Rapper Tries to Back Pedal off Comments about Black Women

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices

Many of you may already know about the "interesting" comments made by the rapperSlim Thug, and his frustration about the lack of loyalty among black women. His comments were met with resistance by myself and Dr. Marc Lamont Hill 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 Talib Kweli, a fellow hip hop artist, had something to say about Slim Thug's remarks.

On his twitter page, Slim Thug went out of his way to try to protect his image in the face of all the backlash:

Click to read

Black Scholars Kept From Getting Jobs at White Universities

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Dr. M. Cookie Newsom

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 (we talked yesterday about how being angry can get a black person into serious trouble). Dr. Newsom, however, has good reason to be angry. In a recent interview with Diverse issues in Higher Education, 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.
"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."

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.

Click to read more.

Julianne Malveaux on the Jobless Recovery

by Dr Julianne Malveaux

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.

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?

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!

Click to read.

Dr. Julianne Malveaux: Obama Disappoints Black Women with the Kagan Nomination

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?
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.

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.

 

Click to read

Obama Family Portrayed as Sanford and Son in Newspaper

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Phillip Sciarello, a publisher and part owner of the Smithtown Messenger in Long Island, is defending his newspaper after a picture appeared that some believe to be a racist stereotype of the first family. The picture depicts Barack and Michelle Obama as characters from "Sanford and Son." The public backlash has led the paper to announce that it will issue a retraction in its next edition.
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.
"The reference to racial stereotypes is where the line was crossed," Brookhaven Supervisor Mark Lesko said to Newsday.
Hazel N. Dukes, president of the state NAACP conference, stated that the county should pull advertising from any publication that runs the photo.

 

Click to read

Athletes Get Nothing from NCAA's New $11 Billion Dollar Contract

The NCAA men's basketball tournament is expanding, starting next season, but not on the large scale once expected.

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.

Negotiations with CBS/Turner, ESPN 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.

 

Click to read

Henry Louis Gates Gives Weak Slavery Argument in the New York Times

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World

Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. recently wrote an interesting piece for the New York Times 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.

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.

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."

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.

 

 

Click to read

Dr. Boyce and Lola Adesioye - What is the Black Agenda?

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

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

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

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

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

 

Click to read

Your Black Social Commentary - 4/10/10

• 

  Talia Whyte

  Journalist & Activist

  KFC doubles down on controversial bun-less sandwich

  9:47 AM on 04/09/2010

  OPINION - Do you really want KFC to dictate what the American diet looks like?...

  > MORE

• 

  Noel Anderson

  Associate Professor Political Science Department - City University of New York

  Is the 'Race to the Top' rigged?

  9:08 AM on 04/09/2010

  OPINION - True accountability can only emerge when states receive the funds they need to educate young people and not before it...

  > MORE

• 

  Dr. Boyce Watkins

  Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

  Why is Virginia's governor still fighting the Civil War?

  5:25 PM on 04/08/2010

  OPINION - Attempting to honor the Confederacy while citing the evils of slavery is like trying to commemorate Santa Claus while denouncing Christmas...

  > MORE

• 

  Marcus Vanderberg

  Sports and social commentator

  Tiger's adversaries won't like him when he's angry

  9:47 AM on 04/08/2010

  OPINION - Woods has a long history of embarrassing golfers on the golf course that have dissed him in the media...

  > MORE

• 

  Edward Wyckoff Williams

  Political commentator

  Disarmament is Obama's only nuclear option

  8:09 AM on 04/08/2010

  OPINION - Obama's nuclear plan will make America capable of destroying the world fifty times over instead of one hundred times over. Is that making America less safe?...

  > MORE

• 

  Stefen Lovelace

  Sports Writer

  Braves' Heyward has Hank Aaron potential, but can't save baseball by himself

  8:00 AM on 04/08/2010

  OPINION - Jason Heyward's a phenomenal player. But to put the weight of getting black kids interested in baseball again on his shoulders is unfair, and a bit unrealistic...

  > MORE

• 

  Christopher Chambers

  Professor of Journalism at Georgetown University

  Black Catholics remain alienated as church sex scandal rages

  7:53 AM on 04/08/2010

  OPINION - Blacks in the Catholic establishment seem more concerned with abortion and gay marriage as dire threats, then sex abuse or social justice...

  > MORE

• 

  Earl Ofari Hutchinson

  Journalist, author and broadcaster.

  Why Michael Steele will stay at the RNC

  11:26 AM on 04/07/2010

  OPINION - The RNC still needs Steele for the very reason he was plucked for the lead role in the first place...

  > MORE

• 

  Dr. Boyce Watkins

  Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

  Politics as usual: Obama embraces black church for a boost

  2:07 PM on 04/06/2010

  OPINION - President Obama has shown a tendency to only acknowledge and meet with those who are most supportive of him...

  > MORE

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Why Black Men Aren't Graduating from College

 

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Last week, the American Council on Education issued a report on the state of black males in the higher education system.  The report reveals some interesting and disturbing trends.  It turns out that black men are graduating from college at a rate which lags significantly behind other ethnic groups. When determining graduation probabilities over a six-year period, black males were found to have a graduation rate of 35 percent.   This compares with rates of 59 percent, 46 percent and 45 percent for white males, hispanic males and black women, respectively.  In other words, black men are a little more than half as likely to finish college when compared to their white male counterparts.

I have been a black man for my entire life now, and I’ve taught at the college level for the past 17 years.  So, perhaps I can shed some light on the nature of these problems and how we might work to solve them.  Some of the factors are institutional and some are cultural, so prepare to be offended by at least one of the things I have to say:

RELATED: Why Aren’t Minorities Graduating From College?

1) Most American universities refuse to hire or retain African American professors, including many HBCUs: If your professors look like you, you are more likely to relate to that individual and enjoy the class.  When I went to The University of Kentucky, Indiana University and The Ohio State University (where I earned my PhD), I didn’t see one single professor who looked like me (and I took A LOT of classes).  This made for an incredibly awkward and damn near traumatic educational experience.  When I first noticed institutions like Morehouse College presenting images of black males in the front of the classroom, I was envious after realizing what I’d been missing.  Rather than finding excuses for firing or not hiring black professors, most universities would be well-advised to stop lying to themselves and become serious about diversity.  Yes, black professors are out there to hire if you are looking for them, but many academic departments find a reason to believe that they are not qualified.  Just look at the experiences of myself, Cornell West and Michael Eric Dyson as cases in point.  Each of us has received significant resistance in our careers because our work is connected to the black community. Our stories are just the tip of the iceberg, since there are thousands of black professors who’ve gone through the exact same experience when dealing with the entrenched racism of academia.  Many HBCUs are not immune to this trend, as most of them don’t have very many African American professors (Don’t believe me?  Go to the Computer Science Department or Business School at any random HBCU and count the number of African American professors).

 

Click to read

Rev. Al Sharpton, Boyce Watkins, Tom Joyner Meet with Obama Administration in NYC on 4/17

APRIL 14-17 SHERATON NEW YORK HOTEL & TOWERS, NYC

New York, New York – Rev. Al Sharpton and the National Action Network (NAN) will host its annual national conference from April 14^th - 17^th at the Sheraton New York Hotel and Towers in New York City. This four-day event will convene hundreds of delegates and prominent leaders in civil rights, business, politics, labor, entertainment and the religious community from around the country to address key issues impacting people of color. Among some of the confirmed notable participants are United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan, Secretary of Health and Human Services Kathleen Sebelius, Secretary of Housing Shawn Donovan, Michael Steele, Chairman of The Republican National Party, Dr. Bill Cosby, Mariah Carey, Wyclef Jean, Ben Jealous, President of the NAACP, Marc Morial, President of the National Urban League, Tom Joyner, Roland Martin, Michael Eric Dyson, and many other high profile attendees.

Among the highlights will include the annual Keepers of the Dream Awards on Wednesday, April 15^th honoring those who are committed to furthering the ideals and legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. The event will be hosted by Tamron Hall, MSNBC and honorees include Wyclef Jean, humanitarian and world-renown musical artist, Jeff Zucker, President and CEO of NBC Universal, Mariah Carey, Award-Winning Actress and internationally acclaimed Singer, Dr. Robert M. Franklin, President of Morehouse College, Kimberly Davis, President of JPMorgan Chase Foundation and more. There will be a special keynote address by Dr. Bill Cosby.

The National Action Network convention will include discussions about health care policy in the wake of the historic passage of the President’s Health Care Reform Bill, Media and whether the press is covering issues fairly that involve people of color, education as a civil rights issue and combating the racial achievement gap, labor and employment, the state of the Black Church and assessment of the public response to African-American achievement, issues crucial to young professionals, and much more.

A major convention highlight will be leadership forum entitled: Measuring the Movement: Black Leadership’s 12-Month Action Plan featuring Black leaders of constituencies across the country who will assess where we are and what they and their respective organizations will pledge to do over a 12-month time-frame to further critical issues impacting people of color including, but not limited to, education reform, unemployment, health care and more. The event will air on TV One, MSNBC, C-Span and other forums, and the collective will discuss the real problems and how we will not only hold the President and Administration of the United States accountable, but how we will hold ourselves accountable and tangibly measure our movement over a 12-month period to enact change. The event will be hosted by Tom Joyner and Roland Martin and will be co- hosted by Boyce Watkins, Assistant Professor of Finance, Syracuse University and Warren Ballentine from "The Warren Ballentine Show." Among the featured panelists will be Reverend Al Sharpton, President, National Action Network, Marc Morial, CEO of the National Urban League, Congressman James Clyburn, Dr. Charles Ogletree, Harvard Law School professor, Dr. Elsie Scott, President and CEO, Congressional Black Caucus Foundation (CBCF), Jeff Johnson, BET Personality, Ben Jealous, President & CEO, NAACP, Michael Eric Dyson, recording artist Chuck D, Angela Sailor, Coalitions Director for the Republican National Committee, and others.

A complete schedule of NAN’s annual national convention is below and updates will be posted regularly on NAN’s website www.Nationalactionnetwork.net. For press credentials please contact Rachel Noerdlinger, President of Noerdlinger Media (646) 981-5903 or rachel@noerdlingermedia.com.

# # #

Is Michael Steele Going to Ever Confront the Racist Tea Baggers?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

The Tea Party Protesters might need a little bit of brand management to overcome the growing perception that they represent a racist, homophobic, extremist fringe of disgruntled voters. The most recent incident of very bad PR came this week, as a small group of Tea Party protesters gathered on Capitol Hill and yelled "n*gger" and "f*ggot" at members of Congress as they walked past the crowd. The group has taken heat for the actions of those who don't know how to be cordial in their discourse, and it's not good for the Republican Party.

Republican National Committee Chairman Michael Steele was put in yet another awkward position, trying to defend that which is not defensible. A man who appears to be disrespected at every turn by his own party, Steel dismissed those using the n-word within the Tea Party group as "idiots out there saying stupid things." Of course, Steele was not in a position to dismiss the Tea Partiers themselves, likely because they would have put him in a pile with the other black people they hate the most.

Click to read

Dr. Boyce Watkins on TheGrio.com - 3/19/10

11-year-old caught in the middle of health reform mudslinging

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

3:00 PM on 03/19/2010

OPINION - Marcelas Owens' story can bring realism and relevance to a debate that has been about posturing, bickering and mid-term elections...

> READ MORE

Presidential disrespect goes prime-time in Obama's Fox interview

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

11:22 AM on 03/18/2010

OPINION - Republicans should realize that when they disrespect the presidency, they are disrespecting themselves...

> READ MORE

Clarence Thomas' wife's Tea Party ties are supremely disturbing

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

9:20 AM on 03/16/2010

OPINION - When you sleep next to someone who openly states they want to undermine the president's "hard left agenda" you can hardly call yourself impartial...

> READ MORE

Democrats' crack-cocaine compromise is still 'racist'

By Dr. Boyce Watkins

9:00 AM on 03/15/2010

OPINION - While some might call this political pragmatism, others might describe this outcome as the modern-day version of the Three-Fifths Compromise...

> READ MORE

African American Social Commentary from TheGrio - 3/19/10

Dr. Boyce Watkins

Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

11-year-old caught in the middle of health reform mudslinging

3:00 PM on 03/19/2010

OPINION - Marcelas Owens' story can bring realism and relevance to a debate that has been about posturing, bickering and mid-term elections...

> MORE

Rani G Whitfield

The Hip Hop Doctor

Colorectal cancer doesn't discriminate

8:14 AM on 03/19/2010

OPINION - African-Americans are less likely to receive CRC screenings, especially if they are uninsured...

> MORE

Suzanne Rust

Book critic

An 'Immortal Life': How one woman's cells helped cure a generation

11:31 AM on 03/18/2010

REVIEW - The cells of a poor black woman from Clover, Virginia, a descendant of free slaves, led to major breakthroughs in everything from polio to Parkinson's...

> MORE

Dr. Boyce Watkins

Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

Presidential disrespect goes prime-time in Obama's Fox interview

11:22 AM on 03/18/2010

OPINION - Republicans should realize that when they disrespect the presidency, they are disrespecting themselves...

> MORE

Marcus Vanderberg

Sports and social commentator

Baller-in-chief: Obama's 'March Madness' bracket scores well

8:16 AM on 03/18/2010

OPINION - As much as I would have loved to see the president go out on a limb and pick the Baylor Bears to win it all, it's hard to argue against the Jayhawks...

> MORE

Karen Finney

Political analyst

Conservatives use abortion issue to court African-Americans

8:09 AM on 03/18/2010

OPINION - Conservative shock and awe tactics from anti-choice groups are a desperate attempt to win over voters and obscure the harsh realities that black women face...

> MORE

Rashod D. Ollison

Cultural Critic

Will Michael Jackson's new music be a thriller for fans?

9:00 AM on 03/17/2010

OPINION - Would he have done something different? Did he mean for that note to be there? Would he have approved this final mix?...

> MORE

Black Political News: President Obama Attacked on Fox News

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

 

The Democrats must pass health care reform. If they pass the legislation, they are still going to get hammered in the mid-term elections. If they don't pass the bill, the hammering will only multiply in its intensity. Right now, our Congress finds itself in a terribly complex situation, with terms like "reconciliation" and "deem and pass" being thrown around like profanity against a growing backlash from a portion of the American public. If we could go back in time, President Obama would never have taken on this issue.

I watched President Obama's interview with Brett Baier on Fox News with intrigue. I wondered why Obama would want to appear on a network that has spent hundreds of millions of dollars undermining the White House. I then realized that Obama's appearance is likely in line with the White House strategy of taking on the Republicans face-to-face. Rather than appearing to be an elitist leader who hides from his adversaries (as George Bush might have done), Obama is walking into one lion's den after another, making his presidency even more interesting than it was when he arrived. Also unlike President Bush, Obama is savvy and intelligent enough to debate 100 Republicans in a single bound, the way Tiger Woods can dominate a golf course with scores of non-black competitors. Barack Obama is his own greatest asset.

 

Click to read

Dr. Boyce Watkins: Crack Disparity Law Should Have Been Changed More Effectively

Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

 

When I was a teenager, a police officer explained to me how the "War on Drugs" took place in his hometown. The officer candidly described how every policeman in the city knew what boats contained drugs and when those boats would arrive in the city's major port. But he also knew that officers were not expected to show up on these boats to make arrests, and that they were not to deter the progress of the product when it hit the port. Instead, they were instructed to allow the drugs to get to the inner city, where they were given authorization to make as many arrests as necessary. In other words, his job was to arrest the small fish, not the big ones.

The misleading, ill-conceived and terribly racist set of drug policies which defined the Reagan era has been absolutely devastating for the African-American community. The existence of gang warfare in South Central Los Angeles has left hundreds of thousands of youth with post-traumatic stress disorder, as the CIA was oblivious to the fact that drugs and guns were being openly delivered to a community that no one cares about. The Anti Drug Abuse Act of 1986 was the product of America's broad-stroke reaction to increased drug use of the 1980s. The law gave a sentence 100 times greater for possession of crack cocaine (more likely to be possessed by blacks) than the one given for powder cocaine (possessed in greater proportion by whites), creating a black incarceration rate of holocaust proportions.

After sitting on the books for decades, the law was finally modified this year. Democratic Senator Dick Durbin and Republican Jeff Sessions did black people the "favor" of agreeing to reduce the sentencing disparity from 100-to-1 to 18-to-1. So, instead of getting a prison sentence that is 100 times longer for the same crime, we only get one that is 18 times longer. Gee thanks. I'm supposed to be happy about that one, huh? So, we're not good enough to demand true equality, and are instead forced to accept dysfunctional compromises with Republicans from Alabama? While some might call this political pragmatism, others might describe this outcome as the modern-day version of the Three-Fifths Compromise.

 

Click to read

Your Black Bloggers on Newsone.com - 3/11/10

Rev. Al Sharpton

Founder and President of the National Action Network (NAN), Rev Sharpton is one of most-renowned civil rights leaders in the country. Pres Obama called him “the voice of the voiceless and a champion for the downtrodden."

RSS

Dr. Boyce Watkins

The Bottom Line

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, "Black American Money." For more information, please visit www.YourBlackWorld.com.

RSS

RK Byers

Rich's Rant

Novelist, screenwriter and edtor RK Byers has spent a career speaking his mind on all topics from sports to news. His work has appeared in consumer publications including The Source and GIANT.

RSS

Elon James White

This Week In Blackness

"This Week in Blackness" is a satirical look at race, politics and pop-culture in a so-called “post-racial” America.

RSS

Warren Ballentine

Radio host Warren Ballentine, "The People's Attorney," will provide you with all the legal and financial advice you need to keep up in today’s fast-paced world. Visit his website at www.thetruthfighters.com.

Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks about Urban Prep Academy

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

There is one public, all-male, all-African American high school in the city of Chicago. That school is called The Urban Prep Academy for Young men, located in Englewood. The school recently got the attention of Mayor Richard Daley and Chicago Public Schools Chief Ron Huberman when they were able to get all of their 107 seniors accepted into 72 different colleges across the country.
Huberman had this to say:
"All of you in the senior class have shown that what matters is perseverance, what matters is focus, what matters is having a dream and following that dream."

Click to read more

African American News: Myron Rolle Told He's Too Smart for the NFL

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

 

You would think that Myron Rolle, the NFL super-stud who also happens to be a Rhodes Scholar, would be the kind of man who makes us proud. You would expect that his status as being the man who represents the future of the black athlete in America would make the NFL happy to have him on the roster of one of their teams. Not only is Rolle brilliant, but he is also tough as nails and fast as lightning. The man has the whole package.
But at least according to some NFL coaches, Rolle may not be committed enough to be a part of their league.
"We'll have to find out how committed he is," an NFC assistant coach said, repeating the sentiment of five other NFL officials who said the same thing.

Click to read

University of Missouri Students Accused of Racism

by Dr Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

One of my friends, Dr. Tommy Whittler, is a very talented and prominent Psychologist.  Dr. Whittler once told me that when he was training rats in the lab, he would sometimes become frustrated with the fact that the rats would not do what he believed he’d trained them to do.  His mentor would always correct him with a reminder that when the rats do things that deviate from his intended outcome, it was likely due to the fact that he may not have done his job properly.  His mentor would say to him, “There is no such thing as a dumb rat.  There are only dumb trainers.”  Dr. Whittler went on to become an outstanding scholar because he learned how to properly critique his own behavior.

While human beings are certainly not lab rats, a similar analogy can be applied to college professors working with their students.  Sometimes, college students do things that disappoint us:  Some choose to drink till they puke every weekend and become lifelong alcoholics.  They might commit violent acts against each other, sometimes as a result of excessive alcohol consumption.  Some choose to engage in irresponsible sexual choices and end up with venereal diseases and unplanned pregnancies.  Also, they sometimes say or do things that are terribly ignorant, racist and insensitive.

Read more by clicking the link below

http://newsone.com/nation/boycewatkins/dr-boyce-some-u-missouri-students-want-us-picking-cotton/

 

*****************************************************

Brought to you by The Great Black Speakers Bureau, the #1 Black Speakers bureau in the world (www.GreatBlackSpeakers.com) . Please join Your Black World for the latest in black news and black social commentary from Dr. Boyce Watkins and other leading black scholars!

Dr. Boyce Watkins Speaks on Student Indiscretions at FAMU

Read more about DR. BOYCE: The FAMU Sex Tape May Be A Big Ol’ Lie

TAGS: FAMU, HBCUs, sex scandals

 

****************************************************

Brought to you by The Great Black Speakers Bureau, the top black speakers bureau in the world andYour Black World where you can get black news and black social commentary from Dr. Boyce Watkinsand other leading black scholars.

****************************************************

Rhode Island School Firing: Was it Justified?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, AOL Black Voices

 

You don't have to go to college to know that America's educational system is as embarrassing as our bloated, expensive health care system. Such wide-scale dysfunction inevitably undermines the integrity of America's competitive future. The only thing more frightening than what we see today is the realization that the products of this system will eventually control the wealthiest, most powerful country on earth.

Some would argue that only radical change will improve the problems in our schools. Apparently, Frances Gallo, Superintendent of the Central Falls Rhode Island Public School System, got the memo. In a shocking move that has received national attention, Gallo instantly fired 93 teachers and other staff from Central Falls High school, a failing school with a 48 percent graduation rate.

The move was cheered by Education Secretary Arne Duncan, who said that school administrators are "showing courage and doing the right thing for kids." The decision also got the militant attention of teachers unions everywhere, who some believe to be standing in the way of education reform. As expected, many union leaders thought the move was outrageous, insensitive and hurtful to the student body.

Superintendent Gallo didn't have to use the "nuclear option" on Central Falls High School. She actually had four options provided to her by the Obama administration. She could have closed the school down completely or had it taken over by a charter school. She also could have "transformed" the school, with longer days and other demands placed on faculty and staff. Instead, she went with the "turnaround" option, giving her the authority to boot teachers out at her discretion.

Click to read.

African American Scholar Boyce Watkins – 2/24/10

Dr. Boyce Watkins

The Bottom Line

RSS

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and author of the book, "Black American Money." For more information, please visit www.YourBlackWorld.com.

 

DR. BOYCE: Al Sharpton, Tavis Smiley Fight Is Post-Obama America

By Dr. Boyce Watkins February 24, 2010 12:17 pm

Read more about DR. BOYCE: Al Sharpton, Tavis Smiley Fight Is Post-Obama America

TAGS: Al Sharpton, Barack Obama, Tavis Smiley

 

 

DR. BOYCE: Do Young Leaders Now Make the NAACP Relevant?

By Dr. Boyce Watkins February 22, 2010 2:59 pm

Read more about DR. BOYCE: Do Young Leaders Now Make the NAACP Relevant?

TAGS: NAACP

 

 

DR. BOYCE: The Guts Behind Tiger Woods’ Press Conference

By Dr. Boyce Watkins February 19, 2010 12:47 pm

Read more about DR. BOYCE: The Guts Behind Tiger Woods’ Press Conference

TAGS: sex scandals, Tiger Woods

Julianne Malveaux on the History of Black Economic Empowerment

Why, the email asks, do we still have Black History Month?  The writer might be white, or she might not. She identifies her self as a "conscious woman" and sends the email to one of my public addresses.  She seems chagrined that "race still matters" and wants to initiate an exchange of views with hers at the foundation - studying black history is obsolete.  We have a black president, the woman writes.  Black people have made so many strides.  Aren't you holding on to the past, she argues, when you insist on having this month to study black history?

I am not in the habit of engaging in email debates with folks who are ill informed, so I ignore the note. Still, I am intrigued enough by it to print it out and paste it to my desktop for a few days. When I pick up high school history books, I see African American history sprinkled through, like seasoning, as opposed to being placed at a base. And I think of the tremendous vision of Dr. Carter G. Woodson, the second African American to receive a Ph.D. from Harvard (after WEB DuBois) and the founder, in `1915, of the Association for the Study of African American Life and History (ASALH). Woodson wrote the masterpiece "The Miseducation of the Negro" and founded Negro History Week in 1926. By 1976 the week had expanded into African American History Month. The Association, based in Washington, DC, sets a theme for Black History Month each year (notice that I use Black and African American interchangeably - for me they are the same thing). This year the theme is "The History of Black Economic Empowerment".

Click to read more.

Black Scholars Speak 2/21/10

• 

  Dr. Boyce Watkins

  Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

  Malcolm X's legacy ignored 45 years after his murder

  5:20 PM on 02/19/2010

  OPINION - Malcolm's legacy has been treated like the neglected step-child of the African-American struggle for freedom and equality...

  > MORE

• 

  Earl Ofari Hutchinson

  Journalist, author and broadcaster.

  Tiger's been tamed, now leave him alone

  5:03 PM on 02/19/2010

  OPINION - Black superstars cause much media and public hurt when they supposedly betray the collective self-delusion of sport as pure and pristine...

  > MORE

• 

  Glenn Minnis

  Sports contributor

  Why we should accept Tiger's apology

  12:53 PM on 02/19/2010

  OPINION - For better or worse, Tiger Woods seemed to want you to know that he's not much different from you or I...

  > MORE

• 

  Lamonia Brown

  President of Gilchrist Entertainment

  Hollywood's most overlooked resource: black female directors

  8:22 AM on 02/19/2010

  OPINION - It took 74 years for the Academy Awards to acknowledge a black female as best actress. How long will it be before black woman is nominated for best director?...

  > MORE

• 

  Glenn Minnis

  Sports contributor

  Five things Tiger Woods should say at mea culpa media event

  11:31 AM on 02/18/2010

  OPINION - What can Tiger Woods do to redeem himself besides just saying 'I'm sorry'?...

  > MORE

• 

  David A. Love

  Writer and human rights advocate

  New census prisoner policy could benefit American cities

  8:46 AM on 02/18/2010

  OPINION - America's prison population could play an important role in the country's redistricting battles, and help reshape America's electoral map...

  > MORE

• 

  Hazel M. McFerson

  Associate Professor of International Studies at George Mason University

  Why the US won't 'take over' Haiti

  8:17 AM on 02/18/2010

  OPINION - There is no need for 'nation-building'. What is required is temporary international guardianship...

  > MORE

• 

  Clarence Haynes

  Writer for VIBE, Newsday, The Source, Publishers Weekly, and Giant Magazine.

  Why remaking 'We Are the World' may have been a mistake

  9:01 AM on 02/17/2010

  OPINION - Something about the remake feels inauthentic, the simplicity of the original has more sway...

  > MORE

• 

  Dr. Boyce Watkins

  Author and Finance Professor at Syracuse University

  The stimulus one year later: A bold move that began a jobless recovery

  8:14 AM on 02/17/2010

  OPINION - Abysmal disparities in economic opportunities prove that equality has not yet been achieved...

  > MORE