My Ghetto Graduation

Over the past weekend, I was fortunate to graduate from law school. I have not posted in a while because I have been busy getting prepared for this date. I won’t be posting much after this because I will be studying for the bar. But, at my graduation from an HBCU, the band put down their instruments to dance while people recieved degrees, people grabbed the mic and “shouted-out” their frats, family, and friends while people recieved their degrees, and fraternities and sororities party hopped around their seats while people recieved their degrees.

It was a sad day for black higher education. In a moment to celebrate, we looked like fools. This post is edited, as in a moment of bad judgment, I spoke of the fellow alumni in a maner unbecoming of them and myself. Name calling gets us no where. However, I still hold contempt for those who made my graduation a minstrel show. Can we ever hold ourselves out with dignity and respect. And, if not at graduation, then when? Just a question.

Suprise, Suprise! Rape Charges dropped in the Duke Lacrosse Case

Ok, the District Attorney of Durham, NC dropped the rape charges in the Duke Lacrosse case. He managed to hold on to the sexual offense and kidnapping. Some are going to wonder the difference between rape and sexual offense. The major difference is that:

(1) Rape involves vaginal intercourse. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.2 (2006).

Sexual offense involves : a sexual act defined by North Carolina statutes as, cunnilingus (oral sex on a female organ), fellatio (oral sex on a male organ), analingus (oral sex on the anal region), or anal intercourse, but does not include vaginal intercourse. Sexual act also means the penetration, however slight, by any object (including human body parts) into the genital or anal opening of another person’s body. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.1(4) (2006).  I added everything in parenthesis for clarity.

Both first degree rape and sexual offense, in relevant part, must include one of the following:
      a. Employs or displays a dangerous or deadly weapon or an article which the other person reasonably believes to be a dangerous or deadly weapon; or
      b. Inflicts serious personal injury upon the victim or another person; or
      c. The person commits the offense aided and abetted by one or more other persons. (clearly the element the State is going after).

Also, both rape and sexual offense carry the same punishment. N.C. Gen. Stat. § 14-27.4 (2006).

So, rape is vaginal intercouse while sexual offense involves other sex acts. Also, the punishment for both crimes is the same so this is not quite the victory it appears.  

It seemed clear from this point that a rape didn’t occur, and the sexual offense charges are a way for the State to maintain their belief in the story of the accuser. They might be the only people who still believe her. 

I wonder if all those people who were ready to burn the players’ house down, and vilify those who wanted to wait before coming to a decision will apologize. Also, when are the black panthers coming back to Durham? It’s about time for another circus act to come in town.

Also, some relevant case law to consider.

  The guarantee against double jeopardy under U.S. Const., Amend. V protects against multiple punishments for the same offense. Defendant may not be punished for both first-degree kidnapping and sexual assault, where sexual assault is used to elevate kidnapping to first degree. 

Further,  where defendant was convicted and sentenced for sexual assault and first-degree kidnapping predicated on one sexual assault, trial court was required to arrest judgment either on conviction of sexual assault or on conviction of first-degree kidnapping. Defendant could be resentenced for second-degree kidnapping, if judgment on first-degree kidnapping was arrested. State v. Coats, 100 N.C. App. 455, 397 S.E.2d 512 (1990), cert. denied, 328 N.C. 573, 403 S.E.2d 515 (1991).

2 FAMU Kappas convicted for Hazing

This post pains me, mainly because I am a member of a black Greek letter organization founded before 1913, and I understand, while disagreeing, with the hazing culture which it fosters. But, with two of the Kappas getting convicted under
Florida’s new hazing statute, the stakes seem to be higher than normal to haze guys.

I have already commented on my blog before about how stupid I think hazing is. I have standing to say it because I was hazed and am a member of one of these organizations. For those who disagree, I ask, were we founded for the purpose of going to jail for hazing? Were we founded to look more like gangs than non profit organizations for the purpose of service? Are the guys how are going to jail any more “real” for their acts. Truthfully, they are paper, because where they are going they have no credibility. They are not thugs. They were college men attempting to get a good education at a respected HBCU. They are not ready for their possible maximum 5 year sentence.

And, the parents are unsure if they are suing the fraternity civilly. This is sad and should serve as a wake up call, because no black Greek organization can survive a major civil suit for the hazing the majority of us inflict. Just think, to be sure your pledges get the respect; you may be the sole cause for bankrupting and ending your organization. Is that what you want? I doubt that’s what the founders wanted.

Tara Conner, Donald Trump, and Rosie O’Donnell (the 3 Stooges)

I am on Christmas break, and all the burdens that a break brings (bar applications, competition briefs, case notes to write, etc…) come to the forefornt; but, I do happen to watch a lot more television than I am used to.

 

And, Fox news seems to be fixated on the Miss USA scandal. Oh yes, Shepard Smith asked a panelist 3 times about Miss USA kissing Miss Teen USA. Every show had to show her walking in a bikini, and that seemed like the major news story of the day.

 

In a surprise turn of events, Donald Trump is “spitting hot fire” at Rosie from The View about her comments. She seems to think that this is a publicity stunt and the girl should be fired. I agree with that part, but I don’t understand why they think the girl should be fired. Who cares? She doesn’t hold a serious job and no one’s life is at stake. At most, she should keep her job because by underage drinking, partying too much, and having fake breast, she represents exactly what young white females in popular culture stand for. If you fire her, she becomes a martyr, being vilified for the exact same thing some young women want to become.

 

However, Donald’s reply to Rosie is juvenile and pathetic. He calls her ugly and talks about taking her girlfriend. Sounds like something 2Pac or a rapper would say, not a person from the Wharton School of Business. Donald needs to keep it real. All that money and the ability to get any hot model he wants to marry him has him delusional enough to think he can pull that off because of his looks. In the words of Nas, “negro please.” Donald would be lame if it wasn’t for the fact he is rich. But, it is what it is.  

 

In the end, this is great publicity for the Next Miss USA. Think of how many young white girls from middle school to college will tune in to watch their role model pass the crown, and to see who will represent them next. Donald, you are a genius.

“Top 5 Dead or Alive, and that’s just off 1 LP”

Ok, so JadaKiss made the above quote, but who is the best rapper? In one of the many conflicts of an educated African American, we listen to the same music we hate. With that said, and the mass of new CD’s hitting the I Tunes market, lets take a second to evaluate.

(1) Jay Z – I doubt most “Street” guys will like it, but I love it. He’s talking about being on another level. Not about being a thug, but about progessing to a business man. I feel that. Most African American males and females should. His progression from a thug to businessman, and not being affraid to make a record about it, makes him by number one rap artist today, and of all time.

(2) The Game – He name drops like a whore, talks about being street when he was on “Change of Heart” and the girl had a change of heart, and had a tattoo of a butterfly of his cheek (which even sounds gay to gay dudes). All in all, the Game is aweful, but the beats are hot. Not to mention, be brags about being in a gang to which he doesn’t belong. That is going to sell. Stupid, but that makes him second.

(3) Emenim – Same old, same old. Ripping new ass wholes, wishing he would be named as the greatest, wondering why people don’t beef with him when he tries to start drama. No one cares. Get off your drug habit, lock down your girl, and say something I haven’t heard you say. But, with a full collaberation albulm where he is only on a little less than 1/2 the songs, I will give you the 3 slot for putting others on.

(4) Nas – Haven’ t heard it yet. Sure, everyone’s got the bootleg, but I’m waiting. Hip Hop is Dead? True indeed, but you lying about what you’ve done in your street life isn’t going to bring it back. For that, you get the fourth spot.

(5) Anything from the south exept Little Brother – Young Cheezy, I mean Jeezy – LAME! Didn’t like the first.Won’t like this. Go ahead, promote your snowman shirts, be a detriment to our youth, and act like a clown. No one should support you. You may make money, but you are a sell out!

Laffy Taffy, snapping fingers like you’re a homosexual, no content, and all detriment. Luda is ok because he knowshe’s not a thug, and TI knows his mom went to Duke. I don’t know you? You’re mom got a premire education. Lil’ John, your parents are educated. Say YEAH to them. That probably call you the clown that you are. 

(6) Snoop Dogg – I was once fooled by you persuasion. Not now. I know you to be the clown that you are. I am not sold.

So, rap music is down these days, but I still like Jay Z. Thanks for truely keepin’ it real.       

Understanding Racial Profiling

The framework of this entry is based in the legal profession which I will be employed shortly. I intern during the year at a local district attorney’s office. There, I interact with roughly 300 or so African Americans per day. I see many African Americans at the trial and punishment phase for the crimes they commit. As such, I have a duty to run their criminal records for sentencing purposes. After performing such searches for over a year, I have become immune to African American mens and women’s records which are 6 – 8 pages long, with conviction after conviction for a multitude of crimes. When they are in court, they dress as they would in their normal life: long white tee shirts; big baggy jeans; long chain around their neck; and a hat if the bailiff did not make them take it off.

 

In undergrad we were required to take a class called psychology. There, we learned the concept of conditioned stimuli. The concepts’ premise is that when you see or hear something repeatedly (the condition) and it is accompanied by a certain result (stimuli) you will eventually expect the result (stimuli) every time you see or hear the condition. The concept is similar to training a dog. If you point your finger down and tell the dog to sit (condition), once the dog knows he will get a treat every time he obeys the command (stimuli), he will do it mostly every time.  

 

When people in court see black men and women dressed a certain way 300 times a day (condition), and run their records half the time, seeing long records of convictions most of the time (stimuli), they become conditioned to believing that most every young black person they see in their personal lives dressed that way has a long record for the crimes like the people we see in court.   

 

Further, there is nothing in these white peoples lives to break the condition. When they go home, they have no reason to interact with blacks who look that way. Of course, they work with other blacks and went to school with many others. But, those blacks seem different and outside the condition. They do not wear their jeans baggy, with a big white tee-shirt, and a straight brimmed hat. Thus, they do not place the blacks they know within the conditioned group. The result is that when you dress a certain way (like anyone in a basic rap video) you will be perceived by these whites to have a long criminal record.  And, I do not condone such stereotyping. However, I must say, I understand where it comes from.

 

Some will say, they don’t know the real me. That is true. But, they do not have to get to know you. They see many blacks on a daily basis, and a person’s record is as much a reflection of their person and character as anything. 6-8 pages of convictions for assaults, larcenies, theft crimes, and violent crimes tells a white person all they need to know. We may not like it, but its real.

 

All of this just to say, we need to break the mold and do better to stop the conditioned stimuli.   

One HBCU is Listening to a Young Black Man!

Last week the Durham Herald Sun reported that HBCU (school name ommited by me) would focus on customer service. (See the article below). In the article, they refer to a letter sent to the board of trustees which complained of customer service at the school. It just so happens, that I sent a letter to the board of trustees complaining of customer service. See my letter under the news paper article.

Our classmates may not like it, but speaking up is the only way to facilitate change!
 

 article, which can also be found online at: http://www.heraldsun.com/durham/4-785275.html . 

HBCU to focus on customer service
November 5, 2006 BY GREGORY PHILLIPS, The Herald-Sun

Leaders at HBCU want to see the school’s employees paying a little more attention to customer service.     Recent incidents yielded letters to the board of trustees . And they have that body’s executive committee concerned that, while Chancellor James Ammons has set up an office reporting directly to him to handle complaints, more needs to be done to prevent them from happening in the first place.    

” Every time we get a letter like that we have lost a potential contributor to the university ,” Chairman Cressie Thigpen told the trustees executive committee last week. “Sometimes I wonder if we are moving as quickly on that as we should.”    

Thigpen said a complaints office, while necessary, amounts to a Band-Aid approach when what’s needed is a change in the way HBCU hires and trains employees.    

The committee will present a list of recommendations to the full board of trustees meeting later this month, including customer service training for new employees, a mandatory annual seminar for all workers, monitors to deal with university departments and rate their service, plus a reward program for customer service.    

Board Secretary George Miller said some employees need reminding that, “We’re here to provide service and an education, not to keep someone in their place.”    

Any directive from the trustees is just a recommendation, but Thigpen said changing the customer service culture at HBCU has to come from the top.    

” The chancellor has to send the word out that we’re not going to tolerate people treating other people badly ,” he said.    

Thigpen also wants to see the trustees more actively involved in the university’s capital fundraising campaign. The committee agreed that all trustees should contribute money, but past chairman Ed Stewart also pushed for a minimum pledge level.    

“We all should be a participant of at least $1,000 each,” he said.    

Although Stewart’s suggestion got no traction, Miller said he’d never been asked for a donation during six years on the board.    

“I don’t think we need to set a dollar amount, but each trustee needs to know there’s an expectation,” he said.    

     COPYRIGHT 2006 by The Durham Herald Company. All rights reserved.

My letter to the board of trustees.

I have attended HBCU School of Law for two years. I have enjoyed my experience here at the law school. The staff is educated, respectful, and the facilities are exceptional. However, that is where my love for this institution ends. While I have attended the law school, there has not been a year where the main campus staff and employees have been anything more than rude, disrespectful, and completely unhelpful.    Unlike many who attend the Law School, my undergraduate degree is from a historically black college/university. I understand the struggles which face our HBCUs. However, HBCU ranks, in my mind, as administratively, one of the worst institutions a person could attend. Some of the reasons why include:  

  Financial Aid I have never seen such an unorganized group of individuals like what I have seen in the fiancial aid building. It is typical to wait for hours on the phone in an attempt to talk with someone. Once someone is on the phone, students are greeted with an unpleasant employee who chides students and rushes people off the phone before disseminating any useful information. In person, financial aid workers are often on cell phones while lines wrap around the room. Like over the phone, workers treat students like children and chastise them about problems. Students are there for information about their money. Such lines would not be necessary if financial aid did their job through out the year explaining the processes and procedures. In financial aid, students are not treated as if they are respected and valued, but as a burden in the day of the workers. You may make undergraduate students believe it is like this everywhere, but the graduate students know better, and we know you do as well.  

Now, financial aid tells the law students we will not receive our refund checks until October of this year. What is equally as frustrating is that the financial aid office is placing the blame on the students! What did we do wrong other than fill out the same forms and financial aid with came in September last year? If a change occurred in procedure, I would assume it would be financial aid’s job to inform students about it. However, that would require people to do their job, and at HBCU, that is always asking for too much.

Parking

Why are the law school parking lots VIP parking for football games? There is no where to park on Saturday’s to do school work. Students cannot study our rigorous course work because of these events. Indeed, there is no parking for students to use the undergraduate library during games. So, attending the athletic events is the focus on HBCU. Funny, at most schools, getting an education comes first. What do you think your serious students do instead? They travel to UNC-CH, Duke, or NC State to have a place to study. When students feel that it is too much of a hassle to study at their own institution, do you think they will become an alumni dedicated to giving contributions to improve the university? I hope not, because most students I talk to feel it was a mistake to come here, mainly because of the issues dealing with administration.

In regards to the daily parking problems revolving around the school, what attempts have been made to increase parking areas? All many students see is increased enrollment with no new lots. The law school itself has enough students to fill all the lots surrounding it. Because your administration is slow to act on anything non athletic, the law school pays a local church to rent parking spaces for its students. At least the law school takes swift, affirmative steps to show its students it is working with and for them.

Cafeteria and other services

At HBCU, I have witnessed, on multiple occasions, employees of this institution using profanity at students for asking questions like: ‘what is that for dinner’; ‘is there anywhere to park’; and ‘why can’t I wear my undergraduate school paraphernalia in the gym’? Overall, the staff at your institution is disrespectful and rude. Most graduate students feel being on campus only leads to hassle, and head-ache and prefer to stay here only for class. Is that the reputation you want for this university?

Before the Law School MPRE exam, a white individual said, “I was told to not take the exam at HBCU. Hopefully nothing will go wrong.” Not surprisingly, a fire alarm went off during the test. Many students are appealing the scores and want to invalidate the results. This is embarrassing to the institution. The students who took the exam are not just HBCU students, but students from across the world taking the NC Bar examination. The widely known reputation of HBCU as being ghetto, inefficient, unprofessional, unorganized, and dangerously susceptible to crime continues to grow with each instance where outsiders come on campus. Most students at the law school leave immediately after class because they do not feel safe here. In addition, many students here illuminate their undergraduate institutions in interviews because HBCU is thought to be a stain on any resume. After internships, many employers remark that they are impressed with our work despite coming from HBCU. All of this combines to make this institution the worst collegiate experience most of us here at the law school have ever experienced.

HBCU is a business and the students are its customers. The customers are dissatisfied. Most of my classmates agree that our children will never attend this institution. Further, we have no since of pride for anything here outside the law school. This letter could be longer, but you have heard all I have to say before. The question is, will you do anything about it or continue to hide behind the fake guise that this is a great institution with no problems?  

Young Black Man

School of Law, Class of 2007

HBCUs Administratively, are a bunch of Sell-Outs!

Frederick Douglas was beaten by a slave owner for attempting to read. See, generally, the Narratives of Fredrick Douglas. Martin Luther King, Jr. wanted his children to be able to go to school and play with children of different races. See, generally, Dr. King Jr. I Have A Dream Speech.  During most of African American history, whites have been the divisive line between African Americans and education. Now, however, the line has been drawn by African American leaders at HBCU (historically black colleges and universities) who make a fortune off of hindering the students they proclaim to serve.

 

Yes, there are exceptions. N.C. A&T State University had Renick, who has transformed the school into a modern university and a beautiful campus to which the entire state system can be envious. But, what about the others? Sadly, they fall short of providing students what they need to succeed. Further, they don’t come close to facilitating simple amenities that others students at predominately white schools enjoy.  

 

Recently, I sent an email to the Board of Trustees to an HBCU asking, why is their campus closed off during football games? No student can get on campus to do what they came to the institution for, which is to study and to get good grades. They act as if every student wishes to participate in homecoming. This school has a professional school. Yet, most of the professional school students which to go elsewhere to study.

The Law School building at this HBCU closes at midnight, while every other law school is open 24 hours a day. Yes, they have access cards, and so does everyone else at the schools they attend. The security says they refuse to patrol the law school past midnight, and see it as a waste of time. What they should say is the truth, they do not want to do their job and am not going to be responsible if someone gets hurt because they didn’t feel like making sure the building was secure.  And, blacks wonder why more HBCU do not have professional schools. The answer is clear, because black administration will not run an professional school with the class, leadership, and integrity that these schools deserve.  Blacks universities wish to have professional schools for the sake of having them with no intention of properly funding and supporting them.  

What if Fredrick Douglass lived today? Supposed he went to an HBCU law school. He would be prevented from diligently studying because other blacks don’t want to support him. Yet, these same blacks want to proclaim heritage to their race. The security will work a step show, a homecoming concert with other African Americans who promote a lifestyle that is detrimental to our race, but won’t support students attempting to get an education.

 

In youth culture, a sell-out is someone who does work, studies, does not get in trouble, and attempts to make a good living because they are not “acting black.” (See, Act Like the Middle Class Negro You Are).  Now, I am changing the mold. I am calling any black a sell-out if they  do not support other African Americans in getting a quality education or advancing in their careers.

 

So, HBCU administration, are you a sell-out? Who cares if homecoming is great? Are your students employable upon graduation? Can they get into a graduate degree program other than ones at an HBCU?  Are they competent in the work force? Are they seen as graduating from a respectable university? They have to pay back a lot of loans. Figures say that over 3/4of students at HBCU are on financial aid. Are they getting their monies worth? Is your salary too high for the work you do? Do you REALLY care about the student body? So far, I think the answer to all the before mentioned questions is no, and HBCU administration, as a whole, is a bunch of sell-outs.  Now, I want you to do something about it.

Duke Lacrosse, from the Start to Now, from a Durham, NC Perspective

Now that the trial in the Duke Lacrosse Case is a mere formality, I want to share my views on the case. For those who do not know, I attend law school in Durham NC.  There are only two law schools in Durham, and both have students involved in the case. When the news of the accusation broke last spring, I was in a class named Criminal Procedure. Of course, after class, we had our views of what was going on. The females were ready to join the protest in front of the players’ house, spoke of racism and how wrong the players’ were. I reminded them that “WE ARE IN LAW SCHOOL” and that they need some actual facts before they could make an accurate decision or opinion.

 

Then, I said something that changed my fate at the law school for the rest of my time here. I said, “What you ladies need to do is go to NCCU’s Main Campus and hold a forum with other students groups telling our black women to stop hoe-ing, stop stripping, and start acting like intelligent women” (a clear theme on this blog).  The black women thought the forum was a terrible idea. They said, “She had a child. She had to do what she had to do to put money in the child’s mouth. You don’t understand the struggles of a black woman!” To this day, many of those women will not speak to me, do not respect me, and various other things not to be mentioned here.

 

Now, we know the alleged victim lived with her parents. So, while people claim that stripping pays the bills, it did not afford her enough money to get her own place. These black women didn’t believe me, but most strippers don’t make a lot of money.

 

The truth is a stripper may make a lot of money living in a major city like Atlanta, New York, California, etc. But, in Durham, a predominately African American city, where the majority of wealth is still in the hands of whites, the average black stripper in a black strip club will not make any more than she would make working at Leaner. Don’t believe me?

 

First, most people are cheap in strip clubs and throw out one dollar bills. Further, most of the African American males in Durham are either in high school, in college with student loan money, or adult locals who are not making a decent living.  Therefore, there is not a large amount of wealth within the African American community. And, the money they do have gets spent on the frivolous things blacks spend money on, i.e., rims, a car, shoes, hats, jerseys, and just anything that does not appreciate in value. Jay Z and big named rappers are not throwing hundred dollar bills around in Durham strip clubs. Second, the club takes a large percentage of private dances for which they charge the most. So, even the money she gets is taxed.

 

Third, because Durham is not a major city, every night is not a party night. A stripper has to make the majority of her money during weekends, and specifically around pay days, because Monday-Thursday will yield low profits for a stripper. It’s just not in Durham’s culture to go out on a Monday night. This is still the south, has southern ways, and nothing has modernized the city to change that.

 

I am digressing.  These women had convicted the boys from the beginning. I wanted to wait. Never the less, asking to wait for facts, in their eyes, made me anti-black, anti-woman, and just an outcast. How could I side with the white boys?  But, I wasn’t. I just wanted to hear some concrete evidence before making a decision. 

 

The forum I proposed wasn’t totally about money. I thought it was needed to show our young black women that they won’t make enough money to pay back those student loans, so don’t use that excuse. Notwithstanding that, it was more about not placing themselves in adverse situations.

I told the black women I know, “take the victim out of the picture, no black women should be shaking her ass for money at anyone’s house.” But, the excuses continued. Men need to stop hiring them. I agree with that statement, but the issue at hand is black women and stripping. Can black women admit that stripping is wrong?

And, young black women need to know, that while no woman deserves to get raped, putting yourself in adverse situations will increase the odds that something bad will happen. No black man deserves to get killed, but dealing in drugs will increase the odds of a man reaching that fate. Can we tell women that if you strip, you may get raped, and you will have to prosecute the man, and the world will know that you are a stripper? The men will deserve to go to jail, but your secret of stripping will fade. So, if you strip, the odds of your secret being revealed are greater. Are they ready for that? Are they ready to be disrespected?    

 

Now, because the case involves the underworld of stripping, we have a situation where every stripper involved is standing up, telling anything and everything they can, trying to get national media attention, and trying to work the media like the men they work in the VIP rooms.  The case has become an embarrassment to our culture.

 

Speaking of culture, what happened to the New Black Panthers Party? They came down to our town, made a little stir, were mostly disorganized, did not raise the level of fear and shock that they wanted, and left. They promised to be back, but we haven’t seen them sense. We will likely never see them again. What a joke. If you’re going to do something, be organized and follow through. They tried to march on Duke and got shut down so fast the national audience may have missed it. I was there when they came. The media was laughing at them. CNN, FOX, NBC, ABC, everyone was there. They laughed. They found it funny. They were mocking the New Black Panther Party, taunting them when they were late to arrive to their own press conference. They were left to hold their press conference at the gates of Duke’s West Campus. Hell, any other idiot can ride through campus anytime of the day or night. It’s never shut down. To be so political, I am suprised the New Black Panther Party could not find one student to reserve a room for them!

 

Further, the racial rhetoric doesn’t work well in Durham. Jackie Waggstaff  (former Durham County School Board Member) was voted out of office here for using similar rhetoric. So, when she appeared with the Black Panther Party, the credibility of the party was lessened worse than imaginable. And, before radical blacks respond about us being too middle class, she was voted out in a predominately black, lower income, part of Durham. Yes, we all know that the Duke family gained wealth using slave labor and tobacco. Tell me something new within the past 100 years. The so called refrences to Duke as the “Plantation” were only for national media. I have lived in Durham for my entire life, minus 4 years of undergraduate school, both of my African American parents work at Duke, as do many African Americans in Durham, and I had never heard that phrase until this case. So, for the New Black Panther Party to come in and tell me about my city, when they were not even here long enough to be called visitors, showed how wrong, off point, and comical they truely were.

 

Those who were ready to hang the white lacrosse players last spring are really quiet now. I hope the lesson learned is to take race out of the equation, wait until facts come out, and make as much as an informed decision as possible.

Black Women, Enough is Enough!

My inaugural post on my blog (see very bottom post below) talked about women consenting to being touched in a club. Now, I will briefly discuss how such behavior is just foolish. The below You Tube video is my example. Why, in the world, would women rotate on grinding on a wguy? Why would they allow this behavior to be recorded in front of hundreds of people, singled out for the crowd to see?  I wonder if they think this behavior will make them marriage, girlfriend, or eployment material? I believe that this behavior makes them look like sluts, and further affirms the stereotypes that whites have of our culture.  Sadly, you can see whites in the crowd cheering more than most of the blacks in the crowd. Have you read Ralf Ellison’s Invisible Man (appogies for using Richard Wright in the original post. Heis, however, my favorite writer)? The video is all to similar to the book. Except, it is black women put on display for the enjoyment of others oppopsed to black men.

The sad part about this is that these women are put on a spot light. Singled out to see who can dance the most slutty. Interestingly, at the end of the clip the camera man pans the audience, and you can see that many black men and women in the audience are not comfortable being on tape. They do not want to be seen there. They do not want to be precieved to condone this behavior. The women do not have to get on stage. And comparing the bottom video with the top one, it is clear that SOME women will dance this way notwithstanding a man being there or not. This is not an excuse for men to act in any way, this is a plea from a black man, asking black women to not act and dance like sluts.

 

Ellison wrote the the embarrasment that blacks suffered by being put on display for the entertainment of others (whites particularly). Here, these women do not seem embarassed or ashamed. They seem proud to be there and happy to entertain the crowd. Is this the state of our black women in society? I want them to be ashamed. I want them not to act that way. I want them to be better. Am I asking too much?

 

It is clear from the video, however, that the men are not to touch the women. Based on my first post (see bottom post on page) these women did not consent to the touch! But, does that mean that they are any more respected? You be the judge.

 

One final observation. You look look to the side of the stage you will see that theNational Basketball Association (NBA) is a sponsor of this event. As if we didn’t already know they were in the business of exploiting our culture and community.