COMMENTARY
Michael Vick: Right Owner, Right Coach, Right Team, WRONG CITY!
By Harold Bell
August 19, 2009
Football players and real sports fans across America are wondering why would Michael Vick chose the worst sports city in America to try to re-start his NFL career.
Philadelphia is called “The City of Brotherly Love.” It is anything but a city that loves brothers!
Racial profiling among the city’s police department is on par with the LAPD and NYPD and the Prince George’ County Police Department in the state of Maryland.
Michael Vick’s first appearance in a home game in a Philadelphia Eagle football uniform will set American sports back 52 years. Remember 1947 and Jackie Robinson?
Don’t be surprised to see a black dog instead of a black cat released on the field of play. The number ONE played song on radio in cities that the Eagles visit will be “Who Let The Dogs Out.”
Vick and his family will need an armed escort to and from games. The best advice his legal team could give him would be: “Tell your family and friends to stay home and watch the games on television.”
Vick’s #7 jersey was the biggest seller in the NFL before his dog conviction. It has sold out in Philly but don’t be surprised to see his jersey being used to start “Barn Fires” at Eagle pep rallies and tailgate parties. Racial tensions will run high in the city during the season.
When the “Race Card in America,” is played it is clear that there are no ‘Good Sports.’
When a man serves 18 months in jail for making a “stupid” mistake and gives back $113 million dollars in salary and says ‘I am sorry’ who are we to say in America “You don’t deserve a second chance?” How many times must Michael Vick say “I am sorry?”
Baltimore Raven LB Ray Lewis got away with murder in Atlanta and WR Donté Stallworth of the Cleveland Browns was suspended indefinitely by the NFL in June 2009 after pleading guilty to DUI manslaughter charges. Stallworth has been subsequently suspended for the 2009 season without pay.
Brendan Haywood of the NBA’s Washington Wizard’s said it best. “When is a dog’s life worth more than a human life?”
The reason Michael Vick chose the Eagle was, the owner wanted him, the coach wanted and last but not least, the first string quarterback Donovan McNabb wanted him.
The city is another story. Philadelphia sports fans are known nationally to be the worst in America. Their sports history speaks for itself. Ask the guy who played Santa Claus. While he was being parachuted into the stadium, his arrival was met with a barraged of snowballs from every corner of the stadium.
How can Washington Redskins fans ever forget that their NFL Hall of Fame mascot Chief Zee was almost killed when he was attacked after a game in Philly in 1983? He has not been back since and refuses to even fly over the city. Zee said, “I would not put it pass them to shoot planes down.”
It has been proven that most Philadelphia sports fans are not as smart as a “fifth graders.”
Philadelphia is the worst among major cities in America when it comes to college educated adults, less then 21% are college graduates.
They are definitely not playing with a full deck.
The Eagles were the first team in professional sports in America to have an on-site jail for rowdy and drunken fans.
Despite the first black President in the history of the country, race relations are in a sad state. Before Barack Obama, U. S. Presidents usually received on average of 3,000 death threats a month. Obama receives 12,000 threats monthly. In Philadelphia there is a possibility that Vick death threats might just surpass the President’s.
The Southern Poverty Law Center which has a long history of waging legal battles on behalf of civil rights warned, “There is a rise of violent and well armed White Militias. They are driven by the recession and hatred of Obama.”
The center concluded, “There are at least 50 new militia groups in the nation over the past two years. They are mostly located in the Midwest, Pacific Northwest and the deep south.”
A spokesperson for the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) added, “You are seeing the bubbling right now. You are seeing people buying into what they’re saying. It’s primed to grow.”
In the meantime, CBS News carried a lengthy report on the groups last week which concluded, “The right-wing extremists, historically motivated by a distrust of government, are now especially angry about the election of America’s first African-American President.”
Last week during one of those public forums on Health Care, a woman yelled “We must take back America.” My question, “Take it back from whom?”
Dog fighting in America is American as Apple Pie. Michael Vick didn’t bring dog fighting to America. It was here when his ancestors got off the ship. It is still a thriving business today.
Thanks to the overkill in media and its double standards, the Vick conviction opened up “Pandora’s box.”
I was watching the popular “America’s Got Talent” show on NBC television last week. The show is one of my favorites. The show has moved into the semi-final round.
The winner will receive one million dollars and will headline a show in Las Vegas. What happened next really confirmed my fears that Vick is in real trouble in Philly.
The host is Nick Cannon (Mariah Carey’s husband), Judges Piers Morgan, Sharon Osbourne and David Hasselhoff.
A national television audience voted the first four contestants into the semi-finals. The last two contestants for this segment was a man and dog act against a talented brother that sang and played a mean piano. Their fate would lie in the hands of the judges instead of the national television audience.
The man and dog’s performance was mainly the dog running through the owner’s legs chasing Frisbees. The dog missed 7 out of 10 Frisbees thanks to his trainer. He tossed the Frisbee as if he was drunk. The brother’s performance was flawless.
Sharon Osbourne was asked to vote first, but she claimed she was in such a dilemma. She begged David Hasselhoff to vote first instead and he voted for the man and dog act.
Piers Morgan could not believe his ears and he said, “If this man does not win this competition the show is a joke.” He voted for the brother and Sharon voted for the dog. Piers sat in stunned silence and disbelief. This was a sign of the times and a warning to Vick to watch his back in Philly. It is definitely dogs over black men.
This whole issue of White America and dogs cannot be laid at the feet of all white folks. There are some blacks in America that are just as dangerous.
In media there are Juan Williams, Roland Martin, Armstrong Williams, Tavis Smiley, James Brown, Eugene Robinson and the NABJ (The National Association of Black Journalist).
In the case of Michael Vick, these brothers and sisters are sounding more like Rush Limbaugh, Bill O’Reilly, Sean Hannity Glenn Beck, Lou Dobbs, Pat Buchanan and last but definitely least “Mr. Pitiful” himself, Michael Steele. He is Chairman of the Republican Party (Designated go-fer).
For example; there was an e-mail exchange between Jamie Zalac who is the media liaison for PETA (People for the Ethical Treatment of Animals) and Barbara Ciara, a black television reporter on WTKR News Channel TV3 in Norfolk Virginia. Ms. Ciara carries the titles, President of the National Association of Black Journalist and Vice-President of Unity Journalist of Color.
In the exchange Ms. Zalac thanks Ms. Ciara for contacting her about the despicable acts of Michael Vick as it relates to dogs in America and asking for a statement from the group.
Ms. Zalac tells her new friend that PETA and millions of decent football fans around the world are disappointed that the Philadelphia Eagles chose to sign a man who hung dogs from a tree! I wonder who took the world wide poll, Rush Limbaugh?
Where were Ms. Zalac and PETA and her parents when black men and women were being hung from trees all over America from one decade to another? Where was she when law-enforcement blew up a whole city block in Philadelphia killing innocent women and children while looking for a cop killer? Where was she when the city bulldozed an entire city block to destroy any evidence to hide this despicable act?
Where was she when white cops in New York City were frequently using black men as target practice? Where were Ms. Zalac and Ms. Ciara when a young black man named Ronnie White was denied his right to a judge and jury here in Prince George’s County, Maryland last year? He was accused in the hit and run death of a police officer. He was found in his jail cell dead of a broken neck. No one has been brought to justice and the cover-up continues.
This hideous act took place in the shadows of the Nation’s Capitol and PETA Headquarters in downtown Washington, DC. There was no outcry from PETA or the NABJ!
Then there is the cheerleading e-mail from Bob Butler a reporter at KCBS Radio in San Francisco. His credentials read, Vice-President of Broadcast for the NABJ, President, Bay Area Black Journalist.
Mr. Butler’s e-mail read “You go Barbara.” I had to go back track and double check the e-mails to make sure I had not missed any earth shattering developments that Ms. Ciara had uncovered, like a formula for preventing teenage pregnancy among black girls in our community or breaking news of the first black owner of a NFL team! No such luck.
Mr. Butler thought congratulations were in order because on Aug 13, 2009, at 7:42 PM, Ciara, Barbara wrote:
NABJ Family,
“At this hour, PETA (homebased in Norfolk) has not issued a statement regarding the signing of Michael Vick. However, I would like to note that I along with NABJ member Jummy Olabanji broke the story of Vick’s contract with Philly at 7:25 on WTKR Newchannel 3 a full hour and five minutes before anyone else. We got it first– and we got it right.”
Ms. Ciara, I will be sure to nominate you and your station for the next Emmy Award.
You really must have some slow news days in Norfolk. When I was an on air personality I broke community and sports stories days before the Washington Post. It got so bad George Solomon the sports editor assigned his reporters to tune into my show “Inside Sports” for breaking news.
This dog charade took a turn for the worst when CBS Sports and NFL Host James Brown sat down last Sunday with Michael Vick on “60 Minutes.” If you missed the Vick interview with James Brown you can watch it here.
Last Sunday was also a bad day for Tiger Woods and Michael Vick fans on CBS (I am sure the ratings went through the roof).
For the first time in his professional golf career Tiger Woods lost a tournament going into the final round leading the field. The number one golfer in the world lost to Y. E. Yang ranked 155.
Since the death of Ed Bradley “60 Minutes” has yet to find another black man capable of filling the void left by Bradley. He was in my opinion “The Black Walter Cronkite” of television news.
Ed, like Mr. Cronkite had an air of honesty and integrity, something rarely found in the news media today. You could carry what they said to the bank.
James Brown was like a bump on a log during his one-on-one interview with Michael Vick. He sat there like he had no idea what it was like to be black in America. The whole interview was well rehearsed. Former NFL coach Tony Dungy, who was assigned by the league to be Vick’s mentor was the only believable voice during that entire segment.
The “race card” never came up during the entire interview. It was like it never existed. It was obvious they were told not to mention race as being a factor for all the hate being shown toward this young man.
What was the purpose of showing Vicks’s legal team (Billy Martin, et al) without them uttering one word?
The bottom line is this: Instead of Michael Vick being a spokesperson for PETA he should be going around visiting schools, playgrounds and youth facilities in our cities talking to black youth.
We have issues to deal with such as black-on-black murder and a high drop out rate. Over half of minority students in America are dropping out of school. The youth facilities and prisons are busting at the seams with minorities. Black youth are “fouling out” of the game of life at record rates.
Here’s my advice to Michael Vick. Save a child’s life and let PETA and the National Association of Black Journalist save the dogs.
Harold Bell is the Godfather of Sports Talk radio and television. Throughout the mid-sixties, seventies and eighties, Harold embarked upon a relatively new medium–sports talk radio with classic interviews with athletes and sports celebrities. The show and format became wildly popular and the rest as they say is history.
“AFFIRMATIVE ACTION” IS NOT ABOUT RACE; BUT THE NUMERICAL AVAILABILITY OF PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE: SO QUIT THE RACE BAITING AND RACE ENGINEERING
By: John Eddie “J.J.” Jones
If Dr. Arthur Allen Fletcher were alive today, he would admonish each side of the argument to QUIT THE RACE BAITING AND RACE ENGENEERING, because “AFFIRMATIVE ACTION” IS NOT ABOUT RACE; BUT THE NUMERICAL AVAILABILITY OF PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE. As President Richard M. Nixon appointed Dr. Arthur Allen Fletcher to become the first African American Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards in 1969 to Secretary George Schultz, Art Fletcher was the single signatory to the Revised Philadelphia Plan and became known as the “Father of the Affirmative Action Civil Rights Enforcement Movement.” However, never did Art Fletcher present to then President Richard M. Nixon’s Administration or subsequently to the United States Supreme Court any reference whatsoever dealing with the issue of race regarding “Affirmative Action” in the Revised Philadelphia Plan. Art Fletcher only presented the facts of the numerical availability of United States Citizens to participate in activities funded with dollars collected from the combined taxes levied from the labors of United States Citizens.
Dr. Fletcher’s understanding in 1969 for the Affirmative Action in the Revised Philadelphia Plan was totally consistent with the intent and purpose of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the interplay of Title VI with Title VII, and with the amendment in 1972 of Title IX (discrimination in education programs prohibited on the basis of sex); along with Section 504 (discrimination prohibited on the basis of disability) and the Fourteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States. Specifically, Title VI prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, color, or national origin in programs and activities receiving Federal financial assistance. Title VI (42 U.S.C. § 2000d) provides that: “[n]o person in the United States shall, on the ground of race, color, or national origin, be excluded from participation in, be denied the benefits of, or be subjected to discrimination under any program or activity receiving Federal financial assistance.”
Yes, as Dr. Fletcher was the single person with the courage and knowledge to have signed the RACE-NUETRAL Revised Philadelphia Plan document, he became the single person to enforce the requirement of the financial participation by all United States Citizens, including African Americans, White women, People of Color, and the handicapped and disabled in America’s tax-dollars driven public contracting economy!
Therein began the LIES for the confusion where some parties have cleverly introduced Semantics and new definitions so that the Civil Rights Enforcement Movement could achieve the cause of the organizational agenda of social engineering and thereby also could achieve the cause of the corporate “GREED” agenda to label lawful Civil Rights “Affirmative Action” as a social welfare give-a-way program.
Right here, I should put a pin to note to each reader just exactly who the Late Dr. Arthur Allen Fletcher was to America’s History. Dr. Arthur A. Fletcher was President and Chief Executive Officer of Fletcher’s Learning Systems, Inc. and was the former Chairman of the National Black Chamber of Commerce. In over thirty (30) years of public service, he served in the Federal Government as: (1) Chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights; (2) Assistant Secretary of Labor under President Richard M. Nixon’s first Administration, where he drafted and authored the Revised Philadelphia Plan from which White women and minorities owe their rights and privileges under Civil Right Enforcement “Affirmative Action” Laws and Policy today; (3) United States Delegate to the twenty-fifth (25th) Secession of the United Nation’s General Assembly; (4) Deputy Urban Affairs Advisor to President Gerald Ford; and (5) Vice Chairman of the Pennsylvania Avenue Development Corporation.
Dr. Fletcher was Chairman of the United Negro College Fund, where he coined the famous phrase “A Mind Is a Terrible Thing to Waste!” As a young man in 1954, because his five little children had to walk past three (3) all Caucasian schools to go to the all Negro school, all four (4) of which were in the same town; Dr. Fletcher following his tenure as the first African American National Football League tight end for the Baltimore Colts and the L.A. Rams; raised the money to pay the attorneys that filed the landmark history making case Brown versus Board of Education of Topeka, Kansas, banning segregated educational facilities in public schools and leading to the passage of the Civil Rights Act of 1956 banning public school segregation. And through direct involvement in national politics as the Deputy Urban Affairs Director to President Gerald R. Ford, Dr. Fletcher provided the Ford Administration’s input into the creation of the Congressional legislation and to the passage of the COMMUNITY REINVESTMENT ACT OF 1977.
In a 1999 “Pillars Of A People” poll by Television and Radio Talk Show Host Tavis Smiley’s BlackVoices.Com; Dr. Fletcher was counted number 18 of the 100 Most Influential African Americans of the Twentieth Century for his work to develop and sign the Revised Philadelphia Plan creating the Civil Rights Enforcement Movement Affirmative Action Law and Policy, which has helped achieve many of the gains for African Americans, White Women and People of Color. (Look up the “Pillars Of A People” poll at www.BlackVoices.Com http://www.blackvoices.com/feature/bhm_00/pillars/i_20-11.html and http://www.blackvoices.com/feature/bhm_00/pillars/018_Arthur_Fletcher.html).
Back to the corporate and organizational interests that flipped America on its head into the quagmire of meaningless debate and ill feelings with their selfish agendas to gain social engineering and to abscond with economic “Highway” theft.
The one action that preceded all the others was the filing in the Federal District Court for Eastern Pennsylvania of a 1969 law suit against the Revised Philadelphia Plan that personally named Dr. Arthur A. Fletcher, as Signatory and as Assistant Secretary of Labor for Employment Standards by the Pennsylvania Highway Contractors Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). That law suit did not even as much get the chance to have a public hearing, because it was pulled so fast by the AGC when its lawyers realized that the Revised Philadelphia Plan that created the Civil Rights Enforcement Movement “Affirmative Action” Law and Policy was actually a “Collective Bargaining Agreement” and if nullified would also nullify each and every “AGC Negotiated Collective Bargaining Agreement” with each and every Federal, state and local agency, municipality and corporation throughout America.
The Pennsylvania Highway Contractors Chapter and therewith the entire Associated General Contractors of America realized that “AFFIRMATIVE ACTION” IS NOT ABOUT RACE; BUT THE NUMERICAL AVAILABILITY OF PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE in public works activities funded in-whole or in-part with dollars collected from the combined taxes levied from the labors of United States Citizens regardless of their race, color, national origin, sex, gender or handicap.
From that fateful time in 1969 began the LIES for the confusion where the AGC cleverly introduced Semantics and new definitions so that the Civil Rights Enforcement Movement of “Affirmative Action” could achieve the cause of their corporate agenda to label lawful Civil Rights as a social welfare give-a-way program. Dr. Fletcher, as Chairman of the United States Commission on Civil Rights and Equal Employment Opportunity Commissioner is quoted as a Guest Editorialist in the “BLACK HISTORY 1994 COMMEMORATIVE ISSUE” of “PATRIOTS” writing: “Certain right wing elements have succeeded beyond their wildest imaginings in making a case against civil rights advances and legitimate welfare legislation as a waste of tax-payers’ dollars. How? By presenting their views in a way that suggests that African-Americans don’t pay taxes….Aid to dependent children, food stamps, public housing, etc., are true welfare legislation areas. They require a public subsidy. The right-wing has been very clever in convincing well-meaning white citizens of good will that civil rights laws are welfare legislation in disguise and therefore a waste of tax-payers’ dollars too. In addition, the religious conservative element has convinced a host of their African-American counterparts of the validity of this argument as well.”
Too retrospectively look back, again we see that former President Richard M. Nixon and the Federal Courts agreed with Dr. Fletcher and his RACE NUETRAL Civil Rights Enforcement Movement “Affirmative Action” Law and Policy. So, from late 1969 to the mid-1990’s, African Americans, People of Color and White women began a rise in the American Capitalist Society that can only be viewed as remarkable, making America today as strong as America has grown to become, causing America to be the only true SUPER POWER left in the world!
When we take a closer look at this religious conservative element that convinced a host of their African American counterparts of the validity of their argument that the Civil Rights Enforcement Movement “Affirmative Action” Law and Policy was WELFARE and that African Americans did not need the protection of the Federal Government against the likes of the Klu Klux Klan, White Supremacy Arian Nation hate groups and each State Highway Contractors Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America; therein we can clearly see that “Handkerchief Head Negro” Ward Connerly of the late 1990’s and his California Civil Rights Institute being initially funded from a Fifty Thousand Dollar ($50,000.00) check from former Klu Klux Klan Grand Wizard and Presidential Candidate David Duke.
More than that, Dr. Fletcher explained to a group of elderly Grand Parents in Seattle before his untimely death in 2005 that the Civil Rights leaders of the mid-1960’s who stood behind President Lyndon B. Johnson as he signed the Civil Rights Act of 1964, except for the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. who in 1968 had been assassinated, became his most ardent detractors in 1969 and 1970. They cited that the Revised Philadelphia Plan that Dr. Fletcher had signed into law, which most today still call “Affirmative Action” was a “TRICK!” The NAACP, CORE, the Urban League and the SCLC all publicly opposed that which is today called “Affirmative Action!”
Today, you still hear Niger Innis, the son of CORE long-time leader Roy Innis; speaking out on the ardently prejudicial FOX Cable News Channel programs opposing “Affirmative Action”! The NAACP at one time fought the legal battles to enforce both Title VI for business access and Title VII for employment opportunities of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The NAACP today in 2009 only fights for African Americans rights to have a job under Title VII for their labors, not their rights to have a business under Title VI for their industries; yet the NAACP still maintains the framework of its old “Labor and Industries Standing Committee.”
I surmise that the opposition to Dr. Fletcher’s life’s contribution of “Affirmative Action” by some in the Civil Rights Movement can be centered on his maintaining his ties to the Republican Party that he had been a part of since the time in the mid 1950’s when the Brown versus Board of Education battle was ongoing and the Civil Rights Act of 1956 to end school segregation was signed by former President Dwight D. Eisenhower, when most all African Americans, same as with the Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., were members of the Republican Party. Oh, how soon do we forget that President Johnson had to pull together a coalition of Republicans with some of his own Democrats in order to get the Civil Rights Act of 1964 enacted as the Law? African Americans are a people of interests not parties.
Are African Americans so quick to forget that former Alabama Governor George Wallace quit being a member of the Democratic Party? If you are old enough to recall he started a new “American” political party growing to some three-million (3,000,000) former “Cross-Burning-Confederate-Flag” waving Democrats or Dixiecrats. Are African Americans so quick to forget that once Governor Wallace was shot in 1972, Presidential Speechwriter and MSNBC Contributor, Patrick Buchanan encouraged then President Richard M. Nixon to invite those dislodged and leaderless former Democrats to become newly accepted Dixiecrat-Republicans? Are African Americans so quick to forget that they did and went on to become known as the Reagan Democrats in the 1980 Presidential election? Are African Americans so quick to forget that they went on to take control of the U.S. House of Representatives in the early 1990’s, with their Speaker of the House former Democrat turned Dixiecrat-Republican Newt Gingrich rising to become third in line of succession from the Presidency. Oh, what fate has watched over African Americans as Newt Gingrich was defrocked after padding his pockets selling books?
The mainstream Civil Rights leadership had plenty reason not to trust the workings of a Pat Buchanan and the George Wallace Democrat-Republicans. But the battles hard fought for and hard won were hard fought and hard won between 1964 and 1969, clearly two to three years before the shooting of George Wallace in 1972 and before the switch in political party sheets! Or, do I mean political party colors thereafter?
Dr. Fletcher, before his untimely death in 2005, went on to tell the “Grand Parents” in Seattle that because of this confusion about where these George Wallace Democrat-Republicans disappeared to, African Americans have not fully taken advantage of the 1964 to 1969-1970 victories won from the Civil Rights Enforcement Movement “Affirmative Action” Law and Policy. Why is it that?
Let us look to late 1989, after the Civil Rights Restoration Act of 1987 became law that basically reinforced that if a Federal, State, City, County or local Government entity or any private contractor accepted one single dollar of Federal funds, then all of its programs and activities became subject to the provisions of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination against anyone on race, color or national origin. Therein comes the Title VI case of “RICHMOND v. J. A. CROSON CO., 488 U.S. 469 (1989).” Dr. Fletcher personally admonished the predominantly African American City Council of Richmond, Virginia not to add a race specific provision into their newly proposed city-wide contracting Ordinance.
The City Council of Richmond, Virginia did in-fact add a race specific provision, which rightly so was stuck down by the United States Supreme Court. This court case became known as “Blow Number 1” from the selfish agendas to gain social engineering and to abscond with economic “Highway” theft against a convoluted “Affirmative Action” policy misrepresentation.
Second, in 1995 came the transportation case perpetrated by a very well knowledgeable public official of the Clinton Administration that led to the absconding of economic “Highway” theft in the case of ADARAND CONSTRUCTORS, INC., PETITIONER v. FEDERICO PENA, SECRETARY OF
TRANSPORTATION, ET AL. _ 1995. Again, this time Latino-American Secretary of Transportation Federico Pena added a race specific provision in Colorado, causing the law suit to be brought to the United States Supreme Court, where the race specific provision was struck down causing “Blow Number 2” from the selfish agendas to gain social engineering and to abscond with economic “Highway” theft against a convoluted “Affirmative Action” policy misrepresentation.
Thirdly, was the case in the State of Washington, i.e., Western States Paving Co. v. State of Washington Dept. of Transportation, 407 F. 3d 983 (9th Cir. 2005), which was urged on in the summer of 2000 by Clinton Administration African American Secretary of Transportation Rodney Slater. The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) added a race specific provision in the State of Washington, causing the law suit to be brought to the United States Supreme Court, where the race specific provision was struck down causing “Blow Number 3” from the selfish agendas to gain social engineering and to abscond with economic “Highway” theft against a convoluted “Affirmative Action” policy misrepresentation.
I have to consider just as Dr. Fletcher mixed no words in clearly stating that those “Negroes” on the City Council in Richmond, Virginia and the “Latino” and the “Negro” Secretaries of Transportation in President Bill Clinton’s ill-conceived scheme to “Amend Not End Affirmative Action” instituted race specific provisions that they knew could withstand the Equal Protection Clause of the 14th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution challenge to the United States Supreme Court.
Each one of those acts of knowingly imbedding selfish agendas to gain social engineering and to abscond with economic “Highway” theft against a convoluted “Affirmative Action” policy misrepresentation has given rise to that “Handkerchief Head Negro” Ward Connerly and his California Civil Rights Institute to try to cause the reversal of the lawful Civil Rights Enforcement Movement “Affirmative Action” Law and Policy through state wide voter initiatives as the case for the State of California with Proposition 209 and the State of Washington with Initiative 200.
Again, we are back to the Highway Contractors Chapter of the Associated General Contractors of America (AGC). Ward Connerly’s California-based company is a contractor member of the AGC. The AGC’s conduit Ward Connerly initiated Proposition 209 in California and Initiative 200 in the State of Washington.
Those popular voter ballot movements were to counteract the “Civil Rights Enforcement Movement “Affirmative Action” Law and Policy of not only Title VII and Title IX of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, as amended, affecting both equal and fair employment and educational opportunities based on race, color, national origin, sex and physical disabilities; but also they have counteracted the enforcement of Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 prohibiting discrimination in public construction and procurement contracting based on race, color and national origin.
However, there is a NULL AND VOID clause in the Washington State voter ballot Initiative 200’s language. The AGC’s conduit Ward Connerly was instructed to include that NULL AND VOID clause just in case Initiative 200 resulted in a lost of Federal funds in the State of Washington.
We venture back to the basics of Latin to get the answer “WHY?” Yes, “WHY” was that NULL AND VOID clause included in that “FAKE” Civil Rights voter initiative in the State of Washington? The Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America’s desire has been to perpetrate the ORGANIZED CRIME THEFT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT activities from African Americans, persons of color, other persons of foreign ethnicity and White women, so long as the AGC does not lose its own ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT public contracts from its Collective Bargaining Agreements across America.
That innocuous NULL AND VOID clause in Washington State’s Initiative 200 points out the ACHELLES HILL of the AGC not wanting to lose its own public construction and procurement contracts. Therefore, I admonish the Administration of President Barack Obama to look very careful at the “HOOK OR CROOK” corruption of elected officials and public administrators by the Associated General Contractors (AGC) of America in their depriving African Americans of eligible public construction and procurement contracts and jobs.
Such deception would constitute criminal activities depriving African Americans of their ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT stimulus pie. Hence, the African American community must INSIST that the Administration of President Barack Obama utilizes the “Civil Rights Enforcement Movement “Affirmative Action” Law and Policy of THE NUMERICAL AVAILABILITY OF PEOPLE TO PARTICIPATE pursuant to Title VI of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 to overcome the corruption of ORGANIZED CRIME THEFT OF ECONOMIC DEVELOPMENT activities in public contracting by members of the AGC, especially since so much of the Stimulus Bill includes so much Public Works and Highway Construction.
HONOR TODAY’S BLACK WOMAN?
NOT ON MY WATCH!
By Harold Bell
Read this with caution, if the shoe fits—wear it. I hate to rain on other people’s parade, but this was one parade I found too good to pass up. Yes I think black women should be honored but not today’s black woman. Black America is in shambles today because a majority of black women have left black men hanging out to dry. Most of their meteoric success has come at the expense of her man.
Affirmative action was more beneficial to white and black women then to black men. Instead of black women becoming “The spook who sit by the door,” they became the spook who blocked the door.
The system discovered through affirmative action they could hire white and black women and fill their minority vacancies and meet their government quotas. Therefore, the black man became the invisible man.
The powers-to-be has long seen the black man as a threat to its empire. Their main concern was that integration brought black men too close to their white women. Today’s board rooms and corporate offices are running over with black women who for some reason think they are there on merit and some are, but too many are there at the expense of black men.
There are over a one million black men incarcerated in American jails. This is by no means a coincident. We make up over 60% of the prison population while being just 12% of the American population. Our black male children’s blood is flowing in our streets in urban settings throughout the country. But black women are nowhere to be found.
On Sunday June29, 2008 a 19 year old black male child was murdered in his jail cell in a Prince George’s Maryland correction facility. Ronnie White was accused of killing a Prince George’s County Policeman. This vigilante act in 2008 denied him his day in court as required by the Constitutional and Civil Rights act of 1964. Where are the black women standing up for their men and male children? Have you suddenly forgotten that during slavery the corporate office and boardroom was The Master’s kitchen and bedroom? Your 21st century actions speak for themselves—your voices have become silent and mute when it comes to standing up for your man.
Ronnie White was murdered in his jail cell a month ago. The State Police and FBI have a captivated audience of nine suspects who had access to White and still no arrest! I started a forum days after his death and not one black woman has cried out in the forum, but you think you should be honored?
You were once the backbone of the black community. Have you forgotten the sacrifices made by Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, Mary McLeod Bethune, Angela Davis, Athelia Gibson, Rosa Parks, Betty Shabazz, Coretta Scott King, Jackie Joiner Kersey, Rachel Robinson, Barbra Jordan Shirley Chisholm, C. Delores Tucker, Winnie Mandella, Rachel Kennedy, Madam C. J. Walker, Isabel Sanford and Amy Tyler Bell. I remember them or recall their stories of how they stood for something and just didn’t fall for anything.
What have you done to be honored except ride in on the coattails and accomplishments of the real heroes who opened the doors for you?
In black America today, the black man has literally been kicked to the curb by white America and their “Spooks that sit by the door.”
There is a joke going around on the internet about the KKK holding their last and final meeting of this century. The Grand Dragon explains to those that are gathered on why he is turning in his robe and hood for jeans and a T shirt. He says, “There is no need for our services any more, black folks are killing each other at a record rate and black women and preachers are selling out the black community like there is no tomorrow.” This joke is closer to the truth then we care to think.
In the Nation’s Capitol for example; there is Radio One and TV One and there sits the Queen of media fraud, Cathy Hughes. The Washington Post who helped put her in a position of power to steal her stockholders blind wrote two front page stories on her in the Business section of the paper on the same day (Friday March 9, 2008). She almost had the entire front page to herself. The story was titled “Losses and Static For Radio One” it starts out with a bang, it reads, “Urban broadcasting Radio One yesterday said it lost $18.3 million in the first three months of the year.
The loss, which came to 19 cents a share, compared to a profit of $744, 000 for the similar period a year earlier. The Lanham, Maryland based company struggles have led it in recent months to sell stations in markets around the country, change programming, and invest in internet offerings.
Still its stock has fallen below $1 to its lowest levels since Radio One went public nine years ago. Shares closed at 86 cents yesterday (May 9th). Cathy’s son Alfred C. Liggins III, the company’s chief executive said, ‘our stocks have been crushed.’ In a conference call with investors he acknowledged ‘since my family is the largest shareholder, when the stock is below $1, it is very painful.’
Let me tell you how much pain Cathy and her baby boy Alfred are in. In the second story columnist Steven Pearlstein writes, “This is also the story of a management team and a tight knit board of directors who have overreached in their strategy, underperformed in executing it and sometimes put their own interests ahead of those of their shareholders.
It gets worst because of accounting errors Radio One is under investigation by the Securities and Exchange Commission for backdating stock options. They restated several years of earnings. Despite these obvious thievery and fraudulent acts DC Mayor Adrian Fenty is planning on renting Radio One space in downtown Washington for $1 a year. Birds of a feather flock together!
The most egregious example of their greed is the new compensation package they have provided for themselves while the company sinks like the Titanic. Alfred for turning in the worst financial performance in company history will receive $1 million for having been underpaid for the past three years as well as a 70% raise that will bring his salary to $980, 000 and the opportunity to match that in a $980,000 potential bonus. His mother who is Chairman of the Board and has no clear defined executive responsibilities according to the Washington Post will receive an annual base salary of $750, 000 a year, along with a potential bonus of $650, 000. That compares with a 2007 salary and bonus of $250,000. How painful is that?
The shareholders are being carried to the cleaners in a shopping cart. They have seen their stock fall by 95%. In 2004 a share of Radio One’s stock was worth $27. 00 today that same stock is worth 86 cents. What makes Cathy Hughes any different from what Enron and CEO Kenneth Lay did to its stockholders?
The black female charade continues with Cora Masters Barry the former wife of former Mayor Marion Barry is a convicted felon. In 1988, she was known as Cora Wilds and was Chairman of the DC Boxing Commission. She pleaded guilty to federal charges related to double dipping and stealing money from the commission. Her atrocities as chairwoman are well chronicled (Washington Post and City Paper July 2008.) In 2008 she has re-invented herself at the expense of our children. She has found a way to keep her groove and hustle on. She is the founder of the SE Tennis Center a non-profit organization for inner-city children. The center is run by the Mayor Fenty and the DC Parks and Recreation Department. Birds of a feather flock together.
Ms. Barry is frequently seen in the company of Orcena Williams, the mother of the dynamic duo of pro tennis, sisters Venus and Serena Williams. During her tenure as Commissioner she was the subject of many of my commentaries heard on my sports talk radio show Inside Sports. The late Dr. Arnold McKnight was my former college teammate and roommate. He was the Director of the SE Tennis Center. He confided in me “Once a thief always a thief.”
Time and space will not permit me to name the rest of my catalog of today’s black women who have sold black men out, but they would include, DC Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, and Bill Clinton White House and Coca-Cola flunky, Alexis Herman to name just a few. The banking industry is overrun with black women, especially, Wachovia led by Barbra Goliday in Virginia. Black women in media have been selling out for so long there is a for sale sign posted at most networks and newspapers.
Black women should first honor their children, their men and then themselves. Black men already have enough problems we don’t need any more help, especially from black women.
By Maggie Linton
Harold and Hattie Bell founded Kids In Trouble during the 1968 riots in Washington, DC. It became an official non-profit volunteer organization in 1986. For over 40 years the program has worked closely with school principals, administrators, parents, teachers, counselors, youth advocates and community support staff. Kids In Trouble, Inc. (KIT) is one of the most successful independent self-help organizations in America. The program has benefited thousands of inner-children. It has survived with in-kind donations from friends and quite often using money from their own pockets. They have sent kids to camp and obtained college scholarships, helped kids attend national sporting events, plus coordinated clothing and toy drives for flood victims in North Carolina. KIT has also hosted youth gang and Black History Month conferences and provided mentors and motivational speakers. These services are all a part of the program’s long and storied history.
Harold was once a kid in trouble and was “going to hell in a hurry” according to his middle school Principal William B. Stinson. He boldly predicted to Harold’s mother Mattie Bell…“Your son will not live to get out of high school.” Harold was saved by an earth angel, Spingarn High School’s legendary Coach Dave Brown and the rest is community and sports talk radio history.
In 1997 Kids In Trouble, Inc. coordinated a youth gang conference at Bible Way Church in NW Washington, DC. The conference’s host was Pastor James Silverman and co-chaired by Jim Brown (NFL) and Congressman Tom Davis (R-VA). Gang members from New York, Philadelphia, New Jersey, DC, Virginia and as far away as Los Angeles were in attendance. It was during this conference Congressman Davis was first forewarned that MS-13 was moving into his Fairfax jurisdiction. Since that warning MS-13 has become one of the most feared gangs in America.
There are 2.1 million people in jail in America, the largest inmate population in the world. Blacks make up only 12% of the American population. However 42% of American Black men between the ages of 15-29 are either in custody of the courts or are incarcerated. Many new jails are underground and many of the white wardens are millionaires, sound familiar? Minority youth are dropping out of school at twice the rate of White children. Youth gun violence is also off the charts.
Photo: Harold Bell (left) and NBA Hall of Famer K.C. Jones
The KIT toy party for needy children is the crown-jewel of the program. This year Harold and Hattie will celebrate 40 years of marriage and toy parties in November and December respectively. The toy party is the longest on going community based program in America. Their community programs have also being copied around the country by the media and pro sports teams. In the NBA it is called “The NBA CARES.”
To read the rest of Maggie’s commentary on the legendary Harold Bell and Kids In Trouble click here.
Maggie Linton is a pioneer in sports talk radio and television. She was the first woman Sports Anchor on TV in Wichita, KS, St. Louis and Washington, DC. Maggie has also worked on Network TV and in feature films. She hosts a radio talk show on XM Satellite Radio, Saturday nights at 10:00 pm on XM 169.
By Gary A. Johnson
The Politico.com posted an interesting article by Ben Smith on June 18th about two Muslim women who were barred by two Obama campaign volunteers from sitting behind the podium to prevent the women’s headscarves also known as hijabs from being seen on television. Is this a big deal? If so, how big a deal is this?
The Obama campaign reportedly apologized to the women, who said they felt betrayed by their treatment at the rally. Every campaign has advanced staffers who select the people who will be seen behind the candidate for the best photo opportunity to be beamed around the world. Staffers look for the correct balance of diversity to convey what the want to convey when they want to convey it. As a side note, the Obama rally was in Detroit, Michigan, which probably has the largest concentration of Arab and Muslim Americans in the country.
In this politically correct climate and given all of the myths surrounding Barack Obama and his patriotism, barring the women from the podium was not the right thing to do, but as comedian Chris Rock said in one of his comedy routines, “I understand” why the decision was made.
Can you imagine what the Internet and evening news headlines would have been if two women dressed in Islamic-looking headscarves were behind Barack Obama? Oh my goodness! Conservative talks show hosts, bloggers and racists would have said, “See, he is a radical Muslim terrorist!”
“This is of course not the policy of the campaign. It is offensive and counter to Obama’s commitment to bring Americans together and simply not the kind of campaign we run,” said Obama spokesman Bill Burton. “We sincerely apologize for the behavior of these volunteers.”
Some Muslims are irritated with Obama, the self-proclaimed candidate of change. They believe that he is sending a message that being associated with Muslims in any way is a negative. This is not fair and I wish this wasn’t the case, but from a political standpoint, for him being associated with Arabs or Muslims is not in his best interest in getting elected President of the United States of America.
An Obama aide also noted that the campaign has no policy against the candidate’s appearing with women in headscarves. What do you think? Should the Obama campaign have barred the two women from sitting behind the podium? Why or why not?
Gary Johnson is the Founder & Publisher of Black Men In America.com a popular online magazine on the Internet and the Black Men In America.com Blog. Gary is also the author of the new book “25 Things That Really Matter In Life.”
The Ramey Commentaries By Mike Ramey
“The Wright/Obama ‘Rope-A-Dope’?”
“Dinner is over. Bring the walnuts, and let us crack the reputations of a preacher or two.” –Charles H. Spurgeon
Please keep in mind that it is nothing new for preachers to be criticized. Charles Haddon Spurgeon, hailed as ‘The Prince Of Preachers’ of nearly two centuries ago, in his book ‘Eccentric Preachers’(which is a must reading for pastors), noted that critics and preaching go hand in hand. He had also had his share of critics.
“He who hopes to preach so as to please everybody must be newly come into the ministry; and he who aims at such an object would do well speedily to leave its ranks.” Spurgeon notes.
Now that the NAACP Convention, The Bill Moyers interview and the National Press Club are behind him, The Rev. Dr. Jeremiah Wright continues to be touted in the press as someone who is ‘hurtful’ to the campaign of Barack Obama. Rev. Wright, from what I have witness just this last 72 hours from the point of view of one who IS a pastor, has held up beautifully thanks to our Lord Jesus Christ. There is NO way possible that he could have dominated the news cycle of three days (and many more days ahead) if this was not a means of getting this nation to finally deal with her Black issues, reparations, reconciliation, and racism. I have said a few ‘controversial’ things from my own pulpit. I’m not a supporter of ‘Black Liberation Theology’, but I will support those who welcome Christ.
However, here is the rub.
This is a ‘rope-a-dope’ move to the max.
Obama and Wright ‘counted the cost’ of the arena of national office, somewhere back in the recesses of time. The ‘inside’ ticket is that Obama ‘explored’ the underground concerning his political chances nearly two years before he became a candidate. This is why Obama is ahead in the delegate count, the popular vote (without Florida and Michigan) and creeping up in the super delegate count…planning, getting a good team, prayer, and execution.
Even the US Supreme Court, in deciding FOR the use of Photo ID to get voters to the poll is working towards an Obama presidency…and the voter photo ID issue, in its latest form, started HERE in my home state of Indiana. Sen. Clinton’s bid for another debate was gunned down, while Obama was here in Indiana. Sen.
McCain’s remarks about Obama not caring about the poor WHILE Obama was at 19th and College–a poor area–eating with poor folk and posing for photos–was another resounding ‘dud’ as it hit the airwaves while Obama was here in my home state of Indiana.
As Wright noted in some of his weekend remarks: “He
(Obama) is saying what politicians are supposed to say; and I am saying what Pastors are supposed to say.” Too smooth? Media missed this? A preacher without something to say? A preacher AND a member of his church taking the heat for the highest office in the land? This is why this had to have been anticipated, planned, plotted and dismissed.
Obama and Wright are best liked to Tiger Woods, and the Williams sisters. They ’sweat’ and ’strain’ and ran scenarios in secret, so that when they are in ‘public’, they are usually victorious! And, with the training of Rev. Wright, he is also on the cutting edge of victory. How can one, who is a Black man, a preacher, a pastor, and over the age of 50 NOT understand how this society functions and know which buttons to expose, and which buttons still need to be dealt with.
This is…shall we say…how Ali was ‘mis underestimated’ in the boxing ring? And, HOW many months until the Democratic National Convention? Do the math and see the results. It’s all in the rope-a-dope. And…the gloves have YET to come off in the Obama camp.
You can learn more about Mike Ramey by visiting his column at www.blackmeninamerica.com/manhoodline.htm or www.blackmeninamerica.com/gangline.htm.
In 2008 Don’t Give Your Black Back by Harold Bell
AS BLACK MEN WE WILL NEVER GIVE UP OUR GREENS OR OUR GRITS OR SAYING “MY MAN.” WE WILL ALWAYS STAND TALL WITH OUR CHEST STICKING OUT. WHAT YOU SEE IS WHAT YOU GET.
LIFE HAS BEEN NO CRYSTAL STAIR A BRIAR PATCH WAS OFTEN WHAT WE FOUND WAITING THERE. WE HAVE NEVER FORGOTTEN HOW, WHEN AND WHERE WE CAME FROM.
WE REMEMBER MARCUS GARVEY, PAUL ROBERSON, A. PHILLIP RANDOLPH, HARRIET TUBMAN, BARBARA JORDAN, ROSA PARKS, MARTIN LUTHER KING, MALCOLM X, ADAM CLAYTON POWELL, THURGOOD MARSHALL, JESSE OWENS, JACK JOHNSON, JOE LOUIS, JACKIE ROBINSON, CURT FLOOD, AND MUHAMMAD ALI. THEIR SACRIFICES MAKE SOME OF US WANT TO STAND UP AND HOLLER.
To read the rest of Harold’s commentary on Black Men In America.com, click here.
By Gilda R. Daniels
Loyalty and Race. These are the perplexing and polarizing issues that Presidential candidate and frontrunner, Barack Obama, very humbly and powerfully chose to speak to the nation about after snippets of past sermons by his former pastor, Rev. Jeremiah Wright, caused a firestorm of controversy. As a law professor and granddaughter and daughter of Baptist pastors, I listened in earnest. The fact that a Presidential candidate needed to explain words that were not his own, but those of his former Pastor’s is a testament to how far we have not come.
The fact that people were surprised that words such as Pastor Wright’s would be uttered in a sermon shows a lack of familiarity with the legacy of the Black Church. Pastor Wright’s legacy can not be embodied in the thirty second sound bites proliferating the media, but rather from the tradition from which his legacy and his words were birthed, the Black Church. Is Pastor Wright’s fiery, social justice critique of our nation an anomaly in today’s pulpits? The attention to Pastor Wright’s style and sermons led me to ponder whether the black church has abandoned its social justice roots and as such abandoned its historical relevance.
Historically, the “Black Church” has been a voice for social justice and outspoken concerning injustices, whether the injustice occurred in the pews or politics. A sermon from a black minister that was critical of the United States was once commonplace and necessary to achieve change. Black ministers have been front-line witnesses to the anger, pain and degradation confronted within the African American community from slavery to more contemporary concerns and has traditionally not kept silent, but spoken. Once upon a time, a minister could both criticize and love America. Now, such statements are characterized as anti-American or worse, as hate speech.
On March 31, 1968, four days before he was assassinated, Dr. King gave a speech entitled “Remaining Awake Through A Great Revolution” where he criticized America’s involvement in Vietnam, saying, I am convinced that it is one of the most unjust wars that has ever been fought in the history of the world…It has played havoc with our domestic destinies… This day we are spending five hundred thousand dollars to kill every Vietcong soldier. Every time we kill one we spend about five hundred thousand dollars while we spend only fifty-three dollars a year for every person characterized as poverty… The judgment of God is upon us today. And we could go right down the line and see that something must be done-and something must be done quickly. Forty years later these words remain relevant and prophetic and could have been spoken in any church with a social justice mandate on any given Sunday. Pastor Wright’s legacy, not the sound bites, is consistent with pastors who believe the church has a mandate to achieve social justice. The desire to assist the least, those who have less and the lost, however, has been lost in the new mandate for personal achievement-my purpose, my goals, my god, my prosperity.
Has the black church lost its relevance? Has the church remained demographically the same, but the message of social justice become merely an announcement in the Sunday program-along with choir rehearsal, bake sales and voter registration drives- instead of a centerpiece of its call to live and look like Christ; to speak truth to power; to set the captives free?
Has it fallen into the evangelical abyss where only gay rights and abortion are the “political” issues that are espoused from the pulpit, not social justice issues, such as, poverty and homelessness or issues that disproportionately affect African Americans and other minorities, such as the resegregation of schools and affirmative action?
Can the church-regardless of the demographics, black, white, brown, red or yellow-seek a higher standard and play a relevant role in the political process? A role that embraces our differences. Can we reject the culture of polarization and do as Barack Obama suggests- disagree and still love. Can we disagree and walk in peace? I hope to have a President who knows when to strike and when to pray. I hope that s/he will also not be afraid to listen to the prophetic voices.
As the daughter and granddaughter of Baptist pastors, I believe that the church still has a lot to say and to do to ensure that we live in a “More Perfect Union.” Let the Nation say, “Amen.”
To schedule an appearance for Ms. Daniels, please contact The Arden Charis Group at 240. 421. 4330.
The Pulse Beat of Buffoonery by H. Lewis Smith“The N-word is a surviving remnant of a psychological warfare conducted to eliminate individual empowerment and self-sufficiency; create dependency; and manipulate emotions, attitudes and/or behaviors to support achievement of an inhuman national objective: mental enslavement of the African-American race. The devious objective was effectively attained and continues to live on. The proof: African Americans refer to their brethren, as well as themselves, as ‘N**ger.’”
What do Stepin Fetchit; Amos & Andy; Vaudeville; Soul Plane; and the latest episode of Nas and his wife sauntering down the red carpet at the February 10 Grammy Awards-boastfully modeling black t-shirts emblazoned with the n-word-all have in common?…Buffoonery. In lieu of these continued antics, no wonder the world in general refuses to take African Americans seriously.
Blacks, from slavery until today, have internalized many negative images that white society cultivated and broadcasted about black skin and Black people. Thus, the word “n**ger” speaks to the mindset of Black people. The manipulative mind-control was established by an ideology that justified the use of deceit, exploitation, and intimidation to keep Blacks “in their place.” A racist and invidious society created “n**ger”; during slave times, only that society would feed and sustain the mind-control ideology through the use of the n-word.
However, the idiom no longer requires racism, or other brutal and obvious forms of conveyance, to survive. Now, enervate-minded African Americans continue to pump life into the mind-manipulative process by their affectionate and endearing use of the n-word. Nas’ performance at the Grammy’s proves this truth. His act was and is a true insult to any self-respecting person of color.
Defiant use of the incorrigible n-word should be looked upon as an abomination to the canonized memories of those who were dehumanized and subjects of genocidal conditions. The sacrifices and struggles of our ancestors should not be taken lightly. Any acceptance of this word is the same as sanctioning all transgressions against African American ascendants.
Many black comedians and entertainers, today, still use the n-word regularly in their comedy routines and lyrics. A strong argument can be made that many of our modern day black comedians and entertainers are present day minstrels-shucking, jiving and grinning in the tradition of Stepin Fetchit. At some point, these African American advocates of the word must learn to stop making spectacles of themselves in the worn-out tradition of pre-conditioned buffoonery and self-ridicule. Years back, Richard Pryor-much to his credit and re-discovery of African-American pride and dignity-repented his misdeeds of using the term, and stripped the n-word from his comedy act.
Countless offensive words exist in the English language. However, no term stands in the context of having ancestors involuntarily stripped from their home country; chained hand and foot to a narrow ledge; and forced to endure harsh, unimaginable conditions for months as they were shipped like worthless, inhuman commodities across the ocean. African-American ancestors were beaten and forced to labor without pay. In this same context of the n-word, now in present day terms, generations are subjected from birth to daily indignities-ranging from purposeless job denial and unnecessary mistreatment, to seeing others of their race murdered by both “freelance” racists and “law enforcement.” These are the actions carried out against “n**gers.”
In the past, the entertainment media, from Vaudeville to television, film, and music, portrayed blacks as docile servants, happy-go-lucky idiots, and dangerous thugs. Dr. David Pilgrim, Professor of Sociology, and Dr. Phillip Middleton, Professor of Languages and Literature at Ferris State University revealed in an article entitled “N**ger and Caricatures”:
No American minority group has been caricatured as often, in as many ways, as have blacks. These caricatures combined distorted physical descriptions and negative cultural and behavior stereotypes. The Coon caricature, for example, was a tall, skinny, loose-jointed, dark-skinned male, often bald, with oversized, ruby-red lips. His clothing was either ragged and dirty or outlandishly gaudy. His slow, exaggerated gait suggested laziness. He was a pauper, lacking ambition and the skills necessary for upward social mobility. He was a buffoon. When frightened, the Coon’s eyes bulged and darted. His speech was slurred, halted, and replete with malapropisms. His shrill, high-pitched voice made whites laugh. The Coon caricature dehumanized blacks, and served as a justification for social, economic, and political discrimination.”
N**ger may be viewed as an umbrella term – a way of saying that blacks have the negative characteristics of the Coon, Buck, Tom, Mammy, Sambo, Picaninny, and other anti-black caricatures. N**ger” like the caricatures it encompasses and implies, belittles blacks, and rationalizes their mistreatment. The use of the word or its variants by blacks has not significantly lessened its sting. This is not surprising. The historical relationship between European Americans and African Americans was shaped by a racial hierarchy which spanned three centuries. Anti-black attitudes, values, and behavior were normative. Historically, N**ger more than any word captured the personal antipathy and institutionalized racism directed toward blacks. It still does.
The use of the word “n**ger” by Blacks reflects the hatred outlined in the afore-mentioned articles, even when the user is unaware of the psychological forces involved. Nas’ actions at the Grammy’s are perhaps best characterized as evidence of a deep seated psychological disorder known as Post Traumatic Slavery Disorder.
“N**ger” is the ultimate expression of white racism and white superiority no matter how it is pronounced. The n-word is a mirror that reflects the transgressions of a once oppressive and malevolent society; a word that brought about death and destruction for a race of people’s ancestors should not be spoken.
Perhaps, Nas, and other entertainers and comedians, proudly identify with the term to prove to outside races the contrary to society’s previous portrayal and stereotyping of African Americans. Possibly their efforts are to show other races that even a n*gger can achieve great feats. However, with the past attached to the term and understanding the true meaning of exactly what it is to be a “n**ger,” their acceptance and continued use of the term only perpetuates, protects and romanticizes America’s racist and sinister history. And as a result, this mind-manipulative process is passed down through generations of African Americans. High time has come to stop the buffoonery. The life support plug must be pulled on this word. Then, and only then, can we Bury that Sucka.
H. Lewis Smith is the founder and president of UVCC, the United Voices for a Common Cause, Inc., and author of Bury that Sucka: A Scandalous Love Affair with the N-Word. Visit UVCC online at http://www.theunitedvoices.com/
Workplace Etiquette For Men by Dianne Floyd Sutton
Men’s Fashion NoNos
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1. Backpacks
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2. Too much cologne
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3. Comb overs
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4. Funky Facial Hair
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5. Wacky Ties
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6. Clothes that don’t fit
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7. Too much jewelry
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8. Ponytail
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9. Stained clothing
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10. Clashing colors
