by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
It appears that Fox News is at it again. The same network that has commentators like Eric Bolling, who asked why President Obama was "inviting so many hoods to the hizzy" referenced his 50th birthday party as a "Hip-Hop Barbecue."
Your Black Politics received this message from the White House today. It is President Obama’s first response to recent reports that for the first time in U.S. history, federal government debt has been downgraded from AAA status.
Your Black World reports.
Princeton University Professor and Nobel Prize winning economist Paul Krugman expressed his concerns about the recent debt ceiling deal between President Obama and the Republicans. Krugman said that the president effectively caved in to threats from the Republicans, and gave them what they wanted.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, YourBlackWorld.com – Scholarship in Action
Below is a direct cut and paste of the White House’s most recent work on Civil Rights. I obtained the information from this link: http://www.whitehouse.gov/issues/civil-rights. I was inspired to visit the page after receiving an email from Michael Blake, Associate Director of the White House Office of Public Engagement (he was on the panel with myself, Al Sharpton and Ben Jealous at the Measuring the Movement forum this year in New York City). They are working hard to get African Americans enthusiastic about the 2012 elections and Blake is the man on the job.
Your Black World reports
President Barack Obama has officially released the long form of his birth certificate in response to the questions about whether or not he was born in the United States. Originally, the president had only released the short form copy, which led to speculation that he was born abroad.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Your Black World
Just when you think you’ve seen it all, the Republican Party does it again. Orange County Republican Committee member Marilyn Davenport is in hot water after distributing an email that features President Obama as the child of a family of chimpanzees. In the email, which was widely-distributed, the long-standing committee member sent out the picture with the caption, “Now you know why – No birth certificate!”
County GOP Chairman Scott Baugh has called for Davenport’s resignation, saying that the picture was "dripping with racism and is in very poor taste." He also referred the matter to the GOP Ethics Committee. But in spite of the backlash from many of her fellow Republicans, there are some in the leadership who are standing firm with Davenport.
Ms. Davenport, however, seems to think that the email has nothing to do with racism. She described the email as a “joke” and wanted to find out who leaked the email, writing “Anyone brave enough to come forward?” She also had this to say when contacted by reporters:
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
According to a recent survey conducted by YourBlackWorld.com, 27.3% of African American respondents claim that President Obama’s most recent actions in Libya have reduced their faith in his leadership ability. Roughly 20.8% of respondents claim that the Libyan intervention has increased their faith in Obama’s leadership. Equally interesting is that over half (51.8%) of all black respondents to the survey said that the Libyan intervention has no impact at all on their perception of President Obama’s ability to lead.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
I gave a speech at a church in upstate New York shortly after Barack Obama was elected President of the United States. During the service, the choir director took the liberty of changing the words from the song “We shall overcome,” to “We HAVE overcome.” I also remember hearing a woman outside the speech proudly announce that she had just bought a new picture of President Barack Obama. The woman said she was going to put the image right next to her pictures of Martin Luther King and Jesus. Apparently, Obama’s election was a second-coming of Juneteenth for those who seemed to feel that a black president could do no wrong.
But there is a more fundamental question in all of this: Should President Obama’s image be placed next to those who’ve fought for Civil Rights in the past? In recent survey by YourBlackWorld.com, 62.9% of the 734 respondents said they do not consider President Barack Obama to be a true Civil Rights Leader. Another 28.5% said that they do consider President Obama to be a Civil Rights leader. The rest claim they aren’t sure.
According to reference.com, Civil Rights are defined as “rights to personal liberty established by the 13th and 14th Amendments to the U.S. constitution and certain Congressional acts, especially as applied to an individual or a minority group.”
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
It appears that the “great” Rush Limbaugh doesn’t believe that Barack Obama is black. On his show, Limbaugh responded to Obama’s suggestion during a meeting that some of the animus being shown toward him was driven by race (which we all know plays a huge role in the unprecedented attacks he’s been facing from his political opponents). On his radio show, Limbaugh had this to say:
"Let me ask you a question. How many people really think of Obama as black? …One of Obama’s parents is black. Undeniable. But he was raised by a white mother, by white grandparents. He went to a highly exclusive private school in Hawaii with rich, white students and white teachers. He went to exclusive colleges that were practically lily-white. Barry Obama is from a very white, albeit radically left, cultural background. He’s not from the hood. He’s not from the movement…I’m telling you, there is a chip on this guy’s shoulder, and it is a factor in every policy decision that he makes."
What’s interesting is that Rush Limbaugh’s statement is a powerful reminder of the kind of racism he embodies with his typical rhetoric. Somehow, Limbaugh was made to believe that being black means that you are “from the hood” or “from the movement.” The truth is that being black can also mean that you were born middle/upper class, attended elite universities, or are a sociopolitical conservative. By confining blackness to mean that a person must have had a specific background or be confined to a particular economic or social class, Limbaugh comes off as the standard sort of racist who remains hell-bent on disrespecting our humanity.
A reader on the Black Agenda Report said this about Rahm Emanuel as Mayor of Chicago, comparing him to President Barack Obama. What do you think?
While I cannot predict exactly what Rahm will do in while he holds office, I can predict what he will NOT do. He will NOT appear in front of a Black audience and brag about how much he upset some members of the Jewish community by paying too much attention to "Black" interests. He will NOT repeat over and over and over again that he is not the "Jewish" or "White" mayor of Chicago. He will NOT make a grand show of avoiding being seen around or with Jewish people or with other White people.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
Former U.S. Senator Rick Santorum is a principled and ambitious man. His career took off during the 1990s with a far Right Wing platform and his constituents seemed to love him. In spite of his staunchly conservative disposition, Santorum seemed like the kind of guy who could one day (unsuccessfully) tap at the door of the White House, assuming that he didn’t make any major mistakes. But then again, we all know what they say about assumptions.
In a recent interview with CNS News, Santorum made the latest of a series of serious political errors by invoking race into the debate over abortion. In reference to President Barack Obama, Santorum said the following: “The question is, and this is what Barack Obama didn’t want to answer — is that human life a person under the constitution? And Barack Obama says no. Well if that human life is not a person then I find it almost remarkable for a black man to say ‘now we are going to decide who are people and who are not people.’”
So, it appears that Santorum thinks that because Barack Obama is black, he should automatically be pro-life. I’ve seen this sort of argument on billboards and in private conversations, when pro-lifers drum up conspiracy theories about how Planned Parenthood is strategically located to abort as many black babies as possible. In his version of the racialized abortion argument, Santorum seems to be implying that because blacks were once considered to be three-fifths of a human being, we should be concerned about an undeveloped fetus not having rights to citizenship.
To be clear, I am not a fan of abortion, and I also do not buy into the “It’s my body so I can abort when it’s convenient” argument frequently used by some pro-choice Americans. I find it ironic that killing a newborn baby is considered to be a heinous crime, but aborting one fetus after another barely gets a second thought. At the same time, pounding us over the head with the bible and using Jedi mind tricks to get black people to support their cause makes some in the pro-life camp look silly. Those of us in the middle of the two extremes on abortion find ourselves both confused and manipulated on a regular basis.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
Yesterday, I rushed through the snow to do an interview with NPR’s "Talk of the Nation" to discuss President Barack Obama’s agenda for 2011 and the issues that matter most to black people. At the top of my brain was the old adage, "It’s the economy stupid." So, fitting with my role as a Finance Professor, I led the interview off with financial topics, because it is my opinion that the country can benefit from more audible voices that work to portray the depth of black economic suffering.
I also noticed that someone I don’t always agree with, Tavis Smiley, said something similar. In a recent interview with NewsOne.com, Smiley went deep on the fact that black economic problems have been rarely addressed by our elected officials and that our community may need to find ways to amplify its voice. Georgetown University Professor Michael Eric Dyson even went as far as giving President Barack Obama a C- on how he deals with black issues. All of this has been interesting to watch, particularly in light of how President Obama’s rise to power has created a peculiar divide within pre-existing African American "leadership." The infamous on-air brawl between Rev. Al Sharpton and Tavis Smiley is a perfect case-in-point.
Click the link below to listen to Dr. Boyce Watkins on NPR’s “Talk of the Nation” addressing what President Obama must do for the African American community as it pertains to education, economic inequality and mass incarceration.
Dr. Boyce on NPR: What Obama Needs to do For Black Peopl- Click here
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University – Scholarship in Action
I was shaking my head over and over again in preparation for a conversation we are going to have on NPR tomorrow about President Obama. The show is called "Talk of the Nation," and I had the esteemed honor of being the resident black guy, as the other two guests are set to discuss various elements of foreign and domestic policy. I’m just joking about the "black guy" thing, since I’m just happy they didn’t choose someone like Juan Williams.
At any rate, my brain started spinning on how President Obama can best use the remainder of his first term as it pertains to people of color. I thought carefully about what he’s done, what he’s doing, what he’s up against and what matters to us. In my course of thought, I came to a few conclusions.
Elliot Millner, J.D.
Danny Glover recently directed some criticism at President Obama, regarding his lack of action in dealing with issues disproportionately impacting the Black community. President Obama fired back, saying that he was not neglecting Black issues, and that the issues he was being asked to address could not be fixed in one term, much less one year.
So, who is right? I’m not a fence-rider, however in many instances there is truth on both sides of a dispute or issue, and that is the case here. To be accurate, Danny Glover didn’t call out President Obama for simply not paying enough attention to Black people; he called him out for his overall policy approach, and it’s similarities (in Glover’s opinion) to the policies and approach of the Bush administration. This is a fair criticism, for a couple of reasons. Despite the conservative media’s protests to the contrary, Obama ran as a moderate, and that is basically what he is on most issues (if you don’t think so, compare Obama’s campaign platform to that of Dennis Kucinich or John Edwards). Former President Bush, although a Republican, was also considered a moderate (too moderate for many Republicans) on many issues. So, it is no surprise that President Obama may look similar to President Bush in his views and actions on some issues (most obviously in his war policy). I’m not saying I like it, but that is the reality. This is not an issue new to our current President, or to politics as a whole. Many (especially those who argue for the need of a strong third-party in American politics) have made the argument that there is little difference between Republicans and Democrats (often calling them "Republicrats") in general, especially when dealing with higher offices, such as the House, Senate, and presidency.
by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University, Your Black World
I did a recent CNN appearance along with the actor Hill Harper and Dr. Alvin Poussaint at Harvard University. The series was a one-year anniversary segment featuring political issues within the African American community. for the entire week, the primary focus was on the impact that President Barack Obama has had onAfrican American men. Given that I’ve been a black man for quite a while now, I found this conversation topic particularly interesting, so getting to speak to Richelle Carey again wasn’t the only perk of doing the job that day.
It must be made clear that the president should not be expected to save the entire world in one swoop. His job is difficult, and he can’t give everyone what they want all the time. But to the extent that President Obama has been positioned to trump pre-existing black leadership (remember that some say we now live in a post-racial America), one can argue that President Obama’s rantings in black churches come with some degree of accountability from the Oval Office. Obama has spoken at NAACP meetings, telling black men to take responsibility for our families (as if none of us do) and to engage in more personal responsibility (as if we don’t do that already). Such tough talk should be backed by meaningful policy, since structural incentives play a dominant role in the ultimate choice of the individual. For example, when companies get tax incentives to invest in new projects, they almost always do.
Early on the campaign trail, presidential candidate Barack Obama said, "This country is ready for a transformative politics of the sort that John F. Kennedy, Ronald Reagan and Franklin Roosevelt represented." Socially, President Obama is beginning to move in such a positive transformative direction.
After 12 years of languishing in Congress, on Wednesday, October 28, President Obama signed into law the Matthew Shepard / James Byrd Hate Crimes Bill. By signing this bill, the president expands the federal definition of hate crimes to include those motivated by gender, sexual orientation, gender identity and disability. It also allows federal authorities to pursue hate-crimes cases when local authorities are either unable or unwilling to do so. This law was named after Matthew Shepard, a gay man murdered in Wyoming in 1998, and James Byrd, the African-American man dragged to his death behind a pickup truck in Texas that same year.
Former President Jimmy Carter said in an interview Tuesday that Congressman Joe Wilson‘s "you lie" outburst to President Obama was "based on racism" and that many of the critiques leveled against the president have been made because of his black heritage.
"I think an overwhelming portion of the intensely demonstrated animosity toward President Barack Obama is based on the fact that he is a black man," Carter said in an sit-down with NBC‘s Brian Williams.
Carter specifically said that Wilson’s comment was "dastardly" and part of an "inherent feeling" held by many Americans — particularly Southerners — that African-Americans "are not qualified to lead this great country."
"It’s an abominable circumstances and grieves me and concerns me very deeply," Carter said.
In the midst of all the drama surroundingPresident Barack Obama’s speech to schoolchildren on Tuesday, there’s one Chicago resident who will support the commander-in-chief through thick and thin.
The one and only Oprah Winfrey admitted that she was stunned by the amount of backlash the president was receiving after encouraging students to rise above their challenges to succeed in school.
In an exclusive interview with ‘Access Hollywood’ on Wednesday, the multitalented media mogul professed her frustration over the recent events.
"I’m just really stunned by people who feel that the president, the leader of our country and of the free world, saying to your children it’s important for your success, the success of your families and our country, for you stay in school, that education is vital to your well-being. … I don’t understand it. I do not understand it," Winfrey said.
How much do they hate Obama?
Tens of thousands of fiscal conservatives packed streets in the nation’s capital Saturday to protest what they consider the federal government’s out-of-control spending.
Demonstrators filled Freedom Plaza and Pennsylvania Avenue in downtown Washington. They waved U.S. flags and held signs reading "Go Green Recycle Congress," "I’m Not Your ATM" and "Obamacare makes me sick."
Some men were dressed in colonial costumes with tri-colored hats.
The protesters were marching to the west lawn of the U.S. Capitol.
FreedomWorks Foundation, a conservative organization led by former House Majority Leader Dick Armey, organized several groups from across the country for what they’re calling a "March on Washington."
The Washington march took place on the same day President Obama was headed to Minneapolis to rally support for his heath care reform plan. The plan, which also was the topic of his weekly raido and Internet message, has come under fire from fiscal conservatives who consider it too costly.
by Dr Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
The other day, I mentioned that it was time for President Obama to get tough with his critics. Their below-the-belt attacks on the Beltway were getting to the point of embarrassing our great nation. We were reverting to 1920s lynch mobs and watching behavior that fell short of the threshold of human decency.
Well, when you’re confronted with a monster, you sometimes have to become one. And last night, the president was a monster.I applaud his firm approach when dealing with his critics. President Obama stood tall and strong, showing the vision of a great president. He also confronted Republican lies and misinformation directly. From a political standpoint, the speech was a mobilizer, which is called for when the opposition refuses to work with you and consistently pushes to dismantle your agenda. The right wing does not like this president, and they are using dirty tools of American racism and distrust of black men to win their fight with Obama.
The battle was further energized by the ridiculous outburst by South Carolina Republican Jim Wilson, who shouted "You lie!" in the middle of the President’s speech. Sorry Joe, bad move. Sometimes your enemies can be your greatest allies, and in this case, Obama needs to send Wilson a Thank You card. His actions were yet another spread of icing on the cake of energy that the president created with his stellar performance before Congress.
By Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
MSNBC’s TheGrio.com.
This week, Michael Jordan will be inducted into the Basketball Hall of Fame. He will always be remembered for his many accomplishments and record-breaking achievements in the sport. However, as President Obama prepares to put on a full-court press for health care reform in a speech to Congress tonight, he needs only to look back at one performance from "His Airness" to gain inspiration.
Twelve years ago, in the NBA Finals, Michael Jordan was going to lose. Sick with the flu, he could barely walk, and his aura of invincibility had been shattered in the eyes of the American public. Mike was going to finally relinquish one of his many titles and Karl Malone was going to get the championship that we all now know he never received.
But Mike was Mike, and Karl wasn’t. Mike found a way to win and Karl Malone found a way to become "posterized" as yet another footnote in the astonishing legacy of the great Michael Jordan. Every great man or woman has an opportunity to build his or her legend, and it comes during the most trying of times. It is how we respond to these moments that make the difference between becoming Michael Jordan or just another Charles Barkley.
by Dr Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University
I once saw a documentary by filmmaker Byron Hurt called, "Barack and Curtis," comparing President Obama to the rapper 50 Cent. Such a comparison might seem silly, given that one of these men is the leader of the free world and the other is a wealthy "gangsta" with more business sense than a Harvard Professor. But in this case, Barack might want to learn a bit from Curtis in order to get a little "gangsta" with the Republican Party, because the right wing has already gotten incredibly "thugged out" with him.
Through a web of lies, unfair attacks and orchestrated campaigns to discredit the president, the right wingers have been relatively successful in slowly eroding Obama’s base of support. While President Obama once rode the wave of 60% approval ratings and amazing popularity, the numbers are now hovering around 45% and morale within the Obama camp has been dramatically weakened. Let Obama lose an additional 10% of his supporters, and you’ve got another President Bush.
I’ve been critical of President Obama when he was wrong, and that won’t ever change. But I stand by my assertion that Barack Obama is the most intelligent and capable leader our nation has had in a very long time. He is certainly better than John McCain and Sarah Palin, whose intellectual and professional flaws make a mockery of our political system.
About a dozen people carrying guns, including one with a military-style rifle, milled among protesters outside the convention center where President Barack Obama was giving a speech Monday — the latest incident in which protesters have openly displayed firearms near the president.
Gun-rights advocates say they’re exercising their constitutional right to bear arms and protest, while those who argue for more gun control say it could be a disaster waiting to happen.
Phoenix police said the gun-toters at Monday’s event, including the man carrying an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle slung over his shoulder, didn’t need permits. No crimes were committed, and no one was arrested.
The man with the rifle declined to be identified but told The Arizona Republic that he was carrying the assault weapon because he could. “In Arizona, I still have some freedoms,” he said.
Phoenix police Detective J. Oliver, who monitored the man at the downtown protest, said police also wanted to make sure no one decided to harm him.
Former Democratic Party Chairman Howard Dean, a leading figure in the liberal wing of his party, said Monday he doubts there can be meaningful health care reform without a direct government role.
Dean urged the Obama administration to stand by statements made early on in the debate in which it steadfastly insisted that such a public option was indispensable to genuine change, saying that Medicare and the Veterans Administration are “two very good programs that have been around for a long time.”
Dean appeared on morning news shows Monday amid increasing indications the Obama White House is retreating from the public option in the face of vocal opposition from Republicans and some vocal participants at a town-hall-style meetings around the country.
The former Vermont governor was asked on NBC’s “Meet the Press” about President Barack Obama’s statement over the weekend that the public option for insurance coverage was “just a sliver” of the overall proposal. Obama’s health and human services secretary, Kathleen Sebelius, advanced that line, telling CNN Sunday that a direct government role in a system intended to provide virtually universal coverage was “not the essential element.”
By
According to 2008 U.S Census Bureau data approximately 47 million or 15.8 percent of the U.S. population, were without health insurance during 2006 — a 4.9 percent increase. In 2005, census figures showed that 44.8 million people, or about 15.3 percent of the population, lacked health insurance coverage. According to a report released by the Institute on Medicine, the average cost of family health-care coverage more than doubled from 1999 to 2008, from $1,543 to $3,354.
Based upon these realities, presidential candidate Obama made health-care reform a central theme of his campaign. He promised to achieve universal health care in his first term and to cut the average family’s health care health-care costs by $2,500. In the on-going health care reform debate it is very important to remember that as a result of this and other campaign promises, President Obama won the 2008 presidential election with 53% of the popular vote to Senator McCain’s 46% and 68% of the Electoral College vote to McCain’s 36%.
According to a New York Times/CBS News poll taken in June, 85 percent of respondents said the health care system needed to be fundamentally changed or completely rebuilt. According to a June poll conducted by the Employee Benefit Research Institute 83 percent of respondents favored and only 14 percent opposed “creating a new public health insurance plan that anyone can purchase.” These numbers indicate that health care reform is very important to the American people.
Earlier today MSNBC aired a segment showing a man with a loaded gun waiting for President Barack Obama to arrive at a town hall on health care reform at a high school in Portsmouth, N.H., and reportedly the local chief of police had no problem with it.
The man is carrying a sign that says, “It Is Time to Water the Tree of Liberty.” That’s a reference to a Thomas Jefferson quote: “The tree of liberty must be refreshed from time to time, with the blood of patriots and tyrants.” It was a favorite slogan of Oklahoma City bomber Timothy McVeigh, who was wearing a T-shirt when he was arrested with a picture of Lincoln on the front and a tree dripping with blood on the back.
Black Public Scholars 