Before you black liberals jump all over me, I didn’t say it. Another black liberal said it. That makes it OK, I suppose.
Several people e-mailed me last week about Tavis Smiley’s PBS show. There was a symposium going on called, “State of the Black Union 2005.” I was doing more interesting things and decided not to watch it. I’m still getting e-mails about the show, so I think I’ll watch it and offer my opinion.
If you’ve seen the video online somewhere, please let me know. I’d like to do more than just read about it. Black liberals jumped all over me for daring to utter a discouraging word about Chris Rock’s clownish Oscar performance because I didn’t watch it. I want to slam the door on that nonsense when I critique this gathering of disgruntled liberals and their inane ideas.
Someone forwarded this press release from Jesse L. Peterson:
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE!!!March 3, 2005
Contact: Ermias Alemayehu (323) 782-1980 / Cell (213) 804-1872Jackson, Farrakhan Call for Separate ‘Agenda’ for Blacks
Rev. Peterson: “There is No Separate Agenda for Black America!”Los Angeles — Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson, author of SCAM: How the Black Leadership Exploits Black America, blasted liberal black leaders for their proposal to create a separate agenda for black Americans. Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, Louis Farrakhan, Michael Eric Dyson (Professor, University of Pennsylvania), and others convened Saturday at the “State of The Black Union 2005″ Conference and called for a “contract with black America” as they attacked black Republicans. PBS talk show host, Tavis Smiley, hosted the day-long symposium to discuss the “health care crisis” in America and to “define the African American agenda.” The event was televised live on C-SPAN.
Rev. Peterson responded to the conference goals Saturday live on C-SPAN’s Washington Journal. He said, “There is no separate ‘African American’ agenda. The agenda for black Americans is the same as the one for whites and other Americans: Love of God, country, and family; lower taxes, a good education, and a good environment to raise a family.”
Rev. Peterson said, “Things are getting better for black Americans. They’re getting married and taking more personal responsibility for their own lives. They are beginning to question the established liberal black leaders which have kept most of them angry at the white man and addicted to programs.” He added, “More blacks are rejecting the evil Democratic platform (abortion on demand and homosexual marriage).”
At the Tavis Smiley hosted conference, Jesse Jackson attacked the Bush Administration and compared them to Nazis.
On the same panel, Louis Farrakhan, leader of the Nation of Islam, said, “Western Education is racist…we have black people with power and money controlled by whites.â€
During his closing remarks, Michael Eric Dyson, went on a unstoppable tirade about being proud of his “Niggerdom.” Dyson screamed, “I’m a victim of Democracy!” and “I embrace my Niggerdom — I’m a Nigga! I’m a Nigga! And all you Niggas out there get down with me.” Dyson received a standing ovation from Jesse Jackson and the audience.
Bishop Eddie Long, one of several black Pastors who met at the White House as part of the Republican effort to boost black support for the GOP, was questioned about being a closet Republican. The Bishop admitted that he had attended a meeting at the White House but added, “just because we went to the house, doesn’t mean we had intercourse.”
Rev. Peterson’s organization BOND, the Brotherhood Organization of A New Destiny, and the Heritage Foundation co-sponsored a highly successful conference titled Responding to the Call: The New Black Vanguard Conference last Thursday at the Heritage Foundation’s headquarters in D.C., to expose the black liberal agenda and to counter the recent attacks on black conservatives.
Speakers at the event included Roy Innis (National Chairman and CEO of Congress of Racial Equality), Gloria Jackson (President, Booker T. Washington Speakers Network), Mychal Massie (Syndicated Columnist and member of Project 21), Niger Innis (National Spokesperson, CORE), and Rev. Jesse Lee Peterson.
“It’s time out for Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan and Al Sharpton,” said Rev. Peterson. “Most blacks not all, not all, not all — are suffering not because of racism, but because of a lack of moral values.”
“We have to rebuild the family in order to change the situation in the black community. Black people are waking up and that’s why the so-called black leaders are calling for a new ‘agenda’ — they know their time is almost up,†said Rev. Peterson.
Rev. Peterson on C-Span’s Washington Journal, click on link, then on title to watch… (Emphasis added)
Scroll down or do a name search until you find Peterson’s name. Also, watch the event at Heritage here. I met him at CPAC. Black liberals can’t stand him. I like him and admire his courage. 
If someone can hook me up with the PBS video or tell me where I can find it, I’ll get on this thing. Black conservatives need to speak out against wrong-headed and damaging advice. The condition of the black community will not be improved with such nonsense.
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Egad! THAT headline got my sleepy eyes open nice and round!
Keep fighting the good fight, kid!
And congrats on your first television appearance. All good things!
A
Saw the show. I could not help but think how detrimental the whole symposium was and I also thought about the inflammatory comments previously uttered by Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson, Louis Farrakhan, et. al. And yet, these guys were getting loud applause when they have done essentially nothing positive for the black community. Where are the black conservatives commenting on the show? While the show essentially rehashed the usual rhetoric, the usual rhetoric should not go unchallenged. All in all, a disappointing, business as usual symposium.
“Another black liberal” — don’t insult yourself like that:-) BTW: look good on TV – congrats.
La Shawn-
Try http://www.c-span.org
Under recent programs there are two links:
Tavis Smiley- Annual State of the Black Union Part 1 and Tavis Smiley- annual State of the Black Union Part 2
Should work for ya.
Get ready for the meaning of “most.”
To Michael Dyson calling yourself a”Nigga” is like listening to your favorite “Golden Oldies” music.It feels so good to live in the past rather than embrace the present.
“Embrace Your Niggerdom”
I’m a little confused …
After slam-dunking Chris Rock for his, eh, indelicate use of the King’s English, a title like that, from you…?
ric
Ric, didn’t you read the first sentence of the post? I’m repeating what Dyson said for effect. And I’m not hosting a nationally televised awards show. I’m blogging on my own property, so to speak.
Dyson calls himself a “hip hop intellectual”, and is a regular guest of Smiley’s.
He’s no Ward Churchill, but he has made enough bone-headed statements that many in the U. Penn community consider him a mixed blessing…
But this comment of his is right in line with his usual antics.
LaShawn,
I watched it. If it hadn’t been for the 2005 banner hanging on the stage, a person tuning in could have thought they were watching some video from 1965. Regardless, Black conservatives are ushering in a new positive era (that benefits all of America), those dinasours on that stage know they’re slowly losing their powerbase, and their (same ol’) racist rhetoric reflected it.
I saw part of it. I saw the panel that Dyson was on and I didn’t hear Dyson say that. I could have missed it.
On Bishop Long, Peterson has the gaul to mention Long’s use of intercourse, but has no problem in using the word “screwing” when referring to sexual relations.
OK.
Now I guess people can try to interpret what he said instead of addressing what he said.
BTW, Alvin Williams backed out of the Black conservative panel that Peterson headed. Peterson, in turn, called Williams a nice list of names.
He said, “There is no separate ‘African American’ agenda. The agenda for black Americans is the same as the one for whites and other Americans: Love of God, country, and family; lower taxes, a good education, and a good environment to raise a family
Funny, why didn’t he say that about Black conservatives pushing their contract?
OH, I’m sorry. Forgive me. I shouldn’t be allowed to think for myself.
This just wouldn’t be half as much fun without you, DS.
A long time ago (early ’70s), there was a groundswell of middle class white families which determined to live up to Dr. King’s “I have a Dream” ideals for this country. I was 30, we wanted children (we’d had no luck)& wanted to provide a home for children that could grow up in an atmosphere (in the home) that would eschew (to the best of our ability), the worst aspects of both the black & white races. We wanted to adopt kids from our own home state (PA), that needed a loving home. We have four kids – adopted between the ages of 13 mos & 2yrs of age(between 1972 & 1975). They are now 31, 32, 33, 35. One is ‘bi-racial’, one is ‘tri-racial’ & two are ‘black’, whatever that may mean in this country. And we raised them in rural PA. Two have graduated from college, two chose a more vocational route. I have ten grandchildren. All four couples are one ‘black’ & one ‘white’, so the grandchildren are really a mix!! Interestingly enough, my younger son who is very dark, married to a red head (no melanin to speak of!) has a blue-eyed son…go figure!
The families adopting in the late ’60s & early ’70s had such high hopes for the ideals articulated by the ‘black’ leadership of that era & wanted desperately to contribute in a concrete way to being a part of the fulfillment of these wonderful dreams & The Dream.
But our hopes were dashed starting in 1972 when the Black Social Workers of America met in St. Louis & effectively shut the door to most of the interacial adoption groundswell. Then as the Jesse Jacksons & the Al Sharptons & the Ted Kennedys & ad nauseum, hijacked the whole movement (not just the stalling out of interracial adoption), two generations of black kids have been sacrificed. You have no idea how grieved I am by the tragedy & waste of these last 40 years. Such angst. You are so right. You are no more African than my four are, for heaven’s sake!!
Interestly, my oldest child has said a number of times how grateful she is for slavery!! (In an upside down way.) Why??? Because without it, (not condoning it!) she WOULD have been an Aftican, & today, she considers that that would be a fate worse that slavery…hmmm.) She is so grateful to be an AMERICAN.
And I am so grateful for the wise, articulate black conservatives who are speaking out the truth LOUDLY & CLEARLY for all to hear. My prayer is that my hopes & dreams of 40 years ago & those of my children today, will one day be realized for the benefit of this great country.
By the way, we are all descended from Noah, through his three sons, anyway!!!
La Shawn,
I found myself at home on Saturday with some time to kill. The conferance was on CSPAN so I watched about an hour of it. I couldn’t believe some of the stuff I was seeing. Many of the speakers were calm and reserved. Though I didn’t see Michael Eric Dyson’s remarks, I can say I’m now fully in the belief that Farrakhan is a bonafide nutcase.
An insult is an insult, and a derogatory racial term is still derogatory, no matter the skin tone of the speaker. If the “intellectual” Mr. Dyson ever tells my two little cousins, 12 and 8 years old, that they need to “embrace their n****rdom” he’s going to find my number 12 boot implanted in his nethermost region. Idiot.
LaShawn –
I am a student at Auburn University and am taking a class that encourages you to have your own blog and update it with stories on your field as often as you can. While I was at CPAC, I was suprized to see so many bloggers in the ‘blogger’s corner’ – but that is when I began to read your postings. The way you state your conservative opinion in a witty, informative way has really enticed me into reading your posts almost everyday. Thank you for sharing your opinions and giving me a thought to ponder everyday!
I was very shocked to see Rev. Peterson’s picture on the John Birch Society’s website.
Thanks, Maggie. E-mail me anytime.
I got rid of my Missouri drawl real quick because it got me called Okie, a real downer in 1937 California.
Does your press release get more attention if you follow “FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE” with three exclamation points? Is the amount of attention you get proportional to the number of exclamation points?
They never covered this stuff when I studied media relations. I must have gone to a crappy school.
Jesse Jackson and Calypso Louis Farakahn are “Paleo-Activists”. They are “over the hill”.
The only people really listening to them are themselves and a few media types. No one else cares.
The entire event was one big “joke” (and that’s being nice). When Jesse Jackson so knowingly stated that “homosexuality didn’t even make the top Ten Commandments, showing just how unimportant is was”…
I knew it was time to turn off the tv and never look back.
I saw enough of Tavis Smiley’s rant to hear a thoughtful healthcare type (Dr. or Nurse) explain how difficult it was to get inner city minorities to take advantage of available healthcare even when she would go to visit at their homes. Tavis tried to turn it around and blame it on the “Man” and the communities distrust of government; but she corrected him that she was not from the government and that she treated many of their neighbors and was well know in the community. I turned it off after that.
On a completely different note, Rev. Jesse Petersen’s panel was outstanding. Roy and Niger Innis were very powerful, but the standout was Gloria Jackson, a descendant (great-granddaughter?) of Booker T. Washington. I would recommend watching a tape of this program if it is available in the C-SPAN archives.
Also, LaShawn, Ms. Jackson would be an excellent interview subject, especially for radio or TV. She is extremely well-spoken, charming, and her tales about Booker T. Washington were spellbinding.
I caught Jesse Lee Peterson when he guest hosted for Chuck and Larry Bates’ “Unraveling the New World Order” and was most impressed.
Louis Farrakhan believes that Western Education is racist because he believes that Wesern Civilization is racist. Western civilization was the product of European beliefs and values (examples: British Common Law, the Magna Charta) and our society today is the construct of white Europe. I’m sorry, but this is true (though I believe that it is in a dying remnant).
What Farrakhan believes, however, is that the Black man has no place in greater Western civilization and cannot be a productive member of same, and thus must reject the principles of the Western construct and be separate. One sees the same strain of thought in White separatist movements as well. The two views share a lot in common.
Finally, yaaay. I was waiting for your post on this joke of a conference. It was embarrasing. Tavis and his ghetto language and mannerisms. The audacity of those liberal elits to feel as if they could create a platform for us lowly blacks to support without our input. When I heard a black woman panelist say that “if you dont like abortions dont have one” and something like that about gay marriage also. I just turned it off. Those people are nutcases they should really be ashamed. I got sick of him turning the questions back to government dependency. Farakan did have some weird things to say but I did like him talking about black people needing to eat better (you guys should look in your stores for Ezekiel bread) and not depending on government. NO one talked about thefamily no one spoke of black on black crime. Its like they didnt want to air dirty laundry. And no I am not a n—gr. Featured on the panel were: feminists, union workers, the ex head or planned parenthood, democrats, cornel west ( a complete joke by himself he mentioned the number one issue is the lowly social state of blacks, doesnt he know that the black middle and upper class is growing. many peoople who are poor are on welfare like i was and just taking advantage of it). They brought some gay man on to counter one black ministes push to uplift the black family. ie. man and woman and kids. The panel was basically oh no bush has been elected what will we do. tavis kept plugging michael moore’s new “documentary” about health care. I wonder why those ministers werent critisized for meeting with Clinton td jakes and others met with clinton but they meet with bush and its a problem. there was no debate about the free market versus government dependency and which one will uplift those who are still not able to make it. Big gov doesnt work. I got free public housing, food stamps, 548 in welfare, baby items free college tuition, textbooks and i didnt succeed until i moved back to the country got right with God, got married.
Shari…
I agree. There would be perhaps be one good comment about responsibility and within five minutes the entire discussion would turn to the “government” is the problem and that would last for 30 minutes or more.
The most nauseating thing was Tavis saying these were “the best and brightest of Black America”.
Ummm…. best and brightest at what? If he meant whining, blaming and how to scam in the process…yup he was right.
First and foremost, Jesse Lee Peterson is a fool. Anyone that says that you can’t get a job with a “black” sounding name, and he included the name “LaShawn”, is a fool. The names he mentioned were Russian, French, and Italian in origin. Blah!
Tavis Smiley’s conference featured a slew of black activists, professionals, educators, and spiritual leaders. The point wasn’t about a liberal agenda, it was seeing if the could be common ground found in helping the black community. Speakers such as George Fraser of FraserNet, Inc. laid out BEAUTIFUL economic plans that work within the system. Not once was their anti-white sentiment. The was an EMPHASIS on conservative values mostly.
I do agree that people like Jesse Jackson and Julianne Malveaux were completely out of touch. So quit all the liberal hype.
Please don’t ever tell me I can’t like you because of your melanin. I like you for your mind [wink wink]
So quit all the liberal hype.
Can’t do it, Solo. As long as liberals exist, I’ll call them out as I see them. As I wrote in the post, I haven’t seen Smiley’s show yet. After I do, I’ll blog about it.
how can there be a common agenda when there is no room for conservatives. black ministers were highly critisized for meeting with Bush well the same ones and more met with Clinton. there was no common agenda especially on things like child killing ( as lashawn likes to put it) one panelist said if you dont like abortion dont have one wheres the compromise. and what about the gay dude and the “moderator” attacking the minister because he believes in rebuilding the black family. tavis and his other “moderators” always tried to bring the converasaion to the governmnet needing to help us lowly black folk well as i look around i know there are some blacks who havent found the “american dream” but most people i know are doing just fine. tavis isnt looking for compromise. and even though i am conservative i would agree that peterson sometimes says some outlandish things i dont agree with in regards to his politics he never says anything critical of republicans at all and to me as a christian that is disturbing i dont feel i can be a partisan and a christian. also he foucuses too much on jackson and sharpton i know the media has appointed them the spokesmen for the black community but we all know they dont speak for us
Ms. Barber:
I’ve been reading your blogs for several weeks now. I’m new to the blogosphere, and my first exposure was when you were live-blogging the State of the Union. It was a privilege to join in, even if all I did was sit in the background and watch the fascinating interchange. It was strange…I felt like I was in my living room listening to a lot of warm, friendly people who were just there for a good time. The rather elevated nature of the exchanges was underscored when I zipped over to the Democratic Underground to see what the other side of the aisle was saying. Ouch! I couldn’t stay long, since the lofty sentiments I read were causing my screen to smoke, and monosyllables/four letter words aren’t exactly informative (except for what they told me about the people making them). Your blog site is tops, and I’m a real fan.
With respect to the title of this entry, I’ll pass on repeating it (that’s not a shot at you for repeating what “Professor” Dyson said…I just find it distasteful. I’m a career Air Force officer, having worn the blue since 1969, and I’ve seen a lot of evils in this world. Anyone who’ll go to the places I’ve been, and see the way people outside the US treat those they regard as their inferiors (I believe the Nazis called them “Untermenschen”…subhumans), and can say this country is a wicked place, is a fool, blind, or a liar (or all three). “Prof” Dyson can embrace anything he wishes…he’s already embraced folly. As far as I’m concerned, he and the crowd of black “leaders” he shared the stage with, deliberately resist all efforts at progress for their people, simply because the day the people they “lead” actually move into the mainstream, they’ll be out of a job. Dinesh D’Souza describes them in “The End of Racism” as people who became “black professionals by becoming professional blacks.” They’re glad to keep their people locked in crowded, crime- and drug-ridden neighborhoods and feed them a diet of anger, since that way they can deliver large blocs of votes to equally crooked politicians. The day they succeed, the likes of Jesse Jackson will have to get the only jobs they might qualify for..taxi drivers or court jesters.
I’ve served with real black professionals my whole adult life, and they all wear the same uniform as me, served in some awfully rough places with me, have attained high rank, and love their country. They don’t embrace the same love that “Prof” Dyson does…they embrace their Americanism.
Sorry to speak so long…I don’t always get on a soapbox. Love your site, and please, keep up the great work.
Cheers//Hektor
“Anyone who’ll go to the places I’ve been, and see the way people outside the US treat those they regard as their inferiors (I believe the Nazis called them “Untermenschen”…subhumans), and can say this country is a wicked place, is a fool, blind, or a liar (or all three).”
Amen Hektor!
La Shawn, Excellent.
Hektor, you need a blog.
Mr. Dyson, I embrace your niggerdom too!
“I’m a victim of Democracy.”
You’re a WHAT, now?
“I’m a VICTIM–”
Louder!
“I’M A VICTIM! I’M A VICTIM!!”
I think we found the source of your problem…
The racism I see is essentially an anti-free thought racism. It has nothing to do with skin color or gender, religion or ethnicity – or even nose size!
Thought control is the primary means/tactic and end, and the very being of such racists. Not unsurprisingly, an excess of pure self-annointment alone defines the Leaders of the various bands of these bigots. It’s really quite frightening, and coldly infuriating at the same time, at least for me.
You know, I watched the conference almost in its entirety last Saturday and I am amazed at the venom being spit in the comments about it. I watched it because I was interested in hearing what these people had to say, to actually decide whether or not I agree or disagree with them, for myself. I agreed with some of what the speakers expressed and I disagreed with some comments. I agree with Minister Farrakhan saying that it was time for the black community to get its own house in order outside of the government, political parties and partisanship, and I disagreed that the black community should try to seperate itself more to accomplish it. I agreed with Jesse Jackson saying that the gay marriage issue is not as high priority an issue to the black community because thier are other more pressing issues (like children being born to single mothers and its affect on the community) but, I disagree with his assertion that government should do something about it. I agree with Professor Dyson’s assertion that black people should be proud to be black and embrace our hertitage and culture, I disagree with how he expressed it.
A question that I would pose to the readers of this blog as well as the author is, what has happened to the free exchange of ideas? Shouldn’t someone be able to express thier opinion without being called a “nutcase” because you disagree with that opinion? Can’t thier be some small enlightenment even in an opinion that you don’t agree with overall? I am a registered independant, I like to gather as much information on a subject as possible so I can make an intelligent and informed decision. That information can come from any source right, left, center. I do myself a disservice if I exclude someone’s opinion on a subject just because maybe I haven’t agreed with some of thier other opinions. A case in point, I agree that taxes should be lowered and the government limited, but I don’t think that the country should be brought to the brink of bankruptcy to do it in ANY one President’s one or two terms. It took us a long time to get here, and as anyone who has had to pay off accumulated debt will agree, it will take a long time to get out.
Ms. Barber, I would ask you to view the conference, the DVDs are available on cspan’s website http://www.c-span.org (a tax write off for you I’m sure), with an objective mind. See if in between some opinions that you may not agree with that there aren’t a few opinions that you DO agree with. This country cannot continue on this course of polarization and expect to only not thrive, but continue to survive. Let’s begin with the conversations on the basica things that people can agree on, not always the things that people disagree on.
I think equally disturbing is his comment on democracy. What the heck does “victim of democracy” mean?
That now that us whiteys are less than 50% of the country, he is mad elections still don’t go his way? (Apparently he is mad that voters think for themselves).
I keep trying to tell my friends fascists were left wing, not right wing. True liberals (republicans and libertarians) believe the good of the many depends on the good of the few, i.e. they are the same thing. While socialists think these two compete, that the good of the many outweighs the good of the few, which is why they have no problem suppressing freedom “for the common good.”
But they don’t believe me,they think the right is “fascist” (I guess abortion is the only “freedom” they care about). I think the ridiculous “victim of democracy” comment should be proof enough. This guy, by his very statement, proves that he thinks something is wrong with democracy, and that we need a government that “knows better (than the people do)”.
M. Woodward – a tax write off for you I’m sure
I have no idea what that means. Care to explain?
You ask what happened to the free exchange of ideas? NOTHING! This blog is an example of that exchange. But the freedom we have to express our opinions doesn’t prohibit others from commenting on our opinions. In the same manner I’m criticizing the speakers at the symposium, you’re criticizing me for doing so!
The irony of all this naysaying seems lost on people who come onto to MY blog and take issue with what I write. I will NEVER cease to be amazed. How in the world do we keep the exchange open if I can’t say anything about anybody, for crying out loud.
A tax write off because it would be considered research for your work of political commentator because they are $30.00 a piece. If I invested as much time as you obviously do in producing this website, I would be deducting everything I could! Regardless of any comments of criticizms about subject matter, this is a very well produced and maintained website.
Secondly, criticizing one’s ideas and a personal attacks are two completely different things. I am not critcizing you at all, I addressed the comment to a readers of the blog and you for comments after reading a post where a reader described Farrakhan as a “nutcase”.
I do however believe that criticizim should come from first hand accounts of that being criticized. Be it through transcripts or videos, not from what someone else told you was said.
Naysaying? What naysaying? What have I said nay to?
M. Woodard – As I’ve noted in the post, I will hold on my conclusions about the symposium, but I can’t help forming a preliminary opinion, so to speak. It’s funny how everyone else gets to do it, but when it’s my turn, I’m suddenly warned and chastised for daring to comment on something I haven’t witnessed first hand. I guess I should delete all those posts in my archive on WWII or the references I make to American slavery, as I wasn’t there to actually witness the brutality.
A side note to all readers and commenters: I don’t know where people get the idea that my blog is a democracy. Free exchange of ideas and trying to learn from others are noble pursuits. But I’ve let it be known that this blog is a dictatorship, and I’m a benevolent dictator. I appreciate the readership of those who hold different views, but my blog is not your forum; it’s mine.
M.W., I’m wondering if I’m included in your “venom” category for my rather pointed criticism of Mr. Dyson. If so, mea culpa; I was feeling rather venomous as I typed my reply.
But I’ll continue to stay angry at the insulting and ridiculous chant of Mr. Dyson. His crude antics do great damage to the very climate of civil discourse you are espousing.
“You have the right to free speech–as long as you’re not dumb enough to actually try it!”–the Clash…um, er, some of the things that are troubling Black America now were observed by W. E. B. DuBois in the 1890s…while i did not watch the event on CSPAN, i am familiar with a few of the principals and i can tell you that they don’t speak for me…i do believe that no one should be castigated for the exercise of free speech (especially on their own blog) nor should one whine when they purposely and purposefully submit their opinions for the world-at-large and catch a little grief…it goes with the territory…being neither liberal or conservative i rarely find common ground with extremists of any stripe…i just like to see folks utilizing their critical(!) thinking skills and respecting the right of others to do the same…PEACE
Ms. Barber (may I call you LaShawn?)
Although I know the comment was probably made tongue in cheek, in this particular case it is possible for you to witness it first hand as opposed to those historic events. You don’t have to witness something firsthand to have a comment about it (see 1st Amendment to the Constitution). But, I think your comments about the conference may be different if you actually see it than basing them on someone else’s interpretation of the conference. For instance, did any of your emailers state that what Professor Dyson was trying to express was to take pride in oneself and culture? This would cause some feelings of personal responsiblity and less government reliance. It’s not the only part, but it is a part.
Tiffany: You are expressing exactly what I am thinking. That’s why I am an independant, sometimes I agree with liberals, sometimes conservatives, sometimes constitutionalists, sometimes libertarians. It is whoever I think lines up with what I’m thinking on a particular issue.
Just like Tiffany, I will shut up now, I don’t want to hijack the discussion either.
You may call me La Shawn.
As a black person who’s heard tirades like Dyson’s before, I am well aware what he was trying to do. I am black, as you can see from the photo, and I grew up hearing expressions of racial pride in the black community, just as most blacks have. I am also a reasonably intelligent adult, and I rarely need commenters to explain something unless the issue is completely foreign to me.
In my opinion, it was ineloquently done, as you yourself stated, sort of. You didn’t like the way Dyson expressed his “pride,” and neither did I. You may have expressed your opinion more calmly than I did. I suspect that even if you hadn’t seen it, you’d have the same opinion.
Tiffany requested that her comment be deleted, by the way.
I am a “Black Republican”, and I am also a pastor. It is my contention that Rev Peterson is not a black republican. What he is, is Deleted. Black republicans are thinkers, proud of their heritage, love their people, and as a consequence, think that there is a danger in being relagated to an ignored class by the democratic party. A party that I might add has become increasingly more anti-christian, anti-family. Black republicans know that the democrats refuse to do what’s right, and seek an alternative. We are not monolithic, but if there is one voice we stand behind, it is a voice that needs not negate the truth of who we are. Deleted get the press, because they fulfill their purpose for their white republican masters. I would rather hear the ideas of black republicans like Colin Powell, or Condi Rice, even Mr. Watts. No they don’t agree about everything, but at least they don’t need to deny who they are.
I’m trying not to make a habit of this, but I had to edit your comment to delete what I think is a foul reference to Peterson. It is one often used to describe black conservatives in general, and I hate it. – Admin
That conference was on CSPAN for quite a while and whenever I came upon it, the ideas they were expressing were so old hat that I used my remote to go to something else. This is not something I would recommend to anyone to watch. If there was anything interesting there I never saw it
I wonder if Leo has read Scam. I have, and I have tremendous respect for Reverend Peterson. I have an idea what term was deleted from Leo’s post, and that term certainly does notapply to Reverend Peterson.
Im still laughing at…
I hate that word but basil’s take was too funny. the whole thing would be funny if it wasn’t so sad.
Sorry to delete the link, but it was wreaking havoc on the formatting. – Admin
Ms. Barber,
If we are going to engage in criticism of the guest of the show aired on C-SPAN, moderated by Tavis Smiley. I think it would be fair to comment on Reverend Peterson’s remarks. While I do agree with some of my fellow black conservative, on their criticism of some of the guests, and their platforms, I must take Reverend Peterson to task for his remarks. Michael Eric Dyson, has gone off the deep end with his embracing of the term “nigger”. I have never found his brand of circular logic reasonable, or lucid, but this takes the proverbial cake. He has accepted his niggerdom, and the problem as I see it, is that he has given license to many of the white conservatives who see us that way, to openly refer to us in that manner. I am sure he will be the guest of many white conservative talk show host like Sean Hannity, and Rush Limbugh, who will invite him to speak to his epiphany, and agree with his assessment of himself. He is going to replace other popular guest like Armstrong Williams, and Wart Connelly. Mr Dyson’s premise is ludicrous, outrageous, harmful, and just plain dumb. But allow me speak to the comments of Reverend Peterson.
Judging just from the comments put forth in your blog, one would have to question his motives. He said “There is no separate ‘African American’ agenda. The agenda for black Americans is the same as the one for whites and other Americans: Love of God, country, and family; lower taxes, a good education, and a good environment to raise a family.” Respectfully Ms. Barber, if Mr. Dyson has embraced his niggerdom, I suggest that Reverend Peterson has embraced his roll as a ***. To suggest that African American ought to pretend that our agenda is the same as whites, is not a new platform. It is just phrased differently. Many *** would just say ‘you’lls know can’t no nigger make it without massa’. Reverend Peterson said the same thing, he just wore a tie when he said it. It is interesting, that every other ethnic group, Jews, Hispanics, Caribbeans, Arabics, Asians, determine their own agenda based on common needs, and goals. Every other group enjoys spirited discourse, by people in their own group, as to the difference of opinion, be it liberal or conservative. Somehow when African Americans decide to sit and talk about their agenda, without a white man giving his approval to it, Peterson, (I am sorry) Reverend Peterson must announce that this is improper for an African American to do this. He engenders that scared, weak nigger mantra, “we needs to be good niggers.”
Ms. Barber, I am also a pastor, and my bible teaches me that we are all unique. Things do separate us, be it what we believe, our color, our tribe. God never had a problem with acknowledging our differences. The book of Acts tells us on the day of pentecost, there were a lot of people assembled with many tongues, meaning different languages. This meant they were from different lands, different cultures, each having there own agenda. God has no problem recognizing their differences, but Reverend Peterson has a problem with African Americans acknowledging that they are different.
Reverend Peterson did not stop there, he goes on to say, “Things are getting better for black Americans. They’re getting married and taking more personal responsibility for their own lives. They are beginning to question the established liberal black leaders which have kept most of them angry at the white man and addicted to programs.” He added, “More blacks are rejecting the evil Democratic platform (abortion on demand and homosexual marriage).” Well Reverend Peterson, if we are getting married, and taking personal responsibility for our selves (which by the way, we have always done), and oh my God we are beginning to question things, then we ought to be satisfied. We have enough, why look for anything more? We must be ingrates if we aren’t satisfied. This is a classic house nigger decree. Massa treats us good, what mores does you want.
I disagree with Reverend Peterson.
Respectfully
Pastor Leo Colon
Respectfully, I edited your comment to exclude derogatory references to Peterson. – Admin
I find this subject troubling because:
a. I’m a lily white Republican and any time white Rethuglicans get involved in this discussion topic it kind of ends up in a “have you stopped beating your wife?” type scenario that liberals love to use to beat on us. That leads me too…
b. Discussion of this topic is a sure way to continue to empower liberals to claim the moral high ground on this issue and preach to us about words (or all things), political correctness, and how much we still have to do (don’t know about that) while they act out as bigots.
We need to just drop this horse hockey because it’s like fighting with a pig in the mud. You get covered in youknowwhat and the pig loves it.
Pastor Colon, with all due respect to you and your calling, I’m confused by some of your comments.
Love of God, country, and family, lower taxes, a good education, and a good environment to raise a family are what I would consider universal desires that totally transcend racial concerns. What should the different agenda be for blacks?
Again with respect, I submit that your characterizations about (modifying here to avoid the pejoratives) masters and house servants are very difficult to understand. I was raised with the understanding that we’re all God’s children, and as such are all equal in His eyes. Striving to make that the status quo in daily society seems the proper agenda, while driving wedges between the races by concentrating on victimhood is counterproductive at the very best, and can be devastating to the hopes and dreams of those most in need in our society.
Sorry, I am a little late on this discussion. Thanks LaShawn, for putting a link to Nick Steward and The Right Night Radio. The show went well last night.
Onto this subject of Rev. Peterson and the state of the Black Union 2005. I am not Black, but rather white. I was a product of liberalism in America and because of this I grew up poor and fatherless. I was also raised in a secular liberal Democratic household where I grew to hate America, capitalism, and Ronald Reagan.
Because of where I grew up and where I went to school, most of my close friends were Black and grew up in the same liberal fatherless households that I did. Immediately I thought of myself as Black because of the culture and mentality I took on. I thought I was Black because of the way I spoke slang, the way I dressed, the way I could rap, the way I could dance, the way I could play basketball, the way I treated girls, the way I disrespected all authority including my mom, teachers and the police. Of course me and my friends began running as a crew and got into many sinful and illegal behavior.
My best friend got arrested for bringing a handgun to school in sixth grade, another close friend got a girl pregnant and became a father his seventh grade year, several others got wrapped up in alcohol and drugs and immediately dropped out of high school. One close friend got arrested for rape charges, another for attempted manslaughter, another is now serving 40 years in prison for burglary and manslaughter, and another is in prison for attempted manslaughter. These were all my close friends growing up. I, by the grace of God, never did much fighting, but I was a thief. I did a lot of breaking and entering and business theft. In fact I was facing 2-3 years in prison after I was arrested my senior year in High School.
The only advice I ever remember my mother giving me when I was little was, “If you get good enough grades, the government will pay for you to go to college.” The only advice I ever got was about government dependence, not about God or country or anything of any value. So silently, I got good grades in school because I didn’t want to live like my family who were poor and hopeless. While I was striving to make it out of my situation by doing well in school, my twin brother and all my other friends were seeing who could get the worst grades. My twin brother actually set a school record in eighth grade for the most in school suspensions and flunked off the basketball team several times. It is a wonder he made it through high school. We were basically the only ones out of all our close friends and family to graduate from high school.
I was saved my senior year in high school in a Black pentecostal church where the Lord Jesus Christ lead me to one early Sunday morning. It was no less than a week after I was saved that the Lord rebuked and disciplined me for my sinful culture of theft and robbery. So instead of going to college, I was now facing 2-3 years in prison. But by the grace of God, I was afforded the opportunity to go to college and avoid a prison sentence.
The only way we got to go to college was through a program called GROUPS, a federally funded government program for first-generation, low income students. We entered the majority Black program and felt like we finally had found our home. We immediately fit in and everybody loved us: students, professors, staff, etc. We were the two poorest students in that entire program. We came to Indiana University with nothing but a gym bag of clothes and a small radio.
Even though I was saved by Jesus Christ, I attended a liberal church, never had or read a Bible and wasn’t discipled. Instead of becoming a disciple of Jesus Christ I became a disciple of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., whose philosophies and ideologies are socialist if not marxist, hence all of his disciples’ marxist ideologies such as Jackson, Sharpton, Dyson, West, Gates, etc. (but that is for a different post).
I soon became an intellectual scholar majoring in African American Studies, Spanish and Sociology. I was a prized student, taking Senior seminars my sophomore year and writing two honors thesis. I won every scholarship, award, honor at Indiana University including the most prestigous Gros Louis Award for the most outstanding senior. My brother and I were also Ronald E. McNair Scholars and went around the nation presenting at conferences our research that promoted socialistic government programs and interventions. I was a full blown communist.
I hated America so much that I left it to go to live in Spain my junior year. There I saw secularism and socialism first hand. Racism, homosexuality, sexual promiscuity, poverty, drug use, alcohol abuse, etc. was so rampant and extreme. Racism was so strong that the only Black males you saw were bootleg street vendors in the metro and all the Black women you saw were street hookers. There was a culture of sin that permeated through Spain and all of Europe. It opened my eyes to the freedoms, liberties and beauty of America. I left Spain as soon as I could.
I didn’t become a conservative until my twin brother was saved his senior year in college. He then told me about it and I bought a Bible and we both started to read the Word and it transformed our minds. A book by Wayne Perryman, Unfounded Loyalty, also helped us see that Jesus Christ, not government, is the answer. So we began to preach out against communism and marxism and started to preach on Jesus Christ. Soon the entire campus found out and next thing you know we are battling the entire Black Graduate Student Association. Telling them about Jesus Christ, strong family values, hard work, Church, community, and America. We got accepted to several Ph.D. programs in Sociology and Education Policy Studies. I was awarded a Ronald E. McNair Fellowship, one of the most prestigious in all the land, but we turned it all down and followed Jesus Christ to come to Branson, Missouri and the Kanakuk Institute.
I tell you all of this to let you know about my past experiences growing up and my educational experiences at college. Democrats, who hold a socialistic, secular worldview, were the party who instituted slavery and Jim Crow. The KKK was the malicist right arm of the Democrat Party. It is the socialistic and racist slavery view that the Democrat Party holds and still adheres to: “You (Black Americans, minorities, women, poor) are inferior, ignorant, unable to compete in a free market system, unable to provide for yourselves and your family, and you need us to support you for your food, shelter and clothing.” Government programs and entitlements only promote a slave mentality and slave system within our culture and community. Government intervention destroys the moral and social fabric of our local communities. The family is destroyed causing men to lose sense of responsibility, leaving children poor and fatherless. Safety nets, although having good intentions, have a very negative effect on the moral code of a people. People become socially and morally irresponsible, sexual promiscuous, while drug use, alcohol abuse, and a numerous amount of other ills begin to plague and destroy the family household. Because of government intervention, individuals don’t understand the importance of saving and investing wisely their money. They don’t understand the value of personal ownership. And ultimately they don’t see value in life, their own or others.
These Black leaders such as Jackson, Dyson, West, Gates, Sharpton, prayerfully are all well intentioned, but they don’t have a solid Christian Biblical worldview to understand the negative effects that socialism, secularism and communism have particularly on the Black community. These worldviews and religions (Yes, communism is a religion) does nothing but promote a Godless society. Communism in effect is another systematic form of slavery.
On the other hand, it is personal freedom and individual liberty that allows Jesus Christ and Christian values to flourish throughout all of America and to all communities, regardless of race. Rev. Peterson, Booker T. Washington, Frederick Douglass, Sojourner Truth, LaShawn Barber all understand this and are true American heroes who are fighting for real freedom. Freedom from slavery, socialism, communism and the utter moral decay that has destroyed Black American culture and Black communities.
Good comments Aaron, been awhile since I read you last.
RedBeard,
Love of God, and family, lower taxes, a good education, and a good environment to raise a family, are universal. But I should not have to denounce the fact that I am black, or say that there is no difference between my white brother and I. I should not be criticized because I affirm the differences, and operate under the reality of those differences. I do want to raise my children in a good environment, the problem is because I am a black man my environment is littered with white police officers who don’t see a problem with shooting me forty-one times, although I am unarmed. That kind of mistake never happen in the white environments. Saying that it does not happen doesn’t help. In my environment I want to go to college like anyone else, my grade show that I am in fact qualified to be in that college, but my President has the gall to use Martin Luther King’s birthday to suggest that Dr. King would agree with him that blacks should not be in Michigan School of Law if it means that there is a white student who is left out. I would love to participate in lower taxes, but in New York City, unemployment among people of color is over 40%. I suggest to you there are stark differences, and we need to deal with them. If my wife and I have children, we would both love them equally, but I should not have to deny that I am a man in order to profess my love for them. I also should not have to deny that as a man I have different concerns and needs than my wife. I also should not be vilified for getting together with other men to discuss the needs and issues that are specific to me and can help me to be a better citizen and father. This is not concentrating on victimhood. It is the reality of our existence. Many other communities have also live under harsh tyranny, they all have use the same resources that we as African Americans are availing ourselves to. The sin we as African Americans must have committed seems to be when we African American stand for ourselves. African Americans wanting what is right is diminished to liberal ramblings. Our anarchic reality is constantly belittled because our friends have not experienced it. But it is real, and not victimhood. The theological discussion would take a while, but if you like to discuss it, I would be glad to.
Leo, just out of curiosity, what School of Theology did you come from?
With regards to some of your comments, the reality is that the environment is littered with white, black, brown and purple police offiers who don’t see a problem with pumping 41 bullets into you or me, should you be so foolish as to find yourself in a situation that warrants them doing so.
You also said “I would love to participate in lower taxes, but in New York City, unemployment among people of color is over 40%.”
Did you ever stop to consider that the economics of NYC precludes hiring lo/no-skill folks?
Don’t blame the “Man” (well, actually, yes, please do blame the white liberal elites), blame the fools for not getting educated so as to make themselves useful and productive in the machine.
Blame the tax and spend fools who jack the cost of doing business thus distorting the free market dynamics of the city. Blame the fools who think they know what is best for us and establish bureaucracies that distort and maintain economic disparities.
As someone noted earlier, we are all related and Noah is our ur-father. Your focus on the color of skin makes as much sense as focusing on the discrete differences between left & right handed people. Lefty says to Righty: “But I should not have to denounce the fact that I am a Lefty, or say that there is no difference between my Righty brother and I. I should not be criticized because I affirm the differences, and operate under the reality of those differences.”
Pastor, I would be pleased to discuss anything with you at any time. You would have me at a severe disadvantage during any theological discussion, though, given my rather casual attention to attendance at services. But I assume there may be hope for me, as there is for everyone.
What bothers me the most about your posts is how the negativity expressed might affect two people near and dear to me. I mentioned my two little cousins in a prior post. I want the best for them, and I fear that a message which emphasizes differences and difficulties rather than commonality and opportunity would discourage and demoralize them.
Their parents, one white and one black, have raised those kids to believe in themselves, and to believe that all things are possible. No one has sugar-coated anything, and the kids know precisely what sort of difficulties lie ahead for them. But the kids have had their development guided by positive reinforcement, not negative. The little boy says he wants to be president of the United States some day, and the girl intends to become a doctor. I have no reason to think they cannot do precisely those things.
There’s nothing as sad as a young person with no sparkle in the eyes, and the quickest way to cause that is to take hope away.
Mr Aaron J. Hawkins proves my point. Anyone who thinks because he was fatherless and poor, and because he was fatherless and poor, he lived (naturally) in a neighborhood filled with blacks. And because he and the poor, fatherless blacks were friends made him black in his mind. Defined by his affinity to the same music, disgusting attitude toward women, and the way he dressed further solidified his personage as a black man. And of course how can we forget his criminal activity. If he think he was black by then, being a thief should have convinced him. I am glad that he had encounter with Jesus, but he still has some growing to do. But his racist conclusions are exactly the point. He would find Reverend Peterson to be appropriate apologist for the rest of us poor, fatherless black people. I guess we should thank Mr Hawkins for his insight.
Andy, are you serious? I have no problems pumping someone with 41 bullets, if he or she was engaged in criminal behavior. That situation that I was referring to was the incident in the Bronx, New York, not to long ago. That young man did nothing wrong and was unarmed. Furthermore, only white police officers make these types of “mistakes” of shooting unarmed black men, who are doing nothing wrong, not evading police, or involved in any criminal activity what so ever. Black, brown and purple officers know good and well, they had better not make that kind of mistake in any white neighborhood. Even if they made that kind of mistake in a black neighborhood, at least an investigation would ensue, and the chips would fall where they may. Black, Brown or Purple officers would know that they would be prosecuted to the full extent of the law. White police officers in New York, under the Gulliani administration, knew they had free reign to kill any African American they wanted to, and did just that. No one would touch them, or even reprimand them.
Is it also your contention that “lo/no-skill folks” is synonymous with people of color? Is it your contention that there are no white folks with no or “lo” skills. If so, why do they not suffer under the same 40% unemployment problems that others do?
The Man, as you put it does have some culpability here. I blame both sides (liberal and conservative) for many problems that their hegemony has produced in our community. We need to own up to a lot, but I refuse to forgive them when they are unrepentant, and continue their racist agenda.
Leo, Aaron is referring to a specific sub-group known as the underclass. If you want to deny there is such a thing, where generations of blacks are caught up not so much in a cycle of poverty but a lifestyle of poverty, you’re being disingenuous.
Illegitimacy, crime, drug use, underemployment, low academic achievement, delinquency, etc. are factors affecting all segments of society to a certain degree, but blacks are disproportionately affected. If you want to paint Aaron’s conclusions as racist, I invite you to check out rap videos, or walk through an urban “black” neighborhood, read crime statistics, talk to some of the young people – and a whole host of other things. I assume you’re black, so what I’m saying and what Aaron wrote is not foreign to you.
If you want to feign shock or call his conclusions “racist” because he’s white, I warn you to tread lightly. I don’t want anyone on this blog, black or white, to be called a racist. This is not the blog for you if that’s where you’re headed. You obviously haven’t been reading it very long. Calling someone a racist is the #1 conversation-stopper and stifles discussion. There are enough black liberal blogs out there for you to frequent if that’s a word you’d like to use freely.
I believe some of writers are completely missing the point here. My dad was very embarrassed by the stupidity that was on display here. What I want sensible Blacks to do is come down hard on frauds like Dyson and these other clowns just as they do Howard Dean. Also for some of the blacks who keep talking about the Dems being the founders and members of the KKK, who put us in the hands of these folks after Reconstruction Huh? Who’s administration did separate but equal come about in 1896?! William McKinley! Also Blacks weren’t even on the radar during this time. So to my Black conservative brothers the GOP wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for sometime.
Leo,
I’d be interested in where you got the 40% unemployment rate for NYC. Especially when overall unemplyment is 5.4 as of Dec 04.
My sources:
http://www.bls.gov/eag/eag.ny_nyc.htm
And just for you I created a special database report looking at only black male and female NYC stats across several age categories and an overall all race/sex as a control here at (200 tables in all):
http://data.bls.gov/PDQ/servlet/SurveyOutputServlet;jsessionid=f0308df0c044$3F$3F$3
The closest thing to 40% I can find is that (cursory view) 16 – 19 year old black male rate is 37% vs 17% for all race/sex. However that drops to 20% for black male 20 – 24 year olds and again to 8% for black male 25 – 54 year old males.
I stand by my no/lo-skill characterization. When gangsta wanna-bes are too busy acting thuggish instead of acting white and hitting the books, NYC does not offer much in the way of work. If Coz is right about 50% of black kids dropping out and you own a McDonalds, are you going to hire one of those kids? Bottomline, drop out and you’re on a dead-end street. I hope you are preaching every Sunday to your flock to be “acting white”.
Here’s a break down of employment in NYC:
Natural Resources and Mining, Construction, Manufacturing, Trade, Transportation, and Utilities : 776.5 Thousand Workers
Information, Financial Activities, Professional & Business Services, Educational & Health Services : 1840.3 Thousand Workers
Leisure & Hospitality, Other Services : 427.3 Thousand Workers
Government : 550.3 Thousand Workers
As you can see, no/lo- skill jobs rank low on the totem pole of the NYC economy and when you apply the productivity rate against the cost of real estate in the 5 boroughs, NYC is no place for home and hearth when you don’t have hi-$$ skills. When it comes to work for the no/lo-skill, it’s gonna be in the Leisure & Hospitality, Other Services Sector which as you will note, only has 427 thousand workers. The only real option young black men is to get educated or “go West”.
As for blaming both sides, you can only really blame those who held the keys.
Also I don’t buy into your racist conspiracy that cops had a kill at will policy under Rudy. Crack down and crack some heads? Sure. Get away with murder? Hardly. You as a preacher man should know better — wages of sin=death et al, unless you got your divinity degree from where ever it is that Sharpton got his.
Lisa, I don’t mean to nitpick, but William McKinley wasn’t inaugurated until March 4, 1897. In 1896, the President was Grover Cleveland, a Democrat.
Ummm Lisa, “Also for some of the blacks who keep talking about the Dems being the founders and members of the KKK, who put us in the hands of these folks after Reconstruction Huh? Who’s administration did separate but equal come about in 1896?! William McKinley! Also Blacks weren’t even on the radar during this time. So to my Black conservative brothers the GOP wasn’t all it was cracked up to be for sometime.”
Question: when did the Reconstruction(s) take place?
History refresher timeline and distribution of political power
1857: Supreme Court declared Missouri Compromise unconstitutional in the Dred Scott decision
[Buchanan (D), Sen:41|20 (D 62%), House:132|90 (D 56%)]
1866: 14th Amendment to the US Constitution. Ku Klux Klan established in Pulaski, Tennessee.
[Lincoln (R)/Johnson (D), Sen:11|39 (R 72%), House:38|136 (R 70%)]
1867: General Nathan Bedford Forrest, the Grand Wizard of the Empire, converted the Klan into a paramilitary arm of the Democratic party to oppose Republican governments set up by Congressional Reconstruction acts.
[Johnson (D), Sen:9|57 (R 84%), House:47|173 (R 77%)]
1869: The Colored National Labor Union, the 1st national Negro labor group is established (No blacks on radar?)
[Grant (R), Sen:12|62 (R 84%), House:67|171 (R 70%)]
1870: Joseph Rainey and the Reverand Hiram R. Revels, both black, take seats in Congress and Civil Rights Act (Enforcement Act) is passed
[Grant (R), Sen:12|62 (R 84%), House:67|171 (R 70%)]
1871 – 1872: Tho not all southern whites were KKK, many did sympathize and did not attempt to prevent the atrocities against blacks. Law enforcement was weak so to federal intervention was necessary to stop the reconstruction era Klan. Congressional legislation was enacted to enable law enforcement by the federal government. 1st era KKK is snuffed out
[Grant (R), Sen:17|56 (R 76%), House:104|136 (R 56%)]
1876: In the United States v. Cruikshank, the Supreme Court restricts 14th Amendment to Civil Rights violations committed by states instead of individuals
[Grant (R), Sen:28|46 (R 61%), House:182|103 (D 62%)]
1877: Rutherford B hayes is sworn in as President. Appoints John Harlan to SCOTUS. Note the balance of power
[Hayes (R), Sen:35|40 (R 53%), House:155|136 (D 53%)]
1888: Negro banks founded in Washington D. C. and Richmond, VA. Cleveland did the following; spoke out against injustices on the Chinese in the West, sympathized with the South’s balking at treating blacks as social or political equals, thought Indians should be assimilated into white society and took care not to speak out against female suffrage but never supported women’s right to vote.
[Cleveland (D), Sen:37|39 (R 51%) House:167|152 (D 51%)]
1895: Frederick Douglass spoke at a meeting of the National Council of Women in Washington, D.C then passes away that evening.
[Cleveland (D), Sen:44|40 (D 50%), House:218|124 (D 61%)]
1896: Supreme Court declared “separate but equal” is constitutional in Plessy v Ferguson. The lone dissenter, Justice John Harlan, was appointed to the Supreme Court in 1877 by President Rutherford B. Hayes, wrote
“Our Constitution is color-blind, and neither knows nor tolerates classes among citizens. In respect of civil rights, all citizens are equal before the law…In my opinion, the judgment this day rendered will, in time, prove to be quite as pernicious as the decision made by this tribunal in the Dred Scott case…The present decision, it may well be apprehended, will not only stimulate aggressions, more or less brutal and irritating, upon the admitted rights of colored citizens, but will encourage the belief that it is possible, by means of state enactments, to defeat the beneficient purposes which the people of the United States had in view when they adopted the recent amendments of the Constitution.”
Lisa, do you understand why Bush mentioned Dred Scott in his debate w/ sKerry?
[Cleveland (D), Sen:40|44 (R 49%), House:93|254 (R 71%)]
1897: William McKinley is sworn in as president. Lisa, you owe McKinley an apology.
[McKinley (R), Sen:34|44 (R 49%), House:124|206 (R 58%)
1900: G. H. White, a representative from North Carolina, introduced a bill to make lynching a federal crime, but the bill is defeated.
[McKinley (R), Sen:26|53 (R 59%), House:161|187 (R 52%)]
1905: Publication of Thomas Dixon’s novel, The Clansman. KKK spreads thruout the South, North and Midwest w/ over 3 million members by the 1920s. In addition to their violence against blacks (cross burning became popular), they were also opposed to the modern music and culture of the Jazz Era, and viewed alcohol, smoking, and gambling as morally decadent.
[Roosevelt (R), Sen:33|57 (R 63%), House:176|207 (R 54%)]
1910: National Association for the Advancement of Colored People established.
[Taft (R), Sen:32|60 (R 65%), House:172|219 (R 56%)]
1929: An all negro union receives a charter from the American Federation of Labor. 2nd era KKK is irrelevant. Oh yeah, Stock Market Crash.
[Hoover (R), Sen:39|56 (R 58%), House:164|270 (R 62%)]
Late 1940s: 3rd era KKK surfaces w/ Samuel Green behind it. However, they faced obstacles as states began banning its formation. Justice Hugo Black was an anti-catholic & Klansman who introduced the phrase “separation of Church and State” into law in Everson vs. the Board of Education.
[Truman (D), Sen:45|51 (R 53%), House:188|246 (R 57%)]
Ms. Barber,
I found Aaron depiction of his specific sub-group troubling, because he attributed his and other blacks in his sub groups criminal, disruptive, and unfortunate behavior, to the fact that they did not have a father at home, and that they grew up poor. His assumptions are precisely the type of disruptive thought that identifies, and renders criminal behavior by our people today understandable because of the music they listen to, or because they are from the “Hood”. It is my contention that this kind of behavior has everything to do with lack of moral restrained, even self restrained. I don’t deny these underclass exist, I do deny that people can legitimately hide behind these subgroups to explain why they steal, or rape, or murder. This is the type of rhetoric I am criticizing.
Mam, I agree that “Illegitimacy, crime, drug use, underemployment, low academic achievement, delinquency, etc. are factors affecting all segments of society to a certain degree”. I did in-fact grow up in such an atmosphere, having grown up in Brooklyn, in Crown Heights. My father was in fact home, but many of my friends did not have their fathers at home. some of my cousins did not know their fathers, and were poor, somehow their lives did not follow the path of Aaron’s. I am not sure how he would explain that. I have a cousin who did end up in jail, but his father was there for him his whole life. He ended in jail because he was stupid enough to steal car. They were not poor, they were not rich, but certainly they were not poor. How does Aaron account for that. I do paint Aaron conclusions as racist, because this is more of the same thought that has fueled the kind of disruptive, and disingenuous, and frankly false assertions by white America that this is just they those people are because they have no father, and they are poor. With regard to checking out rap videos, I am in few. I am on a ton a rap records, I have toured with many of them, as I am a musician. This can easily be verified by looking up my discography. I have travelled in and out of this music industry, and irresponsible behavior comes from the same place in rap artist, as they do from rock and roll artist who throw televisions out of hotel windows, and routinely travel with cocaine in their possession, and treat women like badly use meat. Some of these rock stars even commit crimes, but they is never a discussion to suggest that we could understand why they may have rape a women, by looking at his music collection. This kind of thinking was even use and well illustrated during 911. One man out of the 20 men who were plotting the 911 event(the darkest man) was arrested before it happen. We all listened as our Attorney General described him as pure evil. But when asked what drove a white man from California to join Al-Qeuda, become muslim, and fight against American troops, it was said well he would listened to KRS-1, and read Alex Haley’s Auto Biography of Malcom X. Ms. Barber they white criminal was said to be a victim of black culture, and therefor not responsible for his actions. Somehow, many of these assertions were from his own father. Our music is not the problem. Our clothes don’t make us do the wrong that we do. Mr. Hawkins does have right to his opinion, but I sincerely disagree with his opinion.
You are right Ms Barber, I am black, and you are also right to assume that these things (urban ?black? neighborhood, read crime statistics, talk to some of the young people) are not knew to me. I am these young people, I am only 38 years old, and would be the first to admit I don’t know it all. But this I can say, I do not “feign shock” at Mr Hawkins conclusions, I recognize them.
If this disqualifies me from this discourse, then I sadly will submit to you decision, what ever that will be. You are right, I have not been reading your posting long, but I have really enjoyed your insight, and also the response of the comments posted to your blog. I do really enjoy coming here and reading your opinions, but I certainly do not want to be a spoiler to your forum. If I have then I do apologize for my ignorance.
Sincerely
Leo.
I’m not trying to run you off, Leo. You are welcome to continue participating. I just thought you should be aware that this is not a forum for the “You’re a racist” camp. While I want to provide free discussion back and forth, I don’t want name-calling going on between the commenters. In fairness to you, I don’t think you called Aaron a racist; you were referring to his conclusions. Because you’re new to the blog, however, I thought it was a good opportunity to explain one of my unwritten rules.
You can call George Bush a racist, for example. But when commenters say that to each other, the whole thread gets off-topic and the original points are lost.
Politicians are fair game, including the President, but I still have to object to the overuse of the racist accusation. Seldom is it directed at someone deserving of the tag. It’s a cheap slur, misused and misdirected so badly as to be useless in any rational discussion.
I once had a political argument with an Irish socialist, and in a final flurry of desperate energy he accused me of being a racist. My crime? I had stated that France had become irrelevant in the setting of world priorities. Ok, that’s a fair point to debate. But to call me a racist is beyond any rational comprehension. All I can assume is that he had the bizarre notion that the French are a different race than Americans (as if each country were homogeneous in the first place), or more likely that he simply ran out of legitimate arguments and resorted to typical left-wing hyperbole.
I don’t mind being called a grouch, or a hard-nosed conservative, because I am. I don’t mind being called wrong when I’m wrong (I hear that at home a lot). I don’t even mind being called wrong when I think I’m right; that’s open for discussion, as is my degree of sanity when it comes to Cubs baseball. But I surely do mind being crudely and cheaply tagged as a racist.
Self restraint is reinforced in a stronger manner when there is a father present. I see this on a daily basis in my classroom. On an average, students with both parents at home display more self restraint in the classroom and are more apt to succeed. A majority of my male students who live without a father show contempt towards their mother, contempt towards their female classmates, and particularly contempt towards female teachers. These same male students will likely grow up to be absentee fathers, wife-beaters and show an utter lack of respect towards authority. I do not have the same discipline problems because I am a man. That respect for mothers, female classmates and teachers comes from the discipline inherently instilled by a father. There are always exceptions, and I know plenty of single mothers who run a well disciplined home. However, the truth is that these behaviors flourish in a setting that is absent of the man showing young boys how to be a man. This is true no matter if they are black, white, hispanic or any other ethnic/racial group. It has been applied more to blacks because of the fact that the majority of babies born to unwed mothers with no participation of the father takes place in the black community. An example is in Galveston, TX, where I taught for 2 years. Among blacks, over 40% of the family units where without a father. The schools there face an alarming problem in student discipline and achievement among black students, especially black males. This translates to an overabundance of black family units (without 2 parents) living in public housing with young black males becoming involved in gangs and crime. While not having a father is not the sole reason for these problems, it is a major contributor. You do find the same problem in the white and hispanic communities where the situation is the same, but it is predominantly in the black community. For whites to point out these facts, that makes them “racist.” Many of us “whiteys” have grown tired of this defense mechanism being used by politicians who refuse to confront the truth or are too polarized to speak out for fear of being called an “Uncle Tom” or house N. Facts are facts. Until the facts are confronted and accepted, we will find ourselves in this same sad discussion. Progress will only come when more adopt the rule for Academy freshmen when they must confront their wrong doing: “NO EXCUSE SIR.”
Leo,
You are exactly right that I did have what you would consider “racist” thoughts about what it meant to be Black in America. I thought I was Black because of the culture that I grew up in and embraced as my own. It was a worldly culture of SIN, plain and simple. I got my views from my Black friends, from BET, and later on from all my Black professors and “mentors.” There was a time, from the end of high school all throughout college, that I would not listen to a white person. I saw every white person as a racist, bigoted oppressor who was only there to hold me down. The views I had about Black Americans and myself came only from my Black professors and other Black scholars such as Dyson, West, Gates, DuBois, etc. I thought you were Black if you listened to rap, spoke slang, walked with a limp, abhorred marriage, was disrespectful, was loud, defiant, etc. If you were Black but you wore a suit and tie, spoke proper english, had a steady job, was married, owned property such as a car or house, was responsible, didn’t rant about racism and the “man” then you were not Black but rather “a puppet of the White oppressor.” This view was supported by all my Black peers, friends and professors. It was the very people who claimed they were against racism, that was pumping nothing but racist ideology, mentalities and attitudes into my mind. But after being cleansed by the washing of the blood of Jesus Christ and the renewing of my mind (Romans 12:2) I rejected all of my past liberal racist ideologies and began to seek the truth. Now I am against the very culture that I grew up in and embraced. I am against hip hop and rap that does nothing but glorify the flesh and the world, which is also a secular humanist religion (check out exministries.com). I am against the hip hop culture that promotes speaking in slang, walking with a limp, dressing disgracefully, etc. because it is a culture born of SIN and the Devil. I know, I was of the Devil and went doing his work and spreading his message. Now I don’t see things in terms of Blacks or White culture but rather in terms of a culture of Jesus Christ. When people dress a certain way, such as the way I did when I was a sinful pagan, I ask myself, is that glorifying to God and is that a culture born of Christ, or is it worldly, fleshly and of the Devil. Same with speech, same with music, etc. Yes, I will be honest. I may lose some friends or even some allies, but I get extremely mad when others speak to Black youth using slang, wearing urban apparel, rapping, etc. glorifying the same sinful worldly culture that true Christians are trying to snatch youth out of. I get especially mad when it is so-called Christians who are glorifying and promoting this sinful culture to reach those trapped in sin. We need real Christians who are willing to renew their mind, surrender their entire life to Christ, no matter how strong a former sinful, worldly culture had them wrapped up, and conform to the mind and culture of Christ. We need sensible MALE leaders who speak proper english, who tuck their shirts in and wear clothes that fit them, who walk properly, who value marriage and family, who denounce hip hop and rap and the sinful culture that permeates throughout them. It is not about “what does it mean to be Black?” but rather “what does it mean to look, act, think, like Christ?”
WOW,
Thanks Aaron. I couldn’t have said it better.
LaShawn,
I saw on the computer Rev Peterson’s forum. I believe it was Mychal Massie who said that some said he was not black because of his views. Gloria
Jackson is the greatgranddaughter of Booker T. Washington so she has personal interest in supporting his views. Over thirty years ago, one fifteen year old said someone was not black because both parents had a college education and the mother was a junior high math teacher. These classifications of being black that depend on education and opinions are still troubling today.
Dr. Condi Rice cannot be black since both her parents have a college education. This is the Rev Jessie that we support! Rev. Peterson said that there is not separate black agenda!
JMB
Aaron, while I wholeheartedly support you in your new life, I have to remind you that some of us have to be all things to all people that we might get some to make a decision for Jesus. I live in the inner city, so that makes me urban. I drive a slammin’ (slang) SUV. I am a college-educated, gainfully employed, ordained minister. I don’t always wear a suit. I sometimes dress in baggy, comfortable clothes because they are comfortable. If they happen to be stylish, that is a bonus. Oh, I forgot to mention my ear is pierced and I walk with a limp (3 knee surgeries). What does all of this mean? Nothing, if my life isn’t in step with what I say to others. Colloquial speech aka slang has been around in every language for millenia–it isn’t going away. I would encourage you to look at what the world-at-large NEEDS, rather than being a self-styled martyr, turning your nose down at those who you COULD be reaching. You KNOW where they are because you came from them. How can you deem them unworthy of a chance to receive the life-giving revelation that you have received? They need your example, but in LOVE. Remember, Jesus went into Samaria. I don’t dig hip-hop either, but I won’t diss (sorry, that was slang again) those that use it as a way to get their foot in the door to reach someone that may not hear them and the Gospel otherwise. Just because someone doesn’t use your methods or isn’t in your sect/set, doesn’t make them wrong. After Elijah finished running from Jezebel, God asked him why was he there, then proceeded to tell him that he wasn’t alone in the fight. Elijah THOUGHT he was, but there were others in other places, using other methods to glorify God and get His word spread. So I encourage you to LOVE the brethren man. Love is serious business, serious enough to die for. If I have read you wrong I apologize, but I remember being as virulent once upon a time and accomplishing NOTHING for the Kingdom until I replaced that judgemental streak with a lot of love and compassion. Just remember where you came from Bruh (more slang). PEACE.
Rafael,
Are you saying it is ok for some to use foul language, promoting sexual promiscuity, lyrics as a way of bringing someone to Christ as ok? (Maybe your comment:
“I don’t dig hip-hop either, but I won’t diss (sorry, that was slang again) those that use it as a way to get their foot in the door to reach someone that may not hear them and the Gospel otherwise.” Is a bit misleading of what you mean. I am hoping you meant songs, that happen to have the beat of what is labeled hip-hop, but with a postive message. Yes??
Please clarify if I missed what you mean on that.
Renee, I am speaking merely of a musical style in regards to hip-hop. I am a minister of the Gospel of Jesus the Messiah, so that kind of foulness you mention has NO PLACE in that ministry, and I am sure you agree with that. I am just saying there are people, ESPECIALLY young people that need the Lord that don’t look like you think they should look or speak like you think they should. If you were to go to Brasil and try to minister, I would hope you have a working knowledge of Portuguese. My thing is there has to be an understanding of the environment you are dealing with. I have served as a youth minister and am well aware that there is a serious battle being waged for their spirits. So, while I CAN speak to the bourgoisie if need be, it carries no credibility around those that have a different view of life. Be all things to all men that you might win some–hit them where they live in other words. That doesn’t mean succumbing to what afflicts them and if definitely doesn’t mean compromising the Gospel to make them feel more comfortable. The scriptures were written in the language of the common man; so should the Gospel be spread.
Thanks Rafael. Yes I do agree (I think we are on the same page regarding the fould language and messages).
You said what I was hoping you would say:
“That doesn’t mean succumbing to what afflicts them and if definitely doesn’t mean compromising the Gospel to make them feel more comfortable. The scriptures were written in the language of the common man; so should the Gospel be spread.”
I gave up my Saturday, in oder to watch the show twice. I listened as Tavis chided the pastor (in his own church.)
Rev Farrakhan did say we should separate, but there was more to the story. His point was that we as a people need to find a way to lift ourselves up. We need to recapture our future, and not look for help from the republicans or the democrats. Neither of those political groups care about black people until election day.
I am disappointed to hear the sarcasm in some of the notes I have read on your site.
The facts, as stated in the show, black die in their 60s while whites can live into their 70s or 80s. This means they have an opportunity to use their social security and black do not. (Especially if the age to draw social security is raised to 68.) Our babies have a higher death rate, we have poor health, we are less educated (on average than all other peoples.) How do we change the tide? Do you think GW is going to fix that problem?
Black people are so concerned about who gonna get what, that they don’t care about what is happening to our race. In Africa, they are killing each other, and you know we are doing the same thing here. Instead of spewing charactor the assassination, do something to help the race.
I didn’t agree with everything those panelist talked about during the show, but I support 100% what they are trying to do.
The writers on your site seem like smart people, use the smartness to assure our future (an stop killing each other with thos foul tongues.)I don’t consider myself a nigga, and frankly I hate the term. But you know, I stopped a couple young brothers saying that a few moths ago, and they decided to educate me. They said, hey old school, must respect. We call each other nigga not nigger. I reponded, Martin Luther King fought to change America, so that you wouldn’t be called nigger. And now your calling each other nigga infront of white people, who now feal they can call you nigger too. (note nigger not nigga)
La Shawn:
I often wonder if grown men like Dyson and Jackson have completely lost their sense of irony? The title of your post made me laugh (I’m still smiling, and probably will be for the rest of the morning).
But I’m reminded of something I once read: all humor has an element of pain in it. How far these people have fallen, to comport themselves like this in public.
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