Civil rights fight - how are we talking about this?

Saturday, October 5th marked the National Day of Dignity and Respect in the fight for a Comprehension Immigration Reform. There were over 165 actions, marches, and rallies in 40 cities across the country as part of FIRM’s (Fair Immigration Reform Movement) month of actions. Tuesday’s action in Washington, D.C. marked the end of the actions with a massive rally.

At last week’s action Jackson, TN for the National Day of Dignity and Respect, the Jackson Branch NAACP president, Harrell Carter, made a direct connection between a Comprehensive Immigration Reform that is fair, humane, and keeps families together by calling it a civil right. When the floor was open to the public, Floyd (Workers United member from Memphis) told his story of how he, like many immigrants that 'fit the profile,' is also profiled. As a Black man, Floyd feels that driving a nice sports car is a crime. He shared how he can relate and understands how immigrants are profiled. In "Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams and American Realities," Mary C. Water calls immigrants the new 'black Americans' (152). However, seeing immigrants as the “black American” may mean something different to Waters than what Floyd may have meant. I may be wrong, but I get the feeling that Waters blames puts the blame of individual failure on “cultural behaviors” and does not fully recognize the institutionalized racial inequalities that Floyd shared in his experience. Of course, I can only speak of what I interpreted from his testimony, and do not claim to fully understand Floyd’s experience.

I am curious as to what the class thinks about this usage of civil rights fight on a current fight for justice. Though conversations with black organizers, I’ve realized that there are so many ties to the struggles of African Americans and it is not my intention to belittle these personal stories and events in history, but should the term of civil rights be limited to a period in history? We’ve seen groups such as the LGBTQ community and allies use the term ‘civil rights’, so can we restrict the use of these two words to one fight for justice? How can we honor the history of this term in future usage? Should we not use it?



http://octoberimmigration.org
https://actionnetwork.org/campaigns/october-5-national-day-of-dignity-and-respect
http://action.seiu.org/page/s/october-5-march-for-immigrant-dignity-and-respect

Is there a place for blacks in gun culture?

Is there a place for blacks in the gun culture?

 That question has been very pressing question in the african american community. The NRA states that guns are supposed to be used for safety and protection. If this is true, why are guns almost exclusively marketed towards white culture. Well this history can be traced back to the years after the civil war. The black generation after the civil war was known as the “freedom generation”. During the years of the Freedom Generation, the first gun control laws were enacted. These laws restricted blacks from owning guns in order to maintain their freedom status. Although many blacks were being freed during this time, they were met with gun laws that restricted them. Older white Americans believed that it would not be in the best interest of America if poor blacks were given guns. They suggested it would be a recipe for disaster. 

Although blacks have had a hard time fighting for gun rights, the black race is disproportionately the victims of violent crimes. This is especially true for poor blacks who live in crime ridden neighborhoods. These laws do in fact discriminate against a people who actually depend on it for protection. Many families in my church(which is in a less affluent neighborhood in Memphis) own guns in their homes. They aren't bad people, but they realize they are at a disadvantage when calling the police because of response time and overall protection. Today the laws are very similar those after the civil war. For example, in Massachusetts it is a criminal offense if aliens are in a possession of a gun. In all honesty, that law doesn't pertain to European immigrants, but minorities.  I found it very interesting that many of the leading handgun prohibitionists from New York are well-off people who live in high security neighborhood. These same people are the ones persuading people in crime ridden neighborhoods to give up their means of protection. In conclusion, it is important that blacks, especially poor blacks have a place in gun culture. These black families must have a sense of protection that isn't offered to them by the police force. It is a fact that civilian ownership of guns is a deterrent to violent crimes.

The Influence of the Church on Dr. King's Message

“The Christian religion must not be concerned only with saving the individual soul, but also dealing with the social evils that corrupt the soul.” - Martin Luther King Jr.

This quote by Dr. King is one of my favorite quotes. It seems like every time I come across this quote, I get into a deep emotional state. This is not because something is wrong with it, but because of the pure genius that Dr. King displayed when he said this. Being a minister, Dr. King was very knowledgeable about the church and all of its principles. The way Dr. King used the church was remarkable. He is often described like the prophet Isaiah. God came to Isaiah saying, “Who shall I send, and who will go for Us?” Then Isaiah said, “Send me, I’ll go”. (Isaiah 6:8). This is exactly how Dr. King approached segregation.  The thing that was interesting to me was how Dr. King used the African American church to get his message across.  Before the african american church was only focused on serving people inside the church, but after Dr. King there was a shift. Dr. King focused on social and racial relations that affected people in their daily lives. Dr. King was a thinker par excellence. He knew by using the church, it would be easier for him express his views on non-violence. As result, many people of all races and religions were able to come together on one common goal. That common goal was to have stop segregation, but in a non-violent way. In class, we discussed how the african american church was used as a place for social gatherings and political gatherings. Many of Dr. King’s ideas began in the church. Many of which came from the teachings of Jesus Christ. Dr. King is the epitome of a present day prophet. He was like Isaiah in the bible. He didn’t necessarily say things were going to happen at certain times, but rather he focused on changing how things were going to be in the future. Dr. King felt as though one of the social evils that corrupted the soul was in fact segregation. Dr. King’s message is one that fills the hearts of people of all races. The african american church was definitely influential in his movement. 

Let's Talk About Race and Privilege (Again)!

The Trayvon Martin case and its verdict brought the world back to the reality of racial inequality. This event sparked conversations about race and privilege nationally, possibly globally. Even President Obama had a few words to say on the Martin case and race relations today:

There are very few African American men in this country who haven't had the experience of being followed when they were shopping in a department store.  That includes me.  There are very few African American men who haven't had the experience of walking across the street and hearing the locks click on the doors of cars.  That happens to me -- at least before I was a senator.  There are very few African Americans who haven't had the experience of getting on an elevator and a woman clutching her purse nervously and holding her breath until she had a chance to get off.  That happens often.

And I don't want to exaggerate this, but those sets of experiences inform how the African American community interprets what happened one night in Florida.  And it’s inescapable for people to bring those experiences to bear.  The African American community is also knowledgeable that there is a history of racial disparities in the application of our criminal laws -- everything from the death penalty to enforcement of our drug laws.  And that ends up having an impact in terms of how people interpret the case (Remarks by the President on Trayvon Martin).

In the wake of it all, Rhodes College participated in a discussion about the role of race and privilege on our campus and within greater society. During this time, a faculty panel shared their email correspondence where they explored their thoughts on the importance of the word "race" in academia and in today's society. The following questions were proposed: Can we simply eliminate it from conversation? Is it just a word? Half of the panel suggested that it was possible to delete the word "race" from our general vernacular. It was expressed that it is possible to move forward as a society. The other half suggested that it is impossible to dissolve the word in an attempt to delete how this expression has shaped much of our lives. Why and how has such an ambiguous term made such an impact on American society?

These are questions that my roommates and I tend to converse about very often. It was refreshing to hear perspectives other than the ones that I am familiar. Although few gave their opinions, everyone present seemed to receive what was being stated. There were emotional reactions from everyone. Having a conversation on race is a feat and that night, Rhodes College was the victor.

With thrill, many students inquired Professor McKinney about the date of the next forum. He replied that is the responsibility of the students to lead such conversation. I felt ambivalent about this proposition. Are we really going to have another forum? Why does the conversation on race and privilege tend to be closeted? How important are having these conversations? What types of change are we to make?

http://www.npr.org/blogs/codeswitch/2013/07/21/204154690/many-welcome-obamas-entry-into-discussion-on-race

http://www.whitehouse.gov/the-press-office/2013/07/19/remarks-president-trayvon-martin

The Hurricane

 Recently, I watched the movie “The Hurricane” starring Denzel Washington. This biopic is about the story of an African American prizefighter, Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, who is wrongly accused of a triple homicide. This movie details his early life, his time in jail, and the motivational way in which he is finally freed from bondage. This story illustrates the injustices done by white to African Americans during the 20^th century. Carter was a likable figure in the black community and his arrest and conviction started a movement to free him. Bob Dylan even wrote a song about the wrongs done to the boxer. Through history, thousands of blacks have been unfairly thrown into jail when they did not do the crime. Rubin Carter became a fan of incredible faith, and attempted to live in prison as a happy man, but the bars became to much for him and he had to escape. During prison, he wrote a book describing his situation and what had happened to him. Watching the movie, I realized what the prison system can do to a person especially if they are innocent. In Carter’s case, he coped with it quite well for being locked up decades. He lost an immense period of his life that he will never be able to get back, but as he now works for the Association in Defence of the Wrongly Accused he is helping people to not fall to the same treatment that he received. He was innocent and served his term peacefully, many would not be able to muster the courage and sanity to be locked up for such an extended period of time. This story is inspirational, but also brings up the issue with many of the cases during the 20^th century against African Americans.

            During slavery, the judge of a crime was often the slave master and inflicted unfair and unusual punishments against the accused. After slavery, the time under Jim Crow did not get any better for blacks accused of crimes. The Constitution states that a court must have “an impartial jury,” but in many cases the jury was all white and almost always sided against the African American. This issue continued on into the 20^th century with evidence such as Rubin Carter. During the past year, America has been intrigued by the Trayvon Martin case. Although the trial seemed fair, the Caucasian male did win the case, which gave rise to a significant outcry from the African American population. Whatever the facts may have been in the Martin trial it is fair to say that race is still a real issue in the courtroom today, and there is no end in sight to end this racial injustice.

Howard University Fighting To Make A Comeback

          Howard University has in the past been ranked as one of the nation's best and most prestigious colleges in America, at times even considered to be the top HBCU in the nation.  Located in Washington D.C., this historically black private university was established shortly after the Civil War in 1867.  It has been a significant institution in our nation's history especially with the role it played during the Civil Rights Movement.  It is also recognized for its outstanding School of Medicine and School of Law.  

          More recently, however, it has come to public attention that the university has taken a downward turn.  With the dramatic and sudden resignation of its president, Sidney A. Ribeau, many worry that the university's struggles are perhaps more serious than were previously thought.  Interestingly enough, since Ribeau's presidency began in August 2008, Howard began to fall from its high rankings in the lists of Best Colleges in U.S. News.  In 2008, it had been consistently higher up amongst the top 100.  In 2010, it fell to 96th, and now in the 2014 edition in the "National Universities" category, it has been ranked at No. 142 from being 120 in 2013.  So the question is, what went wrong to make its rankings drop so drastically?  While many may blame Ribeau's legislation, there are many factors which have contributed to its decline.  According to Robert Morse, these changes have been accredited to lowered graduation and retention rates, fall in graduation rate performance, faculty resources, student selectivity, and academic peer assessment. It has declined in most of the major academic categories which go into consideration in university rankings.  But a major issue is that since it is indeed a private university, which is the norm for historically black colleges and universities, it has a smaller endowment with fewer wealthy alumni to be making substantial donations, and many of the students do not have the financial backing to afford 4 years at a decently pricey institution that cannot offer ample financial assistance with its lack of surplus resources.  

          Naturally, they have made cuts in costs to be able to reduce the tuition to help bring enrollment rates back up, but according to columnist Megan McArdle, there may be other underlying issues.  While her presentation is a bit shaky and not very clear to the point, she makes an interesting suggestion that the racism could be playing a role in the university's recent downfall.  Obviously, historically black institutions have the long-standing tradition of fighting against racism and training their students to be able to make changes in society and inspire movements of people to fight for their beliefs.  But I am struggling to see how racism could have direct effect on the financial struggles of a once very highly ranked university.  If this were true, I would expect to see similar stories relating to other specific universities.  But maybe that is the issue is that it is overlooked.  There will always be strive to compete with other universities and remain "relevant" and prestigious, but are there ways that our society may be holding back the potentially even more so augmented success of these universities? 

Sources:

http://www.usnews.com/education/blogs/college-rankings-blog/2013/10/07/why-howard-university-fell-in-the-best-colleges-rankings

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2013-10-04/racism-continues-to-hurt-historically-black-colleges.html

http://www.howard.edu/

http://hbcudigest.com/fear-of-an-average-howard-university/

Ida B. Wells effect on lynching in the South

Ida B. Wells was born in Holy Springs, Mississippi. She was the first born of seven children. Her father was a carpenter and a respected black civic leader in the community, and her mother was a cook named Elizabeth. She lived in a poor African American neighborhood until age sixteen when her mother and father died within 24 hours of each other due to yellow fever. As the oldest child she was now responsible for her siblings. In 1880, she moved to Memphis with the rest of her family. This move started her civil action career. When she arrived in Memphis, the town was different then many southern towns as it was acceptable for blacks and whites to live alongside each other. The city believed it could move past slavery and be a united community. However, organizations such as the KKK broke up that idea with protest and ultimately lynching. Ida B. Wells is most well known for her anti lynching campaign, but within the city of Memphis she has many other heroics. She was one of the first woman investigative journalists or “muckrakers.” She was the first black woman to be the proprietor of a newspaper and established a trolley car boycott before the turn of the century. This event led the trolley car company to go bankrupt and was one of the first successful African American boycotts in history. The boycott went on for a year. The event that turned Wells’s career around was the lynching of one of her best friends, Thomas Moss. In 1892, Moss and other coworkers that worked in neighborhood grocery were lynched after a rival grocer made provocations against them. They were jailed and then broken out by white racists and lynched in a nearby train track. Wells looked into this incident and found out that Moss and his companions were tortured before being killed. Wells helped to make the incident a public issue and after it happened 20% of the black population of Memphis left the city. Moss’s last words were “to go west because there is no justice here.” Although Wells made the public aware of the crime, no arrests were made. After this, Wells was banished from Memphis and went on to New York before going off to England. Wells’s campaign started the anti-lynching movement and with the help of the NAACP it became a national issue. Wells figured out that one of the most effective ways to attack lynching was to use and economic strategy. Her visit to England was not just a coincidence, England was the number one consumer of American cotton and Wells attempted to hurt the southern economy with her protests. During her lifetime, an anti-lynching law was never passed, but her ideas and efforts were an incredible jumpstart to the civil rights movement that started to gain momentum during the 20^th century. Ida B. Wells was an incredible woman and without her efforts, lynching would have never taken center stage as a civil rights issue.