Tag Archives: Race

Uncategorized

Why Michael Bloomberg is Preaching Against ‘Safe Spaces’ for African-Americans on Predominantly White Campuses

2 Comments

While reviewing my files, I came across the following offering that addresses now Presidential hopeful Michael Bloomberg. Considering his decision to join the pursuit for the Oval Office, I thought that it was appropriate to republish this article.  

I will be the first to acknowledge that my exposure to Michael R. Bloomberg is limited to frequent visits to Harlem during his tenure as New York City’s, Mayor. This period is particularly significant to me as it allowed me to witness significant portions of Harlem USA, the Mecca of Black America for much of the 20th Century, being lost by Black New Yorkers. After interacting with many of the victims of this colossal gentrification, I surmised that Michael R. Bloomberg has been both an irritant and antagonistic toward African-Americans.

Consequently, I was not shocked when Bloomberg continued his well-worn pattern during his commencement address at the University of Michigan. The former Mayor used this occasion to display his staunch opposition to all policies that could potentially benefit African-Americans, particularly Black collegians. Bloomberg used this platform to attack the ‘safe spaces’ and ‘learning communities’ that are dotting American collegiate campuses. What follows is a portion of Bloomberg’s message.

The most useful knowledge that you leave here with today has nothing to do with your major. It’s about how to study, cooperate, listen carefully, think critically and resolve conflicts through reason. Those are the most important skills in the working world, and it’s why colleges have always exposed students to challenging and uncomfortable ideas.

The fact that some university boards and administrations now bow to pressure and shield students from these ideas through “safe spaces,” “code words” and “trigger warnings” is, in my view, a terrible mistake.

The whole purpose of college is to learn how to deal with difficult situations — not run away from them…one of the most dangerous places on a college campus is a safe space, because it creates the false impression that we can insulate ourselves from those who hold different views.

We can’t do this, and we shouldn’t try — not in politics or in the workplace. In the global economy, and in a democratic society, an open mind is the most valuable asset you can possess.

I am unsurprised by Bloomberg’s view of safe spaces created to o aid African-American males during their pursuit of academic success on what are unfortunately hostile collegiate campuses.

To be honest, I expected Michael Bloomberg to be clueless regarding the utility of safe spaces. Such ignorance is predictable when one considers that the vast majority of whites, particularly upper-middle-class and wealthy whites such as Bloomberg, live lives where the entire world is a ‘safe space’ for not only them, but also their offspring.

Bloomberg’s contention that collegiate campuses provide an opportunity to “learn how to deal with difficult situations — not run away from them…the most dangerous place on a college campus is a safe space, because it creates the false impression that we can insulate ourselves from those who hold different views” reveals much about Class and White privilege, variables that are accessed so routinely by some that it is akin to the laws of gravity. Figures such as Bloomberg have never realized that their position and perspective is a unique one that most Americans, particularly Black males, cannot identify with it.

In light of the fact that individuals such as Michael R. Bloomberg will never be able to remove the blind spots that led them astray during moments such as this one. I am going to provide them a lesson what others here when persons of their ilk seek to delve into racial matters such as this one. Michael, this is what non-elite Black males took from your juvenile statement regarding safe spaces.

The whole purpose of college is for ‘minorities’ to learn how to deal with the difficult situations that they will eventually be placed within – and that lesson can never be to run away from them…one of the most dangerous places on a college campus is a safe space, because it creates the false impression for African-Americans that they can insulate themselves from powerful whites who hold views that they are powerless to affect. Views that will never be abandoned as it would mean powerful Whites working against their own interests; an occasion that never occurs; particularly for something that matters as little as racial equality.

Bloomberg’s statement reveals a deplorable spirit of refusing any refuge for the most abused and exploited populations within our midst. According to Bloomberg, a safe space for poor and working-class people is in a word, hilarious.

Make no mistake about it, predominantly White campuses are notorious for being hostile environments for African-American teenagers raised and protected by doting parents who have done their best to develop a moral compass within them. Many Black parents believe that basic values will serve them well on a path to success that will be filled with discrimination, racial bigotry, and institutional racism. For many of these optimistic Black youth, the inhospitable predominantly white institution is their initial full dose of unfairness. The safe space that Michael Bloomberg rails against serves as a much-needed shelter from an ancient storm that has broken several generations of Black America.

Michael Bloomberg either does not understand or does not care that the safe spaces that he criticizes as being useless to Black collegians on hostile white campuses reveal him and those of his ilk as being out of touch with the times. And why would they not be? They have never had to deal with such matters? Bloomberg and his contemporaries have never experienced the hellish existence that shadows the have not’s of America. They have no idea of what occurs during a typical day on a white campus to non-White students, nor do they care to learn. Sadly, elites are not feigning ignorance when they offer incredulous disbelief that a significant portion of the harassment that African-American male collegians experience comes at the hand of White professors and teaching assistants, more burdensome harassment than that issued by White students. Michael Bloomberg’s resistance to a moment of reprieve from such an existence is tantamount to “tough love” for Black collegians.

In many ways, Bloomberg’s statement is akin to a call for African-American collegians to simply “Eat Shit and Grin.” Unfortunately, this deplorable situation is the daily reality for far too many Black adults. To their credit, African-American collegians fight for a “safe space” that has been so strident that college administrators have been forced to take definitive steps to address the matter.

I guess that from his perspective that drips with every sort of privilege imaginable, Michael Bloomberg and his contemporaries by denying “safe spaces” are seeking to aid Black collegians by providing them a dose of reality. The message is that in “the real world” there is no reprieve from overreaching White elites who will seek to invade every portion of your existence, even your precious mental space. So, I guess it is through a warped sense of aiding Black collegians, a well-intentioned super-charged dose of benign neglect, that we must consider Bloomberg’s resistance to “safe spaces.” If Bloomberg had his way, African-American collegians on predominantly white campuses would be like the Black adults that they are training to join in “the real world” and manage to survive in a torturous isolation surrounded by White colleagues who are also attempting to carve out a space that allows for them to stomach the tyrannical reign of White elites whose fixation on Class mutes any consideration of racial solidarity that does not manifest itself in increased profits.

I guess that when viewed from this perspective, Bloomberg’s advice is kind in that it is attempting to tell Black collegians that they have much in common with their White classmates in that in this nation they both must learn to “eat shit and grin”. Unfortunately, neither of them realizes it yet; trust me when I say that if they live enough life in this Capitalist nation these non-elites will learn this lesson very well. 

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.

#ManhoodRaceCulture

Uncategorized

Prince Harry’s Master Class to Black Men

Leave a comment

If such things were not routine on social media sites, the audacious statement from some Black women that it took Prince Harry to show Black men “how to protect a Black woman” would have been alarming. Unfortunately for the sake of such critics, I, and the vast majority of Black men, have become desensitized to such commentary from a small group of Black women who appear to be afflicted with a host of psychological maladies.  

This matter reverts my mind to social critic Ishmael Reed’s assertion that “a people can be no stronger than their stories.”  Reed’s observation holds much truth regarding how people’s dominant narrative reveals much about how they view their past, present, and future. Hence, the assertion that Prince Harry is conducting a “master class” to Black men titled “how to protect a Black woman” speaks volumes about the past, present, and future perspective of a portion of Black women regarding the uselessness of Black males.

Now, the salacious allegation that I am a glutton for punishment may be verified by the fact that I find the comment sections of issues such as this one particularly riveting. The anonymity of message boards presents an unadulterated glimpse into the psyche of disgruntled Black women. So, while this issue was trending, I followed the lead of famed NFL Wide Receiver Terrell Owens and grabbed my popcorn and read through hundreds of comments regarding Prince Harry’s “Master Class” on “how to protect a Black woman” as proven by his treatment of Meghan Markle, the former Duchess of Sussex.

As I expected, some Black women celebrated Prince Harry’s actions while issuing scathing critiques of Black men. I was surprised that these comments were counter-balanced by a cross-section of Black America that not only challenged the prevailing narrative, but also seized it for their own purposes. A task that I have advised my community to do in this space on numerous occasions.

If I did not know any better, I would have been convinced that those lauding Prince Harry’s treatment of his wife did not live in the Black America that reared me and droves of others like me.

Although it would be deceitful to state that I do not know Black men who absconded their familial responsibilities, such realities do not blind me to the fact that I hail from a family of Black men whose foremost priority is taking care of their home. Within my Black America, I witnessed Black men work themselves into the grave as they attempted to provide for their offspring despite the presence of demonic entities known as prejudice, discrimination, racial bigotry, and institutionalized racism. The men that I speak of are analogous to fallen service members who gave all for those that they loved.

If provided the opportunity, I would tell the relatively small cadre of Black women fawning over Prince Harry’s actions to treat him as they have treated Black men who routinely accomplish the same task. They should purse their lips, give him their signature side-eye look and inform him that “you don’t get credit for doing what you are supposed to do.”

Seize and change the narrative y’all.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.

Uncategorized

Why Umar Johnson’s Penchant for Conspiracy Theories Does a Disservice to His Followers

6 Comments

Unfortunately for Black America, Umar Johnson has reappeared. Yep, despite innumerable promises that his “public career” was over, Umar Johnson is back. If nothing else, Johnson should be applauded for his uncanny knack to break every promise or commitment that he makes to anyone willing to listen to mounds and mounds of his foolishness. In every way, Umar Johnson is nothing more than the latest in a long line of self-proclaimed “Race men” whose antics have retarded the progress of Black America.

Prior exposure to Umar Johnson’s foolishness makes his most recent video essays regarding the tragic death of former Los Angeles Laker superstar Kobe Bryant inevitable.

In response to Bryant’s death, Johnson issued a wild conjecture filled conspiratorial tale whose most tangible support was of a helicopter crash of the incident. The only problem with this crucial piece of evidence was that the footage was not of the crash that led to the death of Kobe Bryant, his daughter, and others. Johnson’s total ignorance regarding this being the incorrect video is in a word, revealing. In fact, it is predictable as none of what can be termed his signature conspiracy theories are evidence-based. His followers are apparently not bothered by a small thing such as evidence.

Make no mistake about it, Umar Johnson’s antics have done a grave disservice to the downtrodden Blacks who follow him. You know the type of people that I am referring to, those whose daily experiences inform their intuition that the deck of life is somehow stacked against them. Devoid of the means of articulating their angst, they turn to the Umar Johnson’s of the world to articulate the voluminous pain that shadows them daily. History will remember many of Umar Johnson’s followers as well-meaning lambs who were victimized by greedy conmen who simultaneously filled their pockets while building towers of self-importance that benefited their followers in no appreciable manner.

Umar Johnson’s roving sideshow serves as the antithesis of Malcolm X’s charge to Black leaders to “Tell the truth.” Instead of truth, Umar Johnson intentionally makes up theories and stories based on nothing other than the fanciful, flighty, and frightening notions of his mind. In many ways, it appears that Umar is actually sharing with the world an internal dialogue that would be best shared on the sofa of some credentialed psychiatrist. Yet, there are those in Black America who are so desperate to make sense of this world that seemingly rests on deplorable principles such as denigrating Blackness at every turn that they not only listen to the conspiratorial stylings of Umar Johnson but allow such foolishness to significantly alter their world. If they are not careful, they will accept Johnson’s implicit argument that blackness dooms them to be oppressed their entire lives.

When one really thinks about it, Umar Johnson’s standard shtick that conveniently attributes tragedies ranging from Kobe Bryant’s death to his own failed endeavors to a yet to be identified conspiracy from “White folk” fashions Whites as Gods capable of destroying the plans of mere Black mortals. I am sure that I do not need to tell you that this reliance on conspiracy theories must be abandoned immediately and replaced with Marcus Garvey’s mantra of “Up, you mighty Race, achieve what you will.”

It is the only reasonable path forward, and that is no conspiracy.

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.

Uncategorized

Redefining Cool: Why Black America Must Alter What They Teach Black Boys About Being “Cool”

Leave a comment

There is no room to doubt that despite their obvious diversity, African-American men have historically considered themselves to be the personification of “cool.” This ownership of “the cool” may be the only thing that Black men agree on. Let’s be honest about this, Black men have historically possessed a monopoly on “the cool”.

Unfortunately, when it comes to Black men, “the cool” has proven to be a double-edged sword that boosts self-esteem, yet widens the path toward evil. In hindsight, it is obvious that “the cool” is of little utility beyond the veneer of self-confidence it provides.  

It is this “cool” quotient that African-American men emit via dress, walk, and talk that young Black boys learn to model during their adolescence. According to Richard Majors, the “Cool Pose” is a set of language, mannerisms, gestures and movements that

exaggerate or ritualize masculinity. The Essence of cool is to appear in control, whether through a fearless style of walking, an aloof facial expression, the clothes you wear, a haircut, your gestures or the way you talk. The cool pose shows the dominant culture that you are strong and proud, despite your status in American society…Much of cool pose is ritualistic imitation of peers. If you’re not seen as cool, you’re an outsider. It’s a way to be included.

Considering the present state of African-American males, one is faced with an over-arching question of “Is the “cool pose” working against the formation of healthy male/female relations within Black America?”

A subtle glance at the Black Family would convince any objective person that “the cool” is a negative for African-American males, the women that they create children with, and the alluded to offspring.

Although “the cool” benefits a few African-American males by bolstering their status among peers, it simultaneously ensures their rejection by a larger White society who despise its manifestation in Black bodies. Make no mistake about it, a segment of African-American males’ well-documented inability to secure meaningful gainful employment, a pre-requisite to marriage and the starting of a family, hinders every aspect of potential relationships within Black America. History has proven that African-American males who have spent their cultural capital investing in the “cool pose” will eventually find themselves permanently ostracized from mainstream society.

Unfortunately for younger African-American males, their ritualistic imitation of peers frequently leads them to prison, probation, parole, unemployment and/or early death. The “cool pose” is integral to understanding why

  • 1.5 Million African-American Males are involved in the penal system via incarceration (Federal, State, and Local) or on some form of probation.
  • There is a 85% recidivism rate for African-American Males.
  • 60% of African-American males are involved in the penal system for a drug-related crime.
  • In 1979 there were 100,000 Black males in the judicial system, today that number has swelled to 1,500,000.
  • The majority of the 2.3 million people incarcerated in U.S. prisons and jails are people of color, people with mental health issues and drug addiction, people with low levels of educational attainment, and people with a history of unemployment or underemployment.

This begs the question of what is Black America to do?

It may be time to forge a socialization process that redefines and promotes a new form of “the cool.” This alteration to a basic element of so many African-American males’ identity would allow Black males to retain their “cool quotient” while directing them toward success. There is no need to argue against the reality that our failure to redirect Black males down a more productive path will lead to the continuation of today’s unfortunate realities. The onus for such an alteration belongs to Black parents and families interested in the success of such individuals; not a “Black leadership cadre” whose in-action all but signals their abdication of such responsibilities.

It is imperative that future generations of Black males abandon what Richard Majors appropriately terms the “cool pose” and replace it with a new view of themselves and what a Black man ought to be and ought to do. Noted poet Gwendolyn Brooks predicted in her poem We Real Cool that the failure to do such all but guarantees that if they fail to do so, “We Die Soon.”

Dr. James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2020.

African-American History

Reconsidering the post-March on Washington Martin Luther King Jr.

2 Comments

I deplore how society lays aside historical figures and their profound contributions to our society for 364 days out of the year, only to revisit them on an annual basis as if they are Santa Claus or the Easter Bunny. The Rev. Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., is arguably the foremost victim of such antics.

As society sits poised for yet another MLK breakfast or program, I am going to expound on one of my most frequent refrains regarding Dr. King. The statement that I am referring to is my belief that the “I have a Dream” speech delivered on August 28, 1963, has proven in retrospect to be King’s worst moment. 

The faces of the vast majority of people transform when they hear the above critique of Dr. King’s most memorable moment before an audience of 250,000 people. During robust lectures, I often follow that statement with brother Malcolm’s somewhat humorous quip that the A. Philip Randolph organized March on Washington “…was a circus, with clowns and all.”

Although I frequently use Brother Malcolm’s quip, I do not agree with his summation. Yet, I do harbor issues with this moment that have nothing to do with the content of Dr. King’s speech on this momentous occasion. My problem revolves around the reality that this moment was so big that most mistakenly freeze Dr. King in this moment and use it as a guide to understand his entire public life. Those harboring this belief are in grievous error. If one did not know any better, they could be led to believe that Dr. King was assassinated moments after his much-celebrated speech as the remaining portion of his life is rarely discussed. Unbeknownst to many, Dr. King’s prophetic voice was not silenced by an assassin’s bullet until 1968, nearly five years after his impassioned speech on the steps of the Lincoln Memorial.

Despite the flawed historical recollection of a gullible American public, Dr. King’s legacy did not end on August 28, 1963. Most would be shocked to learn that “the Prince of Peace” never stopped evaluating and growing ideologically during this volatile period of this nation’s existence.

Consider for a moment that when faced with growing White resistance in the wake of Lyndon Baines Johnson’s signing of the Civil Rights (1964) and Voting Rights (1965) Acts, Dr. King understood that Whites were unwilling to share political power or economic resources with anyone. This political climate led King to issue the following indictments toward both the nation and the movement he headed.

“[W]ith Selma and the Voting Rights Act one phase of development in the civil rights revolution came to an end. A new phase opened, but few observers realized it or were prepared for its implications. For the vast majority of white Americans, the past decade — the first phase — had been a struggle to treat the Negro with a degree of decency, not of equality. White America was ready to demand that the Negro should be spared the lash of brutality and coarse degradation, but it had never been truly committed to helping him out of poverty, exploitation or all forms of discrimination. The outraged white citizen had been sincere when he snatched the whips from the Southern sheriffs and forbade them more cruelties. But when this was to a degree accomplished, the emotions that had momentarily inflamed him melted away,

When negroes looked for the second phase, the realization of equality, they found that many of their white allies had quietly disappeared. Negroes felt cheated, especially in the North, while many whites felt that the negroes had gained so much it was virtually impudent and greedy to ask for more so soon.

The practical cost of change for the nation up to this point has been cheap. The limited reforms have been obtained at bargain rates. There are no expenses, and no taxes are required, for Negroes to share lunch counters, libraries, parks, hotels, and other facilities with whites…

Negroes of America had taken the President, the press and the pulpit at their word when they spoke in broad terms of freedom and justice . . . The word was broken, and the free-running expectations of the Negro crashed into the stone walls of white resistance.

Whites’ increasing resistance to racial equality in the public arena, let alone any degree of racial justice, forced King’s hand. In his search for a path to securing racial equality, MLK was forced to address the growing nihilism within the Civil Rights Movement that was most forcefully articulated by a rising tide of young Black Powerites. The shifting political winds were so significant that Dr. King felt compelled to issue the following statement regarding Black Power politics.

There is nothing essentially wrong with power. The problem is that in America power is unequally distributed. This has led Negro Americans in the past to seek their goals through love and moral suasion devoid of power and white Americans to seek their goals through power devoid of love and conscience…. [I]t is precisely this collision of immoral power with powerless morality which constitutes the major crisis of our times.

Black Power is a call for the pooling of black financial resources to achieve economic security.… Through the pooling of such resources and the development of habits of thrift and techniques of wise investment, the Negro will be doing his share to grapple with his problem of economic deprivation. If Black Power means the development of this kind of strength within the Negro community, then it is a quest for basic, necessary, legitimate power.

It is indeed time that those interested in this nation securing racial justice re-evaluate MLK’s legacy by placing some attention on his post-March on Washington speech era. Such action is crucial for anyone seeking to expand their understanding of King, Black Power, and the pursuit of racial justice. Hopefully, you do not think that Dr. King was the type of man to waste any portion of his life. Trust me when I say if you think that about Dr. King, you need to re-evaluate your entire understanding of “the Prince of Peace.”

James Thomas Jones III

© Manhood, Race, and Culture, 2019.