George Curry (BET), Julianne Malveaux(MIT and everything else), Stephon Marbury (NY Knicks)

 

BOYCE HAS MOVED!  VISIT THE BOYCEBLOG BY CLICKING HERE

 

The Return of the Nappy Headed Hoe - Monday, December 2, 2007

I did an interview this morning on American Urban Radio Networks about Don Imus. They'd heard that we have a petition to keep Imus off the air, and wanted me to talk about it. I agreed to do so, mainly because Bettie Lee, the woman who interviewed me, is a respected friend. I also like AURN because they allow black people to have a voice that is not muffled by the stupidity of mainstream media. When it came to Don Imus, I made these simple points: 1) His return to the air after apologizing signals a fundamental disrespect for people of color and women. Had Tyra Banks referred to Rudi Guiliani as an "oily skinned cracker", she would never be put on the air again. 2) It seems that the networks could have found a woman of color to replace Imus, since they are non-existent from mainstream media. So, while Imus paid a 6 month price for degrading women of color, they have paid with a lifetime ban for doing nothing. 3) Don Imus, Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O'Reilly form the the New KKK in America. Without using the N-word, they engage in the perpetuation of policies and ideologies that have been hurtful to all of America. 4) Our plan for boycotting Imus and his supporters is not a short-term plan. I want, for at least 2 years, for all people of color to do the following: - Boycott the Imus Show and WABC Networks in New York. - Consider boycotting all corporations that sponsor this network (we have a list of current sponsors below this post) - Hold all dignitaries and political candidates who appear on their shows accountable for their actions. It's interesting that Republican Presidential candidates did not appear in the debate on HBCU campuses, but yet they find time to appear on racist conservative talk shows. Here is an episode we did that refers to Don Imus:  

 

Those Judging Sean Taylor Should Spend Time Judging Themselves - November 29, 2007

 

Today I saw an article by a chubby black sports writer in the Midwest.  In his column, he was alluding to the fact that the media’s portrayal of Sean Taylor’s death, in which they’ve continuously made reference to his troubled past, is simply Taylor’s fault.

In the column, the writer stated that the white media’s negative portrayal of the former Washington Redskins safety was clearly created by him for choosing the way he lived.  He argues that Taylor made choices that led to his death.   That is what got my fingers clicking on the keyboard.

Taylor was surely “caught up” in some things that led to him being killed.  I believe that he was murdered, and that someone was coming to get him.  But someone coming to get you doesn’t mean that you are begging to “get got”.

What the chubby writer doesn’t understand is that when one lives in the black male jungle, you are going to sometimes have enemies.  You get challenged when you are the “alpha male” and everyone wants to take you down:  “Awe, that N*gga ain’t sh*t” is what you deal with on a regular basis. Challengers come at you constantly, many of whom have nothing to lose. 

When you are dropped in Vietnam, you are sometimes forced to be a soldier.  There are no angels in this game, but then again, none of us are angels are we?  I know this, because I have dealt with this as a young man.  My best friend was shot in the head, and I was almost shot myself.   Neither of us deserved to be shot, but that’s not how the media would have seen it.

It didn’t matter that I was a straight A student.  It didn’t matter that I was going to be the only African-American in the US to get a PhD in Finance.  Instead, the world would have focused on what Boyce Watkins did in order to get himself killed.  I understand why the chubby sports writer doesn’t get it, since chubby people don’t do well in the jungle.   It’s easier to just sit in your office and run your mouth about it.

I recall being on ESPN with Method Man and I mentioned the death of his close friend, Tupac Shakur.  Meth put Shakur’s behavior in perspective by explaining “When you are on top, people are always constantly coming at you.”  Perhaps that is why Taylor had a gun and a machete under his bed, I’m not sure. 

Was the media wrong for constantly discussing Taylor’s past the way they did? Yes.  Why?  Because there are many things about a person’s life we can choose to focus on.  Taylor was a family man.  He was a great team leader elected by his peers.  He worked like hell to be successful at a very young age.  He led his team in interceptions.  Instead, we choose to focus on an argument that implies that he had his murder coming because he was stupid. 

When Nicole Brown Simpson was killed, did we focus on the fact that she was a crackhead, or a mother of two?

If Marv Albert were to be killed, would we focus on the fact that he was tried for sexual assault or that he was a great sports commentator?

If a soldier in Iraq is killed, do we try to argue that he was silly for choosing to fight an unjust war for a corrupt administration or do we focus on the fact that he was a brave American with a family?

Bottom line:  We would show respect for the dead by focusing on the great things they achieved in life.  I am sure you have things about your past you would hate to have someone mention in your obituary.  The same thing goes for myself.

Although none of us is perfect, it’s ironic that when black males are killed, the media tends to focus on their dark side, but the same is not true with others who have sides that are equally dark.  

Nobody, no matter how much “beef” they are in, deserves to be killed.  Sean Taylor was only 24 years old and surely made mistakes like the rest of us.  Respect this man’s memory and celebrate his achievements.   Those who want to judge him need to start by judging themselves.

What Barry Bonds, OJ Simpson and Michael Vick all have in common: The Most Arrogant Negro Club -November 20, 2007

 

I talked to a guy from a network yesterday about Barry Bonds.  They were going to have me on the show to discuss whether or not his recent indictment for obstruction of justice and perjury has anything to do with race.  Unlike other networks I’ve worked with, NPR is one of those places where the commentator is asked to use more than one brain cell when processing his analysis.  Had it been CNN, I would have given a couple of sound bites.  Had it been Fox, I would have given a one sentence answer, “No thank you”.  
 
I explained that Barry’s situation is highly connected to race, but the connection is so indirect that most Americans won’t ever get it.  This sort of racism is the kind of thing that you only understand if you’ve lived it everyday for at least 35 years.  I also explained that it’s not a coincidence that the most hated athlete in America is almost always black:  Barry Bonds, Michael Vick, OJ Simpson, Ron Artest, Terrell Owens, Randy Moss, Latrell Sprewell, Muhammad Ali, Jack Johnson, the list goes on and on. 
 
The attacks on athletes tend to include some discussion about the individual having poor character, linked to the perceived cultural inferiority of black people.  Of course, this trend has NOTHING to do with the fact that America has spent 400 years prosecuting, persecuting, vilifying and murdering black men who didn’t “know their place”.  People seem to think that it’s all just one big coincidence – the uppity negroes “just happen” to be the ones who always end up getting screwed, while the Happy Negroes get extra cookies.
 
With that said, it’s clear that OJ, Vick and Bonds are in the same category.  They are in the Most Arrogant Negro (MAN) Club.  Membership requirements:  White America judges your character, decides you are a bad person, and then uses whatever resources it can find to bring your arrogant black ass to the ground.  Membership has few privileges and I’m not just the president of the MAN club, I am also a client. I’ve gone through it myself at my own university. 
 
Let’s be clear:  OJ may not go to prison for recent events because he did something wrong (maybe he did, but then again, he WAAAAS stealing back his own stuff….does that count?).  He will go to prison because he pissed off white America.  People have been waiting for this guy to fall since 1994, and finally they have their chance to get him.  Never mind the fact that he and his wife were heavily involved in the drug game and Nicole’s murder easily could have been a contract killing.  It’s much easier to believe that this big black man was enraged over the loss of his precious blonde spouse.   But as an ex-drug dealer friend of mine in LA told me, “It’s normal for washed-up celebs to serve as drug mules to maintain their standard of living.  Do you think OJ got the money for two expensive homes and five top-notch attorneys from his 5 minute roles in Naked Gun films? “
 
Michael Vick learned that, apparently, the only thing worse than hurting a white female is hurting a dog.  So, in spite of the fact that we have hundreds of thousands of people who shoot deer in the head and stuff them on the mantle, Vick has been painted as a monster for engaging in dog fighting.  As a result, he will lose everything, and America sees no problem with taking it from him.  After all, he was in the MAN club. 
 
Barry Bonds’ case is a little more subtle, yet not as complex as we might think.  Let’s be clear:  The government did not spend 3 years and millions in tax payer dollars because they truly believe Bonds’ alleged crime was worse than anyone else – even child molesters don’t get this kind of attention.  They did it because people feel that his record is tainted, that he cheated and that his attitude needed to be adjusted.  I recall watching several executives from the tobacco industry declare under oath that they truly believed smoking was not harmful to your health.  So, there are a lot of people who’ve been equally shifty in their government testimony.   Other questions remain as it pertains to Barry Bonds.
 
Question 1:  Is there any conclusive evidence that Barry Bonds took these drugs in the first place? No.  In my opinion, there is no more evidence in his case than in the case of Lance Armstrong.
 
Question 2: What is a performance enhancing drug, exactly?  The definition is not all that clear, and it changes from one person or official to the next.  Major League Baseball did a Helen Keller imitation all through the 90s when it came to steroid use, mainly because all those homeruns were filling up the stands.  One thing we do know for sure is that Bonds is not the only person in the league to take this stuff.  He just had the misfortune of going to the lab that was raided. 
 
Question 3:  Why were we spending government resources on hearings for a steroid probe anyway?  Aren’t there more important things going on in the world?  I don’t know…maybe that little war across the world where thousands of troops were sent to die because someone lied to the American people, how about that that?  I am continuously amazed that a man could go to prison for lying about steroids, when there is not a single person in the Bush Administration held accountable for lies that led to thousands of deaths and hundreds of billions of dollars in financial loss.  There are at least a hundred other issues that would have been far more worthy of a congressional hearing.
 
At the end of the day, America’s selective morality always comes into play:  Dog fighting makes you a monster, but deer hunting makes you an American.  Bonds lying about steroids is horrific, while lying to kill Americans in Iraq for oil money is just a mistake.  Public lynchings of high profile black athletes occur annually and won’t stop anytime soon – they are as American as apple pie and crappy inner city schools.  The rapper E-40 might have been right when he used these lyrics in a song: “They’ll find a new nigger next year.”  Given that most of these guys were once highly respected, you truly never know who that person is going to be. 

 Boiling Hot with Boyce Watkins - America's War with Black Male Athletes

 

Why I Love NPR - November 16, 2007

This has been a challenging two days for me.  I got my laptop fixed for the first time in a while (which was driving me crazy - I have a lot of computers, but all of them are necessary for me to get things done), so when one of them goes down, so does my productivity.  I am a workaholic, so not having my drug really drives me nutts.  Once my computer was fixed, it blessed me with a virus.....a bad one.  It was the kind that won't let your computer do a damn thing, even reboot.  But I have a philosophy that states that you usually only grow when you are challenged.  So, if you embrace progress, you must also embrace struggle.  I am a firm believer that it is our most challenging times in life that give us the greatest opportunities for personal growth.  I did what I could to embrace the challenge, but even wise words don't keep you from being pissed off.

As a result, I learned alot more about computers, viruses, booting your computer in "safe mode", and all kinds of other things I would not know if my computer had behaved perfectly.  So, I think I am a stronger person now (haha!).

I got two calls from NPR this week: One from NPR Wisconsin and the other for a show called "News and Notes", which is national.  I've taken some time away from doing nearly anything in national media, but I always do the monthly appearance on NPR Wisconsin out of respect for the people who run the network there.  NPR is one of the few media organizations that actually try to give meaningful news and still work to utilize media as a way to keep the public informed, educated and evolving.  In other words, they are the opposite of The O'Reilly Factor and Hannity & Colmes, who work to keep the public ignorant, dumb, racist and prehistoric.

So, I agreed to do both appearances in spite of the fact that I've been turning down nearly everything else.  I am starting to find that having a normal life is fun, and I really enjoy being at home with the ringer off on my phone so that I can think and hang out with the guy called "me".  "Me" time is important for my life, for that is what made me into the wierd person I am.  When you spend time reflecting constantly and questioning everything, you can't help but walk away with a different view on life.  I try to mentally live my life out over and over again, to find out how I want to invest the precious time I have on this earth.  I never wanted to just go through the motions.  As a result, I see a lot of my colleagues who think they are actually doing something important, only to find that when they are 80 years old, they are going to wonder why they let someone persuade them to sit in their offices writing research papers that no one is ever going to read.

Another reason I was happy to agree to the NPR appearance is because they invited me to speak as a Financial Expert.  The racism in "mainstream" media that people don't notice is that every time I am called, it's because there is "black stuff" going on.  When they want a financial person, they call the white guy down the hall.  My university gets peeved that I do so much commentary related to race, and a big part of it is because when you step outside, the world see you as a black man first.  That perception then taints the value of everything else.  But the NPR producer who called me, who happens to be black, saw me as a Finance Professor.  This usually happens when I get calls from BET, Wendy Williams or other black media.  They don't just see me as "the black guy", they see me as so much more.

Today, I also found out that some of my students hate my guts.  I am  a tough teacher, and it's inevitable that some of the students will complain about my exams.  I really don't care, because a person never got anything by being lazy.  I push my kids.  But when you are an outspoken black teacher and almost none of your students have ever experienced a black authority figure, you are surely going to get some people coming after you.  My university has no idea what kind of abuse they subject faculty of color to by putting them in powerless positions in such an abrasive environment. Also, some kids who come from wealth and privilege can be worse than the worst welfare recipient when it comes to feeling that they are entitled to an easy life.  George Bush is one of them.  I also feel bad for the college students who've been taught that coming to college and drinking like a damn fish for 4 years is normal behavior.  Most of my friends who did that during college are now alcoholics.  It's sad.

With all that said, I should say that I love most of my students.  Even the ones who hate me don't really know why.  They only think they hate me because their dad saw my face on some TV show.

On brighter notes, I went to a campus event this week with the Black Graduate Student Association.  That's an awesome feeling, and I wish I could attend more stuff.  The problem is that I am in a constant state of mental and physical exhaustion, so optional stuff just doesn't happen for me.  I saw one guy there who has been a consistent hater on me, but I just shook his hand. I was actually surprised that I was glad to see him.  I just don't have the energy to respond emotionally to the people who want to build themselves up by attacking me.  I can only wish them the best.  In fact, I learned that most of the time, someone who chases you around and is jealous of you or constantly obsessed with everything you do is really fighting some deep inadequacy within themselves.  I figured out that the more time I spend thinking about what someone else is doing, the less time I can spend doing my thing.  That's why I still don't know alot of names in my building, I don't get involved in petty office politics, and I don't waste my time with silly gossip.  Our time on this earth is short, and it should be used productively.  At least I try my best. 

 I did a commentary on the NCAA that is pasted below.  Enjoy!

 

 

Don Imus Set to Return on December 3

Hey everybody,
Not sure if you are aware, but Don Imus is due to return to the airwaves on December 3 on WABC in New York.  I’ve been on the phone with my network contacts to let them know that many people are NOT happy with Imus’ return.  We also felt it imperative to inform our audience that The YourBlackWorld Coalition plans to join the National Association of Black Journalists in their fight to keep Don Imus off the air.   Our petition and open letter is here if you would like to sign:  http://www.yourblackworld.com/imus.html
Here is what I know.  I will be honest about what I’ve seen behind the scenes:
1)      The fight is going to be long and difficult.  Imus was a money-maker, and he will be signing with one of the networks that makes its money by appealing to the racism embedded in neo-conservatives such as Sean Hannity, Rush Limbaugh and Bill O’Reilly.  They EMBRACE the fact that Imus is considered a racist and a sexist.
2)      When I worked with Rev. Jackson and Rev. Sharpton to get Imus off the air the first time, I told them that boycotting the corporate sponsors would be the best line of attack.  That is ultimately what shot him down, since anyone will abandon you if you lose corporate sponsorship (I am a finance professor after all, so I’m always analyzing the money trail).  The truth is that many of the corporations that sponsor WABC (GEICO, Chase.com, AT&T Wireless, McDonalds and Verizon) also make money directly from Y-O-U.  I personally plan to reconsider my business relationships with these corporations.  A list of the corporate sponsors for WABC can be found here:  http://www.yourblackworld.com/news/stories/110607/wabc.htm.
3)      The mainstream media doesn’t give a damn:  they are too myopic in focus, and if they cover this issue, it will only be for a couple of days.  The networks like to wait out the storm and then go back to business as usual.  Also, if you’ll notice, most mainstream media is not very well diversified to begin with (the top news networks don’t have any African-American hosts for their news shows and don’t care to find any).   Like the Jena 6, this is going to have to be a grassroots movement and one in which we focus on being a consistent thorn in the side of those who support this sort of racism and sexism.
4)      Any political figure who appears on Imus’ show should be forced to explain their decision.  This is especially true of the Republican presidential candidates who chose to snub the debate held on an HBCU campus by Tavis Smiley.   I stand with my brother Tavis in his disdain for the individuals who so readily embrace ethnic exclusion, yet have the audacity to think they have the right to lead our country.
The petition is here if you would like to sign:  http://www.yourblackworld.com/imus.html.  I welcome articles from anyone who has something to say about the issue, we will publish them on YourBlackWorld.  Also, anyone who runs an organization that would like to join us in this fight, we would love to hear from you.
Sincerely,
Dr. Boyce Watkins
YourBlackWorld.com  

Reprint from LA Times - 6 Ways You can Tell that the NCAA Might be exploiting its athletes - 11/11/07

Boyce Watkins, a finance professor at Syracuse, is a harsh critic of the NCAA, and not because the Orange were snubbed by the NCAA men's basketball tournament selection committee.
Author of the book, "Everything You Ever Wanted to Know About College," Watkins maintains that the NCAA exploits basketball players by raking in $6 billion in television rights for the tournament on the backs of those athletes.
Watkins recently gave the Atlanta Journal-Constitution five ways to tell when the organization that runs college sports might be exploiting athletes:
"1. When t

he coach flies to games on private jets, but the star player's mother is riding a Greyhound bus.
"2. When the league sells a commercial spot for more money than it costs to educate every single player on the team.
"3. When this nonprofit, tax-exempt, amateur organization has a tournament that earns more money than the Super Bowl and the NBA Finals put together.
"4. When the coach earns $4 million per year, and a player is investigated for receiving a free bologna sandwich.
"5. Can you say, '$6-billion TV rights deal?' "

Transcript of My NPR Conversation with Farai Chideya

August 6, 2007 Monday
SHOW: News & Notes 9:00 AM EST
Race in the Court of Public Opinion

ANCHORS: FARAI CHIDEYA

LENGTH: 1123 words


FARAI CHIDEYA, host:
Being a black man is tough, but try being a high-profile black man who's had run in with the law. The court of public opinion judges you even before the courts. Just ask Atlanta Falcons quarterback Michael Vick. He's under investigation for allegedly running a brutal dog-fighting ring.
Now Boyce Watkins runs the popular Web site YourBlackWorld.com. And he conducted a poll for the site and found that 46 percent of African-Americans believe race has something to do with the charges against Vick. Only 14.5 percent of whites believe it. There was a similar result for Giants slugger Barry Bonds.
And Boyce Watkins joins us from his home near Syracuse University where he's a professor of finance. Welcome.
Professor BOYCE WATKINS (Finance, Syracuse University; Creator, YourBlackWorld.com): Thank you for having. Glad to be here.
CHIDEYA: So why and how did you conduct this study?
Prof. WATKINS: Well, I conducted this study out of my own intellectual curiosity. After I'd written "What if George Bush Were a Black Man?," which was one of my first books, I - we get a lot of questions from places, you know, places like CNN and Fox and others that would sort of ask me things like, you know, why is it that all these young black guys are misbehaving? And I said, well, actually most of them aren't. It's just the only ones you tend to put on TV are the ones who are acting up.
And so I sort of felt curious as to whether or not there was some sort of a racial divide in this situation. So I conducted a poll. It wasn't scientific, but I did ask for people to respond when they went to the Web site.
And so out of the young - out of the YourBlackWorld respondents, effectively we found that the divide was pretty much as I predicted it.
Whites tend to be about six times more likely to think that race has nothing to do with the Michael Vick case than African-Americans. But in the Barry Bonds case, what's interesting is that there are a lot more whites who are more sympathetic to the Bonds situation, even though even in that case, whites are overwhelmingly against the notion that race has anything to do with that situation either.
CHIDEYA: There was an article in USA Today and African-American man says about the Vick case, a $100-million black man, they - meaning, white Americans can't stand it - white folks has been grinding on an axe, and that axe ain't got sharp enough for them. What do you say to that kind of point of view?
Prof. WATKINS: Well, I can say this. I find it awfully ironic that, typically, the most hated athlete in America is always a black man. Before Michael Vick, there was Terrell Owens, Barry Bonds, Ron Artest, OJ Simpson. You can keep going down the list.
And I've always kind of felt that the black male, to use a pit bull analogy. We're sort of like the American pit bull. You know, the pit bull is a kind of animal where you can sit back and relish in its strength and beauty, and love the animal if it's lovable back. But the minute it bites you on the leg, you want to go put it to sleep. So the minute that Vick and OJ and others became the least favorite son in America, that's when they were sort of hung you out to dry.
CHIDEYA: What do you think about the language being used about Bonds and about Vick?
Prof. WATKINS: Well, you know, you have to read racial undertone in terms like, you know, monster and thugs and all these other things. And I saw an interview when Nancy Grace even made reference to Michael Vick possibly having herpes or something like that. And I said, what does him having herpes have to do with dog-fighting? You know, did - does she know that he have herpes? Did he give herpes to a dog?
I mean, this has nothing to do with anything and - but the fact is though that, typically, you only see black men on television when they are playing the sport or committing a crime. So that bias in the lens with which the media uses to analyze black male behavior is going to show itself when you look at a situation like a Michael Vick.
CHIDEYA: We had an author on talking about racial protectionism - her phrase. Do you think though that black folks when faced with what may be stereotypes, then go totally hole hog in front of people and, you know, concern of people who may not deserve that concern?
Prof. WATKINS: Well, you mean, hole hog in terms of defending people...
CHIDEYA: Supporting them and defending them.
Prof. WATKINS: Yeah, well, you know, what I've seen is that the people who've been defending Michael Vick like NAACP in Atlanta and others, they're not defending Michael Vick as a person. Most of us don't know Michael Vick as a person. They're just defending his right to a fair trial.
I woke up in this place that I naively call America in which I expect Americans to behave like Americans and allow the evidence to be laid out before we convict this guy. So all these signs saying, you know, neuter Vick, and go kill him, and go get him. That's kind of - it's kind of silly. It's little premature.
I'm not in favor of dog-fighting, but I am in favor of allowing people to have a fair hearing before you attack them. So even with the likes of Reverend Al Sharpton, who I love and respect, a great deal, I found it problematic that certain black leaders who were going after Michael Vick before any evidence have been presented.
CHIDEYA: Finally, if this is a syndrome, what's the cure?
Prof. WATKINS: Well, the cure is communication. It's just like in a marriage or in any family. The American family has a lot of pain in its past that it hasn't really dealt with. And the fact is that we're all afraid to really honestly talk about race. And until we have that conversation, and every time you take a poll like this, whether it's during the Michael Vick case, the OJ Simpson trial, or the Hurricane Katrina situation, you're always going to find the simple and common and normal reality, which is that whites and blacks see the world differently. And that will never go away until we learn to communicate.
CHIDEYA: Well, Professor, thanks so much.
Prof. WATKINS: Thank you for having me.
CHIDEYA: Boyce Watkins is a professor of finance at Syracuse University. He's also author of the book, "What If George Bush Were a Black Man?" and he runs the Web site, YourBlackWorld.com.
(Soundbite of music)
CHIDEYA: That's our show for today and thank you for sharing your time with us. To listen to the show or subscribe to our podcast, visit our Web site, nprnewsandnotes.org. No spaces, just nprnewsandnotes.org. To join the conversation or sign up for our newsletter, visit our blog at nprnewsandviews.org.
NEWS & NOTES was created by NPR News and African-American Public Radio Consortium. Tomorrow, we've got Africa update.
I'm Farai Chideya. This is NEWS & NOTES.

 

What's up with all these blinged out Pastors? - November 8, 2007

My father is a pastor, and I have alot of respect for the church.  Also, as a financial expert, I have alot of respect for money.  But I know enough about money to know that sometimes, money and God just don't mix.  Don't get me wrong.  I'm all for chasing economic empowerment and using money as a tool for positive change in the world.  But I think we've gotten to a strange reality when I can't tell my preacher from a rap star.  I've never thought that a pastor should be a CEO, since many CEOs worship the dollar bill.  That's almost like saying you can be a hooker and a school teacher.  Some combinations are like ketchup and apple sauce....they just don't mix.

It is for that reason that I invite the Senate investigation into some of the megachurches, some of whom seem eager to prey while praying, and invoke the name of God to make themselves into Gods.  I don't hate these men, but I know what lies in the hearts of men.  In the hearts of men, you find ego, lust, and a thirst for power, things that don't seem to fit with the righteous path.

For those pastors who seem to feel that it is critically important for them to have private jets and Rolls Royces, I only ask this question:  What would Jesus do?  Would he drive in a Rolls Royce and live in a mansion while there are people starving in his own community?  I think not.

My video thoughts are below, enjoy!

 

 

Bill Cosby Comes Up on my Screen Once Again - November 6, 2007

Remember this?

 

OK, the black dude second from the left is Joseph C. Phillips.  Joseph is one of my conservative homeboys, a person that I love to disagree with.  He also played Deniece's husband on "The Cosby Show".  Remember Martin, the Navy guy, Olivia's daddy?  Just so you know, the other people in the picture are myself, Paula Zahn (formerly of CNN), Cousin Jeff from BET and a liberal radio show host dude who sounded pretty conservative, I cant' remember his name.  The segment was done after I'd written some research on college athletes and why they should be paid for their work.  It's funny to me that with all the billions earned by college basketball and football players, people seem to think that the coaches are the only ones who deserve to be paid.  I guess the players and their families didn't do anything to earn the money and are only worthy of a scholarship.  I say let them earn what they are worth and pay their own tuition.  But the NCAA puts a lot of anti-competitive practices in place that keep players from being able to negotiate an honest salary.  If these practices were being utilized in any other industry, the captains of that industry would be put in prison.

Anyway, Joseph and I debated Bill Cosby on the radio (you can listen below, there are 3 pieces to it).  He is the only conservative I agreed to debate with on the Cosby topic, mainly because many of the conservatives are not interested in having a productive dialogue.  This is especially true for the buttholes on FOX News.  The last thing I want to do in the world is talk with an idiot like Sean Hannity about something that affects black people.  There is also another guy at the university who has continuously been biting at my ankles to get me to publicly dialogue with him.  I told him that I know a hater when I see one, and I don't waste my time dealing with them.  That's part of the challenge of being public.....as Method Man said about he and Tupac (when we were on ESPN), "You don't go looking for beef, it's just that everybody is always coming at you."  I agree.   Haterologists need not apply, and I told George Kilpatrick (the host of the show) that the only way I would have a public discourse on this topic would be with someone whom I respect.  Joseph has my respect because although we don't see eye to eye, he is a decent brother who really wants to see black people do positive things.

 

With that said, I digress.  I woke up today looking forward to spending the day with my sweetie, since she is off work.  Prosecutors get like zero days off work, so when she has free time, we use it to our advantage.  We were thinking about going to see the new Denzel movie, which I actually saw this weekend.  "American Gangster", while featuring the objectionable behavior of a person who sold poison in the black community, also serves as a source of inspiration for black people.  In the film, the black man found a way to free himself from ownership by someone else. He changed the game by being creative, courageous, disciplined and intelligent.  I can identify with that.  The downside was that he created a great deal of misery for his family, sending over 30 cousins to prison or morgues.  Overall, I recommend the film, it was a good one.

I was also thinking this morning about how blessed I am to have so much amazing support from my people.  Literally every single day, I get to open my email to find scores of messages from people thanking me, congratulating me or encouraging me to continue the fight.  This means a lot, because in spite of what any haterologist might say, I do what I do because I believe in it.  At the same time, each day I walk off to battle, I am prepared to fight alone and die on the battlefield if necessary.  That is where you have to get to mentally in order to fight in this world as a black male.  If you hold onto carrots and seek status in racist institutions, then you will become a victim of your own ambitions.  The easiest way to fight is when you have nothing to lose.  My people have given alot for me to be here, so I must give something back.

 

Anyway, the video with me and Joseph is below.  Enjoy!

 

 

What up Dog?  Is that what you really think about us? - November 4, 2007

I just listened to the recorded phone conversation between Duane Chapman (aka Dog The Bounty Hunter) and his son Tucker.  The conversation was about “that black girl”, also named Monique.  Apparently, Dog was worried about losing everything he has worked for because some “f*cking n*gger” might overhear him using the word “n*gger”. 
 
Dog explained to his son that the reason he could not work for him is because they sometimes use the n-word around the house, and that he didn’t want America to take it the wrong way.
 
So Dog, how are we supposed to take it? 
 
I listened to Dog’s words with an open mind.  I honestly felt bad for the guy, who was just sold out by his own son.   It was clear that Dog was feeling the pressure of someone under a constant spotlight, since the bigger you get, the more haters you have.  He made reference to people threatening to record him and take his words to national magazines to embarrass him. 
 
Too bad for Dog, it turned out his threat was right under his nose, as his son Tucker sold him up the river by recording the very conversation in which he expressed his concern about those trying to get him.  Man, that sucks. I actually feel bad for the guy.  There is also an almost comical irony to it all. 
 
I am not sure where Dog is going or where he belongs.  But from the tone of his conversation, it’s clear that he doesn’t hold black people in very high regard.  He seemed to have a problem with his son dating Monique, and I got a strong indication from his tone that it was her blackness and not much else, that kept her from having an opportunity to become part of the family.  That’s the problem Dog…you rejected her because she was black.  You made that clear in the conversation.
 
Before we all stand on our soap boxes and condemn Dog, we have to realize something.  Dog, in some ways, is nothing more than a Sean Hannity with long hair.  He says, in his own “Dog the Bounty Hunter” way, what a lot of America is thinking or says behind closed doors.  He reflects sentiments that are quite common, as there are plenty of white folks, teachers-doctors-lawyers-professors-scientists-judges in America who would not want their child dating a black person.  What is most ridiculously amazing to me is that these people will then turn around and claim not to be racist.
 
Sorry to tell you this, but if you feel that African-Americans are not good enough to date your children, then you are a pure cut, USDA-approved, Grade-A, good old fashioned, straight off the assembly line racist.  White supremacy is very subtle, and many of us are victimized by it.  You can’t claim to believe in equality while maintaining beliefs that are so blatantly laced with white supremacy.   
 
As for Dog, I hope he pays a high price for his mistake.  He has the right to say what he wants at home, but he doesn’t need a show to say it.  Besides that, I am not sure if his network has any black hosts anyway, perhaps it’s time they find one.  

Video- Dr. Boyce Breaking Down "Dog The Bounty Hunter"

 

Dr. Boyce "Bustin Rhymes" About the NCAA - 11/3/07

 

 

Why Universities are fundamentally racist - Tuesday, October 31, 2007
 
 

This was an interesting weekend.  Two things happened that I was involved with that led to a tremendous amount of reflection on my part.  I’ll start from the beginning, as the passion is so strong that my fingers are boiling on the keyboard. They say you shouldn’t try to think or write when you are angry, but I am a man of passion and passion brings out the strongest part of my intellect.
 
First, I went to visit my alma mater (or my “alma-mama” as I call it), The University of Kentucky.  UK is an amazing school, beautiful in some ways, but sick and twisted in others.  I saw our football team win an amazing game a couple of weeks ago, as they beat the #1 ranked team in the country for the first time in 43 years.  I was with them the entire time, cheering and jumping up and down as they scored one touch down after another.  Part of me bleeds blue, which happens to be one our school colors.
 
But it is also my love for my “alma-mamma” that inspired my visit to the school this week.  I gave a speech after being requested by the black students on campus to come in and comment on the series of racially-motivated incidents that took place on campus recently.  In one of the incidents, a black student had the words “Die Nigger” sliced into his door.  The incident was in the media, and I was forwarded the article by one of my cousins.  The reason I got the article:  The student who had the words scratched into his door also happened to be my cousin.
 
Before I could pick up the phone and “raise holy hayell”, I received a call from one of the black administrators, who wanted me to intervene.  The answer was a resounding “yes”.
 
Coming back home was an amazing experience, as I could literally look at every corner, street, building and sidewalk on that campus and have a fond memory of being in that particular spot.  It could be the place where I first kissed my girlfriend, stood fuming over a bad grade in a class, played football with my friends, had a car accident or drank a milkshake.  I consider that university to be my home.
 
The energy in the auditorium was off the chain, as the house was totally packed.  Apparently, the arrival of the “Dangerous Negro” had driven many people to come out, young and old, white and black.  The students came ready for war, and I was ready to guide them down the war path.  I didn’t want them filled with hate.  I just wanted them to have understanding, purpose and direction.  I reminded them that the same things that happened in 2007 were also happening in 1997, 1987 and 1977.   I told them about how the administration had made promises 20 years earlier to substantially increase the presence of black faculty on campus, and that none of these promises were kept or acknowledged.  I reminded them that if they acted firmly and strongly, 2007 would be the year when the shit was going to stop. 
 
I then asked the students how many of them have had more than one black professor.  Almost none of them raised their hands, I don’t think there were more than one or two hands in the air.  The fact that there were hundreds of people in the room, yet only a couple of them have had more than one black professor (after taking a multitude of classes) made my point immediately and clearly.  I told them that they should be ANGRY about the fact that people like them have been systemically cut out of academia and not allowed to stand in front of the classroom.  This is NOT FAIR and highly indicative of the fact that their university does not consider the hiring or tenure of black professors to be a high priority.  The excuses universities use for not hiring or tenuring black professors usually fit into (but are not limited to) a few neat categories:
 
1)      “We can’t find them, they don’t exist” – Bullshit.  They do exist.  I know a lot of them.  They apply for the jobs and are told that they aren’t qualified for the position.  Most of them are not even interviewed, even by universities that have positions that have never been held by a person of color.  I have many friends RIGHT NOW who are highly qualified to teach at the top universities, but they aren’t getting a second look when they send in their applications. 
 
2)      “They are not qualified for hiring or tenure” – There is not a more insulting statement in the world, nor one that is more indicative of the mentality that embraces white supremacy.  The idea that you can have a job that hundreds of people have done, mostly white men, in which THERE IS NOT A PERSON OF COLOR ON EARTH QUALIFIED TO DO THAT JOB implies that you are in serious denial.  Given America’s history of racism and exclusion, it is far more likely that this history of exclusion plays a role in the fact that many people are being systematically shut out of these opportunities.  The environment was built by racists to promote and support the success of one ethnic group over another.  So, even when racism leaves the hearts and minds of the individuals affiliated with that institution, their commitment to the standards created and embraced by the institution (created on an undeniably racist foundation) allow racism to fester and have an impact in the hiring and promotion processes.  This does not even consider the fact that many Americans still embrace racist ideals when it comes to how they evaluate the significance and importance of work being done in black communities.  Being a black scholar who does work in the black community, it is clear that while many people of color deem my work to be important, most of my non-black colleagues do not. 
 
 
This leads to the another important question: “Who is deciding if an applicant is qualified?” If a group/committee created and sustained by an historically racist institution is making decisions on who is qualified and who is not, then their criteria for choosing those who are most qualified is again likely to support the advancement of one group over another. 
For example, in academia, we have the so-called “elite” journals: mostly controlled by white males or those who think like them.  When I have submitted work relevant to the black community to these journals, that work is then rejected.  At which point, I am criticized for not having my work published in the so-called “premiere journals”.  That’s like me forcing Garth Brooks to perform in the Apollo Theatre in Harlem, and saying “From the crowd’s reaction, it’s clear that you’re a shitty singer”.
 
Now, the third standard excuse:
 
3)      “We made offers to them, but they won’t take the job” – Easy racist tactic: offer the minority candidate an embarrassing and lowball salary and then let them walk away.  That’s what the Yankees did to Joe Torre- they made an offer, but the offer was so insulting that they knew he would not take it.  That’s like urinating on your girlfriend’s $3 engagement ring and then saying “B*&^%, will you marry me?”  What’s interesting is that when UK, Syracuse and other universities want to get a top quality basketball coach or player, they will dig deep in their pockets to make it happen.  They don’t do the same when it comes to creating diversity, primarily because it just isn’t on their priority list.  
 
I explained to the U. Kentucky students that their university is a modern day plantation.  Black people have 4 dominant roles:  To dribble basketballs, throw footballs, cook the food and take out the trash.  One does not have to explicitly tell students that they feel that whites are superior to blacks…..they teach it every day with their actions and choices.....actions speak louder than words.   When every person you see at the front of the classroom is white, you are being implicitly told that you are not meant to be in that position.  Also, there are almost no mentors in place who can identify with you.  I once saw two pictures of the law school professionals at U. Kentucky, placed side by side.  One was a picture of the faculty, the other a picture of the janitorial staff.  The first picture was 100% white, the other 100% black.  There’s not much else to say beyond that.
 
I then told the students that my own university and many others are not much different in their racism.  Syracuse University has SCORES of academic departments that have NEVER tenured a person of color.  Rather than considering the possibility that this reality is an artifact and result of institutionalized racism, many allegedly intelligent individuals would rather presume that the disparity is due to the fact that no qualified black people have applied for the job.
 
Again, I must clear my throat and respond with a resounding “Bullshit”.
 
I have seen many qualified black professors come through my university either as applicants or assistant professors attempting to obtain tenure.  In every single case, they were told by individuals at this university that they were not qualified for the job.  These were hard working professors who have gone to the best schools.  Some of them went on to have tremendous success at other universities or at Historically Black Colleges and Universities, where they were not going to be forced to endure this sort of discrimination.  It is shameful, ignorant and absolutely ridiculous.  It is 2007 and you have some departments that have NEVER EVEN HIRED a person of color (even though many have applied for the job).  I find that both sad and pathetic.  The horrific denial is even more embarrassing, and future generations are going to judge our so-called intellectuals as harshly as we judge those in the 1960s who felt that black kids should not attend the same schools as whites, or who spent their time attempting to prove the genetic inferiority of people of color.   
 
I myself have been told consistently, recently by a committee of peers, many of whom don’t have an academic record as strong as my own, that I am a “substandard professor”.  I was told that my work in the black community adds no value to my reputation as a scholar and that I am not good enough to make tenure at this university.  I took the immediate step of letting people know that I UNCONDITIONALLY REJECT this assessment of my academic capability.
 
I have (to my knowledge) more solo authored research publications than any other person on my faculty.
 
I graduated as one of the top students at one of the top 10 finance programs in the world (the acceptance rates for these programs can be as low as 1 out of 100 applicants)
 
I have, through my work on CNN, ESPN, CBS, NBC and other networks, contributed substantially to national debates on issues related to people of color, and to America as a whole. 
 
I probably achieved more by the age of 32 than many of those judging me will achieve in a lifetime. 
 
Yet, I am considered clearly unqualified to make tenure at Syracuse University.   I can't help but laugh.
 
Someone has to fight this, so I guess I am going to have to be that guy.  I am prepared to fight alone, and die alone on the professional battlefield to challenge this kind of injustice, for it is harmful to millions of youth everywhere and the reason that black kids are mis-educated in American systems.  It is the same reason that I was told by high school teachers that I was not qualified for college.  It is the same reason that my sister, who is studying medicine at the Mayo Clinic, was told that she too was not qualified for college.  All the while, idiots like George W. Bush are being funneled to the top of major corporations, Harvard Business School, Yale University and the White House.  The same is true of academia, where individuals wear crowns made of discriminatory entitlement and arrogantly sprinkle scorn on those of color who've been exposed to such clearly flawed assessments.  Not me homeboy, I'm not that brotha.
 
Another one of my outstanding black colleagues, Martin Nunlee, just left the university in a shadow of shame.  He too was told that he was not good enough to be here.  The problem?  Every single one of the many departments of our business school has consistently denied tenure to EVERY SINGLE black man or woman who has applied for the past 120 years.  Rather than analyzing the system, priorities, psychological constructs, procedures and legacies, many would rather say that black people are just not trying hard enough…..bullshit.
 
I saw Harvard University do the same the Cornel West, who will go down in history as one of the great minds of the 20th century.  Countless other black professors have endured the same injustice.  The notion that so-called intellectuals are immune to the disease of racism is incorrect.  Sometimes those with the worst infections are the ones who are most confident that they have been cured.
 
So, if you’ve ever gone to college and wondered why none of your professors are black….it is not, as many will have you believe, because we are dumb, lazy or unqualified.  It is because even when we work our butts off and give 110%, we are still told that we are not cut out for the job…. “black boy you don’t belong here” is the message sent to me on a regular basis – it became especially true once I spoke openly about racism in America in national media (leading the university to officially disassociate itself from my words, something that has not been done to any other faculty member in recent memory).  I have some colleagues who don’t even speak to me, they just look at me as if I am a common criminal…..just a big, dumb nigger.  That is what it means to have an institution built on a racist foundation.  So, while I might have been hard on The University of Kentucky for their racism, the brand of racism at Syracuse is not much different.  Racial inequality took 400 years to build, but for some reason, people are asinine enough to think that it was gone in 20. 

Bill Cosby – The Ultimate conundrum- 10/23/07
 
Bill Cosby is NOT a Happy Negro.  I make this clear distinction so that the world realizes that I don’t put him in the same category as Juan Williams.  Juan is a person who shows all the signs of a sell-out, given the fact that he has destroyed a distinguished journalistic career in order to make himself into the “Intellectual Flavor Flave” of Fox News.  How do you spell Flavor’s name anyway?
 
I put up a video on Cosby this week that got a lot of response.  Apparently, some people don’t agree with my assessments.  But again, I stick by them.  I personally feel that a black man going on a tour of predominantly white television shows in order to bash black people is not doing anything productive.  That would be like someone doing a tour of Iran to talk about how pathetic American citizens are.  Doing that same tour on American soil would have a very different interpretation, because you could argue that you are doing your work out of love for America.  But doing the same tour in Iran or Venezuela would imply that you are empowering those who already feel that America is a terrible place with terrible people.
 
I did get an email from my buddy Joseph C. Phillips.  He was actually on the Cosby Show years ago, playing Martin, Denice’s husband…you remember, the guy in the Navy.  Well, anyway, Joseph and I were on CNN together a while back and I have been dialoguing with him on and off since then.  I don’t agree with him, but I respect him. 
 
Out of respect for his privacy, I can’t share what he emailed to me. But I can share my response.  Essentially, he agreed with Cosby and seemed to feel that my response to Cosby was inappropriate.  I also get the sense that Joseph felt that I was misinterpreting Bill’s actions.  I hope he is right because right now, I’m confused.  The problem, however, is that Cosby does not feel equipped to respond to and dialogue with anyone who disagrees with him, especially scholars.  But then again, who wouldn’t get nervous when they saw me coming?  I can be pretty strong and abrasive at times, I admit that.  I think it comes from the fact that when I am truly offended, I don’t hide it behind diplomacy.  I have to tell the truth and be honest about how I feel.  Cosby has offended me and the community that I come from.  For that reason, I feel that he must be challenged.
 
Without further ado, my response to Joseph: 
 
 
Hey Joseph,
 
good to hear from you man.  Very quick points:
 
1) I wonder how many times Bill has talked to Bob Johnson at BET for his role in the creation of millions of wannabe thugs?  This makes it more than a racial thing, it's a question of whether or not he has the courage to confront everyone responsible for the problem.
 
2) Speaking to white audiences about the perceived cultural inferiority of the black underclass is nothing new.  People have been doing it for 400 years and it happens around the world:  India does it to the "untouchables", Australia does it to the aborigines.  It happens all the time because the image of those with less media access is controlled by those who control media.
 
3) We are not any more flawed than anyone else.  A white man doing a tour of black America discussing everything that is wrong with white people would be perceived as a pathetic whiner.  I am not sure why the perception should change when a black man does a tour of white America complaining about black people.
 
4) Black people are powerful and strong, we've overcome a lot.  The lighting used in the lens to tell the story of a people has a great deal to do with which aspects of the story receive the most attention.  Don't fall for the hype my man....many black people are doing amazing things.  We're better off educationally, economically and otherwise than we've ever been.  I love our people and encourage us to improve, I don't enjoy discussing us from a point of negativity.
 

 

Randy Moss And T.O. -- Judging The Character Of These Characters - October 16, 2007


I recall hearing a lot of self-righteous individuals dogging, dissing and dismissing the two most controversial receivers in the NFL, Terrell Owens and Randy Moss. "We would never play with these guys", stated many a self-righteous owner, fan, player, or whatever.    Everyone seemed to want to cite this and that about their character, how they are not good human beings, that they are cancers to their teams and a lot of other stuff that didn't make any sense. Well, cancers don't make your team one of the best in the league, and that is exactly what these guys have done.     When evaluating the character of Owens and Moss, I see three things: they both work hard, they are winners, and they are also two of the best receivers in NFL history. You don't get that good by being the lazy bums they've been depicted to be.    I applaud Jerry Jones and Bill Belichick for seeing past the silliness.  Obviously they are able to separate the studs from the duds and see through the mob mentality that many fans have when it comes to black athletes who behave too "brother-like" for their collective taste.  Not that every black man behaves the same way, but as a brother myself, I understood T.O. a lot more than most middle age, Caucasian sports writers.    The same way the public convinced us that dogfighting is the worst crime in the history of the world (although many of Vick's critics have no problem shooting and stuffing innocent animals over the fireplace), there were individuals convincing us that Terrell Owens should be treated like a convicted sex offender. The truth was that Owens has not done anything worthy of the hatred he received two years ago. He was just being himself, which apparently isn't good enough for some people.   The fact is that angering mainstream America has become a crime. It's not a coincidence that the most hated athlete in America is almost always a black man. When they step out of certain pre-defined cultural boundaries and expectations, they are punished like field slaves. Michael Vick is the latest athlete to be made into an example, as he is surely going to lose everything. Owens and Moss also received their share of public disdain.   Smart owners, fans and coaches want winners. That's what should matter most on the football field, unless you're talking about serious criminals.   Owens and Moss are not criminals, they are just weird.    Self-righteous snobs find their teams sitting at home, as the Jets did when they passed up on Warren Sapp (caught smoking marijuana in college), and instead chose the allegedly "clean cut" tight end from Penn State (what's his name again? Oh, it doesn't matter anyway).     The teams who arrogantly claimed they would never consider acquiring Terrell Owens will be sitting at home when the Cowboys are advancing in the playoffs. The teams who passed up on Randy Moss in the draft soon found him catching touchdown passes over the heads of their defensive backs.   I am happy for these guys, and I stand by them. They are flamboyant, a little nutts and sometimes even spoiled.  But dammit, they know how to win, their character is reflected in their work ethic, and there is no replacing their talent.  The haters and judgers can talk all they want, but these guys are getting it done.   

 

The inside Scoop on my Feud with Bill O’Reilly - Saturday October 13, 2007

 
In case you didn’t hear, I’ve had an interesting month.  Some would say that I was under fire, since Bill O’Reilly (Host of “The O’Reilly Factor”) chose to spend his entire week explaining why Syracuse University should fire me for using a “racial slur” in describing his conservative sidekick, Juan Williams.  With my face plastered up like OJ Simpson, O’Reilly went on and on to the audience drones at Fox News about how my comment was “racist” and that I am a bad person (Imagine Bill O’Reilly, the David Duke of the new millennium, calling someone racist.  That’s like Britney Spears calling someone a bad mother).  I think he even called me a moron, which is ironic, since I have more education in my big toe than he has in his entire family.  He didn’t rail on the issue for 5 or 10 minutes…..he went on for an ENTIRE SHOW AND FOR THE ENTIRE WEEK.  Not since my days at my racist alma mater, The University of Kentucky (where someone scratched “Die N---- Die” on my cousin’s door last week), have I seen racists get so bent out of shape.  
 
In a Bat Man and Robin kind of way, Juan Williams, O’Reilly’s loyal side kick, followed suit on the assault by writing some pretty nasty words about me in Time Magazine.  I guess if I were Austin Powers, O’Reilly would be Dr. Evil, so that would make Juan Williams “Mini-me”.  I responded with an article of my own, but I sent it to black publications, since this was a conversation I wanted to have with my people.  I could care less what Fox News viewers think, since that network has done a huge disservice to American journalism.
 
I was flattered that Dr. Evil and Mini-me would spend so much time expressing their love for me.  As my old friend in the south used to say “The hit dog always hollers”.  In other words, I struck a chord with Juan Williams, primarily because millions of people around the country have been thinking what I’d simply chosen to say…..that he has made himself into Bill O’Reilly’s “Happy little negro”.  I don’t back away from my comments one bit, since it is a long tradition for racists to validate their attempts toward black oppression by finding an African-American willing to go along with the program. 
 
In case you’re wondering, none of this hoopla and media stuff bothered me a bit, I’m used to it.  I learned long ago from my mother that the world is not trained to love any black man who speaks strongly in support of his people.  I don’t say things to be popular, I say them to tell the TRUTH.  The 2000 emails didn’t bother me, since they go into a file I am saving for my grand kids.  Seeing my face on national TV only makes me wonder if I am wearing my favorite suit.  I actually slept through some of the episodes that O’Reilly spent talking about me.  When you’re well educated, honest, without fear and trying to do the right thing, then you can sleep well at night.  I’ve been snoring as loud as ever.
 
My university was also forced to get into the game, as the poor chancellor was getting slammed with tons of emails from ridiculous Fox News viewers, who demanded that I be fired for verbally assaulting their precious hosts.  The university then did something I’ve never seen it do in response to the words of a faculty member:  it issued a statement making it clear that my words do not reflect the views of the university.
 
Not that the statement bothered me (it didn’t at first), but one of the reporters got me thinking when she asked “Why do they feel it so important for them to detach themselves from you, do they do that to anyone else?” I wasn’t quite sure, since I’d just assumed that most people are afraid of black men, especially educated ones.  All I know is that for the longest time, it has been made very clear to me that the university is not happy with my role as a black public scholar.  I was told long ago that anything I do in public that is not directly involved with finance would not be recognized by my business school.  So, while they celebrate the public contributions of other faculty, most of my appearances on CNN, ESPN or anywhere else were virtually ignored, mainly because I was discussing black people.  Even when I’ve spoken on Financial issues, if the topic connected to African-American males, it was deemed controversial by definition, and usually not mentioned at all on the business school website.  However, if other faculty even received a peep of attention for their words, it was plastered all over the place.
 
If I were to think on it, I might actually be insulted.  I was the first black finance professor to be hired in the ENTIRE HISTORY of Syracuse University.  I was the only African-American in the United States to get a PhD in Finance during the year I graduated.  So, to not recognize the fact that my contributions AS A BLACK MAN are not critical to my community is like NASCAR telling Danica Patrick that she shouldn’t give a damn about women’s rights.  That, my friends, is a classic example of how institutionalized racism infects many of our nation’s universities.   
 
I am not angry at anyone over this.  But I only hope that this gives people a chance to see what institutionalized racism is all about.  It’s not about hanging nooses or calling someone the n-word in the hall….it’s about creating an institutional fabric and social infrastructure built with policies, sociologies, and procedures that benefit one race over another.  The simple fact that my contributions as a black scholar are heavily valued in the black community, yet ignored and virtually disrespected by my predominantly white university is directly connected to the fact that many departments on this campus (mine included) have NEVER, to my knowledge, tenured a single black person in over 100 years of existence.  Black faculty are typically fired or never hired because they are consistently deemed less qualified than their white counterparts.  Are black students made to be more successful when they can go through an entire 4 years of college without ever having a black teacher?  I feel the need to address these issues, not for my own career, but for the careers of those who come in behind me. 
 
Well, that’s the thick and thin of it.  I am actually going to take a break from national TV stuff for a while and focus on other issues, like my next book.  I’ve done about 70 interviews this month and I am honestly tired of it.  I also have a TV deal in the works, but I’ll let you know more about that when it’s done.
 
To my friends who have worried about me and sent me letters of support, God bless you and I appreciate the love.  I happen to be a second cousin to my greatest hero, Muhammad Ali.  I’ve always felt that if he could deal with the hate he received in the 60s, then damnit, I can deal with that dumb ass Bill O’Reilly.  In fact, O’Reilly’s not smart enough to be a real challenge.
 
 

 

Headed to get some Sun!!!!! Yeah!!! – Friday, October 12, 2007
 
 
I am really tired today.  Really tired.  Sometimes I get this way when everything gets out of control.  Not that this week has been more than I can handle, since I can handle a lot.  The key is knowing how to not take things too seriously.
 
I did make some decisions recently:  I am not going to do any national media for a while, at least not with mainstream networks.  I am honestly tired of CNN and FOX, and I find myself getting weary of the fact that people deem a debate to be more important just because it’s on national tv.  I would rather spend my time focusing on things of substance, like our initiative to keep Don Imus off the air, and also my next book.  My literary agent seems excited about it, and I decided that it would provide some guidance on leadership in the 21st century.  Well, at least my two cents worth.
 
Second, I am really really really excited about the speeches I am giving over the next few weeks, which are in the south.  I like the south because it’s warm.  The north is really cold, and I hate cold weather.
 
I did an interview today on Wisconsin Public radio, one of the few networks I have a tremendous amount of respect for.  I am also willing to do things with American Urban Radio Networks and a limited number of friends I have with XM Satellite.  I feel that those conversations are more productive than the ones I’ve had on FOX.  Being on FOX is like having really bad sex….where you walk away saying “Did I just do it so that I could say I did?”  Kinda makes you think.
 
Here is a video my management put together on this feud with Bill O’Reilly, yet another man I have very little respect for.  What people don’t realize is that he is actually worse than Don Imus.  Imus is a racist, but O’Reilly is another David Duke.

 

 

 

Why Don Imus Should Not Be Allowed Back on the Air - October 11, 2007
  

 
For some reason, the representatives of Don Imus feel they can insult the intelligence of fair-minded people in America.  Just a few months after his reference to innocent, young black women as a group of “nappy headed hoes”, there are efforts and negotiations to get him back on national radio.  It appears that those who represent Imus simply told him to “wait a few months and the angry black people will go away.”
 
While some might think that protests by the black community have a limited shelf life, this could not be further from the truth.  The reality is that movements of the 21st century exist within a different paradigm.  The Jena 6 case showed clearly that with the power of the Internet and related ability to circumvent mainstream media (which has not properly served the interests of black people), there is a fresh ability for people to engage in the truest freedoms of America reflected in our power to protest.
 
We at YourBlackWorld want to use this power to challenge the likes of Don Imus, Bill O’Reilly and others who have felt that the power of the airwaves has justified their continued abuse of people of color.  Their remarks, hatred, and bullying has done nothing more than perpetuate the racist foundations of our country.  America cannot move forward if these individuals are continuously given platforms that allow them to spew such rhetoric.
 
Don Imus’ individual right to freedom of speech is respected, but his right to use hate speech via the support of a corporation funded with consumer dollars is not.  Similar to the fact that Americans would not have chosen to support Nike had they chosen to sponsor Michael Vick, fair-minded Americans should choose not to support any network or corporation that decides to sponsor Don Imus.
 
We are calling for the following:
 
1)      Any organization considering putting Don Imus on the air is warned in advance that signing him will lead to prolonged, relentless protest and potential boycotts of your network.  Your network will be clearly defined as an enemy to people of color and to fair-minded Americans everywhere.
2)      Corporate sponsors who sign deals to have their products on the air of such a show will be held accountable for their desire to profit from an individual who has made a reputation for hate.
3)      Dignitaries, politicians and other respected individuals will have their credibility questioned should they choose to be guests on such a show.  For example, Republican presidential candidates who chose to pass the presidential debate sponsored by African-Americans, but then choose to come onto Imus’ show, will be subject to question and scrutiny.  
 
Individuals who would like to sign the petition to keep Imus off the air are encouraged to do so.  We support the National Association of Black Journalists and other organizations in our initiative.  The fight will never stop.
 
 
Sincerely,
 
Dr. Boyce Watkins
YourBlackWorld.com

 

OK, I'm done.  O'Reilly REALLY DOES have a Secret Obsession with me  - Sunday 10/7/07

I saw something this week I've never seen before:  Bill O'Reilly and his goons for an audience spent 5 STRAIGHT DAYS talking about how much he hates me and wants me to be fired.  If only girls in high school had given me so much attention.

I won't waste your time with more of my thoughts on the situation, I am actually bored with O'Reilly.  I can only say that I will be talking about this whole situation in my next book, and we are close to having a done deal.  I am excited.  Here is something I saw on Mediamatters.org that shows just how Fox News, Juan Williams, and The O'Reilly Factor are losing their credibility one day at a time.  I once considered going onto O'Reilly's show to respond to him, but now I realize that I've hit a wounded duck.  Actually, I feel sorry for both he and Juan, for all indications say that neither of them will be around in 5 years.

Here is something I saw in a great blog post on mediamattes.org:  It appears that Williams has sacrificed so much of his journalistic integrity that I bet NPR will fire him in the near future.  I feel sorry for any black man who has put himself into such a sad, pathetic, situation.

Juan Williams, Fox News and the NPR conundrum
by Eric Boehlert

For years, journalist Juan Williams has straddled the divide between two unique media worlds; the thoughtful and erudite journalism of National Public Radio (NPR), where Williams serves as an analyst, and the rowdy hothouse at Fox News, where Williams works as a contributor. Most of the time, the two worlds don't collide. But recently they did, and NPR has the bruises to show for it.
That's because last week Williams wasn't commenting about the news, he was in the middle of it. First, he became entangled in the controversy that swirled around Bill O'Reilly's puzzling comments about visiting Harlem, which were seen by many as being racially insensitive. Williams, a prominent African-American journalist, strenuously defended O'Reilly on Fox News' The O'Reilly Factor and accused his critics of launching a smear campaign.
Then later in the week, Williams made news when he complained that NPR had turned down the White House's offer to have him interview President Bush and discuss race relations. Officials at NPR were uncomfortable having the White House handpick the interviewer, so they passed. Fox News though, quickly accepted the invitation, complete with restrictions, and Williams conducted the interview for the all-news cable channel.
With his often over-excited and misleading defense of O'Reilly, as well as his need to publicly side with Fox News and badmouth NPR's decision regarding the Bush interview, it seems Williams no longer straddles that peculiar media divide. Instead, he's deliberately marched over into the Fox News camp and in the process has stripped away some layers of his journalistic integrity.
Worse, real damage is being done to NPR by having its name, via Williams, associated with Fox News' most opinionated talker. In fact, Williams' recent appearance on The O'Reilly Factor almost certainly violated NPR's employee standards, which prohibit staffers from appearing on programs that "encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis" and are "harmful to the reputation of NPR."
Content-wise, The O'Reilly Factor is a complete train wreck. As O'Reilly biographer Marvin Kitman recently noted, "Frankly, I can't listen to him anymore. As much as I praised the early O'Reilly, I think he's gone nuts. ... He just seems to go berserk more often now."
That's no secret, and my guess is that senior executives at NPR understand that about O'Reilly. And yet NPR let Williams appear on The O'Reilly Factor in his effort to bail out the host from a brewing race-based media scandal. The fact that Williams repeatedly misled viewers while recounting O'Reilly's comments last week also did not help NPR's cause.
Evidence suggests that, behind the scenes, NPR is not happy about Williams' relationship with Fox News. If so, now is the time for the network to address the growing problem.
Complaints about Williams' alliance with Fox News are not new. For years he has drawn criticism from liberals who protest his weekly appearances on the more grown-up Fox News Sunday, arguing there are better advocates for genuinely liberal positions than Williams, who, for instance, was a supporter of Clarence Thomas' Supreme Court nomination. Over the years though, I've found Williams to be among the most consistently focused and aggressive of the so-called Fox News Democrats, often (though not always) pushing back against the particularly egregious Republican talking points that swamp the Fox News Sunday telecast.
If Williams wants to serve as a well-paid prop, a self-described "foil," brought in to manufacture entertaining conflict in front of the Fox News cameras for un-persuadable viewers who vote overwhelmingly Republican, that's his choice.
What changed last week was that Williams inserted himself into the news and cast himself as the great Fox News defender, and did it on The O'Reilly Factor, a program no serious NPR journalist should ever appear on.
Williams played a starring role in O'Reilly's saga surrounding Sylvia's restaurant in Harlem, because it was on that same broadcast that the host interviewed Williams and the two men talked about race in America, including damaging stereotypes that exist. (Williams was busy promoting his book, now out in paperback.) So when more and more news outlets began asking questions about why O'Reilly was surprised a black restaurant in Harlem was like a white restaurant in midtown Manhattan, Williams was quickly invited onto The O'Reilly Factor to help explain away the story.
Clamoring about how news organizations were guilty of "rank dishonesty" in covering the O'Reilly controversy (they're trying to "shut you up"), Williams conveniently sidestepped the host's most inflammatory remarks from the telecast. Williams had nothing to say about O'Reilly's condescending suggestion that "black Americans are starting to think more and more for themselves." Again and again, Williams took to the airwaves to defend O'Reilly, including on Fox News host John Gibson's radio program, and again and again Williams simply flushed that quote down the memory hole and pretended it never happened. I assume that's because the quote did not fit into Williams' defense of O'Reilly being the victim of a smear campaign, or simply being misunderstood.
Meanwhile, appearing on The O'Reilly Factor, Williams wouldn't touch O'Reilly's Quote of The Week:
And I couldn't get over the fact that there was no difference between Sylvia's restaurant and any other restaurant in New York City. I mean, it was exactly the same, even though it's run by blacks, primarily black patronship.
Days later, on September 30, Williams appeared on C-SPAN's Washington Journal, and a caller very specifically asked him to address that quote. Williams though, ripped it out of context and told viewers that O'Reilly made that comment as a way to compare the peaceful scene at Sylvia's to the ugly stereotype of black America that's portrayed through gangsta rap videos. But that's simply not true. The discussion O'Reilly and Williams had about rap video images came well after O'Reilly made his initial comments about Sylvia's. It's simply not accurate to suggest O'Reilly told the "no difference" story about Sylvia's amidst a larger discussion about gangsta rap. But Williams, playing defense for the Fox News host, did his best to re-tell the story in an O'Reilly-friendly way.
Writing an essay for Time magazine, Williams made an absurdly shallow (and dishonest) attempt at explaining the details of the controversy. According to Williams' thin spin, O'Reilly was unfairly "slammed" simply "for saying he went to a restaurant in Harlem and had a good time." That's like saying Sen. Larry Craig (R-ID) got slammed for simply not flushing the toilet at the Minneapolis airport. Williams could not even bring himself to reprint O'Reilly's quote about being surprised that Sylvia's was just like any other restaurant "even though it's run by blacks."
Of all his media appearances last week, it was Williams' stint on The O'Reilly Factor that was most noteworthy, simply because Williams provided O'Reilly with crucial political cover by rushing to his defense. I understand why O'Reilly was desperate for Williams to appear on The O'Reilly Factor. I cannot understand, however, why NPR allowed it.
Public broadcasting guidelines clearly state that when appearing on outside programs "journalists should not express views they would not air in their role as an NPR journalist." They should not appear on programs that are "harmful to the reputation of NPR." And, "They should not participate in shows, electronic forums, or blogs that encourage punditry and speculation rather than fact-based analysis."
Let's take them one at a time. First, when he appeared on The O'Reilly Factor last week to announce that there was a media conspiracy in motion to try to shut Bill O'Reilly up, was Williams expressing views that he would not air on NPR? My hunch is yes. And FYI, according to a Nexis search of the transcripts, Williams did not discuss O'Reilly on NPR last week. Second, is The O'Reilly Factor a program that is harmful to NPR's reputation? Of course. And third, is it a program that encourages (wild) speculation? It is.
Additionally, the NPR Code of Ethics forbids all NPR journalists from participating in appearances that "may appear to endorse the agenda of a group or organization." Fox News, as an organization, has an open political agenda, and by defending O'Reilly on The O'Reilly Factor, NPR's Williams was endorsing that organization's agenda, which was to attack and smear anyone who raised questions about the host's incendiary comments.
Clearly Williams' appearances on The O'Reilly Factor ran counter to NPR's established guidelines. Or can you name a single other "news" program that, based on public broadcasting standards, would be more inappropriate for an NPR employee to appear on and pontificate?
And last week wasn't the first time Williams sprinted to O'Reilly's side during an embarrassing media moment. Back in January when O'Reilly appeared on CBS' Late Show with David Letterman, the host, during some entertaining banter, zinged his guest by claiming 60 percent of what O'Reilly says is "crap." O'Reilly was widely seen as the loser in the televised tête-à-tête.
Once again, Williams rushed onto The O'Reilly Factor to help his glass-jawed pal get back on his feet. Williams, acting like he'd never seen two grown men argue on television before, decried Letterman's "antagonism" towards O'Reilly and all the "horrible things that he said to you." Williams compared Letterman to a serial killer and expressed amazement that O'Reilly didn't have a "black eye." After all, he'd been in a "knife fight" on the Letterman show.
The fact that O'Reilly doles out far nastier insults to his Fox News guests on a nightly basis went unmentioned by Williams.
Juan Williams sides with Fox News over NPR
If Williams was appreciative of NPR for bending the rules to allow him to flack for O'Reilly on Fox News, Williams had a strange way of showing it. The day after his September 25 ill-advised visit to The O'Reilly Factor, Williams was featured in a Washington Post article about the fact that NPR passed on an interview that Williams was offered with Bush to discuss race relations, as well as the brewing controversy in Jena, Louisiana, over charges of excessive prosecution for six black teens there.
Ellen Weiss, NPR's vice president for news, told the Post she "felt strongly" that "the White House shouldn't be selecting the person" for the interview. Williams lamented how he was "stunned by [NPR's] decision to turn their backs on [Bush] and to turn their backs on me."
I think NPR execs might have been too polite to express it publicly, but based on the tenor and response to Williams' much-hyped interview with Bush last January, back when the president was out selling his surge strategy for Iraq, it's possible NPR brass simply didn't think Williams was up to the task of going one-on-one with Bush.
As firedoglake blogger TRex noted, the January sit-down Williams conducted with Bush, "was a travesty." The problem? "Williams was in full, Fawning Fox News Toady-mode, pitching softball after softball at the president and offering no follow-up questions. It left the line between journalism and PR way behind and crossed into the territory of worship."
Indeed, one memorable moment came when Williams assured Bush that Americans were praying for him. At the time, NPR listeners took notice and they were not impressed.
So why would NPR send Williams, armed with the same lapdog approach, back to White House to interview a president who, since January, has managed to become even less popular?
Plus, there's a backstory. In his seven years in office, Bush has basically stiffed one of the nation's most prestigious government-funded news organizations and granted NPR just a single interview; the Williams puff session in January. To this day, Bush has refused to allow an NPR anchor or new correspondent to interview him on a range of topics, the way ABC, CBS, NBC, CNN, and Fox have all been allowed to do. What exactly is Bush afraid of? (Williams is an analyst, not an anchor or news correspondent.)
Then again, the antagonism should not be surprising since the administration's contempt for public broadcasting is well documented. (Question: Do NPR bosses allow Williams to maintain a high profile at Fox News as a way to defend public broadcasting against relentless right-wing critics who claim NPR has a liberal bias?)
So I'm not surprised NPR balked. And I'm not surprised Williams ran to the media to tell his sad tale of woe.
But the story doesn't end there. Because after NPR passed on the interview, Williams went ahead and did it in his role as a Fox News contributor. Fox then made a big deal about how NPR had turned Bush down, complete with issuing a name-calling press release about how "appalling" NPR's treatment of Williams had been.
In truth, Fox News' treatment of Williams, and his Bush interview, was even more insulting. Because what did Fox News actually do with Williams' interview? Fox News basically ignored the contents. As best I can tell, Fox News last week aired less than two minutes from the interview in which Bush discussed race. In fact, Fox News spent more time talking about how NPR punted on the interview than it did broadcasting that portion of the interview. (During the interview, Williams also asked Bush about the 2008 campaign and Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad; Fox News aired more of that.)
There was a telling moment when Williams appeared on The O'Reilly Factor to hype the Bush interview. O'Reilly, a public broadcasting hater, went on and on about how NPR turned down the White House interview offer. Turning to the interview, O'Reilly announced, "[W]e'll run a clip of it because it has to do with Ahmadinejad." [Emphasis added.] As for race or the Jena 6? O'Reilly couldn't care less.
Same with John Gibson's The Big Show; the host asked Williams about Bush's comments regarding the 2008 campaign, as well as Ahmadinejad. Zero interest, though, in Bush's comments about race or the Jena 6 demonstrators, whom Gibson had already mocked on the air for allegedly inventing claims of racism in America.
But that's what Fox News does; Fox attacks black America.
Note that while making the rounds on his spin control tour last week, Williams appeared on Gibson's radio show, where he mentioned that they're both employed by Fox News.
"They don't much like that at NPR, do they, Juan?" asked Gibson with a chuckle.
"Oh boy. Ugh," came Williams' response.
If NPR is unhappy with Williams' increasingly high-profile and controversial appearances on Fox News, then now is the time to tell him that he has to choose between the two media outlets. Although from the looks of things, with Williams providing cover for O'Reilly and then trashing NPR for not obediently accepting the White House guidelines for a Bush interview the way Fox News did, it looks as if Williams has already made his choice.

 

SU prof in middle of O'Reilly uproar (The Syracuse Post Standard)

Friday, October 05, 2007 By Pam Lundborg Staff writer

A Syracuse University professor has received death threats and hundreds of nasty e-mails after he entered a controversy over remarks made by talk show host Bill O'Reilly.
Boyce Watkins, a black SU business professor, last week on CNN called National Public Radio senior editor Juan Williams a "happy Negro" after Williams defended O'Reilly.
The racial debate began when O'Reilly, on his radio show, said black people were well behaved at a Harlem restaurant that he visited and that no one yelled, "m-fer, I want more iced tea." Many listeners called O'Reilly a racist.
Williams, a black journalist, defended O'Reilly on the O'Reilly Factor TV show, saying the talk show host's comments were not racist and that O'Reilly was "trying to deflate stereotypes."
Watkins spoke to CNN several times, saying Williams is, "the eternal happy Negro." Williams' defense of O'Reilly is "like a stripper telling Hugh Hefner he's not a sexist," he said.
O'Reilly, Williams and Watkins have been debating the issue since, appearing on national television several times this week to defend their perspectives. The controversy is also festering at SU, where Watkins says the university administration is distancing itself from him and his comments.
Watkins, who is in the Martin J. Whitman School of Management, said he met Wednesday with his dean, Melvin Stith, who told Watkins that he appreciates his freedom of speech but wants the professor to make it clear that he is speaking as a public scholar and not as a university representative. The university released a statement Thursday echoing that sentiment:
"Syracuse University acknowledges the right of Dr. Watkins, outside of his employment with the University, to express his personal views on issues of interest to him. However, when faculty do so, they are not reflecting the opinion or mission of Syracuse University or any of its schools or colleges."
Stith echoed the statement Thursday night, saying "my position is that of course we all have a right to speak as citizens of this country, but he does not speak on behalf of Whitman or SU." He would not comment on the content of Watkins' comments.
Watkins said he doesn't feel the university likes that he stirs up controversy.
"I feel that (Chancellor Nancy) Cantor's camp doesn't like what I do," he said. "I'm the stepchild that's been swept under the rug . . . Syracuse is ashamed of me. The university has not embraced anything I've done."
Watkins said he stands by his statements to CNN. O'Reilly has "made an enemy of the black community," he said. Williams, he said, "validates the racist."
"(Williams) does not challenge white America to take responsibility for creating institutions that perpetuate racial inequality," Watkins said. "His job is to sit with borderline Klansmen and say the world is screwed up because black people are screwed up."
Williams, reached by telephone Thursday, said Watkins' "happy Negro" comments were cheap insults that lack substance. The men have never met or spoken, he said.
"It's just kind of low-ball, almost what you'd describe as schoolyard language in what was intended to be a serious discussion about race in America," Williams said. "This guy calling me a happy Negro suggests I'm some Uncle Tom and that I'm making excuses for racism. . .How outrageous is it to attack someone who promotes healthy race relations in this country."
Watkins and Williams both say they have been flooded with response. Both say members of the black community have been supportive.
Watkins, who said he has received more than 600 e-mails, said several Fox viewers have sent death threats.
"I'm getting hundreds and hundreds of e-mails telling me I'm a bad guy," Watkins said. "I'm not talking polite disagreement."

 

Bill O’Reilly’s Secret Obsession and Why Lawyers are so smart -10/5/07
 
I woke up this morning to the voice of an attorney.  Not one from Fox News though, but one from the conference at which I was speaking.  She asked me if I was the guy she saw on Fox the night before, with his face splashed on the screen like OJ Simpson.  I figured that denying it wouldn’t work, so I told her that I was the guy.  She then expressed concern that Fox News was sending a camera crew to cover the event at which I was speaking, and I think it made her nervous.

Why O'Reilly and his goons are so obsessed with me, I have no idea.  In light of the fact that so many conservatives are in the closet, I just hope that it's not some kind of weird mandingo fantasy or something.  The guy is just wierd.
 
No problem.  I told the Fox people to go away.  I guess attorneys are supposed to worry about stuff like that, and I sometimes forget what it’s like for black people who are afraid to lose their jobs.  Being associated with someone like me might actually reveal to your corporation that you are indeed, a black person. 
 
Part of this is what makes me feel sorry for us.  We hide in the same way we did during slavery….saying and being one thing in public and being something else in private.  We wear the corporate suits and speak the lingo during the day, only to have “dinner table revolts” every night.  This is the reason why I knew, long ago, that I would never be a good corporate negro.
 
This is not to berate the women at this conference (it was a conference for female attorneys of color). They were awesome, and I loved the energy.  I talked a lot about my sweetie, who also happens to be an attorney, and they got a kick out of that. I figured that telling them about my sweetie from the beginning would fend off any women from either thinking that I am hitting on them or that they should hit on me.  I don’t expect that any woman in her right mind would want a guy with a face like mine, but sometimes I am surprised.
 
I also found out from my sweetie that I was on the front page of the Syracuse Post Standard.  I haven’t read the article, but I plan to.  Part of me can’t wait to see how this plays out.  But one thing that Bill O’Reilly should know is that I have a VERY LONG memory and my reach is farther than he might think.  He gets caught slipping again, he might find himself crying on TV like Juan Williams. 
 
Both of these guys are enemies of America, and the worst thing in the world is to go to war with a guy who is prepared to put it all on the line.  I don’t hate Bill O’Reilly, I feel sorry for him.  I feel especially sorry for anyone who tries to get in my way.
 
OK, I have to get on a plane.  Bye!
 

 

O’Reilly does ANOTHER Show about me? – October 4, 2007
 
I can always tell what’s going on in the world by the “pulse” in my emails.  When I start getting a barrage of positive emails, it means that some black publication has written something about me or my feud with Bill O’Reilly.  When I get a slew of negative and nasty emails, I know that Fox did something.  Fox tends to have an “interesting” crowd viewing its shows, and you would be amazed at the kinds of things that people say.
 
Today,  I started getting a ton of really crazy emails.  I knew it could only be due to one thing:  O’Reilly again.  I then asked my friend, who actually watches this kind of stuff, if she’d heard anything.  She confirmed it:  Bill was talking about me again.
 
This time, he was asking my University President to defend my remarks.  That’s incredibly silly because my university hates me.  I have NEVER IN MY LIFE had one single conversation with our university president.  So, I feel bad for the central administrators who have to defend the negro across campus that they don’t even like. 
 
Of course, I don’t expect Bill to ever confront me himself.  He’s not smart enough to manage what I would have to say.  People like him fear intelligent black men.  Let’s keep it that way.  In fact, the more I think about it, the more I realize that he is probably not smart enough to know how much smarter than him I am.  Either way,  I don’t exactly jump with excitement over the idea of going head to head with the King Redneck in front of a bunch of people who already have biased viewpoints.  I would rather share my thoughts with predominantly black audiences, as I’ve done for most of this week.  I deliberately avoided mainstream media and went after outlets I respect, like Black America Web, where there is an audience that respects and cares for the advancement of black people.  Most of the people who read Black America Web have little or no respect for Juan Williams, so my comments were welcome.  Fox News is the opposite, since a black man willing to agree with a proven racist is always a precious commodity. 
 
I am in NYC giving a speech at a conference for black female attorneys.  I am excited, since these are an intelligent, conscientious group of leaders.  Amazing women.  At the same time, speaking for lawyers can be tough, since they tend to ask really detailed questions.  But given that my fiancé is an attorney, I kinda know what to expect.
 
Outside of that, it’s life as usual.  Well, except for the fallout with all the Fox stuff.  But for the most part, this was actually the first relatively normal day I've had in a while.

 

Why I called Juan Williams a “Happy Negro” on CNN – And why He and Bill O’Reilly Are Not Happy About it

By Dr. Boyce D. Watkins

www.boycewatkins.com

A friend (Valencia Roner) called me one night to ask if I watch “The O’Reilly Factor”. I said “No, I don’t watch silly, racist television programs.” She then informed me that I might want to watch this particular episode.

Why? Because I was the topic of conversation….for the entire show. I set the DVR and went to sleep. I woke up the next morning to watch what had been recorded. Valencia was right. They were showing images of my CNN appearances, and playing my comments repeatedly, like Sports Center Highlights. I’ve never seen so many guests asked to comment about someone else’s comments.

The kicker was watching Juan Williams and Bill O’Reilly congratulate each other like brothers for allegedly winning the “smear campaign” placed upon them by CNN. I listened to O’Reilly tell the world that CNN, MSNBC, The New York Times, Mediamatters.org and other news organizations were all corrupt, but not him. Williams even wrote a piece about me in Time Magazine, in addition to making several radio and TV appearances to complain about my words. During the show, I honestly thought Williams was going to cry. This brought back memories, since I remember making a lot of conservatives cry in college. My mother said I shouldn’t make grown men cry, and I felt bad.

I was asked on CNN (and other shows) about Bill O’Reilly’s racist remarks about Sylvia’s, a black restaurant in Harlem. In his comments, O’Reilly said that he could not get over the fact that the people were civil and well-behaved. He commended black people for finally learning to “think for themselves” and was relieved that there was no one in the restaurant saying “mf-er I want more ice tea.” (Good thing no one was really thirsty!).

O’Reilly tried to argue that his comments were meant to compliment the black community. He said that they were meant to defy stereotypes. As humbly and naive as a school girl, he argued that he was only intending to shed light on how racial stereotypes are bad for our society.  Like the movie “Transformers”, “America’s Educated Redneck”, Bill O'Reilly had morphed himself into Martin Luther King Jr.

On CNN, I essentially explained that anyone who thought Bill O’Reilly was suddenly a reformed racist who’d seen the light has been getting high with Bobby and Whitney too long. I’ve been on this man’s show before, and he has consistently demeaned, degraded and devalued everything about black culture he could get his hands on (remember when he said that the Katrina victims would not have been stranded on rooftops if they’d chosen to get an education?) I also mentioned that I was unimpressed with Juan Williams’ agreement and defense of O’Reilly. Seeing Williams sitting there congratulating O’Reilly for his bigotry reminded me of the Negro in the white suit defending “massa” at all costs. His attitudes were consistent with his latest and most terrible book, which does nothing but blast black culture and black people, as if we are the sole causes of socioeconomic inequality.

Therefore, I could only use terms I felt appropriate. I defined Williams as “The Happy Negro”. On CNN, I compared O’Reilly’s use of Williams to Hugh Hefner hiring a stripper to tell him that he’s not a sexist. Williams was irate after hearing my words.  In other words, “The Happy Negro” was no longer happy. 

I am not sure how smart or dumb Williams is (I have 3 times more education than him, but I guess he is of at least average intelligence). I hope he has enough sense to know that he is being used by a man who has consistently and reliably shown himself to be an enemy of black people.

I have, through my books “Everything You Ever Wanted to Know about College” and “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” consistently attacked problems in the black community. I have spoken to millions of African-Americans about the value of getting an education and managing their money. I support the black family and even proposed to my future spouse in front of millions of people, in order to give black men the courage to express love for our beautiful black women. I wish I could tell you how many times I argued with CNN producers to cover the Jena 6 story long before it was popular to do so. So, everything that Juan Williams might say about advancing the community has been consistently on my radar screen.

But here is where we differ.

I am very hard on the black community about improving our plight. But I am also man enough to challenge the white community, the media, universities, corporations and other American institutions for their role in creating racial inequality. Racism is a disease that lies within the fabric of nearly every American institution. So, any conversation about racial inequality that does not include White America’s flaws and roles in the process is ridiculous, misguided and counter productive.  In mathematics, I learned that you cannot solve a problem without working with both sides of the equation.  The functions and systems of that equation are at least as important as the individual parameters.  In other words, the systems in America play a powerful role in the creation of incentives, opportunities and outcomes of the individual. 

If a young lady is sexually molested by her father and grows up to become a prostitute, any weak man can say “Miss, your life is in shambles because you’re choosing to be a whore.” This might even be an obvious point, but it will also continue to erode her self-esteem and ignore the critical half of the equation. It takes a stronger man to first challenge the young lady, and then go inside the home and confront her father for what he has done to create the problem. There is no denying that her father should pay for his daughter’s counseling, apologize, get psychiatric help, be made aware of and told to cease his present abusive actions and face punishment for what he has done. He cannot expect that his family will be peaceful as long as he has not acknowledged his role in the creation of his family’s devastation. At that point, you also teach the daughter personal responsibility, and how to move beyond the past and toward the future.  

Why won’t many men do this? Because the daughter is an easy target, and her father might kick you in the ass. That is why many black conservatives won’t challenge white America to have personal responsibility for their role in racism, for this is biting the hand that feeds them (how long would Juan be on the Fox News payroll if he were to tell White America that their institutions and attitudes are a large cause of racial inequality? Contrary to O'Reilly's indication, I am not compensated by CNN or any other networks for what I say). It also feeds directly into white supremacy to say “The black community is in shambles because black people are making bad choices. The 400 years of oppression have nothing to do with the last 30 years of expression.” Hence, we have Bill O’Reilly getting his rear-end rubbed by Juan Williams, as they both agree that the little girl is nothing but a whore.

O’Reilly claimed that Rev. Jesse Jackson (another guest on the show) was appalled by what I said about Williams, but of course he could not validate his claims on camera. I got a call the very next morning from Jackson’s daughter Santita and received no indication of disapproval from the Jackson family. I am sure that if they had disagreed, they would have told me personally.  Santita is a good friend and straight shooter.

Williams, for some reason, thinks that he is contributing to the advancement of black people by teaming up with a proven racist who has KKK members and Neo-Nazis watching his show (you should see the language used in my hate mail). A man who has a problem with President Bush would not team up with Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad to go after Bush. No matter how valid his arguments might be, the fact is that such actions amount to TREASON and are ultimately destructive. Having a black face does not mean you care about the black race. Clarence Thomas taught us that.

Hence, at the end of the day, I still call Juan Williams the “Happy Negro”. I stand by my remarks and might even put it on a t-shirt. From the response I've gotten so far, I wouldn't be the only one wearing it.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” He does regular commentary in national media, including CNN, FOX, ESPN, and BET. For more information, please visit www.BoyceWatkins.com or www.yourblackworld.com.  Dr. Watkins is represented by Great Black Speakers, LLC, www.greatblackspeakers.com.

 

 

The O’Reilly Factor Spends an Entire Show Talking about Me?  I guess “Happy Negroes” get Mad Too– 9/28/07
 
 
I got a call last night from a friend of mine in California.  Her name is Valencia, a very talented writer and author of the blog whyblackwomenareangry.blogspot.com.  At first, I was sitting there thinking “why is someone calling me so late?”  Then, I found out why.  She asked me if I was watching “The O’Reilly Factor”.  I told her that I don’t watch ridiculous TV shows.  She then told me that they were spending the entire show talking about me.  That got my attention.
 
I am not sure why they would waste so much time talking about me or my comments.  But apparently, what I said about Juan Williams got their attention.  I don’t take back my comments, I always mean what I say.  You can watch the comments yourself in the video below.
 
Today I got a call from Santita Jackson, the daughter of Rev. Jesse Jackson.  Apparently, there are some people who want to know what I think. I only tell the truth, so that’s all anyone will get out of me.  I don’t regret what I said about Juan, he needs to feel the same degree of insult that he has thrust upon our community.  His continuous attacks on poor blacks and single mothers, while aligning with enemies of black folks in order to share his message, is ridiculous. 
 
If Williams, in any way, has  become convinced that Bill O’Reilly has the best interests of black people at heart, this man needs serious psychological help.  So yes, he is the “happy negro”.  Oh yeah, here's the video

 

 

 

Another CNN Appearance and Dealing with Irritating Negroes – 9/26/07

 

Today has a multitude of firsts…it’s the first time that I’ve blogged twice in the same day, and it’s the first time that I was on CNN twice in the same day.  I was actually really sleepy the second time, but I always look forward to the Out in the Open Show, which actually tries to shine light on race.  I was especially pumped after hearing some comments that Fox Producers made about my comments on Bill O’Reilly.  I don’t take back a word I had to say, since I think that this guy needs to be held in check and questioned for running his mouth and degrading black people like that. 
 
I’m sick of it.  I’m not taking it anymore.
 
I was on the second show with a black conservative that runs some organization of black Republicans.  Perhaps we shall call them the House of Coons.  Maybe that’s not the name, but the name doesn’t matter very much.
 
On this show, I was RUDE…..really really RUDE.  I am not a rude person.  Anyone who watches me on other shows knows that I am super polite and respectful to anyone who has deemed themselves worthy of respect.  When I proposed to my sweetie, I was as gentle as a flower, mainly because I have tremendous capacity to be a gentle person….
 
But not tonight.
 
I’d seen this guy on other shows and I knew going in that this SOB takes 10 minutes to finish a damn sentence. If I had waited for him to stop talking, I would be an old man before it was my turn to talk.  Add that to the fact that he was cooning his way to the top by supporting the likes of Bill O’Reilly….I had to get straight medieval on his butt.
 
I got tons of emails after the show telling me that I was rude.  I honestly didn’t give a damn.  Again, I am a polite guy.  But there are two times when I’ve been rude on national television:  tonight and when I dealt with Sean Hannity.  There are some situations where being nice simply DOES NOT WORK. 
 
I will probably owe my publicist and CNN producers an apology, for I was like a caged animal.  But would I change a thing?  Absolutely not.  Respect must be earned, and part of that respect is shown by finishing your damn sentences in a timely fashion.
 
After the show, I got a text from a friend of mine who had been on shows with this man.  He said “Good job dude….he takes too damn long.”  My sentiments exactly.  As my mother taught me, there are times when you have to throw southern hospitality out the door, and tonight was one of those times.

 

the o'reilly non-factor - september 26, 2007

 
I was slated to be on CNN twice today, which is even a lot for me.  Twice in one week I can see, but the same day, not always.  Actually, it was supposed to be 3 times, but something happened.  I never ask what, I just keep moving.
 
The topic du jour is Bill O’Reilly.  He made some interesting comments about black people and a lot of people took offense.  I learned to laugh at O’Reilly and ignore him, but even goofy people like him should be dealt with on some level.  I’ve been on his show twice, and I can’t say I dislike him.  I just don’t think about him one way or the other.
 
People asked me if I think he should be removed from the air for his comments, but the answer is no.  However, he needs to get pimp-slapped for always trying to insult black culture.  At the same time, the fact that his show is so highly rated (along with another racist show I’ve been on before, Hannity & Colmes) says something about how far we need to go as far as race relations are concerned.
 
They lined me up against some of the usual Uncle Tom suspects.  I love black conservatives, they’ve always made me laugh.  I don’t take them seriously, I just feel sorry for most of them.  Some of them, I can almost respect, like Bill Cosby (whom I’ve disagreed with vehemently).  But others, such as Juan Williams, are nothing more than a continuation of the House Negro syndrome that has plagued us since slavery.  Someone could say “All black people are dirty and pathetic", and there would always be some negro standing next to him saying ‘yeah boss…..and we stooopid too!’”
 
Here is some of the email I got after the appearance.  I get a lot of hate mail, I am not sure why.  Doing the math, I presume and expect that roughly 1 out of every 20 emails is going to agree with my viewpoint.  Why?  Well, black people are about 13% of the population and about half of all black people understand and care about eradicating racism (wealthier African-Americans are sometimes made to forget....until something happens to them, of course....Michael Jackson, OJ Simpson, etc.) .  That makes me a bad candidate for political office, since I could care less about being popular.  Seeking popularity is a great way to make yourself into another man's puppet.  That is why Oprah, Obama and others are forced to say one thing behind closed doors and another thing in public.  I respect them both, but they will never be able to say what is truly on their minds.

I guess people actually think I pay attention to the nasty emails.  Don’t they know I was born for this stuff?  At least the CNN hate mail is not as bad as Fox.  Fox viewers tend to enjoy using the N-word….it says a lot about them, doesn’t it?
 
Once I get the video, I’ll have it posted.  The rest are on my youtube page: www.youtube.com/blueboymedia.  Enjoy!
 

I watched Boyce Watkins on CNN; his comments on Bill O'Reilly's
statements just screamed "DIVIDED WE FALL!" People like Watkins just
keep the division going. I'm not defending O'Reilly, what I am
defending is America. Tthe rest of the world sees all this whining
about racism as just another aspect of a nation divided. Mr. Watkins &
those like him, people of any and every skin color can keep it up, I'm
sure that it pleases our enemies to see us so torn. Way to go.
By the way, I accessed his website to try and find a comment link which
 
I did not, what I did see is reference to skin color repeatedly. I find
 
this as a form of racism, a big giant, flashing sign that points to the
 
one obvious difference between blacks and whites. I'm not sure, but do
the whites have websites that boast "Best White Writers"? I think not.
Mr. Watkins and those of all colors that are just like him are
defeating the ideal of equal and united because all of the nit-picking
just points to the differences, they are all merely feeding the monster
 
we all call racism.
 
Josiegeo@aol.com
 
"Happiness is a choice, not a condition of circumstance."  K. F. George
 
 
 
 
I saw your segment this morning and it's amazing how you spun it.  I wish liberals could see how they always look so unhappy.  You were wrong with what you said about Bill O'reilly.  You should be ashamed.
 
Linda Allan
 
 
 
I watched an Oprah Winfrey show a few months ago in which Russel 
Simmons was a guest along with some other prominent black men. They 
were discussing negative  comments made about a female basketball 
team by a white male radio talk show host. During the course of the 
show Oprah attempted to get a committment from these men that they 
would encourage hip hop artist to stop using the "b" word in their 
lyrics. Russell Simmons skated all around that request leading me to 
believe that he has no concern for the degredation of black females 
by our own men let alone those of other races. So, to read this story 
about Russell Simmons taking action to help destroy a black man's 
life that has admittedly made a mistake, over some dogs, lets me know 
that his opinion of dogs rates higher than his opinion of black 
female human beings. What a truly sad state of affairs.
 
 
 
Dr. Watkins,
 
It pains me to see an obviously well-educated man such as yourself so filled with venom that you are blinded by what is obvious. I watched you on CNN responding to the words of O'Reilly ad it became very apparent that you are so hateful toward anybody on the right side that you will attack and demean anyone, even the President of the United States.
The topic of conversation was whether or not O'Reilly was being disrespectful to the black community by making the statements he made regarding the onduct of the patrons of Sylvia's in Harlem. You took it upon yourself to state that once O'Reilly made a left-handed compliment to Obama about how articulate he was and that Obama graduated from Harvard and therefore there was a high probability he would be articulate, except of course in the case of George Bush.
That comment negated any credibility towards your opinions and it is quite obvious that you have an underlying hostility towards the conservative point of view and potentially, when it is all boiled down, to whites in general. For an educated man, Dr. Watkins, that was a pretty stupid remark to make. President Bush had nothing to do with that conversation...nothing...but you saw an opportunity to berate him as a man and jump on board with the liberal media regarding President Bush being ignorant. In fact, Dr. Watkins, you are ignorant and you are wallowing in your own prejudice and venom. You are doing nothing towards bring our nation together. You desire to maintain a distance between the races. I understand why, you earn a living off of being devisive. Much like your buddy on your website---Al Sharpton. Oh by the way, how is Twana Brawley today? Don't hear much about her. aybe she is working at Sylvia's.
You're a bigot and a very harmful man to the progress of our country. If you listened half as much as you spoke, you might learn something.
 
 
Sympathetically,
 
Mark S. Hampton
 
 
 
 
Dr. Watkins
 
Thank you for standing up for our community this am on CNN.  I am so offended by Bill O'Rilley's comments and Juan Williams and LaShawn Barber continuing to be as you described the "happy Negroes" of the community.  It's sad that they will do anything for acceptance, prestige and money at the expense of selling out our community.  You represented us extremely well.  It's sad that Rev. Al is no where in site on this issue.  Is it perhaps because he had lunch with O'Rilley and is attempting to gain some kind of working relationship with Fox news.  If so it's a sad day for us all.
 
Than you and God Bless
 
Lavern
 
 
 
What ever happened to that case against Limbaugh involving Dr. Shopping.  These guys can't take the heat, and I love to see them squirm.  What do you know about Larry Elder from L.A.
 
MAY GOD BLESS; FROM THE RALEIGH'S
 
 
Thank you Dr. Watkins..
 
I caught a few moments of you on MSNBC this morning, discussing Bill O’Reilly comments about Sylvia’s,
and I highly support your point of view.
 
I am Caucasian, and I personally found O’Reilly’s comments extremely offensive and inexcusable.
They are no different from any damaging comments based on stereotypes.
 
This kind of behavior is divisive, evil, and degrading to our society.
Simply put, this man needs to GO.
 
Thank you again for speaking out.
 
Carl Mazer
San Francisco, CA
 
 
 
I've always been curious of Dr. Watkins and respected, without necessarily agreeing, his points of views.

NOT ANYMORE!

While on CNN this morning he took the Bill O'Riley comment segment to ridicule and nastily insult President Bush and Juan Williams.

This from a man who is trying to argue how wrong it was for Bill O'Riley to say what he said.

Can't the black community find someone more intelligent and thoughtful to represent their point of view on this story then Boyce Watkins?  He is a joke, and quickly becoming an embarrassment whose inflated ego seems to give him the right to insult, in a hateful way, others he disagrees with.

Juan Williams is one of the most intelligent, thought provoking individuals on the air today and for him to be insulted by this man, who arguably is not very bright, is insulting.

Proud of you Dr. Watkins.  A legend in his own mind.

Anthony
 
 
 
Sir, I'm writing in response to your comments on CNN News this morning regarding Bill O'Reilly, but having just viewed your web site, I've got to say that yours is the most over-the-top self promoting web site I've ever come across.  But be that as it may, I just want to say that your attack on O'Reilly is exactly why we will never have anything resembling racial peace in our country.  Not only does it give white racists more reason to hate & denegrate African Americans, but it frustrates non-racist white people like myself who are just so tired of black leaders & black spokespersons who seem to make every incident involving a black & a white faction into a racial issue.  I am truly sorry for the decades long abuse that blacks in America have had to endure, but I'm NOT sorry for blacks like you who invent racial incidents when nothing is there.  I sometimes wonder if blacks like you genuinely want racial peace, because your "voice" would not be so important if it ever were to happen.
 
Jack Schmitt
 
 
 
Dear Mr. Watkins,
 
 
 
I believe you have taken the comments of Mr. O’Reilly completely out of context.  The comments you refer to in your conversation this morning, on CNN’s Heidi Collins program, seemed educational in nature to those whites who are not aware of the black culture and would seem to be trying to bridge the two cultures, not divide people.
 
 To me and many of my friends Mr. O’Reilly could have used any other culture in place of the Black Culture and wonder if you would have been so offended.  Your sensationalizing of these comments show a sensitivity to an over abundance amount of pain you may  be feeling towards Mr. O’Reilly. At least that is my view of your  interpretation I heard when you  expressing.
 
Your comment regarding the President not being articulate was rather silly. It detracted from your message. As your comparison of  Bill O’Reilly to the President of Iran, two completely different personalities. Your making a mountain out of a mole hill.
 
 
 
Sincerely,
 
 
 
Laura Lambert-Smith
 
 
 
Why don't you get after the rappers who represent black culture as  despicable.
 
If I continued to listen to you I'd surely be converted to  racism which is probably your subverted agenda.
 
O'Riley and Juan Williams are voices of wisdom.
 
 
 
 
To Whom It May Concern…or reads emails…
 
 
 
I understand many people “in the media” thrive on controversy.   Your statement about Juan Williams as a “happy negro” is WAY off base.  Do you think of our national treasure Bill Cosby in the same way?  I also think your remarks about Bill O’Reilly were made to inflame and had racial bias.   How come no one such as yourself, Al Sharpton, Jesse Jackson and others, had NO remorse for totally unfounded statements about the Duke lacrosse players?  There were many taunting those students with “dead man walking” remarks and other things.  I am embarrassed by uncivil behavior and more often embarrassed for our male gender.
 
I tried to watch the ESPN panel discussion about Michael Vick but turned it off because I was disappointed with brothers and sisters in the audience continually interrupting.  No matter what setting, it is disappointing to be in (let alone see on television) a public forum where any person sees it fit to disrupt otherwise civil discussions. 
 
 
 
Thank you for hearing me out.
 
 
 
 
Dear Mr. Watkins,
 
The more individual blacks like yourself react with such hostility and outrage over benign comments, the more you alienate black people from the rest of society.  Your total overreaction to O'Reilly's comments is doing a lot more harm than good.  You are appealing to the lowest common denominator and it may make some blacks feel good that someone like you is "defending" them, against what I'm not sure, but the fact is that for the vast majority of Americans, you are harming the image of black people.
 
I think it is really important that black activists step back from these situations and not just react.  The Don Imus comments obviously warranted a reaction.  O'Reilly?  Come on.  Pick your battles and focus on true injustice.  And consider that the more you overreact and attack anyone who even talks about blacks (that isn't also black), the more you will make people afraid to even discuss black culture publicly, which will drive the discussion under the radar of the media.  This would not be a good outcome for any culture, black, white, hispanic, asian, etc.
 
Scott Molloy
 
 
Dr Watkins:
 
 
 I was so pleased to see you on CNN this morning debating the crazy Bill O'Reilly comments. I think it is important to discus both points of view of any controversial issue, but news outlets are increasingly trying to pit one black person against another in on-air debates about race. I suppose the suggestion is that "not all blacks think this way" (true!), but more so the tactic is to dilute the value and validity of the black person claiming racism. You did a very credible job-you were articulate (to borrow a word from O'Reilly), reasoned, logical, confident and calm.
 
I thank and congratulate you for your advocacy and urge you to continue. When ignorant bigots like O'Reilly, Hannity or Glenn Beck go unchallenged, they become emboldened and feeble-minded listeners/viewers take their rantings as gospel.
 
 
Regards,
 
Glen McDaniel
 
 
After listening to your rant regarding Bill OReilly on (cnn) its no wonder they are loosing viewer ship and declining in ratings.  You sir are not helping your cause( whatever it may be) by bashing Mr. Oreilly, Why don’t you go on Fox and debate him man to man and let the people decide if he is in fact a racist, as you allude to.  Personally I have been witness to many attacks on the black race where he has stood up and defended the African  American people to attacks like the one you are trying to pick with him.   Pithy enuf?
 
 
 
Just saw you on CNN...you made a fool out of yourself.  Can you read and understand in the full context of what O'Reily was saying or is that to practical of someone to ask of you.  To call out Mr. Juan Williams is disgraceful, and you wonder why so many white people have a negative stereo type of us.  If your going to fall on your sword you might want to pick something a little more important than something as meaningless as what O'Reily said.  If the truth is to be told and I understand that is hard for you to do in this case, O'Reily was stating fact.  O'Reily gives more air time to "Blacks" than any other TV host, lets be fair...you might not agree with him but to compare him to Imus is absurd.  I'm disappointed in you but it doesn't surprise me.
 
 
 
 
So sorry to hear that O'Reilly dissed you and the entire black race.  Here is a little advice for you and your black friends.  When you stop lining up behind the likes of Sharpton and Jackson who crawl out from under the sink every time a black points the finger at a white person, and defend them regardless of the evidence then I will listen to you.  The first Simpson trial, Tawana Brawley, and Duke rape case are just a few in the litany of injustices that your thinking and attitude has spawned in the black culture.  I find it difficult not to hate you as much as you hate white Americans, however I refuse to lower myself to your level of intellect which is far lower than President Bushs'.
Regards,
Mike Hicks
 
 
Mr. "RACIST" Watkins,
 
I am appalled by the way you say that O'Reilly was such a BAD person when he visited Harlem, then in the same racist breath say that it would be alright for Joyner to say such things.
 
  YOU sir are the reason there is so much racial hate! It's people like your racist self that DISGUSTS me! I see you hang out with the other racist Sharpton and Jackson. You are all "peas in a pod" so to speak. Racist by every meaning of the word!
 
See, to most Black people it is a double standard this race card that you so often play. Your thoughts are "we can do no wrong" We are owed something because we are so discriminated against, we were slaves way back when....BLAH, BLAH, BLAH
 
It's time to stand on your own two feet and finally realize THERE IS NO DOUBLE STANDARD! Your black population can say certain things but other ethnic groups can't? GIVE ME A BREAK YOU RACIST!
 
Enough said, you sicken me with your views and your jibberish you spread on TV just fuels more hate.
 
YOU ARE A RACIST NOBODY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
 
 
 
 
Dear Sir, I just witnessed your comments on cnn regarding the comments of Mr O'Reilly. I am fed up with blacks always playing the race card. I understood completely what Mr. Williams and Mr. O'Reilly were discussing. I have no problem with Mr. O'Reilly's words, sentiment, or intent. I absolutely have a problem with liberal crybabies seeing racism everywhere. Why don't you focus your attention  on  cleaning up the black communities own problems? Do you even acknowledge that they exist? Your sleazy attempt to "Imus" Mr. O'Reilly is pathetic. Thank you.
 
 
 
 
 
Boyce,
 
You are an ignorant uninformed member of the leftist radical movement. You are a separationist who fosters and breeds the segregation that you claim to fight against. You prove your ignorance day in and day out with remarks such as the reference to Harvard and President George W. Bush. As usual, you spoke before you thought and with out realizing forgot the fact that Pres. Bush attended Yale. But that didn't matter to you, it was simply an attempt to take a shot at the President, with out any basis for the comment whatsoever.
 
It is because of you and people like you, that the African American community will always face the racial separation issues that have been seen through out history. It is because of you and people like you that there will always be room for comments such as the one that Bill O'Riley made. It is because of you and people like you that a second racially motivated civil war is eminent.
 
Please, do the world a favor and think before you speak!!!
 
TJC       
 
 
 
Your comments about Juan Williams on CNN were ridiculous. Calling him 
the "happy negro" agreeing with Bill O'Reilly was all too typical of 
how liberal blacks treat a black person who has any conservative 
viewpoints. Somehow it is ok to say question the "blackness" of 
people like Juan Williams, Condoleezza Rice, and Clarence Thomas 
because they dare stray from the liberal plantation. La Shawn Barber 
was much more reasonable in her comments, and she clearly won the 
debate. Better luck next time!
 
 
 
 
i just watched you on CCN re: Bill oReily.
I agree with you that he seems amazed that stereo types can be wrong, since he is so educated.
 
but when you said you will go after anyone who makes blacks look bad, do you mean rappers, MTV, entertainment industry in general?
 
i think they have a greater far reaching,effect,  yet subtle way of affecting many more people. oreily just tags along for profit.
 
and please, dont judge me by oreily.
take care
 
tl
 
 

 

The random, peculiar existence of Dr. Boyce Watkins, documented word-for-word

The Jena 6, 7, 8, 9 and 10 – Thursday, September 20, 2007
 
I got up this morning, for some reason, thinking that I would have a normal day.  I had stuff to write, things to finish and 80 year old emails that needed a reply.  I somehow forgot that today was the day that the world would be focused on Jena, Louisiana.
 
It’s not that I didn’t care about the Jena 6, I do.  I want those kids freed and I want everyone involved in hurting them to be punished.  But I was doing what I normally do, which is look ahead.  I was thinking about the Jena 7, 8, 9 and 90,000….all the kids out there who went through the same thing and didn’t get any help from anyone.  I thought about the mother who just sent me an email this morning begging me to help her son get out of jail.  I didn’t know what to do.  I’m not Jesse Jackson, I don’t have the power to just make a phone call and make things happen.  I can’t get CNN or FOX News to allow their media channel to become my own for whatever purposes I choose.  I felt bad, and sad, really.
 
One day, I want to help those mothers.  All of them.  The most I can do now is what I did this week.  Today, I was on Wendy Williams’ Show again, along with CNN Headline News (below).  I also did an interview with a local station and a national radio show hosted by a conservative whom I actually respect quite a bit, Lars Larson.  On all of these shows, I have consistently worked to advocate for a sustained effort of protest, one that will improve the quality of the justice system to help all those kids who were affected in the same way that these kids were.  The Louisiana Justice system is broken, as it is throughout the south and many parts of the north.  Something has to be done.
 
What else did I do today?  Not much.  I just worked with my assistant, Laquana and also made plans with my business manager for my next book and speaking tour for the fall.  We have a busy October coming up, and I may release my next book with the help of a literary agent this time around.  On top of that, YourBlackWorld is now getting over 25,000 pageviews per day, which is pretty awesome.  Outside of that, just life as usual. 

Dr. Boyce Watkins Talks about the Jena 6 on CNN Prime News with Erica Hill

Steve Erkel Voice…. “Did I do thaaaaat?” DR. BOYCE IS ENGAGED! – Sunday, September 16, 2007

OK, today is the day after the day after the day that I almost put my foot in my mouth.  I went on The Wendy Williams Experience, primarily to discuss the Jena 6 case and our petition against it.  The other guest on the show, for the end of the hour, was the Rev. Al Sharpton.

 

I’d been thinking for days about the idea of proposing to my significant other, Romana.  She’s a special woman, one of the best on this earth, and I wanted to find a way to let her know what she means to me.  I figure that it’s easy for a man to tell a woman how he feels behind closed doors, and another thing to tell the world.  Also, as more people have come to recognize my face, this leads to a lot of temptations I would just rather not deal with.  Women coming out of my closet in bikinis is not exactly something I look forward to, since I have never had any interest in emulating Kobe Bryant (That was just nasty!)

 

So, during the show, I decided I would let Wendy be the first major personality to know that Dr. Boyce is settling down.  I figured that there would also be another 10 million interested people somewhere on the line as well.  But I didn’t mind, since, after a while, you kind of just forget that the people are there.  Wendy’s Show is like being at home.  They put you in an incredibly pink room with tons of soul food on the table for you to eat.  I couldn’t eat this day, since my stomach was churning like MC Hammer at a birthday party.

 

So, I let her rip…I just did it.  The video is below if you want to watch.  The beautiful woman who looks like she’s about to have a heart attack is Romana.  I thought she was going to have a baby without being pregnant.  She was genuinely surprised, as I did a good job of keeping all this to myself.  She just figured that my moments of deep thought on the drive to NYC were all due to the fact that I am just a really deep and really weird person.  The truth was that I was thinking about how the hell, why the hell, who the hell and what the hell…as it all pertained to my hair brained scheme to remind the woman I love that she is the woman I love.

 

Now that the dust has sort of settled, the response has been interesting.  My cell phone has blown up like the Hiroshima, with the few friends I have in the world calling to congratulate me.  I have some jealous ex-girlfriends who are pretty upset with my move, resulting in the inevitable “who in the hell is this *&^%”?  That response you expect.  But it matters not to me, since I always figured that any woman who passed on the chance to be with me might be passing up on something special.  I have a lot of love and loyalty in my heart, and one of the things I’ve learned through life is that it’s not the prettiest or the sexiest woman that is going to get you through life…it’s the one who is truly in your corner, who backs you, loves you and supports you.  I have seen the selfish, the evil, the manipulative and all that stuff, and I learn that no matter how beautiful a woman is on the outside, her insides always define what you see when you wake up in the morning.  When I realized that this woman was in my corner, that’s when I knew that she was a notch above the rest…..especially that wretchedly horrible girl who dumped me in college.  Now THAT was a terrible experience!  I guess you have to kiss some toads to get to the princess, and I have found my princess for life.  Ok, I’ll stop.  I’m getting all mushy and geto now. . You can watch the video below to see some of the behind the scenes stuff for yourself.  I am going to ask Wendy’s producers to send me the audio and I’ll have that put up as well.

 

By the way – I’ll be on CNN Monday night talking about OJ…that should be VERY interesting!

 

Barack and Jesus Winfrey…I mean Oprah – 9/7/07

 

Today I did a segment with CNN’s Prime News with Erica Hill.  I like Erica, she’s a cute lady.  She’s also very nice.  I was on their show last week around this time, and they called me again this week.  This time, the topic du jour was the surprising alliance between Oprah Winfrey and Barack Obama.  Yes, the two Big Os have come together, leading to a huge “O – MY-GOD” from Hillary Clinton.  Perhaps black people are finally realizing that we can actually have a black president and not just someone who eats barbecue and plays the saxophone to convince us that he is black as well.

The other guest was a Republican Strategist, Leslie Sanchez.  I like doing shows with CNN, because they are not contentious.  Leslie and I are not on the same page, but we did agree on a lot of issues.  Namely, we both agreed that Oprah has proven that she can sell books, but she hasn’t proven that she can sell black people (meaning Obama).  At the same time, her entering this election certainly changes the landscape.  It’s clear that she could be president if she wanted to be, but she is in a more powerful job.

The election should be interesting.

Exhausted, I then came home and watched my beloved Louisville Cardinals barely defeat mighty Middle Tennessee State University.  I get the feeling that they won’t be in the top 10 for very long.  Either way, I love em. 

The video from the CNN thing is below.  Enjoy!

 

Why I love Santita Jackson - Wednesday, September 05, 2007

This week was pretty much like all the rest.  I have been teaching my new students this semester, who didn’t take long to figure out that I am an absolute f*cking lunatic.  I have a lot of fun in class: running, jumping and falling on the floor.  I don’t take credit for my insanity, I blame it on the Holy Spirit.  Sometimes, the spirit moves me to do whatever is necessary to bang the information into their young minds, and I work to achieve that goal by any means necessary.  I like teaching: it’s a fun job and it’s actually quite easy compared to, say, sweeping the street, or cleaning up landmines in the middle of Iraq.

I was on FOX News yesterday…well I think it was yesterday (Neil Cavuto).  As much as I might give Fox a hard time, I have to give them credit.  They are the only network that calls me to talk about stuff other than “black people crap”.  Not that I don’t enjoy discussing black issues, I have a PHD IN FINANCE! There is a whole lot more to me than just black stuff, and it can get old to hear a network say “Well, we don’t want your opinion on the stock market decline, but we do have a show coming up on ‘why black men cheat on their spouses’….you’d be great for that.” 

On FOX (the video is below this entry) we discussed Big Government vs. Small Government and why Big Government can possibly be a good thing.  The Democrats tend to see Government as a fix for a lot of issues, sometimes more so than the Republicans.  But what people don’t understand is that EFFICIENT government helps EVERYONE.  Corporate Welfare is the most costly kind of welfare around, but every company in America is lining up for their free cheese and monthly payout.  Some degree of corporate welfare can be beneficial to all of us, assuming the company is smart in the use of those resources.  Government, if done correctly, is the ultimate personification of the American family.  It can bring us together, help us and protect us, IF we do it right.  The problem is that many of our leaders on Capital Hill have forgotten who in the hell they work for.

I speak in New York in a couple of weeks.  I also have some other speeches in other cities.  My business manager keeps all that together and he leaves me thoroughly confused.  But I am glad I have him and my assistant, because if they were not here, my pathetic little life would fall apart into complete chaos.  I think I am due to go to Boston, New York, Kentucky, Alabama and a few other places.  I actually look forward to it.

I am also petitioning for the disbarment of the prosecutor in the Jena 6 case.  I think that if Mike Nifong can be disbarred for what he did to the Duke Lacrosse players, then this guy should certainly be investigated. I also think there needs to be a broader investigation of the justice system in the south and why so many black men are being imprisoned.  That is the broader and more important question in this entire situation.

I talked today with Santita Jackson, the daughter of Rev. Jesse Jackson.  I love Santita and I’ve been a guest on her show in Chicago 10 or 15 times in the past year. I genuinely respect her and her producer, Stacy, who have really been supportive of me through time.  Talking to those two was probably the highlight of my day, since it’s always good to be thought of by your friends.

Santita shared with me that there are misperceptions about her father’s relationship with hip hop.  I listened and learned a lot, because some of this was also news to me.  I believe her, since she and her father have earned my trust.  I see her father out in the world fighting for things that need to be fought for, like getting the guns off the streets.  I learn a lot from Santita, who knows a lot more about being in the limelight than I ever will.  She’s a good person to know and actually one of the few people I make an effort to stay in touch with.  Honestly, I tend to be a bit of a loner, so a lot of my friends get irritated when I don't return their calls.  It's no offense to them, I just find that the best way to commit to independent thinking is to be a relatively independent person.  I don't like my thoughts to be tainted by all the hype and expectations placed on you by those around you.  That can be constraining.

Ok, I’m going to bed.  I’m tired.

 

Where are the Rest of the Marburys? - August 27, 2007

I was on Hot 97 in New York with Stephon Marbury recently.  When you appear on a show with an athlete or rapper, you never know what to expect.  You might get sharp-dressed and professional, or you might get thugged out and gangsterific.

I sat in the “green room” (which is almost never green) waiting for the show to start.  Suddenly, I saw a sharply dressed brother about Marbury’s height, walking through the door with two other sharp dressed men with him.  It was night time, so it wasn’t as if he was going anywhere after the interview.  Perhaps he’d gone some place before, but either way, I was impressed.

“Hi, my name is Stephon,” the man said to me. “Nice to meet you.”

I was impressed.  No chains, tattoos were covered up and nobody smelled like weed.  With the image that the media gives of professional athletes, this is usually what others make you think you should expect. 

I enjoyed doing the show with Marbury.  He was fun to talk to during the breaks and came across as a brother with a lot of sense.  He gave a lot of credit to God for his success and opportunity and was deeply committed to helping the black community.  THAT was a black man I saw that night, one who achieves the greatest on the court, but goes much further than that when he steps off of it.

We were discussing Michael Vick and dog fighting.  There was a woman there named Roxanne Jones, who is a VP with ESPN.  I think she was one of the founding editors of their magazine.  She was nice to talk with and mentioned the idea of me helping with one of their documentaries on black athletes.  I told her I would love to do it.

There was also a psychologist from Columbia University.  I don’t remember his name, but I know he caused a stir when he connected Vick’s behavior to slavery.  I thought “Wow, this is interesting”.  Apparently, he felt that the violence shown toward slaves: breeding them, beating them and making them fight was similar to what Vick was doing with the dogs.  

I wasn’t off board with what the psychologist was saying, since slavery has a huge impact on modern-day society.  At the same time,  I didn’t want his comments to be misinterpreted as saying that dog fighting is a black thing or a hip hop thing.  That’s not true at all 

After the show was over, I had a chance to talk with the host, Lisa Evers.  She’s a nice lady and it wasn’t until recently I found out that she’s a living legend in NYC.  In fact, just as many people tell me that they know of her as when I ask about Wendy Williams.  I like both of them, but I honestly feel that Lisa was a bit more approachable.  I have talked to Wendy a lot on the air, but very little off the air.  But both of them have been very kind and respectful toward me, which I appreciate. 

One thing about NYC and being an outsider is that when I go onto various shows, I never assume ANYTHING.  I rarely talk much about one person in front of the other.  If I meet one rapper or show host, I never talk much about the others.  There are so many rivalries in NYC that I don’t even want to get in the middle of all that and end up choosing sides. For example, I unknowingly expressed my respect for P.Diddy and Jay-Z on Wendy’s show, only to find out later that she spends most of her time kicking rappers in the ass.  

Lisa stood outside of the building telling me for a while about 50 Cent.  She shared something that a lot of people know, but that I’ve long suspected.  THE BOY IS INTELLIGENT.  I knew he was smart when I saw the details of his Vitamin Water deal and how he merchandised out his products so well.  Right after his first hit album, he was starring in a film (a very good one by the way), selling shoes, novels, action figures, video games, you name it.  I was impressed.  Lisa even told me that Fiddy wants to be president one day.  Honestly, when you survive being shot 9 times, you can probably accomplish anything.  God bless him.

It’s 4 am as I write this and I know I am going to be exhausted for my 8 am class.  On top of that, I am supposed to do something on CNN tomorrow night.  The hard part about this stuff is that you have to do pre-interviews, and this one is likely to interrupt my afternoon catch-up nap.  I asked Marbury if he was going to be on CNN with me, since they invited him, but he declined.  Either way, I told him that I was proud of him for supporting another black man’s right to freedom, and I asked why other athletes aren’t willing to do the same.  He, like I, was not saying that Vick is a good guy, nor is he innocent.  We were simply saying that he’s a human being, not a monster or someone who deserves to die.  He’s a young man and deserves a chance to make up for his mistake after he pays his debt to society. 

 

Stephon Marbury in the House! Hot 97, CNN – Reuniting with FOX News

 

Ok, this has been an interesting week.  But I have a lot of interesting weeks, so I will stop complaining.  When I get old, I’ll be able to show volumes of hate mail to my grand kids and say “See little Boyceee the Third, this is how much they wanted to kill your grand daddy!”  I swear, since I took my position on Michael Vick, the haterologists have been coming out of the closet.  I DO NOT think that Michael Vick is innocent and I do feel that he should go to jail.  But I think it is also important to remember that he’s 27 years old and if George Bush can be allowed to be forgiven for his youthful indiscretions, then so should Michael Vick.  End of day, end of story.

I’ll be on Hot 97 today with Stephon talking about Michael Vick.  It is my greatest hope that Marbury will be strong and not let anyone scare him into backing off his statement.  I was like “Come on man!  This is your homeboy!  Back him up!”  I respect Marbury for stepping forward, for many of our black male athletes are so socially castrated that they are afraid to say damn near anything.  Black men need to support one another, no matter what the repercussion.  In this case, we are simply saying that the punishment must fit the crime.  He should not pay for the rest of his life over this incident.

It also bothers me that we get more upset as a nation over dogs being killed than we do over 100,000 people dying in Darfur.  I find that incredibly irritating.  We have to reassess our priorities as a nation.  This is insane.  

I did a segment the other day on Fox News.  The show is called “Your World with Neil Cavuto”.  I was debating whether the GOP would benefit from a terrorist attack.  The other guy in the debate was Ben Ferguson, a conservative with big ears, as well as big talent.  I can’t talk about his ears, with my head being big enough to have its own gravitational field.   But I digress.

I am about to get in the car to head to the city for the thing with Marbury.  I think that one of the main editors for ESPN – The Magazine is going to be there.  It should be a lot of fun.  After that, I get to arrive back home at 2:30 in the morning and dread over how I am going to be ready to teach an 8 am class.  Such is life, I’m not complaining.

 

 

Why I like Erica Hill – August 24, 2007

 

 

I love the morning and afternoon shows on CNN.  My favorite is Robin & Company, the show that comes on in the morning.  I also must confess that Robin is actually kinda pretty.  Another host I like is Erica Hill, whom I watch when I have the chance.  I was invited on her show yesterday to talk about the Michael Vick thing (video is below the entry).  It was nice, just she and I, one on one.  I was looking forward to it, and I figured that I would have more time to speak my piece than I’d had earlier that morning on The Today Show.  Today interviewed me for 30 minutes and then took 8 seconds of footage out of that.  Seems like a bit of a waste, since I can give you 8 seconds of major footage in about 8 seconds.  But then again, Deion Sanders and Stephon Marbury also had about 8 seconds in the same segment, so I didn’t feel so bad.

I am going to be on Your World with Neil Cavuto today, a show that I’ve never been on before.  I look forward to it.  But I have to admit that Fox News makes me nervous.  At the same time, Cavuto seems more laid back than some of the other hosts on FOX, so I don’t worry so much about him.  I also am doing some things on the O’Reilly Radio Factor and Wisconsin Public Radio.  

I consider this a good day for two reasons.  One the guest host for O’Reilly Radio is a guy name Dom Giordano, a host in Philly that I’ve worked with several times.  Dom and I agree about as much as hot sauce and ice water, but I love the guy.  He’s a damn good host and a good human being, along with Lars Larson, another conservative I’ve spoken with several times.  Secondly, I love Wisconsin Public Radio because it’s the chance for us to just talk about whatever’s going on in the world.  It’s a great show and the host, Ben Merens is super cool.

What else is new?  Not much.  I better run now and get dressed.  They don’t want you wearing baggy jeans to the interview.  In fact, they are banned in Atlanta.

 

The Today Show and Michael Vick - 8/23/07

 

I had a toothache today.  A bad one.  If my dentist were standing next to Beyonce in a bikini, she would just have to get dissed.  I was lying down, about to try to take a nap to sooth the throbbing in my face, and I got a phone call.  It was my secretary at Syracuse University.  Her name is Mary Jo, and she’s a serious life saver.  She saves me from myself when I do stupid things, and that’s why I love her.

 She was calling to tell me that I was being stalked.  By whom you ask?  It was The Today Show.  I guess that’s better than being stalked by that crazy ex-girlfriend I had in college, she was a pain in the ass.  OK, I should stop.  As my friend would say “TMI Boyce, TMI”.

Apparently, the producers from The Today Show really go after who they want.  The woman had called my office phone, my secretary’s phone, my home phone, my cell phone, my business manager’s phone and sent me an email to 2 separate addresses.  I was impressed.  This producer should get a promotion.

 So, I crawled out of bed, not really looking forward to doing anything that involved movement, to return the call from the producer at The Today Show.  I’d never been on their show, and I wasn’t sure what to expect.  

 The producer seemed nice enough and she briefed me well enough.  Normally, there are pre-interviews and stuff, since a lot of networks want to know what you have to say before you say it.  But thankfully, Today just goes for it.  I was glad, because my teeth were really hurting and I didn’t feel like doing much of anything. 

 Apparently, the person requesting the interview was Kevin Corke, a White House correspondent.  I liked the guy, honestly.  I don’t always like people I interview with, but there was a coolness he possessed that made me feel ok talking to him.  I didn’t know he was a brother, since I didn’t look up his name.  But once I did, I recognized him as a vet in the game.  Much respect.  Actually, he also worked for ESPN at one point and knows Stephen A. Smith, a guy who hosts a show I was on a few times last year.

 I did the interview at a local NBC affiliate, which was interesting.  In fact, all these satellite things are interesting, since you are in a room full of news anchors, listening to your every word.  They all stopped typing as I was talking to Kevin, but I didn’t really notice until I was done.  

 When they linked me to the interviewer, I was actually connected to The White House.  Given my book “What if George Bush were a Black Man?”, this actually made me kind of nervous.  I am sure that President Bush and Condi aren’t too thrilled with me running my mouth the way I do, but I have to speak the truth.

 My positions on Vick (stated below) were pretty clear cut and to the point:  basically, this notion that hip hop is the cause of dog fighting is incredibly stupid.  The idea that he should be banned from playing football for life is ridiculous.  The idea that none of his hatred has anything to do with race is also incredibly stupid.  I basically told Kevin that if you want to look for monsters, start with the hundreds of thousands of hunters we have in America.  You might make a bigger stride against animal cruelty if you bark up that tree instead.

 I may end up flying to New York or Washington to do follow-up stuff, I am not sure. Right now, my greatest concern is getting ready for my great students this fall.  I love teaching and when I leave Syracuse, I am going to miss the kids here.  A friend of mine asked me if Syracuse has made any efforts to keep me here.  I explained “I am sure that they are counting the seconds till they don’t have to deal with my ass anymore!”  That makes me somewhat sad, since I personally feel that the university may have missed out on some opportunities.  But march on, I shall.  Life is too short to look backward.

 

The Today Show.....Uh, Actually Tomorrow, August 22, 2007

 

I’ve been asked by some to clarify my position on Michael Vick.  The Today Show interview may or may not get it right tomorrow, but I thought I would let my friends have the 411.

 Ok, I’ll be the first to say it.  Michael Vick is NOT a monster.  He’s not a menace to society.  He’s not a scumbag or barbarian.  He’s a young man who made a terrible mistake.  There, I said it.  Now crucify me, I can take it.

 If you are looking for monsters, start with the hundreds of thousands of Americans who go hunting every year.  Look for their spouses who stand to the side watching their mates shoot down innocent animals and stuff them for the mantle. 

My position on Michael Vick is laced with a poisonous and highly unpopular ingredient called COMMON SENSE.  It means that my goal is not to jump on the band wagon and behave like an animal when I see that someone may have hurt an animal.  It means that you PROTECT animals by enforcing the law, and you enforce the law in a FAIR manner.  You then allow the man to serve his sentence and reintegrate himself into the society to which he has contributed.  Yes, Michael Vick HAS contributed to our society.  No one is 100% good or bad, and this man has done some good things for his friends and family.

 Imagine if your son were arrested for murder.  He would be a criminal and he should be punished, but you would not evaluate him without seeing the good that lies within him.  You would also consider the notion that he might actually be SORRY for his mistake and worthy of rehabilitation.  You would realize that he is young and there is still a chance that he can continue to make a positive contribution to your household after the price was paid.

 This is the way fair-minded Americans perceive Michael Vick.  They see him as a young man who got caught up doing something he should not have done.  Virginia Tech should see him as a man who has made ENORMOUS contributions to their university and athletic program (he put that program on the map).  The idea that Virginia Tech, as well as the Atlanta Falcons are so quick to abandon Vick says something about their character. 

 Do I believe Vick is innocent? ABSOLUTELY NOT.  But should he pay for the rest of his life for dog fighting?  No, he should not.  Why not talk to Karl Rove, who is leaving his position without a care in the world after killing thousands of Americans in Iraq and endangering the life of a woman in the CIA?  To learn of animal cruelty, let’s visit Dick Cheney, who was not only hunting with full intent to kill animals, but shot someone in the face while he was doing it.  He didn’t shoot a dog, he shot a PERSON.  

 Some wonder why leaders spend any time at all supporting Vick.  Well, I can’t say that all of us are, since Rev. Al Sharpton and Russell Simmons went out of their way to condemn him.  I did not agree with their position.  The fact is that while Vick might be a big star, he is also a big TARGET.  Bigger targets need bigger shields, so there is nothing wrong with protecting this young man’s right to justice.  I don’t care if he’s rich or poor, educated or not, he’s still a black man where the punishment does not always fit the crime.  Remember: we live in America:  One of the greatest countries in the world, but one with a lot of unresolved issues, particularly as it pertains to race.

 Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “What if George Bush were a Black Man?” He is a regular social commentator in outlets such as CNN, FOX, ESPN and BET.  He is represented by Great Black Speakers, LLC.  For more information, please visit www.YourBlackWorld.com or www.BoyceWatkins.com.

 

Wednesday, August 17,  2007

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Judge Mathis, Alonzo Mourning, and hanging out with the Chicago Crew – Thursday, June 07, 2007

I

 spent this week in Chi-town, and it was a complete blast.  I went to the Rainbow Push Convention, something I’ve never attended in the past.  I was surprised at how much fun it was.  There were a lot of good people there, and a lot of great speakers.  I swear, black pastors are the best speakers on earth.  They can make you jump up and down even when they aren’t saying anything at all.  I love it.

 Of course Jesse and Al were there.  Al had on this incredibly plaid coat, something I’ve never seen before.  Must be a New York thing, or a civil rights leader thing.  Of course Jesse was there, walking in the open, with a thousand people following him with pens, paper and cameras looking for a chance to brush up with greatness.  I am not sure how you can live that way for 40 years, but he has somehow found a way to do it.  As I have gotten a chance to know him and the people around him, I am surprised at how humble he is, much more so than the media portrayals.  I also know I wouldn’t want to trade places with him, since it’s not easy to be out there in the front all the time.

 Alonzo Mourning was there too, with his head scraping against the ceiling.  I was to sit on a sports panel with him and some hall of fame football players, but I missed it.  I was not sure where things were being held, and I had also co-hosted The Santita Jackson Show.  Santita, a diva to the max, is really fun to hang out with.  I also learn a lot from her about how the media works.  You would be surprised at how some of the things you think you see are really not what you see.

 Judge Mathis gave the best speech of the entire conference.  I dug him a lot, and it turns out that he and I probably have the same mama and the same brain, since he gave the exact same speech I would have given.  It’s almost as if he has read “What if Geore Bush were a Black Man?” because he made many of the same arguments I made in the book, and he delivered the arguments with the kind of passion I could appreciate.  He didn’t seem to really give a damn.

 Chicago is an interesting place.  They have the kindness of the south, but the sophistication of the north.  I like nice people, and I meet a lot of them in Chicago. I spent a lot of time with the folks at WVON, which is the radio station that represents the essence of Chicago’s southside.  I do regular segments on their station with Santita, and I am hopeful that they will consider syndicating “Boiling Hot”.  Even if they don’t, they are still my favorite station in Chicago.

 I enjoyed Push, and I’ll be back.  I also think that we should support black organizations and institutions, even if it’s a little bit. This week is followed by back to back trips to Buffalo, Montana and Alabama.  This should be a fun and interesting week.

Boyce Watkins on The Tom Joyner Morning Show (Click the picture to Listen)

 

 

50 Cent's headed straight to the bank - I'm headed to Chicago - Saturday, May 25, 2007

I hope this doesn't mean I have a boring life, but it's Memorial Day Weekend, and I'm not doing a DAMNNN thing!  Just chilling, and working hard as usual.  I think I work too much, but I love what I do, so I guess it's not work.  I head to Chicago this week for the Rainbow Push Convention, being hosted by Jesse of course, and then I get to go a few other places.  Namely, I think that Alabama, Montana and Buffalo are on the map.  It should be fun.

I haven't done as much media as usual, since I've been tired of the press.  It was fun earlier this year, but I want some privacy for a while. It's been nice.  I did see a story that got my attention, and I write about it below.

 

 

Me and Uncle Murda at Hot 97 - 2/13/07

I was sitting there, in the studio for Hot 97’s show “Street Soldiers”, in NYC.  In case you don’t know, Hot 97 is the #1 hip hop station in the city of New York, effectively making it the top hip hop station in the world.  There are others, but only Hot 97 can brag about how many rappers have been shot on their doorsteps. 

 I was there with a motivational speaker whose name I can’t quite remember, and a rapper named “Uncle Murda”.  He introduced himself, and I was like “Uncle what the &*^%”?  He said “Uncle Murda”.  I then said “Is he related to Aunt Homicide? What about Cousin Man Slaughter?”  Of course I was being silly, but I admit that it’s funny seeing the young guys come up with names more creative and violent than those before them.  But I have to give Uncle Murda major credit – his beats were definitely slamming. 

 There was one tiny problem:  His first major song was called “Shoot the Police”.  I was like “huh?” I listened to the song, which was pretty graphic.  But as I said, the beat was slamming.  I was trying to understand why someone named Uncle Murda would ever write a song about killing someone.  As I analyzed the lyrics, I could tell that Uncle Murda was frustrated by the recent shooting of an unarmed black man in New York City, the one who was shot on his wedding night.  He was also angry over the fact that the police had shot one of his friends the week after the incident, and that he has had run ins with the police on a regular basis. 

 As a man whose father is a law enforcement officer, I’ve had long conversations with my dad about what police go through.  I have firmly concluded that not all cops are bad people.  However, I could also understand Uncle Murda’s anger, which he expressed through rhyme.  Many of us know that, while most cops are honest, police can behave like a street gang at times, keeping their lips shut while others abuse their authority, engage in illegal activity and even murder people in cold blood.  Black men usually find themselves at the other end of this stick, as they are the ones least likely to be believed in the court of law.

 So, I listened to Uncle Murda’s lyrics, which were actually creative.  I then concluded that his anger is not much different from the anger that any man would possess if he felt that he and the people he loved were being violated.  It’s not about good and bad, it’s about war.  If a man feels that other men are attacking him and stripping him of his masculinity, he is going to fight back.  The same was true of the Black Panthers, Malcolm X, The American Revolutionaries, etc.  His song reminded me of the song F*#k the police, by NWA 17 years ago.  Everyone was shocked that these guys had the audacity to say violent things about the police, but two years later when the Rodney King incident occurred, everyone knew what they were talking about.  Had it not been for video cameras, we would still think they were lying. 

 

How The Reagan Administration put drugs in the black community (in case you didn't know) - 2/10/07

In case you didn’t know, the 1980s were not a necessarily good time for black people in America. But then again, I am not sure which decade was a good time for us.  But the 80s were especially bad, as crack cocaine hit the scene, and communities were destroyed in the process.  Not only did you have the abandonment of families and resulting crime that comes with rampant drug use, you also had violent drug wars, and the devastation of mandatory sentencing and 3 strikes laws.

 Then, you have Ronald Reagan.  During black history month, we should set the record straight for those who never bought the album….The CIA under the Reagan Administration was largely responsible for a great deal of the drug trafficking allowed in the US.  It has been written about and later confirmed through additional research.  Effectively, it was our government’s dysfunctional relationship with the Contras that led to us allowing the distribution of drugs, primarily in black neighborhoods, as a solution to the fact that they could not openly fund their operations.  That is the short and long of it.

 All the while, the self-righteous crusaders in the War on Drugs convinced us that the incarceration of as many black men as possible was the solution to the problem.  The reality was that all of America was being lied to in the process.  Twenty years later, our kids are still getting high, and our country continues to suffer from the lost productivity of millions.  Rest in peace Ronald Reagan, for you truly left your mark on Black History.

 

 

Transcripts from the CNN Interview, and my Great Super Bowl Prediction - February 5, 2007

 

Yes, I am such a peeyamp.  Not a pimp....a "peeyamp".  You have to put the twist in the word if you want to say it right.  Why am I a peeyamp?  Because I made my radio prediction of the Super Bowl on Wisconsin Public Radio, a station with hundreds of thousands of listeners.  I predicted the score would be 34-17, Colts.  The final score?  29 - 17.  Yes, I am a peeyamp. 

Once I realized how right I was, I called up the host of the show to remind him to kiss my butt the next time we talk.  He is a good guy though, so I won't rib him too much. 

At any rate, I just got back from a speech at Western Kentucky.  It was fun to go back home, but the schedule was so tight that I didn't even have time to visit my mother.  That bothers me, since I never want to become one of those celebrity bastards who doesn't have time for his mother.  I am not even a celebrity, so I have no right to be a bastard yet.  But I will never let that happen to me, since I am not that kind of person. 

I thought my readers might want to see the transcript of the Paula Zahn interview:

 

(COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: We are talking about race in the NFL and the 41 years it took to finally see a black head coach in the Super Bowl. Our "Out in the Open" panel tonight, Kevin Blackistone -- you have seen him on ESPN's "Around the Horn" -- national radio talk show host Steve Malzberg, who covers sport for many, many years -- yes, he is a really old guy. (LAUGHTER) ZAHN: And Syracuse University professor Boyce Watkins -- Dr. Boyce Watkins, I should say -- author of the book "What If George Bush Were a Black Man?" Good to have all of you with us tonight. So, if you look at how long it has taken us to get us to this point, it this because owners have strong prejudices against blacks as coaches? KEVIN BLACKISTONE, ESPN'S "AROUND THE HORN": Well, I mean, I don't think it is anything but that. I mean, it is even more outrageous that it took from 1921, when the first black coach was ever hired in the NFL, until 1989, when the second black coach was ever hired in the NFL. I mean, this is a -- this sport is behind basketball. It's even behind Major League Baseball, which is thought of as stodgy. And, up until now, since the Rooney rule was passed, which I think you talked about... ZAHN: Which basically mandates that you have to... BLACKISTONE: Sure. ZAHN: ... at least interview... BLACKISTONE: Exactly. ZAHN: ... a black candidate. BLACKISTONE: Up until now, it was a real struggle for talented, aspiring black men in pro football to even dream about becoming a head coach, because it just didn't happen. ZAHN: How alive is the perception today, when you look at these numbers, that -- that blacks are better suited, because of what great athletes they are, and they don't want them in the front office, nor telling the players what to do on the field, because they don't think they are smart enough? Is that perception alive and well? BOYCE WATKINS, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY PROFESSOR: Well, we have always had a country that was ready and willing to allow a black man to run and jump and lift things. Allowing a black man to actually control the -- the intellectual mechanism behind whatever you are doing is something that people are still getting used to. And I would say that the racism in the NFL is really a matter of tradition, sort of, holding people back from doing the right thing, because, effectively, owners in -- in -- choose coaches through the old-boy system, which was built on a racist foundation. So, black men were not allowed in that old-boy system. So, when you have the Rooney rule come into play, that forces them to widen the search, then, it helps the entire NFL, because you are forcing them to find the best person qualified for the job. That is what progress we have made found so far. ZAHN: Are white coaches smarter? Is that what the... STEVE MALZBERG, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: No. ZAHN: ... the fundamental problem is with perceptions among owners here? (CROSSTALK) MALZBERG: Greg Gumbel said just the other day that this is nice now, but, by next year, everybody is going to forget this. Black coaches are not smarter or dumber. They're not better or worse. It depends on the players you have. They're making a big deal about this. I can understand that. But, when it is over, it is over, and you move on. Look, Ron Rivera, who is the defensive coordinator for the Chicago Bears, could become the next coach of the Dallas Cowboys. He is Puerto Rican. Does he count? Or is he not going to count? Well, the -- I mean -- I mean, this is so ridiculous, this whole thing of counting the numbers and the numbers game. It is a quota system. Because 70 percent of the players are black, what does that mean? So, in corporate America... (CROSSTALK) ZAHN: ... one-fifth of the coaches are black. (CROSSTALK) ZAHN: I mean, isn't there something askew with those statistics? MALZBERG: In corporate America, if a corporation have 75 percent whites, does that mean that a black man shouldn't be running the company? People will say, of course not. Well, what difference does it make how many black players are in a league compared to how many coaches are in a league? WATKINS: But you're comparing apples and oranges. When you are talking about putting a wide receiver on the field, you are looking for the guy who can run the 40-yard dash in 4.3 seconds, or whatever. MALZBERG: Sure. WATKINS: You can't really manipulate that. But, when you are picking a coach, that's very arbitrary. You are picking the guy that -- whom you think is the smartest. And the reality is that, for I don't know how many years, we just decided that a black man isn't the smartest guy that should be running the team. MALZBERG: No. There's a lot more than smarts involved in picking a coach. You're picking the man who you think is going to motivate, who is going to organize, who is smart. There is a whole ball game going on there. (CROSSTALK) WATKINS: And black men were rarely given that opportunity. And, so, I am not saying that black men should take over the coaching booth, the way they have taken over the field. But black men should be given opportunities. That is all they're asking for. (CROSSTALK) ZAHN: Do you think there is almost, though, a -- a patronizing sense of amazement here, that you have got two black coaches heading off against each other on Sunday next? (CROSSTALK) BLACKISTONE: Yes, there is, because -- because, to me, with these two guys, getting to the Super Bowl is not an amazing story. To me, that's a historical footnote. To me, I am more excited that, on the same Sunday that they made that advancement, the Pittsburgh Steelers were about to announce that they had hired a 34-year-old guy from Minnesota who no one had ever heard of by the name of Mike Tomlin, who, oh, guess what, we saw his picture and found out he is black. That is the way the system... MALZBERG: And how did that happen in a racist league? BLACKISTONE: Well, that's the way... MALZBERG: How did that happen in a racist league? (LAUGHTER) BLACKISTONE: Well, I will tell you, it happened -- it happened because of the Rooney rule. WATKINS: Yes. BLACKISTONE: And, in fact, of course, Rooney comes from the Pittsburgh Steelers. WATKINS: Yes. BLACKISTONE: Why did Marvin Lewis get hired in Cincinnati? Mike Brown, the boss in Cincinnati, admitted that, until the Rooney rule came up, he never even -- he never even considered interviewing a black man for any -- any position that he had in the front office or as -- or as head coach. (CROSSTALK) ZAHN: Very quickly. MALZBERG: It's fundamentally wrong to force an owner of a club or a business to have to interview a minority. That is fundamentally wrong. ZAHN: All right, team, stay right here. We have got plenty more to talk about. And we want to hear from you out there, as well. Please send us the e-mails tonight to Now@CNN.com. And our panel will weigh in on your thoughts a little bit later on. You don't even have to be nice to them. These guys are tough guys. (LAUGHTER) ZAHN: They can handle anything you throw their way. (LAUGHTER) ZAHN: A black NFL player's frightening experience helps brings our next story out into the open on whether police are too quick to pull the stun gun trigger on minorities. And, then, a little bit later on: singer Brandy facing prosecution after a fatal car crash. Is she being singled out because she is famous and rich? We will bring that one out in the open in a little bit. We will be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: So, what it is like to be targeted by police and shocked with a 50,000-volt taser because of the color of your skin? Hundreds of African-Americans in Houston say that is what they have experienced, racial bias at the end of a stun gun. One of them is NFL lineman Fred Weary, who claims that police there are trigger- happy in their treatment of black suspects, something Houston police strongly deny. But, tonight, our Ed Lavandera helps us bring this racially- charged controversy out in the open. (BEGIN VIDEOTAPE) ED LAVANDERA, CNN CORRESPONDENT (voice-over): On a November afternoon a 6'4'' black male weighing more than 300 pounds was pulled over on a Houston highway for failing to use his signal to change lanes. Police say, the driver became verbally combative, and then made a threatening move toward the officers, so one officer tasered him. He dropped to the ground. The driver turned out to be Fred Weary, a lineman on the Houston Texans football team. CHARLES DAVIDSON, ATTORNEY FOR FRED WEARY: I think the police, these two officers, drew the completely wrong impression and decided they were going to stop with this guy and they were going to jack with him. LAVANDERA: Weary's attorney says he's left wondering if race played a role in the altercation. Weary was charged with resisting arrest, but a judge dismissed the charges. The case has triggered a high-profile controversy, raising questions about whether Houston police officers are unfairly using the taser weapon against African-American suspects. (on camera): According to the department's statistics, in the last two years, 63 percent of all suspects tased by Houston police officers were African-American. But that number represents less than 1 percent of the total number of arrests made during that time. (voice-over): The mayor is asking for an independent review of how the department uses the weapon. Until the report is complete, City Councilwoman Ada Edwards is calling for a moratorium on the use of tasers. (on camera): When you look at those statistics, someone who might say, oh, maybe it's just a coincidence. You don't see that? ADA EDWARDS, HOUSTON, TEXAS, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: I don't think that, if it was 60 percent white males in that age group, I don't think that it would be looked at as a coincidence. I think people would at least like to know why. LAVANDERA (voice-over): Police Chief Harold Hurtt says race does not play a factor in taser incidents. He says that, because disenfranchised minorities are more likely to interact with police, that that explains why more African-Americans have been tasered. Fifty percent of all suspects arrested by Houston police in the last two years were black. HAROLD HURTT, HOUSTON, TEXAS, POLICE CHIEF: We're not indiscriminately going out, selecting individuals, and taser them. We are -- in most cases, 60 percent of the cases that we use them against African-American males, or black males, as a result of calls from people in the community or their own family. LAVANDERA: Supporters of the taser even suggest that the weapon has saved lives. Houston City Councilman Adrian Garcia worked as a police officer for 24 years. He says, since the taser was employed on the force, there have been 40 cases where police officers could have used their gun, but instead used the taser. ADRIAN GARCIA, HOUSTON, TEXAS, CITY COUNCIL MEMBER: The taser, I had understood it, would be a alternative to a firearm, that it would be a device that could be used to prevent a physical confrontation from escalating into a deadly-force confrontation. LAVANDERA: Officers stunned Fred Weary with two taser shots. Houston police say the officers acted properly. But Weary says the taser shot numbed half his body, and that was more painful than anything he's ever experienced on the football field. Ed Lavandera, CNN, Houston. (END VIDEOTAPE) ZAHN: Let's turn this over to our "Out in the Open" panel tonight, Kevin Blackistone, Steve Malzberg, Boyce Watkins. Glad to have you all back. Let's review the numbers again. When you look at how often this has happened to black suspects, the numbers say it all: 64 percent of the cases involving blacks; Latinos, 23 percent; whites, 12 percent. What's the deal here? Are police more afraid of black suspects than whites? WATKINS: Well, I talk to my father about this a lot, because he happens to be a high-ranking police official in my hometown. And, so, I try to get both sides of the picture. And the reality is that, when you are a black man, which I have been for the most of my life now, you know that... (LAUGHTER) ZAHN: And when did that happen, by the way? I just want to know. (CROSSTALK) WATKINS: Since the operation. Since the operation. ZAHN: Oh, OK. (LAUGHTER) ZAHN: I haven't -- I didn't know you before the operation. WATKINS: Yes, yes, and since the surgery. But, you know, I have always known that, when you go deeper into the South, when you are a black man, you do not deal with the cops the way you would if you were white. It doesn't mean all cops are bad. A lot of cops are very good people. They are honest, just like the rest of us. But there are some cops who abuse their power. And it is easiest to abuse your power against people who you don't think can fight back. ZAHN: Is that what it is? (CROSSTALK) ZAHN: Are they -- do you think... MALZBERG: Oh, my gosh. ZAHN: ... these cops are trigger-happy in Houston? MALZBERG: It is very -- and, with all due respect, it is nice to hear that some -- most cops are nice. Not all cops are bad. The number of bad cops is an infantile percentage. Cops are good. Look, this guy was charged by these cops with resisting arrest. He is a big, bulky football player. I don't know... ZAHN: All right. Now, I talked to him one on one a couple weeks ago. MALZBERG: OK. ZAHN: And he denies that he ever behaved the way the cops describe him as behaving. MALZBERG: All right. (CROSSTALK) MALZBERG: Well, the police chief is black. ZAHN: He said he never put up a fight. MALZBERG: The police chief is black. WATKINS: That doesn't mean anything. (CROSSTALK) MALZBERG: The guy -- the Hispanic officers said how -- how -- how thankful he is that they have tasers. Look, you don't -- each case has to be taken on its own merits. We don't know what went on there. I wish they had cameras. But we don't know what happened here. And, as for the 64 percent, we don't know what happened in each one of those cases either. ZAHN: Kevin, what about that? Because you hear the police chief talk, and he said, yes, it seems like a disproportionate number of blacks are being hit with stun guns. BLACKISTONE: Right. ZAHN: But the black suspects are the ones more -- blacks are more often to interact with police. BLACKISTONE: Well, the black community does have a very interesting relationship with the police. We often need them a lot more than anybody else. And, oftentimes, we wish they had never showed up more than anybody else. I mean, we know that deadly force is -- is something that affects us more often when we come in contact with cops than anybody else. Right now, it happens to be the taser. And the taser happens to have elements of deadly force as well, because we know that there are people who have died from being tasered. And there a lot of cities around the country right now looking into using the taser and what kind of impact it has on people that it is used upon. But we rarely in journalism I know ever talk about whether or not anyone other than people of color and particularly males of color are being -- are being hurt more by what police are doing when they come into the community. So I don't think there is any question that this is a real problem in the black community. STEVE MALZBERG, RADIO TALK SHOW HOST: New York City lowered the murder rate from over 2,000 a year, over 2,000 and David Dinkins the African-American mayor New York to now, 500 from Giuliani to Bloomberg. You know whose lives are being saved? Minority lives are being saved. BOYCE WATKINS, SYRACUSE UNIVERSITY: But the black mayor or the black police chief, and Clarence Thomas is black. MALZBERG: Yeah, so? WATKINS: And there are a lot of black people who don't care about black people. MALZBERG: Well, that is ridiculous. Clarence Thomas, to say he doesn't care about black people? WATKINS: Well, we won't talk about Clarence Thomas today, but the reality is that the criminal justice system as a whole does have a bias against black men. We are not talking about just the police force. We're talking about the system as a whole. You look at the millions of black men that are incarcerated. That's destroying black families (INAUDIBLE). Some of them did and also just because you commit a crime, does not mean the punishment fits the crime and many times we are disproportionately punished for the crimes that we have committed. You look at - for example, down in Florida A&M University, two black men, two Kappas in the Kappa Alpha Phi fraternity was sent to prison for two years for hazing. That's never happened in a white fraternity. So the punishment must fit the crime and that doesn't always happen when you're black. PAULA ZAHN, CNN ANCHOR, PAULA ZAHN NOW: Kevin, final thought, are the cops targeting these blacks because they are racist or because of the fact that Steve pointed out, crime statistics would show that they commit a majority of the crimes? BLACKISTONE: Well, I certainly don't think that the police forces in America and certainly in a large one like Houston are without people who may carry some prejudices and biases into their work. And those may very well spill out into the community. And it is certainly looking like right now Houston has a problem with the way that police are interacting with black males in particular. ZAHN: Fred Warey (ph) has said that he will sue the city unless they explain the disproportionate numbers we are talking about here tonight. Don't laugh, Steve. He is going through with this. MALZBERG: I'm not laughing. Of course, he's going to sue the city. ZAHN: All right. We're going to get your take on all of this a little bit later. Please e-mail us tonight at now@cnn.com. We're going to read them and get our panel's reaction to what you have to say a little bit later on. (END VIDEOTAPE) ZAHN: And coming up, Anderson Cooper joins us live from the scene of that tornado disaster in central Florida and then our panel weighs in your e-mails next. They are reading them now. Wait until you hear what all of you had to say. We will be right back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: We have been getting your reactions to the stories we brought out in the open this hour. Our panel is standing by so let's read some of your e-mails right now. We get started with this one from Adam about black NFL coaches. He writes, given the history of racism within organized sports and other areas of employment, it is obvious that simple steps like expanding the interview process should be utilized. Whites who can't see this basic truth need to explore the depth of their racial bias. He is basically saying you are racist. MALZBERG: Of course that's ridiculous. ZAHN: ...without saying that directly. MALZBERG: Right of course, code words, code words, but... ZAHN: ... because you are not in favor of the Rooney (ph) process that mandates these team owners... MALZBERG: Well, why stop at sports? Every business, all through corporate America, let's set quotas. You have to interview a certain amount of blacks, Asians, Puerto Ricans, Hispanics, et cetera, right down the system. Make the whole system a quota system. How's that for Adam? Maybe Adam would like that. WATKINS: That's not the answer and really, when you implement something like this, you are not saying that these owners are bad people, that they want to do bad things. What you are doing is -- ZAHN: Well, historically, that is what a lot of people have said about that. WATKINS: People have said that, but I don't believe it. What I believe is that we have a system of hiring that has a racist foundation and therefore in order to deal with the racism system, you must implement a systemic strategy that will eradicate the racism from that system, because racism is built into the fabric of the institutional infrastructure by society. It is not something that people just have in their hearts and minds. ZAHN: Let's move on to this one from Alice G who writes, that when we as people stop identifying individuals according to the color of their skin, in this case African-Americans, then and only then will we be able to say we have accomplished a huge racial divide. Guilty of defining yourself as an African-American or black man? BLACKISTONE: I do it proudly, but I mean, it's hard not to do that in the context of what we are discussing tonight when you look at all the data and you look at all the statistics and we are the ones being tasered. We are the ones that have been - we're shut out of the NFL when it comes to head coaching jobs for 60-some years. We are the ones who suffer all of these maladies in society, so it is kind of hard not to look around and identify yourselves as such when all of these things... MALZBERG: In case you haven't noticed, the blacks suffered great injustices for more than 60 some years. That has been remedied. The fabric (INAUDIBLE) of the rules have been fixed (INAUDIBLE) legally and you can't discriminate against you because you're black legally. That is the law now, wasn't back then 60 years ago, 50 years ago. It is now. BLACKISTONE: As a matter of fact, it took two lawyers, Johnny Cochran and Cyrus Mary (ph) to bring together the Rooney rule to bring pressure upon the league because they were threatening a lawsuit. MALZBERG: How do blacks succeed in this country? How did you succeed? How did he succeed? BLACKISTONE: I got an opportunity to prove that I could succeed. MALZBERG: Right. (INAUDIBLE) WATKINS: I was very (INAUDIBLE) my job at Syracuse University but the fact was I was the first black finance professor they hired in over 100 years of existence and I was not the first smart man to apply for that job. So sometimes the law does do good things in terms of achieving equality. And it is not good for black people. It's good for America. Don't forget that. ZAHN: We got to leave it there. Kevin Blackistone, Steve Malzberg and Boyce Watkins, have a great weekend you all. Appreciate all of your perspectives here tonight. Right now I want to take a quick biz break. On Wall Street, the Dow lost 20 points, Nasdaq up 7.5 points. The S&P gained over 2. This is going to be the most expensive year yet for the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. The White House today requested an additional $100 billion to fund the wars in 2007. Now that's in addition to the $70 billion already approved by Congress. A jury found in Atlanta today found a former Coca-Cola executive assistant guilty of conspiring to steal Coke's trade secrets and trying to sell them to rival Pepsico. She faces up to 10 years in prison. Next, we're going to go live to Florida for the latest on tonight's breaking news. Tornadoes have killed at 19 people and left hundreds homeless, many more than that without power. We will get the very latest from Anderson Cooper as you can see, live on the scene when we come back. (COMMERCIAL BREAK) ZAHN: Now back to our lead story tonight, the state of emergency in four Florida counties after this morning's killer storms. In Lady Lake, Florida tonight, we find Anderson Cooper. He is getting the story firsthand. He joins us live from the heart of the disaster zone. Exactly where are you tonight, Anderson? ANDERSON COOPER, CNN CORRESPONDENT: We're in Lake County, Lady Lake, which as you know Paula, is the hardest-hit county. Of the 19 fatalities so far reported, all of them have been reported from this one county. You can see really, just driving in here, the devastation is everywhere. This is a home that was ripped off of its foundations, shoved about 50 feet probably into this grove of trees, and you know, we have become all too familiar with this sort of thing from hurricane Katrina, but you can see into this person's house, the front door here lying on the ground. Someone already went through, found that doll, found some pictures. There's a picture over there, but very little is salvageable from this home and block after block, Paula, throughout this entire county, you will find homes like this. It is a scene very reminiscent of hurricane Katrina, Paula. ZAHN: Anderson, tell us about some of the people you met today and what they were affected by. Obviously, there has been a tremendous loss of life and homes all but leveled. COOPER: There have been a lot of tears shed in this county, I can tell you that, Paula. There is a church very close nearby here that has been completely destroyed. I talked to a lot of the parishioners there. They are upset. They're still in shock, of course, but they are resolved. They're determined to rebuild. They say the church is just - that's just a building. The church is really the people and the people are alive and remain strong. They plan to have Sunday services. And I spoke to the mother of a girl who was killed just a couple hundred feet from where I was standing. They found her earlier this morning, a high school student. Her name is Britney May (ph). She wanted to go into the Marines. That dream of course now will never occur and her mom is of course still in shock. So there is a lot of people here still trying to figure out what comes next, Paula. ZAHN: A storm hitting in the middle of the night, very few people getting the warnings. They should have or could have had they been awake. Anderson, thanks, we will see you at 10:00. Meanwhile, the network's coverage will continue all day tomorrow as well starting at 7:00 a.m. in the morning. Thanks again for dropping by here tonight. Glad to have you with us. We hope you have a really good weekend. Hope to see you Monday. TO ORDER A VIDEO OF THIS TRANSCRIPT, PLEASE CALL 800-CNN-NEWS OR USE OUR SECURE ONLINE ORDER FORM LOCATED AT www.voxant.com

 

Riding the Hoarse with Paula Zahn - 2/4/07

 

I love going to New York.  I find that I am making trips to the city all the time now, which is great.  What is even greater is getting picked up in big, fat limos and SUVs that look like they are carrying President Bush.  Perhaps it is the super-sized egos of celebrities that make them feel that they need super sized vehicles to pick them up. The damn truck could have held 9 people, but there was only me, the driver and 3 tiny bottles of water.  Of course, “we celebrity types” need to be fully protected from the dangers of temporary thirst.  Yeah right.

OK, I get to the city planning to appear on Paula Zahn, but this day was especially rushed, since I was also going to do an interview on Wisconsin Public Radio right before.  Not only was I rushed, but my voice has been incredibly hoarse for several days, and I sound like Marlon Brando with lung cancer.  I like NPR shows, since they actually try to get to the heart of an issue through productive discussion, which is the opposite of the Fox News, kill the guest approach. I don’t like going onto Fox shows, and I tend to only watch Fox when The Family Guy is on (one of my favorite cartoons).

But enough about Fox.  I went to my favorite store to try to spice up my wardrobe.  There is a place on 38^th street that I love, so I took a walk to go on a short little shopping spree.  I love walking through New York, since there is always something to look at.  I swear that one day I am going to see an alien walking down the street, and I will barely notice.  That is what New York does to you.

I bought 4 new suits, with shirts and ties to match.  I aimed for stuff with color, because I want to be more colorful with my look. My ex-girlfriend said I used to dress like a mortician, and I notice that my female friends and relatives always comment on my outfit when I am on TV, and some don't even remember what we were talking about.  That is when I learned the importance of appearance.  Some people don't even listen to you if you don't look like you belong on television.  I think it's all a bit silly, but life is stupid I guess.  I called 6 or 7 people on the way to the store, none of them were home. But in full compliance with Murphy’s Law, all of these people chose to call me right back right in the middle of trying on my clothes.  That was annoying, but at least they called me back.

 The guy was patient with me, as I had to spend 15 minutes on the phone with the people from CNN, discussing the topics that we were going to hit that night.  First, there was the Super Bowl and what it means to have two black coaches.  Then, there was the player for the Houston Texans who was tasered by the Houston Police.  Apparently, they were messing with the wrong negro that night, because he is suing their butts off.  I think that he is asking for a full apology, as well as a review of the taser policy for Houston police.  Good for him.

 I know how justice is in the south, especially in Texas.  Black men are imprisoned so easily in Texas and Louisiana that it makes the slave days look good.  My father is a high ranking police official, so I have tremendous respect for law enforcement.  But abuse of power can be rampant at times, and their “stick together no matter what” mentality can sometimes lead to cops behaving like a gang.  But again, I am not one of those “march in the street every time a black man gets shot’ kind of people.  Sometimes, a person should be dealt with by police, and not every black man who gets shot was innocent.  I am not saying that I don’t want justice, I just want justice to be just.

The CNN producers kept changing the topics, and I just kept rolling with the punches.  When you deal with the networks, that’s all you can do, really, since they call the shots.  The cool thing about this particular segment was that it was going to be like 40 minutes or something, which is a mad sick long time to be on CNN.  Even the guy who drove the limo I rode in (a really intelligent man from the middle east) said that he was surprised at how long our segment was.  He said that Paula Zahn’s show normally gives just 6 minutes for show topics and guests.  Perhaps it was my perky lips and killer charm that made her want more of me (haha).

 Speaking of Paula Zahn, I have to say that she is as sweet in person as she is on TV.  Everyone I talked to spoke highly of her, and I enjoyed the last time I met her.  What surprised me is that she is 50 years old, but doesn’t look a day over 40.  Black women are the most beautiful women in the world, but Paula Zahn actually caught my eye for half a second.  Just half a second though, so don’t be hatin.

 I was on the show with a conservative guy, I can’t quite remember his name.  His first name was Steve, and I don’t remember his last name.  He reminded me of the typical conservative that I’d known back in college:  Well-dressed, a bit arrogant and entirely too self-righteous.  But I had a respect for him given that he is a vet in the media game, and I have to give him credit for the fact that he seems to actually believe the bullsh*t he was spitting on the air.  OK, no problem.  I figured I would just have to dismantle him slowly, since I have learned through time that a really well-educated black man can be a very scary thing.  By the end of the show, I could tell the poor guy was petrified.  I have gotten used to that.  My father, the cop who reads people for a living, summarized the appearance by saying “At the end of the show, the black guy looked at you with respect and admiration, and the other guy was afraid of you.”  I said “Good.  Mission accomplished.”

 But I wasn’t mean to the conservative.  I don’t take alternate views personally most of the time.  I learned long ago that getting all mad really doesn’t change anything.  Also, arguing all day really doesn’t make much of a difference.  We sit there at the dinner table, arguing for hours with our friend who has an opposing view, fully convinced that we can change their mind and change the world if we just keep talking.  Neither happens, as the world remains the same after we’ve wasted 3 valuable hours of our lives, and the person we’ve been barking at still has the same opinion.  The only exception are arguments that occur in media, since media has the powerful ability to change opinions.  Therefore, I usually don’t argue for a very long time with people in person, and I don’t get mad.  But I will argue with you on TV just so that we can share our views.  In personal settings, ,it is my goal to listen and learn from you, not to change your perspective.  So, if I were talking to David Duke, the Klansman, I would not yell at him, get mad or try to get him to see the light.  I would ask lots of questions and try to see why he is so retarded.

 So, I didn’t have a problem with Steve the conservative, even though I knew he was going to be outmatched.  Most of the time, when you argue with a conservative, it doesn’t take much to break down the logic of their arguments.  That’s why many of the boneheads on Fox News, such as Sean Hannity, spend all their time yelling and ranting and raving.  Then, you have those who will simply edit out your replies to their arguments (as Oprah did to the rapper Ludicris).  I guess killing alternative viewpoints is a method of argument, but it’s not all that productive.

 The other guy on the show was a dude named Blackistone.  He’s  a cool brother that I’ve seen on Around the Horn, an ESPN show.  When I came in, he was text messaging someone, so he couldn’t talk.  But once we talked for a while, we found we have a lot in common.  He’s also familiar with Stephen A. Smith, and he and I traded theories on why his show was cancelled.  I respect Stephen A. a lot, and I wish I could have given more consultation on the structure of the show.  I think that I could have helped keep that thing on the air.  I compared his show to successful sports shows, and there was a lot missing.  Seeing that show disappear really broke my heart, since I thought Stephen A has a great television personality.  Perhaps one day I will get a chance to host an ESPN or CNN show of my own, it would definitely be off the chain.  But then again, I could care less if that ever happens.

 I am going back to the city in a few days for another show that I’ve been dying to be on.  It’s called Street Soldiers, on Hot 97.  Hot 97 is the radio station where all the rappers get shot, so I'll definitely be packing.  I’ve heard of Hot 97 for over a decade now, and I have much respect.  This station is the key and primary channel to getting to the hip hop community in NYC.  I can’t wait for that one, because shows like this are the ones that keep me in my element.  CNN is fun, but Hot 97 is made for me.  OK, I have to go pack now for my speech in Kentucky.  Western Kentucky University, here I come!

 

Black coaches and another date with CNN - 1/31/07

 

I was watching CNN the other day, along with 80 zillion other people, and I noticed that they were taking a poll of the best Super Bowls ever.  I could not help but notice that every option you could vote for consisted of a white quarterback and his great feat.  For example, Joe Namath and his predicted win was one of them.  They had others by Terry Bradshaw, Roger Starbauck and others.  You almost would have sworn that there was not a single black man in any of these Super Bowls.  This made me think hard about the two black coaches in the Super Bowl this week and what that means for America.  

Personally, I could not help but notice that when the Colts are discussed, the media tends to focus on quarterback Peyton Manning as the mastermind behind everything that happens.  But when the Patriots won their Super Bowls, the attention was on the coach and his brilliance.  I also noticed that in the NFL, it almost seems as if the presence of two black coaches in the Super Bowl serves as required proof that these guys can do the job.  Being an average black coach just doesn't seem to be enough these days, as only Super Negroes need apply.  I don't think we ever needed two black coaches in the Super Bowl to prove we can do the job.  

Low and behold, I get a call from CNN to appear on Friday to talk about this issue.  It's funny how those things work, I am thinking about signing up for one of those psychic hotlines if they exist anymore.  I think about something and then it happens.  Poof!  The show is Paula Zahn Now, and it's 8 pm.  I actually get quite a bit of time to run my mouth, and I think I am going to have a lot to say. 

Other than that, I have a cold today.  I love black women, for every female friend I have immediately recommended their favorite remedy toward me.  My male friends didn't give a sh*t.  I got a call from one friend, she says "You need to get out and get you some honey and lemon."  Five minutes later, I got a call from my mother, who said "You need to get out and get you some honey and lemon."  They sounded serious.  I think I am in for a major ass whooping if I don't show up with honey and lemon in my house.  I better get moving. 

 

Oops! Reggie Bush being mistakenly targeted for NCAA investigation - 1/28/07

 

It turns out that the NCAA and I launched simultaneous investigations.  It was uncovered by both of us, at the same time, that an individual involved with USC’s football program received a set of cash, gifts and other inappropriate benefits in exchange for his contributions to the team.  When I uncovered this information, I was appalled.  Not because the gifts were exchanged, but because this man had done little to actually earn the funds in question. 

As I prepared for my big day in court with hundreds of pages of grand jury testimony, tape recordings, sexy photographs and catchy bible verses, it occurred to me that perhaps the NCAA and I were not investigating the same person.  My target was USC coach, Pete Carroll, and their target was Heisman Trophy winner, Reggie Bush.

 Taken aback and stunned like an Evangelical preacher during the Janet Jackson Super Bowl, I tried to reconcile my confusion.  My logic was quite simple:  How in the world can Carroll receive between 2 and 3 million dollars per year, along with numerous other perks, while none of the guys on the field are getting a thing?  Shoot, he can’t even run the 40-yard dash in under 6 seconds and hasn’t played a down since the Beatles released their last album.  Why in hell had they chosen to compensate Carroll, while everyone on the field was getting almost nothing?

 On the other hand, I figured that Reggie Bush would be the LAST guy for the NCAA to investigate.  He is faster than a crack head on payday, was declared by sports writers to be the best and the most (financially) valuable player in a multi-billion dollar sports league, and earned millions for USC by putting his body on the line with back flips, triple twirls and other super human feats that left the country mesmerized.  It was only logical to me that he should be the first to get paid, not the last.  If I make a film and it earns $100 million dollars, shouldn’t the star of the film get something for his efforts?

 “You’ve got the wrong man!”  I yelled at my TV at the top of my lungs.  I knew I was in the right, since I’ve watched USC play.  I would be willing to swear in front of any grand jury that it had been Bush who scored those touch downs, not the guy with gray hair.  It was Bush, not Carroll, who sprinted down the field, risking life and limb for the sake of USC glory.  Pete Carroll didn’t make a single catch, block or carry, and I could verify this fact.  For some reason, no one at the NCAA would listen, as they insisted that Bush’s family had done nothing to earn the financial benefits he received for his performance.  They’ve apparently concluded that Reggie had contributed little value to USC’s championship run, and therefore, any benefits Mr. Bush or his family received were illegal.  

I will never get the NCAA.  In what other field in America is it illegal for someone to be paid for adding so much financial value to an organization?  Reggie Bush was practically an iconic brand for the NCAA, not just from TV rights deals, but also merchandizing, as every little kid in America wanted to own a jersey with the number 5 on it.  If I were to open “The Reggie Bush House of Pancakes”, some little geek from the NCAA would have a lawsuit on my porch before I could fry the first piece of bacon shaped like the Heisman Trophy.  Given that most men are typically paid for their labor, it seems that Reggie was never a man to the NCAA.  Instead, he was more like a circus horse or a prize monkey, shown to audiences around the world, told to engage in acrobatic tricks and then put back in a cage at the end of the night.  All the while, the circus masters spend the night counting gate revenue earned from their carefully staged chicken fights.  

Someone should tell the NCAA that they’ve got the wrong man.  If Reggie is being investigated for taking money that he allegedly did not earn, then their first investigative target should certainly be Pete Carroll.  When I watched USC football, it wasn’t to see the stiff on the sideline.  It was to see the amazing man with the ball in his hands.  Pete Carroll was NOT that man.  But for some reason, when he picks up his paycheck, no one says a word. When Reggie Bush does the same, we call a grand jury.  Can someone please explain what’s wrong with this picture?

 

What’s Love got to do with it? – Michael Jordan, Britney Spears and the peculiarities of marriage - 1/24/07

I was the best man in my good friend’s wedding.  It all seemed right, since he and his girlfriend had been getting naked together for about 2,438 years.  Over the following 9 months, I watched their marital dream turn into the Nightmare on Elm Street.  They were divorced before the wedding cake digested, as he and his wife worked overtime to earn their restraining orders.   Their relationship had become a creepy little War on Terror, with spying, torture, failed intelligence and weapons of mass destruction.  She was Osama Bin Laden, and I often wonder if he is still trying to hunt her down.  

 This is not uncommon, as I’ve seen many couples go from “I love him more than anything” to “I got hot grits for yo ass”.  Only something as special as love can make people want to kill each other so much.  As I was doing research for my book “Financial Lovemaking 101”, I was in awe of how many relationships changed shape faster than Oprah’s waistline.  Once chubby with love, their vows deteriorated into anorexic, hate-filled bastions of demonic deceit.  I then saw celebrity divorces, like that of New York Giants star Michael Strahan, whose wife was awarded $15 million dollars (out of their $23 million dollar fortune, mostly earned from football), plus $214,000 per year in child support. Not to say that she didn’t deserve a substantial share of the money, but I didn’t see her make very many tackles for the Giants last season.  Then, there is poor Britney Spears, where the love of her life sunk as low as using their personal sex tapes to chokehold her into forgetting about that little prenup.  They say love is priceless, but that’s not true.  If you ask Michael Jordan, he might say that love is worth about $250 million, which is probably the minimum his wife will get when their divorce is said and done.  

 If marriage were a financial investment, some might consider it a junk bond.  According to the book “There Goes the Bride”, 20% of all engagements do not end up in marriage.  Additionally, the Enrichment Journal on Divorce in America states that 41%, 60% and 73% of all first, second and third marriages respectively, end in divorce.  That’s uglier than Jermaine Dupree and Nancy Grace put together.  But staying married doesn’t mean you are out of the woods.  I have seen a lot of couples that are happily married on the outside, but on the inside, they want to poison each other’s kool-aid.  Their anatomy of love is surrounded by a thick layer of scabby skin, made hard by years of agonizing pain endured for the sake of proving their in-laws wrong.  I commend these couples for maintaining the moral fabric of our society, but damn.  I often wonder if there is a better way to live. 

 So, given these stats, we can value marriage as a stock. After passing up a new big screen TV and buying the engagement ring instead, you have an 80% chance of getting married, a 59% chance of staying married if you get there, and (say) a 50/50 chance of staying happily married, if you get married and stay that way.  Under these assumptions, you have about a 1 in 4 chance of not wanting to trade in your relationship for the TV.  Imagine buying a stock in which the company has a 75% chance of going bankrupt.  In addition to the bankruptcy, the stock can take half your assets, all of your kids, and most of your sanity.  This makes Enron look like a feel good story. 

 My goal is not to pee in the fountain of love, for I drink from that same fountain.  But how can something so beautiful get so ugly?  It’s not because men or women are pigs and gold diggers.  Well, maybe it is.  But it could also be because we have a system in place that gets in the way of true love and the development of families.  Can we really criticize those who choose not to get married, when the rest of us are doing it wrong anyway?  That would be the pot calling the kettle stupid.  Personally, I wonder if there is a day when marriage is not considered to be the only meaningful destiny of a great relationship.  The day when people are not quietly calling you a whore or a dog just because you don’t choose to walk down the isle.  Will we ever wonder why vows before God must also be vows before the court of law?  They say that “breaking up is hard to do”, well it’s even harder if you are financially, emotionally and socially castrated in the process.  We force one another into the institution of marriage, but I wonder if being institutionalized is really that much fun.

 Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of “Financial Lovemaking 101: Merging assets with your partner in ways that feel good”.  He makes regular appearances in the national media, including CNN, BET, MSNBC, USA Today, and Essence Magazine.  For more information, please visit www.financiallovemaking.com or www.yourblackworld.com.  

 

 

Me and Wendy Williams – Again...plus that old bastard FOX News!  What do they want from me? -  January 11, 2007

This week I got the chance to hang out in the big city.  I love New York, which I consider to be one of the cornerstones of modern civilization.  I guess it’s the Rome of our time, the place where you go only if you are tough enough to make it.  The people in New York used to scare me when I was a kid, mainly because the image presented of New Yorkers made them look like they have skin of leather and don’t care about anything but themselves.  While this is true in some cases, I have found that under the tough exterior of New Yorkers, there is a real, living, breathing human.  The people take pride in “their hood”, and they do care about one another…..sort of.  I love New York.  I must admit that.

My trips to the city are always fun, and this one was the “funnest” trips I’ve taken in a while.  I took the train, since it’s very peaceful.  On the train, I can work on my research, relax, sleep and think about life.  The people I rode with were clearly annoyed with my snoring problem.  The woman behind me was speaking in Spanish, but I heard her say something about how “that snoring annoyed me too.”  Sorry lady, but I was tired.  She can join the same club that some of my ex-girlfriends belong to…the ones who dumped me because sleeping near me was like living next to a construction site.

 At any rate, my first experience in the city was with BET.  I have never been to their studios, so I looked forward to meeting the people there.  One of the producers I met there, Johanna, was incredibly nice to me the prior week.  This made me look forward to meeting the team, since I am used to producers being a little tough and terse.  I wasn’t disappointed with my experience there.  Everyone was kind and professional, and I literally had a great time.  One of my former students has a sister who works there, and she was also very nice to me.  I met this guy named “Stretch” who used to choreograph for Michael Jackson.  That’s pretty cool, and I bet he even knew Michael before he turned white.

 After BET, I had to shuffle across town to meet with Wendy Williams and her crew.  Going to Wendy’s show is always a peculiar experience.  Most of her people are incredibly nice, but you never appear on Wendy’s show without wearing a good, strong testicle protector.  She is good at taking folks out on her show, and I am never one to assume that I couldn’t end up on her bad side.  To this date, that has not happened.

My interns were with me, and they also went with me to BET.  I love working with my interns, since they are sharp and talented.  I also love teaching them, as the ultimate test of being my intern is whether you can withstand the hours of ranting I do when I go into Professor mode.  If they make a mistake, I don’t get mad – I teach.  But the thing is that teaching them can lead to an hour long soliloquy about the long-term implications of such behavior.  For example, being late to meetings might get you fired from my company, but it’s also going to lead to a lifetime of frustration in corporate situations.

Wendy was going to hear about my book “Financial Lovemaking 101”.  We talked about it a lot, along with her 11 million listeners.  I also gave her listeners some financial advice.  Wendy seemed to be taken aback by my down to earth nature.  Apparently, a lot of the professors she has met have been from that planet that most professors live on called “Academicky”.  I then told her that most professors are too “academicky” to see value in connecting with the real world. Some of them do a good job, but many of them seem to think that their “exceptional intelligence” gives them an excuse for having little desire or ability to connect with the real world.  I go through this all the time, as I try to persuade other black scholars to do something other than sit in their offices reading research papers that no one is ever going to read.  It’s sad and a horrible waste of society’s resources if you ask me.

I must have done ok, since the interview ended with “I love you Dr. Boyce!”, followed by a real hug from Wendy. Every time I see Wendy, she gives me a stronger, more genuine hug.  I appreciate that because you can always sense a person’s “realness” by the way they hug you.  They can give you those “polite tap on the back with the bootie out” hugs, or the “come here you loveable sonofabitch” hugs.  I got the latter from Wendy, which I am sure is tough for her to deliver in light of how many people want to strangle her.  I love Wendy, but a lot of people don’t.  I noticed that right away.

Earlier in the day, I hung out with a nice lady who used to work for Def Jam Records.  I enjoyed talking to her because she helped me to really understand how the recording industry works.  Yes, I teach, but I am much better student.  I love to listen and learn from those who’ve had valuable experiences that they can share.  This woman was definitely in that category. She didn’t agree with me about Oprah, but then again almost no one does.  This doesn’t take away from the fact that she was a great person to talk to.

The next day, I jumped over to Essence Magazine to meet some of the nice folks there.  One of their editors, Kimberly Allers, is a good friend of mine.  She wrote a great book called “The Mocha Manual” that she is building into an amazing brand.  Kim is a sharp lady.  She has studied finance and business to the Nth degree, and has written for Fortune, The NY Post, and a lot of other great places.  I respect her a lot.  She also lived in London, one of my favorite cities.

I met a bunch of the people there and had coffee with Kim.  They seemed to enjoy hearing about my Financial Lovemaking book.  It was a fun meeting, and the women at Essence are very friendly. It’s funny how people in media completely change their disposition when you are right there in the office. Call them on the phone, and you probably won’t even get an answer.  One of my interns commented about how the people at WBLS “were so nice”.  I then had to explain to her that in this world, how people treat you varies based upon how they perceive you.  I said to her “You’re in here, and you are treated nice.  But there are 200 million people out there who can’t even get in this door.  This treatment is a privilege that should be valued, nurtured and not taken for granted. Don’t forget that.”  I could see the producer from Wendy’s show nodding in agreement in the background.  This is a dog-eat-dog world, but some dogs turn to puppies of you bring the right flavored bone.

 Tomorrow, I go over to Fox News 5 (I am still in the city as I write this, having a ball).  They are the local Fox affiliate in NYC.  Doing a local interview in NYC, the largest media market in the world, is a lot like doing a national interview.  So, it’s not to be taken lightly.  So, to say that we are going to be on the local news is like saying that King Kong was just a monkey. 

 We are going to talk about “the N-word” for an entire 30 minutes.  30 minutes is hella-long for a TV interview, so I am surprised.  But I am going to show up with bells on, ready to “spit game” as I normally do.  I have a lot of opinions on the N-word, many of which have gotten me both applause and death threats.  I guess that’s the price you pay for telling the truth.  Right now, I can afford that price, and it doesn’t’ bother me.

 

My Buckeyes get embarrassed - 1/9/07

Before I head to NYC for quality time with Wendy Williams and BET, I thought I would make a note of some lessons I learned last night while watching my Ohio State Buckeyes take a major league, nationally-televised ass-whooping (41- 14 in the national championship game):

1) The Heisman is overrated.  It seems to always go to the quarterback of the top team.  The probability that the quarterback of the best team is the best player in the country nearly every single year is almost 0.  I give the award almost no respect.  I just watched the alleged top player in the country throw for 36 yards and get sacked more than a bag of groceries.

2) Ted Ginn (OSU's speed demon) is a monster.  His absence from the game after his injury probably increased his status in the draft.  That is when people saw just how helpless Ohio State is without their true superstar.

3) Athletes should be paid.  These guys were the reason the fans came to play.  It was sad that they didn't get any of that money.

4) The BCS System is retarded.  Boise State went undefeated and beat the crap out of Oklahoma.  I believe they would have given Florida a run for their money.  But the world will never know, since they were not given a chance to get into the game.  How much more can you do than go undefeated?

5) Jim Tressell can be outcoached.  Florida appeared better prepared in every way. 

 

Nick Saban Contract is Right on time - 1/7/07

Good.  I am glad they did it.  Finally, the NCAA has embarrassed itself at just the right time.  The goofy hillbillies running the coaching turnstile at Alabama, in their perpetual effort to find a way to regain lost glory, blinged out their latest coach, Nick Saban (roughly $32M over 8 years), so much that Congress is starting to take notice.

Thank God.

As a professor at several universities with big time athletics programs, I have always been sickened by the way academics has taken a back seat to making money on TV.  I am a Finance Professor, so I love money as much as anyone else.  But I also know that money can turn a pastor into a demon, a professor into a pimp, and a university into a sweatshop. 

Last year, a lawmaker questioned whether or not corporate interests have turned universities away from their academic mission.  In a letter to the congressman, NCAA president Myles Brand wrote that the salaries of college coaches are “commensurate with other highly paid and highly recruited faculty and staff.”

Wow.  That was officially, without question, the dumbest thing I’ve ever heard. 

After hearing his “profound” statement, I wanted to say to Dr. Brand “Dude, you have a PhD.  Can’t you come up with anything better than THAT?”  Brand is definitely not earning his mega salary, as every good pimp knows that solid, two-faced public relations is critical to “keeping your hoes in check”.

OK, I’ll stop being silly.  But I can’t help it.  The hypocrisy of the NCAA is so daunting that you can only laugh to keep from killing someone.  Esteemed academics have turned themselves into laughing stocks, absolute clowns in front of the entire world.  Their quest for riches is not as problematic as the fact that they are simultaneously forced to explain why the athletes should not get a serious cut of the money.  They remind me of the dirty pastor explaining why “the lawud” wants you to give him an extra $500, or Anna Nicole Smith explaining how she truly loved the 90 year old billionaire to whom she was married. 

While coaches are continuously fired for not winning games, they are almost never fired for not graduating their players.  In fact, a coach with a high graduation rate and low winning percentage is more likely to be fired than one who wins games and doesn’t graduate anyone.  Does this sound like an academic mission to you?  Me neither.

As I watch my alma mater (Ohio State) play in the national championship (with 18 corporate sponsors paying millions for their ads) on January 8 (the date chosen so that the event can replace the revenue generated by Monday Night Football), I congratulate both teams (who will receive roughly $18 million dollars each for simply participating).  I will watch the game with anticipation (along with the thousands of people in the stadium who paid hundreds of dollars for their tickets), to see the great Troy Smith (who is not going to be compensated). If this is not a great amateur experience, I don’t know what is.

Ohio State guard T.J. Downing said. "We're the reason this money's coming in. We're the guys out there sacrificing our bodies. We're taking years off our lives out here hitting each other, and we're not being compensated for it."  Given that I once taught at Ohio State, I am proud that my former students have been trained to know when they are being screwed.  There is nothing wrong with selling a product, but you should at least be consistent and fair in the process.  Professional coaching contracts in an allegedly amateur sports league makes as much sense as The Michael Jackson, R. Kelly Child Sitting Service.   I’m not buying either one.