support reparations! He's gone off of the deep end!"
And then there is Clarence Thomas, who is known to surround himself with people who are similar in views to his.
Does it matter that the examples I used all involved Black people? Does it matter that the examples I used all involved "conservative Black" people?
I say it doesn't.
Let's be real!
The whining about "group think" isn't that people are thinking similarly, it's really about people thinking AGAINST what you are thinking and you don't like it.
The "group think" charge nothing more than a means of harassing people into thinking along your line of thinking, or at least not vocalizing opposition to your line of thinking.
And isn't that the complaint about "group think"?
I'll post more about this in a broader context. For now, I have real life concerns to take care of.
This appeared in The Washington Post. It's a story about a Black farmer who is part of the FDA discrimination case.
This story has a lot woven into it. It's a good read.
It has what, I think, most Blacks know about and do every day: persevere. Here's a man, facing some serious odds and family troubles, but still he keeps going.
At first, I thought he just over extended himself. And, in fact, he did. But he kept on going. His drive is what is familiar to me.
Some may say, "This is an example of not letting discrimination stand in your way." To that I say, most Blacks do that and by saying what you did, you demonstrate how LITTLE you think of Blacks, in general.
For a second I thought that Africana.com had added Crouch to its stable. Talk about old school. But this interview with Crouch about the paperback version of his novel. I haven't picked up the novel yet, so I don't know if he hit it...but at least he's aiming for it. And talking about his aim too. As I start writing my first academic book TODAY, this is helpful.
Subtitle: Checkin' a Fool IV...
Ehrlich stated that Blacks expecting Blacks to vote a certain way is racist.
Let's look at Ehrlich's and Steele's support for Maryland's MBE program. They revamped the program to get more participation of minority business in Maryland government contracts. Before they were in office, minority businesses received 1 or 2% of Maryland government contracts. They have set a goal of 20%, and the numbers of Blacks getting Maryland government contracts has already risen.
Wait....
MBE stands for Minority Business Enterprise.
Oh....
Wait...
A GOAL of 20%?
Don't your GOP peers call that quotas? Don't your GOP peers say that by supporting "quotas," you are "telling Blacks that they are not capable of meeting normal standards"?
Wait.... Don't you