Dr. Boyce: President Obama Lacks the Moral Authority to Give His Lopsided Speech at Morehouse

By Dr. Boyce Watkin

This week, President Barack Obama gave the commencement address to the young men at Morehouse College.  I was happy to see the president speak to these men, for I’m sure they were inspired by his presence.  The achievements of Barack Obama are nothing short of legendary and inspirational, he deserves to be recognized as such.  Morehouse College President John Wilson should also be commended for his extraordinary leadership.  Dr. Wilson was gracious enough to join the presidents of Spelman and Clark in co-signing the open letter on mass incarceration written by myself and Russell Simmons.

The president’s message consisted of the same themes that I recall hearing from my grandmother:  You have to work twice as hard to get half as much if you are black in America, and racism is no excuse for you to give up.  I agree with this message, and I share similar messages every single day of my life.

The president’s decision to speak in ways that he knew would resonate with Morehouse men and their older black parents was an intelligent political move, without question.   The president’s speeches tend to be more conservative when he speaks to African Americans (I even noticed his use of the word “Lordy” early in the speech), and this is a good fit, since black people are also very conservative. The truth is that many African Americans would be Republicans if the party would just stop being so blatantly racist.

Another thing about black people is that many of us suffer from the low self-esteem that tends to afflict oppressed individuals.  We’re not much different from the housewife who believes her husband wouldn’t have had to beat her if she had not burned the cookies.  When her husband is out with other women, she is simply thankful that he took the time to pay the rent.   She’s ecstatic about any form of acknowledgement from her husband whatsoever, and when he berates her, she knows that she deserves it.  To some extent, she comes to embrace her oppression as the natural order of things, and the tranquility of her marriage is built upon the idea that his views, needs and status are superior to her own.

When President Obama graces us with his presence, we are simply honored that he took the time to even acknowledge us.   Any symbolic gesture, no matter how scant and meaningless, becomes precious to us, because for some, there is no greater achievement that any black man could aspire to than to get validation from white people.  Had President Obama passed on the presidency and taken a position at an all-black school and educated thousands of black children, we would have considered it to be a wasted opportunity.  Why would such an important man spend his time with us?  The political harmony between black America and the Obama Administration is a carefully-designed relationship in which our job is to shut up and cheer for anything the administration chooses to do with our votes.

Part of this asymmetric partnership with the Obama Administration is that we are actually HAPPY when the president berates us.   We like being told that we don’t try hard enough and that the reason so many of us struggle is because we have come to embrace an inferior set of habits and cultural norms.   We ENJOY the abuse, because deep down, many of us have bought into the myth of white superiority as much as white people themselves.

So, when Obama comes to Morehouse and says, “Stop using racism as an excuse and start taking more responsibility,” we LOVE it.  We also nod our heads in agreement because for the educated elite, Obama isn’t talking about us.  He’s talking about “them.”  You know, those n*ggaz who keep getting sent to prison, who can’t get jobs, and who are killing each other in the street.   They deserve their plight because they don’t work as hard as the rest of us, at least that’s the logic. It’s easy to grab onto the simple answers:  Black men love their kids less than white men do, black women are only capable of raising incompetent children who eat Popeye’s chicken for breakfast, and black people are slightly less human than whites, thus prone to more criminal activity.

Graduates react as President Barack Obama delivers remarks during the commencement ceremony at Morehouse College in Atlanta, Ga., May 19, 2013. (Official White House Photo by Pete Souza)

Click here to read the entire commentary.

Study: By Kindergarten 1 in 4 Black Boys Believes He Will Fail in School

The statistics as they relate to black boys aren’t yet on par with excellence, but what seems most troubling now isn’t the circumstance which impact black boys, but what these boys believe about themselves.

A new report says, due to poverty and childhood trauma,  by kindergarten, 1 in 4 black boys believes he will fail in school. This sets the stage for a self-fulfilling prophecy, which includes high drop out rates and low test scores, according to a California  Assembly inquiry on the status of boys and men of color

The study also found that boys are increasingly adding to the economic budget crisis in California. The San Francisco Chronicle reports that the conclusions were reached based on several community hearings, expert testimony and the input of hundreds of other stakeholders over 18 months.

The final report, set to be issued this week, will include a series of recommendations on how to address these issues.

Click here to read the entire article courtesy Your Black World Today.

Battling BET: Knuckle Up T. J. Holmes and Join The Rest of Us

By Gary A. Johnson

Black Entertainment Television (BET) is a mess.  I’ve been saying it for years.  Once a network with promise, is simply a network that lost it’s way.  No GPS can seem to get this network back on the map of relevance.  I’m telling you, BET should stand for Blacks Embarrassing Themselves.  Dr. Boyce Watkins, and our friends at Your Black World have a “must read” article on BET and their talk show host T. J. Holmes.

Check out this article by Dr. Boyce and the T. J. Holmes interview.  Am I the only one who is bothered by this network?

http://www.yourblackworld.net/2012/11/uncategorized/tj-holmes-talks-about-the-problems-with-his-bet-audience-with-charlamagne-tha-god/

You can also read:  https://bmia.wordpress.com/2012/10/20/bets-president-explains-why-she-doesnt-offer-more-positive-programming/

BET’s President Explains Why She Doesn’t Offer More Positive Programming

By Gary A. Johnson

Over the years when people ask me about my opinion of the programming on Black Entertainment Television (BET) my response has been something along the following lines:  “BET’s programming is so dreadful and intellectually insulting that I haven’t watched anything on the network in years.  I suggest they change the name to “Blacks Embarrassing Themselves (BET).”

Dr. Boyce Watkins has written a “must read” article on this topic.  Click here to read that article.

http://www.blackbluedog.com/2012/10/uncategorized/bets-president-explains-why-she-doesnt-offer-more-positive-programming/

Dr. Boyce Watkins, Michael Eric Dyson, Steve Perry, Marc Lamont Hill Sign on For New Film

By Gary A. Johnson

My friend, Janks Morton called me last week to announce that he had secured an agreement with Dr. Boyce Watkins, Michael Eric Dyson, Dr. Steve Perry, Marc Lamont Hill and other leading black male scholars to take part in his film “Hoodwinked,” a documentary about the state of the black male in America.  This was a long time coming.  Good things come to those who wait.  I know that Janks has been working hard to (these are my words) “re-frame Black America’s reality,” when it comes to the image of black men.  I have always said that my role as Publisher of Black Men In America.com is to maintain a “truthful balance” when it comes to the image of black men in the media.  People like Janks, Dr. Boyce, Steve Perry, Michael Eric Dyson, Marc Lamont Hill and countless others like them, most of whom are NOT household names, makes my job easier.

Listen up America.  Janks Morton is on a mission.  He will not stop and you cannot hold him down.  Like Morton’s groundbreaking film, “What Black Men Think,” “Hoodwinked,” is designed to challenge many of the prevailing myths about black male underachievement and incarceration.  Here are some of the statistics that Morton presents as an alternative to prevailing perceptions:

There are more Black Males in College# than in Jails, Prisons, Private Corrections, Military Jails and Institutions for the Criminally Insane combined#

(1,236,443 in College/841,000 Incarcerates – regardless of age)

4 to 1: The ratio of 18-24 year old Black Males in College# vs. Jails, Prisons, Private Corrections, Military Jails and Institutions for the Criminally Insane#.

(674,000 in College/164,400 Incarcerates)

32.3% (1 in 3) Black Males ages 18-24 are enrolled in College#

(674,000 in College/2,082,000 Total)

1.37 to 1: The ratio of 18-24 year old Black Females enrolled in College to Black Males#.

(930,000 Black Females Enrolled/674,000 Black Males Enrolled)

6.3%: Black Males (age 18-55+) enroll in College at a higher rate by sex than White Males and Hispanic Males and are surpassed only by Asian Males#.

(Black Males is 6.3%, White Males is 5.8%, Hispanic Males is 4.7%, and Asian Males is 9.7%)

25.1% of Black Males (age 25 or over) have either an Associates, Bachelors, Masters, Professional, or Doctoral Degree#.

(2,519,000 with Degrees/10,018,000 Total)

82.1% of Black Males (age 18 or over) have at least a High School Diploma or GED# .

(9,897,000 with HS Diploma or GED/12,044,000 Total)

12.1%: The Black Male Dropout Rate# (ages 16-24) for 2008.

(301,000 Dropouts/2,583,000 Total)#

5.1%: Percent of married Black Men who marry White Women#

(279,000 Black Husband-White Wife/5,654,000 Married Black Men)

88.8%: Percent of Black Males earning income# ages 25-64 (employment)

(7,899,000 Employed/8,893,000 Total)

$23,738: Average Income for Black Males# 15 and older

$19,470 Average Income Black Females

1,812,000 The number of Black Men making $50,000/year or more#

71.6% of Black Men pay their agreed to or Court Awarded Child Support#

(855,000 Payers/1,194,000 Recipients)

$253 Billion: Total Income earned by Black Males# (15 and over)

($262 Billion earned by Black Females)

13,104,000 Total Black Men age 15 or over#

(15,816,000 Total Black Females age 15 or over)

Janks Morton describes “Hoodwinked” will be an exploration of the most recent data being released by the US Census, DOJ, DOE, DOC and the CDC to highlight strides and achievements in the African American community. It will feature expert contributors, man on the street interviews, anchor desk headline reporting, and the return of Janks Morton and his “Board of Education” to examine further the symbiotic relationship between media, government and special interest, as they exploit imagery, statistics and data that too often presents a skewed perspective of the modern era African American experience.

Watch the video below to learn more about Janks Morton.