Dr. Laura Schlessinger Not Punished for her Racist Remarks

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University  – Scholarship in Action 

Dr. Laura Schlessinger is the esteemed radio host who made the wise decision to use the n-word on the air so many times that it would put a gangster rapper to shame. Sure, she had an explanation for using the word so many times, but she also had a dictionary full of words she could have used instead. As a consequence for her infamous tirade, Schlessinger is going to receive the most daunting punishment known to man: She is being sent over to Sirius/XM Satellite in order to take a new job. Yes, that really taught her a lesson.

The "venerable" Dr. Laura, the woman who has no problem insulting the black community at every possible turn, has now been given a multi-year gig on XM Satellite Radio. Terms were not disclosed, but she was able to land the gig faster than you could say, "I don't care what black people think." The treatment of Dr. Laura presents a very telling lesson for those of us who are attempting to understand the nature of white privilege. According to the rules of a post-racial society, the expression of hatred toward people of color not only goes without punishment, it is actually rewarded.

Let's be clear: If Dr. Laura were a black person spewing insults of this nature toward whites, she would find herself in the unemployment line, along with millions of other capable black people. This kind of double standard explains why black unemployment is nearly double that of white Americans, and why the National Association of Black Journalists is forced to constantly fight for the crumbs that people like Dr. Laura leave behind.

 

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NY Daily News vs. Al Sharpton: Politics and Propaganda

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action

It’s not easy fighting for civil rights and running organizations that stand up for the freedoms of the oppressed. If you’re good at what you do, your enemies will try anything to take you down. On top of that, many of the people you are fighting for, via self-hatred, may be skeptical of your efforts and willing to partner with oppressive forces to undermine your work. Even worse, your constituents may not have the means to help you face the massive financial responsibility that comes with serving your community. Freedom damn sure ain’t free, and most leaders have the receipts to prove it.

I don’t get as many calls for help as Rev. Al Sharpton, but I get my fair share. The most difficult thing about receiving these requests is that you want to help everyone, but are constantly struggling to find the resources to get the job done. If you ask for help to pay the cost of the trip, people think you’re somehow trying to swindle them or earn an unnecessary profit from the work you do. The truth is that everybody’s got bills to pay and the bigger your name, the more people think you’re made of money.

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Study Finds that a Third of South African Men Admit to Committing Rape

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

A study commissioned by the Medical Research Foundation, a group funded by the South African government, has wielded some disturbing findings about violence against women. According to the study, more than 1-in-3 men of Johannesburg have committed rape at some point in their lives. Roughly seven percent of the men sampled admitted to participating in a gang rape.
The study also found that over 51 percent of the 511 women surveyed had been victims of violence from men. Also, 78 percent of men admitted to committing a violent act against a woman. One fourth of the women in the survey said that they'd been raped, but only about four percent of these rapes are reported to police.
These findings are similar to a 2008 study that found that 28 percent of the men in Eastern Cape and KwaZulu-Natal provinces had committed rape against a woman or girl. Also, one-third of the men said they did not feel guilty for what they'd done. Two-thirds of the men claimed to have committed rape out of a sense of entitlement, and others raped out of boredom or a desire to punish women who'd rejected them.

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Congressional Black Caucus Under Attack from Other Lawmakers: What Does That Mean?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Last week, I found myself speaking about Rep. Charlie Rangel more than ever before. In case you haven't noticed, the future of the seasoned lawmaker has come into question in light of investigations alleging him to be involved in a slew of ethical violations. Sunday, I had a conversation with Rev. Jesse Jackson on the air regarding exactly what's going on with Rangel and his political career. Then Monday, Rev. Al Sharpton and I talked about the broader scenario as it relates to black lawmakers. Just when I thought we were done speaking about investigations against black people in Congress, the conversation turned toward Maxine Waters and the slew of other CBC members currently being investigated.

Defending (or not defending) one black lawmaker after another led me to a moment of pause, where I asked the question that's been asked before, but perhaps not vocally enough: Why are so many black lawmakers being targeted for investigations anyway? According to the late Ron Walters, the most respected black political scientist in the country, "it is curious ... that in over 30 of the probes the new Office of Congressional Ethics was considering, the only active investigations were on black Congresspersons."

 

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Why Has Obama Granted Zero Pardons Since Getting Elected?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

This week, the president made me laugh. That was saying a lot at the time, given that I was exhausted from traveling across the country for Thanksgiving. The source of my entertainment was the president's annual turkey pardon, in which he pardoned four turkeys, thus saving them from the fate that typically befalls turkeys at this time of the year. Being endangered and running from extinction, I figured that this is one thing that turkeys and black men have in common.

One of the things that got my attention was a very telling statistic about our president. After being in office for 22 months, the president has not granted or denied a single pardon. The only other president in recent history to have granted such a small number of pardons this deep into his presidency was Obama's predecessor, George W. Bush.

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CBC Picks Up Power After the Mid-terms: What will they do with it?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

While the mid-term elections were a blood bath for the Democrats, one group that came out surprisingly unscathed was the Congressional Black Caucus. Members of the CBC and the Hispanic Caucus will hold roughly one-third of all Democratic seats in Congress (61 out of 190), increasing their power within government. They also plan to use this influence to focus on job creation.
The Democrats who took the greatest drubbing during mid-terms tended to be the centrists of the party. The Black and Hispanic caucuses, however, only lost four out of 60 bids for re-election. Silvestre Reyes of Texas, a member of the Hispanic caucus is now the ranking member of the Armed Services Committee, and Maxine Waters will be the second leading Democrat on the Financial Services Committee. Their increases in power came largely because of the defeats of other Democrats.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins: It’s Time to Confront Deadbeat Parents….All of Us

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

My entire life, I've seen the costs and consequences of parents who don't want to pay to take care of their own kids. My father abandoned me when I was child, and to my knowledge, paid zero or close to no child support. Over the years, I had two relationships with women who had children with men who'd had forgotten that their kids existed. That led to me paying child support for my own child, in addition to the children of other people who were ignoring their responsibility. In fact, to this day, most of my "adopted children" need money from me every other week to pay for things that their parents should be paying for. I admit that sometimes, it's draining.
I'm not the only one who goes through the challenge of paying for deadbeat parents. All across America, quite a few people have either been abandoned by deadbeat parents, paid the price for deadbeat parents or become a deadbeat parent themselves (you know who you are). It occurs in every community, so we cannot pretend that black people are the only ones who do this. But for some reason, there is a code of silence when this kind of behavior occurs in the black community, especially when the father is the perpetrator of this heinous crime. I say it's time for this to stop.

 

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Black Scholar News: Schomburg Center Chooses Elijah Muhammad’s Great Grandson to Lead

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Khalil Gibran Muhammad appears to be a great choice to head the Schomburg Center for Research in Black Culture. A 38-year old assistant professor of African American History at Indiana University, Dr. Muhammad has already achieved a great deal in the world of black scholarship. His book, "The Condemnation of Blackness: Race, Crime, and the Making of Modern Urban America," has done quite well, and he is respected by quite a few black scholars across the nation.
Muhammad also has pedigree: He is the great grandson of the Honorable Elijah Muhammad, legendary leader of the Nation of Islam. Therefore, his scholarly work with a predominantly white institution (Indiana University, which is no stranger to racial problems, I went to graduate school there) is supplemented by his connection and deep commitment to issues that affect real people in his community.

 

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The Things We Do at Church: Facebook Pastor Had an Affair with His Male Assistant

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University  - Scholarship in Action 

Apparently, the words "thou shall not use Facebook" don't quite trump the words "thou shall not have a three-way sexual relationship with your wife and a male assistant." The Rev. Cedric Miller became a national name last week after demanding that his entire New Jersey congregation delete their Facebook pages. The move was thought to be an incredibly bold statement about the impact that Facebook has on relationships, where old boyfriends/girlfriends never quite go away.
To the surprise of many, it turns out that Rev. Miller may have his own reasons for wanting Facebook out of his life. There are reports that the pastor had a three-way sexual relationship with his wife and a male assistant at the church. Rev. Miller, who heads the Living Word Christian Fellowship Church in Neptune Township, New Jersey, confirmed the information, which had been printed in a local newspaper.
The 48-year old pastor also demanded that all 50 of his married church officials delete their Facebook pages or quit their leadership posts. He told married members of his church to share their login information with their spouses. He said that he plans to leave Facebook this week himself.

 

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James Carville Accuses President Obama of Having One Testicle

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University –Scholarship in Action 

Political analyst James Carville, known for being a man who doesn't hold back on his words, made a comment about President Barack Obama that was heard around the world (well, at least they heard it on CNN). At a breakfast event recently, Carville said, "If Hillary (Clinton) gave up one of her balls and gave it to Obama, he'd have two."
Of course Carville was asked if he would apologize for his remarks, which he may or may not have expected to end up on national news. Instead, he refused, saying that his comment was a joke and that there was no need for further analysis. He didn't seem willing to elaborate on what he meant when disrespecting the president's manhood, but his decision not to back off sends a signal that he's not always happy with the president's policies.
Carville, an Obama supporter (well sort of), is a highly progressive and well-respected political consultant. He has helped to anchor the success of campaigns in all areas of politics, going back to the 1986 gubernatorial win of Roberty Casey. He achieved national prominence after helping Bill Clinton become President of the United States in 1992.

 

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Study: College Basketball Players Have Lower Graduation Rates than other Students

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

A new study by The College Sport Research Institute at The University of North Carolina Chapel Hill has revealed disturbing information about the academic hurdles of college basketball players. According to the study, the graduation rates for NCAA Division I men's basketball players is 20 percentage points less than the average for full-time male students.
The study goes on to show that the gap grows even further in top-ranking conferences. The authors present evidence that there is a 30.8 percent graduation gap when leading conferences are considered separately.
Women are better off than men in the study. Female basketball players find that their graduation rates are still worse than their peers, but the gap is not as great as it is for the men. For women, there is a 6.2 percent differential overall and a 14.6 percentage point differential in top conferences.

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The Shooting of Three Football Players Speaks to The Choices We Must Make

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

This weekend there was a fight in a bar in Hattiesburg, MS. Three football players from Southern Mississippi University were involved in the fight, and all three were shot. The three players are in fair condition at a local hospital.
Martez Smith, Tim Green and Deddrick Jones were shot shortly after 3 a.m. There have been no arrests and police say that the shootings may have been gang related.

Allen Murray, spokesperson for the Hattiesburg police, said that the fight started inside the club and spilled out into the street. That's where the players were shot. The incident occurred a few hours after the team defeated Central Florida.

 

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Kanye West Should Never Have Apologized to Bush

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

One of the proudest moments in my life as a political observer was when Kanye West did something that almost no other artist or entertainer would be astute or courageous enough to do.  In 2005, as people were dying in the streets of New Orleans, West used the powerful platform provided to him during a Hurricane Katrina telethon to make the statement heard around the world:  ”George Bush does not care about black people.”

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Are Black Coaches Getting More Play in College Football?

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

A new report released by the Institute for Diversity and Ethics in Sport at The University of Central Florida presents a mixed bag of evidence when it comes to the progress of people of color within college football. The report found that 15 college football head coaches of FBS (Football Bowl Subdivision) schools are African American (out of 120), but that there is still a great deal of room for improvement in other important positions within athletic departments. To date, 100 percent of conference commissioners, 93 percent of college presidents and 88 percent of athletic directors are white. Also, quite a few universities that earn millions from black athletes are reluctant to hire or tenure African American professors, especially in business and the sciences.
From 1979 - 2002, a total of 19 full-time head coaches were hired in college football. But in the last two years, 10 have been hired. This shows that there are some campuses making some effort to hire more black coaches. The numbers represent progress in the NCAA, a league that is less interested in hiring African Americans than it is in exploiting them. As it stands, most of the thousands of black athletes in college football are never going be head coaches. Also, the vast majority of those athletes will never reach the NFL. Therefore, the greatest crime of collegiate athletics is that most of these universities are not educating the players properly.

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A lot of Black Fathers are Like Joe Jackson

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

I watched previews of the recent interview that Oprah Winfrey did with Joe and Katherine Jackson, parents of the late Michael Jackson.  In the interview, Oprah asked the Jacksons a probing question that sits on the minds of millions of people:  Did you beat your children?  Mr. Jackson had to answer the question truthfully, since everyone knows that he did engage in the act of physically disciplining his kids.   Before his confession, Joe did a  little Bill Clinton-like wordplay with Oprah over exactly what she meant by the word "beat." I understood what Joe was talking about, since there is a big difference between "beating" your kids and "whoopin" them.

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For Colored Girls is Not For Black Men….At All

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

I went to see "For Colored Girls," the exciting new film made by the great Tyler Perry.  I love Tyler's work, most of the time, and I've defended him on multiple occasions when he's come under attack for the nature of his films.  Spike Lee is one particular Tyler Perry hater that I've taken issue with, primarily because I think that Tyler does more good than harm in the industry.

But as much as we love Tyler Perry, all voices must be portrayed when responding to his style of film making.  My own voice became amplified after seeing "For Colored Girls," primarily because the film made me damn near embarrassed to be a black male.  Let's go down the list shall we?  The black men in the film consisted of a rapist, a thief, an abuser who murdered his own kids, a pimp, and a brother on the down low.  Now, Hill Harper had the distinct honor of being the knight in shining armor, but he was the only ray of goodness in the terrible rainbow that represents the experience of the black woman in America.

I wonder what I would think if I were a non-black person watching this film to get a sense of what happens in the African American community.  Well, first I'd conclude that most black women are well-balanced, fair and emotionally giving to men who simply don't deserve it.  I would then think that a small percentage of black men have the capacity to do good things, but that most of them will steal from you, deceive you, rape you, cheat on you and do all they can to provide irreversible and unthinkable pain to those who love them the most.  I can just hear one of the white women in the theater saying,  "Those poor black women.  Why in the world do they remain loyal to those horrible men?"

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Aimee Michael: College Grad and Her Mother Sent to Prison for Hit and Run Accident

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Aimee Michael (pictured left), for the most part, seems to be a lot like the rest of us. She's a 24-year-old black female college graduate with two parents who love her. Her parents have been married for 28 years, and her mother is a 52-year-old former school teacher. On Easter Sunday in 2009, though, Aimee found herself facing up to 50 years in prison. While she didn't get the entire 50 years, she did get 36 of them.

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Dr. Boyce Watkins on CNBC: Cutting Taxes for the Rich is a Very Bad Idea

 

Watch Dr. Boyce Watkins explain on CNBC that extending the Bush tax cuts for the wealthy is bad for America.   Click here to watch

October Brings a Slight Dip in Black Unemployment

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

How one analyzes the black unemployment numbers for the month of October really comes down to whether you see the glass as being half empty or half full. On one hand, most of the indicators of black unemployment went down, but they still remain remarkably high relative to the numbers for white Americans.
According to data released by the Bureau of Labor Statistics, black unemployment dropped by .4 percentage points, from 16.1 percent to 15.7 percent. The number is still nearly double that of white unemployment, which lies at 8.8 percent.
Black male unemployment actually saw the steepest decline among all race/gender groups, dropping from 17.6 percent to 16.3 percent. The number is still 83 percent higher than white male unemployment (which is 8.9 percent).
Black women saw a slight increase in their unemployment rate, which went from 12.6 percent to 12.7 percent. The unemployment numbers for black women are 74 percent higher than those for white females (at 7.3 percent, lower than any other group in America).

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Sarah Palin’s Latest Stunt Reminds Us That She’s Not Fit to be President

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

Most of us know by now that Sarah Palin has as much chance of becoming president as Jesse Jackson has of joining the KKK. She has a tremendous following, but only a tiny amount of political credibility, making her a cross between Sean Hannity, Ann Coulter and a kid who keeps failing ninth grade. In fact, rather than simply emulating Coulter, Palin is applauding her at her very worst moments, which is a very bad move for even the strongest conservative.

Recently, Palin put one of the final nails in her presidential coffin by "favoriting" a tweet by Ann Coulter. In the tweet, Coulter mentioned that she was excited about a sign outside a church that said:

"The blood of Jesus against Obama history made 4 Nov 2008 a Taliban Muslim illegally elected president USA: Hussein."

 

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Spike Lee Criticized for Selling Vodka: Yes, He Should Be

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action 

The New York Daily News is claiming that director Spike Lee has been getting bashed by New York teens for his affiliation with Absolut Vodka. Lee apparently designed a logo for the vodka company themed after Bedford-Stuyvesant, a well-known and respected neighborhood within the Brooklyn community. Apparently, some of the teens feel that it's a bit hypocritical for Lee to make films that uplift black people, while simultaneously working with major corporations to convince us to drink more liquor.
"I've seen his movies. I was a really big fan. But he lost respect from me," said Shenel Gunnis told the New York Daily News. "You're not supposed to be promoting stuff like that in areas that can barely afford food."

 

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Why Marion Jones Is Not a Bad Person

Marion Jones Reminds Us That She's Not a Bad Person

11:59 AMNov 2

Source: BV on Sports

I saw an advertisement for the new Johns Singleton documentary, "Press Pause," set to air on ESPN. I was glad to see that Singleton, one of the greatest filmmakers in America, was taking the time to tell Marion's story without the goofy hypocrisy of ... Read More