O.J. Simpson Finally Paroled. Was Jay Z Right?

     If sufficient remorse was the primary determinant when working on a parole board, you would likely need a lie detector to deal with the magnificent actors of the world. Are we to assume that Bernie Madoff, at 229 years old or so, won't be able to show sorrow for the billions of dollars he schemed away from so many? Even if he does, is there a way to truly trust that a criminal will never do another crime other than helpful determinants like old age and past history relative to the crime you are seeking parole from? Did the guidelines for parole sheet get tossed out in Nevada or what?

     Watching OJ Simpson begrudgingly attempt to show contrition for something he has no remorse for was rather difficult today. Listening to all of the pundits who only wanted to stick it to the black man because they couldn't stick it to him before was quite a bit more difficult.

     Don't get me wrong. I am as much convinced that he was involved with killing someone as I was when he got acquitted by virtue of good lawyering and bad policing.  The disconnect between those who wanted him to pay for the murder and those who wanted him to be proven guilty of the crime is still as vast a divide as it ever was.  There simply is no way to express to someone who has never been racially disenfranchised what it means to beat the system that treats you that way.

     Trump, and a bunch of trigger happy cops, have flipped the US to the tender side of our underbelly, and thankfully, many people who were previously disconnected to the plight of being on the wrong side of our scorching hot melting pot are now graphically becoming aware of the depth of anger that fuels those with disdain for diversity. Never again will WE question the depth of our racial hatred, the unspoken divide that still lives on in all of US or how that divide disproportionately impacts brown skinned folks in America.

Despite a defiant posture and a lack of preparation,
The Juice Is Loose....again.

     Witnessing OJ finally get paroled after almost 9 years of jail time for a strong-armed robbery of his own shit was noteworthy, especially with the struggle that the parole board seemed to have with their decision to release him. They fought against the watchful eyes of an unforgiving nation, their own understanding of justice and a horrible presentation from OJ in order to do what they know was the right thing to do years ago.

     OJ served time for being an asshole with a sharply defiant tongue, and for being a black man acquitted of killing his wife- a white woman. Yes, OJ did time in part for just marrying a white woman, an element that probably set him free when his attorney, Johnnie Cochran, used the racial history of Mark Furhman to taint the potential actions and motives of Furhman as a way of setting OJ free. It was way too easy for a nation formed and fashioned by race to accept Furhman's displaced anger towards a likely murderer, confirmed to like white women.

     Watching so many legal pundits today, with undeclared contempt for OJ the man- contempt that supersedes their love for the rule of law and justice in sentencing- was disheartening. Not because it shows that even lawyers allow their emotions to override their view of justice, but because it accentuates how vitally important it is to get proper representation if you have any illusion of achieving justice in America. And how justice really has little to do with who wins or loses a court case in America if we can not easily determine proper sentencing or whether or not you've served enough time for a crime.

     I am glad it is all over because watching America truly display itself, AGAIN, is emotionally draining. OJ served enough time for robbery and deserved to be set free today. Whether or not OJ commits another crime is not really a concern to me. As long as I think about all the black men that should have never been locked up in the first place, I feel a little less anger for guys that stayed a bit too long.
        OJ is not one of the truly unlucky even if he needed a reminder by Jay'Z, the powers that be and a few extra years in prison that he is still nigga.

MU President Steps Down, Football Team Steps Up

Some call it the Ferguson effect while others thinks its a full fledged revolt from the prisoners.

In this uniquely special scenario, the prisoners are the primary source of revenue for the entire institution, and they are actually in a position to quit work without retribution.

That was the case when 32 of the University of Missouri football team players decided that they had to take a stand relative to the matter of racial inequality on the campus. I mention those 32 because even the head coach and the rest did not get on board until it was clear that they couldn't play without 32 teammates.

Apparently, Mizzou is the type of campus where an occasional poop swastika gets smeared on the walls of the campus as a mean message of hate towards those who walk the campus in Columbia, MO with a little to much melanin.  Hearing shouts of nigger are also a part of campus life.

When such matters were presented as a grievance, now former campus president Tim Wolfe has been quoted as saying that the matter of racial intolerance on campus was mostly a matter of "perspective".  When students attempted to block president Wolfe's car after a homecoming parade in an effort to force him to address their grievances, he did not exit his car and had the students removed by arrest instead.

 News reports seemed to present an unruly student body that could not break the will of Wolfe who steadfastly refused to step down despite repeated requests to do so.

Suddenly, there became a threat of no football.  In the wake of Wolfe's recent relent, we've come to discover that campuses all over the land have feared this day, when football players would recognize the power of their position and make a strong economic play towards change.

In the wake of Wolfe's recent relent, we've also discovered that most campuses consistently keep football players and other big sport athletes free and clear of the general public on campus.  They have a special tunnel to access special meals and special dorms that keep them special and separate from the normal folks on campus.  In effect, they have buffered them from the problems that plague everybody else.

Until now.

Now, the money machine has forced the decision makers to move to keep the money machine up an running.  It would be awesome to imagine that this change was addressed on the merit of moral impact and not economic impact.  In reality, morality did not play a single role at all, at least not as it relates to those who finally fixed this problem.

The Wolfe Is Gone!

In other words, the institutional failures that make MANY college campuses racially unsavory are widespread and still unchanged.  My daughter, who attended school at a nearby school in Missouri, almost dropped out of her really expensive private university as a result of the weight of racial imbalance that she endured for four years of schooling.

The school of Michael Sam, the first openly gay football
player, has now disrupted the national racial Richter scale.
Will other big sports schools follow suit or do major
sports universities move to make the racial fixes first?
Stay tuned. 

On that campus, it was nearly shock causing for anyone to meet my daughter and accept that she was there on an academic scholarship and not to play sports.  By the time she exited her campus and the state of Missouri for the last time, she felt like making a t-shirt with words on both sides of it reading:

"NO!  I do not play on the basketball team.

At that campus, a sports revolt might not have had the same impact because sports are not to the money generators that they are on big time campuses.  At that campus, however, black students have complained like they complain all over the land, even before the shake up at Mizzou.

So, for the mass majority and for a little while longer, nothing is likely to change much at all. Yet, at Mizzou and every school with a similar racial issue, the die has been cast and the blueprint is complete. If you really want to turn things right side up, you might need to turn it upside down and shake a little. If nothing 
happens right away, keep shaking 
until it does.

Congressman's KKK Speech (12 Years Ago) Could Cost Him Today

Study: Hate of Obama

 fuels 755% growth in 

extremist groups

DAVID EDWARDS
09 MAR 2012 AT 10:16 ET                   

 (originally published in 2012-- RAW STORY.com)

Fears that the nation’s first black president will be re-elected has fueled the dramatic growth (of) extremists groups in the U.S. over the past year, according to a report from a civil rights organization that tracks these groups.

The number of groups in the anti-government “Patriot” movement have sky rocketed 755 percent since President Barack Obama has been elected, the Southern Poverty Law Center’s (SPLC) yearly report found.

Today's story du jour is about an elected official who was witnessed speaking at a KKK rally 12 years ago.  While he doesn't deny his involvement, he does deny his allegiance to such an ideology, calling the event an effort to win votes during a campaign- and nothing more.

Modern day racial cleansing in congress got rid of David Duke ( the former representative from Louisiana who was a Klan grand wizard) and even  former senator Trent Lott (Mississippi) felt the impact of co-signing the Klan.  This current congressman under racism watch spoke to a group founded by David Duke himself. As the last vestiges of admitted bigots is being snuffed out by whoever smells for such stench, even this  congressman's own attempts to wash himself of the odor may not save him from the mob of racism abolitionist' who think racism can be rooted out of congress like the cancer it represents. If this congressman doesn't care to admit his love of the KKK, than I personally would rather not even mention his name in connection with them.

Racism and racial intolerance are much bigger than one previously anonymous congressman who might be trying to quit the set (gang talk for leaving a gang).   The statistics seem to suggest that racism was watered by the mere electing of a black president- but became mature plants that dropped seeds of their own in the wake of Obama's second term. In the first Obama term, extremist group recruiting grew, but they were as caught off guard by the reality of what America had done as they were by the masterful recruiting tool they had been handed.  If racism had died in the days since MLK and JFK lost their lives to the cause, the death was but dried up seeds waiting for the right kind of rain to bring new life.  Similar to Islamic terrorist who can start world war by creating beheading videos, racial extremist' have discovered a fertile landscape and a source of rain. 

2012  represented a pinnacle in total number of anti-government groups -1,360 while only 1,096 such groups were still registered by the end of 2013 (SPLC.org).  At its peak (since 2008) extremism grew by 813%.  Is that in actual numbers or just those who signed up (aka., admitted to extreme views). What does 813% represent in real numbers and is that question even attainable?

Is Race STILL our #1 issue?

Racial conversations may never be honest enough for an honest representation of true extremism or the extent of growth that we continue to see from the small crowd of those who dare admit it. Much like the  belabored conversation on domestic violence, hate statistics say we have a problem while the voices refuse to agree that its them.

The newest way to pretend that extremism isn't yOUR issue is to pretend like Obama did it. In one year he will lose his value as a scapegoat and extremism will lose its best recruiting tool in years.  

Soon, hate will get to chill out for a while, except in the halls of congress were it must diligently hide itself from hate filled mobs that either truly hate extremism or simply love being caught fighting it.

(Does hate chill out?)

Is Race Still Our #1 Issue ..and should it be our #1 conversation?

Ku Klux Klan Attacks Nicki Minaj: Claims Black People Didn't Invent Hip Hop

Sterling Family Selling But Magic Johnson Loses The Battle

Magic Johnson: Will he own the Clippers? 

As I reflect on the divine purpose of being black in America; I do this to remain humble in the face of things that would otherwise enrage, I often realize the value of those old Negro spirituals that anchored the souls of many who found themselves abused and mistreated.  In the face of oppression, their efforts and hearts remained prayerful for both the oppressor and the oppressed.

In the pursuit of divine purpose, you often realize that some battles are best fought in silence.  And the church said; "Victory, victory shall be mine.......victory, victory shall be mine.  If I hold my peace, let the Lord fight my battle(s).  Victory, victory shall be mine".

Somewhere in the melodic harmonies that ring in my head when I think on this battle cry, I wish my childhood hero had understood the importance of such a valuable song.  Magic Johnson was abused by the words of Donald Sterling who attempted his mistreatment of Magic through controlling and intimidating a "girlfriend". The outrage is beyond justified, and any response from Magic would be backed up and repeated by the masses who love and respect Earvin Magic Johnson for who he is, the good and the bad.......

........unless you plan to eventually buy the team yourself.

Suddenly, we of the Benghazi and Bridgegate influence, are instantly prone to assume the worse until the evidence says otherwise....and even  then we might just assume that you've done a really good job covering your tracks.  Will Magic be forced to conduct an independent investigation on himself as did Chris Christie in order to clear his name from any wrong doing?  How has that worked for Christie by the way?

I am not saying that Magic needed to go Mark Cuban on this one.  In essence, the message of Mark Cuban is let he who has not sinned cast the first stone.  In reality, Sterling began his exit from the NBA because Magic said "Enough".  Sometimes it takes a certain voice to force certain change.  In the beginning, that voice was Magic.  How dare this unknown curmudgeon insult a national treasure?  When we discovered that insiders called the man a lifelong racist, the weight of the most recent straw became peculiar to understand, but the camel has collapsed and fallen into the grave of his own creation. In the end it was the weight and the voice of the King that took this camel down.

Lebron James has instantly changed the spectrum of collective action as it relates to social morays.  The combined power of sheer economics; the Sterling's had to respond to the risk of lost value to their most treasured asset, and social pressure on the owners to ACT or face consequences themselves, forced this action by the NBA and the Sterling's, who recently waved the white flag by agreeing to sell the team.

Magic Johnson has instantly dampened his hopes of becoming an owner of an NBA franchise in the very town that he helped to build.  Currently, the cries for anyone, except Magic, as owner of this team are gaining momentum.  With the Sterling's moving to sell, the story instantly shifts into this realm of the conversation so we must quickly qualify the applicants, and Magic remains the most prominent of them all.

Will Magic get an opportunity to realize this impossible dream?  Had he remembered that spiritual we all grew up singing it would be a lock.  Everyone (and they mama) would line up to support the Magic Johnson ownership group and would eagerly watch as the war between the LA Clippers and the LA Lakers takes on new dimensions.  Magic Johnson as an owner of the Clippers would send Phil Jackson as head of the New York Knicks to the back page.

Despite all of the winning that Magic is notorious for; this man is the face of the ongoing war with AIDS/HIV, the victory of NBA ownership will be equally elusive. Whether he is guilty of anything more than expressing his anger is for those who think the worse of Magic to uncover. I, personally, will only accuse my hero of talking too damn much.

If he had only held his peace.......let the Lord (you know the rest).  For Magic sake, the Lord may have to work in mysterious ways.....again.

Donald Sterling and Mark Cuban Prove Racism Is A Rich Man Problem

Is Mark Cuban starting trouble or starting a conversation?

Last month I posed the question in an article that was titled "If Race Is Our #1 Issue Should It Be Our #1 Conversation"

Within days Donald Sterling happened.  Well, they say he's been happening for some time now, but I am talking about the Donald Sterling the masses have come to know.  You know, the one who confirmed our worst suspicions of him during the Anderson Cooper interview.

I haven't actually checked, but I may have rubbed my own momma wrong with my position on this issue. The fact that Sterling has proven himself to be "whatever" his opponents have accused him of only anchors the argument of many who flatly disagree with my stance on this matter, including mom.

Yet, I shall not be moved.

Stephen A. Smith, and others are calling for a public vote

When evidence of Sterling's malfeasance came to light, it was quickly a war between the right to speak your mind versus the right of the NBA and Adam Silver to disassociate themselves from such disgusting remarks.  In historic fashion, the NBA's best player decided to step to the forefront (Michael Jordan was notoriously quiet at times like this) as the NEW commissioner smelled the potential for league wide retribution from the NBA players with LeBron James in the front of the pack.

Silver was smart enough to realize that declaring whatever the players wanted to hear was hardly going to change the legal ramifications of their desired effort.  The effort to remove Sterling's team may not even prove to be Constitutionally possible. However, long before the Supreme Court get's a chance to hear Donald Sterling .v. The National Basketball Association, the NBA will have to gain the necessary votes to ouster the maligned owner.

Enter the world famous "slippery slope".  When first we crossed this bridge, NBA owner of the Dallas Mavericks Mark Cuban, warned that there is simply too many biases and prejudices that we are all guilty of to avoid a slippery slope if we attempt to remove Sterling's team from him.

Cuban doubled down recently and added a Treyvon Martin comparison (black man in hoodie) along with a tattoo faced skin head image as people he is likely to cross the street to avoid if confronting on a dark street at night, admitting to his own prejudices while attempting to illustrate that we all have them.  Trust me. I realize that my eloquent depiction is both favorable to my position and that of Mark Cuban, but we are on the same side of this argument so I defend him honorably.

Cuban was said to have made his recent comments in a candid interview.  Do we know Cuban to be anything but candid?  When he could not continue to speak as he did when the Sterling news first broke, he did not speak at all.  Whatever description that is being tagged to the interview from Cuban is a description of his own making.  Mark Cuban, much like Adam Silver, is smelling the winds created by the voice of the NBA's best player.

While listening to Stephen A. Smith address the Donald Sterling fiasco and the news of a June 3rd vote from the team owners, Smith was adamant and direct in his expectation that the vote not only be unanimous, but that it be public for the purpose of determining dissent.  Stephen A. proceeded to declare that he, along with several black sports media types, and Magic Johnson, and LeBron James, were ALL insisting on that public vote. What would give Smith the gumption to speak on behalf of James and Johnson if not James and Johnson?

With the spotlight clearly on him, LeBron remains vocal.

My hunch is another article for another day, but Magic seems to be spear heading this effort and maybe the entire coup.

Magic is great and Stephen A. and his media brothers are loud voices for sure, but it will take the King to drive the ouster of Sterling, and so far he is happy to buy the gas for this journey.  If LeBron had the power to make Silver pound the organ and "Ban Sterling for Life", he certainly might make the owners own up to their votes.  Cuban recognizes this and needs to let LeBron and America understand why he will not vote in favor of Sterling's removal.

It's all about that slippery slope thing that will have the next homophobic owner losing his family treasure because his closest assistant for years turned out to be taping his disgusting homophobic remarks.  To all the voices out there saying "good, he would deserve the same thing Donald is getting", what is next?

Where would this type of social cleansing meet an end?  The courts will have to envision the Pandora's Box they open if professional sports team owners are under 24 hour speech surveillance.  A few owners (not just Cuban) might even be wondering right now what awful things they spoke in the quiet confidence of friends, and who might have captured a recording similar to the one Sterling is under attack for now.  The moment Sterling is voted out, every recorded nasty becomes blackmail gold.

Correction. Every recorded nasty from a professional sports team owner becomes blackmail gold.  Racism is really only a problem in America if someone can hold you accountable for being racist. Poor people with very little to be sued for can continue with your racism, bigotry and  prejudices intact.

Silver Not So Sterling In Ruling Against Donald.

My attempt to avoid finding myself in total disagreement with Magic Johnson has failed.

Magic is my hero.  I still consider him to be the greatest basketball player of all time.  Michael Jordan was never as fun for me to watch as Magic was.  What Magic could do on the court was simply....... magic.

Earvin "Magic" Johnson did not create this firestorm of controversy.  Magic was captured, by photo, in the presence of Donald Sterling's dime piece.  For some odd New Jersey Bridge scandal type reason, Sterling decided to record his love of Magic, but his disdain for black people and the mistress.  When Sterling no longer gave a dime to his dime, she dropped a dime on Donald.

That's the story.  We all know it and no one seems to dispute the nature of the details.  Whether you focus on the fact that we are all party to an extortion effort or the simple reality of the hate filled words, the facts are the facts. This was a recorded lover's quarrel, and black folks got dissed on it.

Black people: You ain't neva' said that same kinda stuff
about white people?......Ninja please....you too Magic .

Now, any person reading this post who has never said anything foul against another race or culture while in the confidence of people who do the same thing as well, raise your hand? Since the new Pope doesn't read my post yet, I assume that we have very few hands raised, but let's go deeper.

Any black person, Magic Johnson included, who hasn't spoken about white people in a racially bigoted manner, raise your hand?.  I am a ninja (my replacement for the N-word) from the projects, so don't make me give you the look. T.D. Jakes, I see you out there grinning, but your hand is not raised so that's cool.  Not one ninja in my entire family better raise their hands, that's for damn sure.

I got another one for you.  

Is it housing discrimination to not put a black family in the middle of a bunch of Korean people?....YES! Especially if they really need housing right away. Sterling paid a hefty price legally for behaving in this fashion, and the scuttlebutt in LA was that he is a discriminatory slum lord.

If that, which was legally decided upon in the court of law, was not enough grounds for removing Sterling, then what makes this latest incident more worthy?

MAGIC!

Hey baby...where's Donald?

Let's assume that the black person who Donald scolded his mistress over was not Magic Johnson.  Would we care so much about this story?  Would Magic? Magic was among the first to call for removing Sterling from the league, and it is hard to think that he did this for any reason other than the public embarrassment it represented to his mega-rich ass.  If the black guy she was seen with was ......ME, do you think they would have banned him for life ?


Magic is an LA rich man.  If anybody in the world knew about Donald Sterling, the slumlord embarrassment to the NBA, it was Magic Johnson.  What did Magic and everyone else who care to know about Sterling think of him before this video revelation?


Everybody thought Sterling was exactly who they have proof of him being now.  Yet, no player, former or current, can give you a story of Donald Sterling the racist owner.  His lawsuit against Elgin Baylor was an age discrimination lawsuit that was  handsomely settled out of court, even though the courts found in favor of Sterling. For many years, Elgin Baylor ran the very organization that other teams threatened to send you to if you did not perform for them.  Even Baylor couldn't claim being racially discriminated against when he considered a world where other black executives and coaches operated with a much shorter leash than he enjoyed for years.

Talks have begun about Magic Johnson organizing the group to purchase the team from Sterling.  Does the fact that Magic could not raise his hand to my earlier question disqualify him from ownership or does he have to get caught on tape before he can be disqualified.  If a homey from the barber shop from way back in the day comes out and reveals the things Magic might have said in quiet confidence, does that hold any weight?

While listening to Sacramento Mayor (and former NBA player) Kevin Johnson on the Dan Patrick show, I heard him close his remarks about Sterling by saying that "institutional racism" can not be allowed.  Sadly, we have done nothing against the institution of racism except slap a muzzle on it.  Sterling is the closest examination of honest racial dialogue that we have been given in a long time, however scathing it appears.
If we remove him from ownership just for being a bigot than who among us is truly qualified to replace him?

Not I, that's for sure.

Niggers and crackers have pissed me off equally over the years.  Took me a long time to understand why I shouldn't call Mexican's wetbacks, but I am certain I have said that before. My homophobia was sickening as a teenage boy, and maybe even a little bit after that.  I think it took chronic tendinitis to get over my fear of old people.  Now, half way through life expectancy I love me some elderly folk and can see clearly how age discrimination is a dangerous concern to our society. In my realm as a hiring manager, I could have been unknowingly guilty of it as well.

Mayor Johnson was in the presence of several other former NBA greats when NBA commissioner Adam Silver announced the ruling against Sterling.  At the time, he said those in the room all applauded the ruling. Either they are happy that racism is being removed or that it is being silenced.  If racism is embarrassing, silencing it's voice will not fix the problem.  By removing Sterling the NBA might be less likely to find itself associated with a videotaped racist, but does the ruling against Sterling change the hearts of other owners who are like him?

I grew up in a house with a plaque on the wall that read:

                     -"You have not converted a man                                    because you have silenced him"

The more I live the more it makes sense.  We will not convert Sterling by silencing him, or improve America by pretending people like him do not exist, or don't deserve a prominent place in society.  The truth is that Sterling is just one of many prominent/rich bigots who we have most likely silenced, but not converted.

Not Magic Johnson of course.....just the other rich bigots.

If Race Is our #1 Issue, Should It Be Our #1 Conversation?

Electing Barack Obama not only represented the beginning of Hope and Change, it allowed America an opportunity to ease long standing guilt.  The White House of only white men  gave race critics plenty of room to complain.  When president Obama moved his family in to the White House, he ushered in a term called post-racial America; an America where race no longer is the limiting stigma that it used to be.  The America that asks, "how did Oprah and Obama happen if America is so racist"?

Whether you chuckle at the very notion of post-racial America, or you believe that we can never move on until we simply move on, America is constantly making a topic out of matters of race while simultaneously running from any genuine conversation about it.  

The truth about the Obama presidency is that Obama has closely followed Clinton's moderate, to right leaning policies, so it seems reasonable to expect that republicans could find as much common ground with this President as they did with Bill.  Shunning the single payer option for a Federal version of RomneyCare  is as right leaning as is the TPP (Trans-Pacific Partnership), Obama's NAFTA equivalent.  To many black people (including me), going through life answering to the name "Barry" instead of Barack is a sign of Barack's propensity towards anglo assimilation instead of the black power persona given to him via connections to Jeremiah Wright or My Brothers Keeper.

Barack Hussein Obama, who has family roots from Kenya, was always going to have a hard time bridging the racial divide in America.  I have a hunch that Barry Obama, the Harvard Graduate who deports more Mexican's than Bush ever dreamed of, might have been received in a different way by those still hung up on his skin tone. During the Bush year's, the KKK was dying into a marginalized group.  Under Obama they are alive and kicking and a group that is back on the move. The fear that white America is becoming a minority speaks to the ear of many  white Americans, even if extremism isn't how they express this concern.

As Black America evolves politically, we remain largely unified on the idea that we have yet to reach the place that Martin Luther King Jr. had dreamed of for America.  Even Herman Cain, once seen as a republican front runner for the presidency, cried racism when seedy stories from his past curtailed his run at the white house. For every moment that we feel progressed as a nation relative to matters of discrimination, we are constantly taken back by stories of voter suppression and of states who've flipped their "white only" signs around in order to write the words "heterosexual's only"

Not every apparent racial debate is naturally divided along racial lines.  Voter suppression, immigration, entitlement reform (which now includes the ACA) are all matters of public policy that do not differentiate on racial lines but  have been primarily drawn on lines of social status (the givers versus the takers).  Yet, when you separate the masses and look at the faces, race can not be ignored as an obvious element within these stories too.  Nancy Pelosi says that immigration reform would have already been signed if the said immigrants were Irish. The difference of course has much to do with the opened border we share with Mexico versus Ireland, but many people would say that Pelosi is right.

Race has conspired against America from the day that it was allowed to be a dividing line between its citizens. Yes Mitch McConnell.  The opposing party to a seated president has always fought the good fight of legislative give and take.  Never have they done it using kamikaze warfare.  To educated observers, the end game of this republican power play will resemble that of Jim Jones during the Jonestown massacre.  It is virtually impossible to explain away your "true motives" when your end game seems to disregard your own safety.  Wallowing in the mud just to get a little of it on your enemy might be a way to cloud the waters on Obama's legacy, but at what cost.? Republican's have always opposed Democrat policy,...... just not like this.  Are they truly attacking the left, or are they left with no other explanations for their intense focus on the failure of America's first brother?

If it is fair to say that the race of Barack Obama has conspired to grind politics (immigration, ACA repair, entitlement reform) to a halt, then it is probably fair to say that race remains our number one issue.

While no one wishes to be labeled a complainer, only unresolved complainers get offended by the label.  (I am personally a classism complainer ) No matter how right you think you might be,  the challenge is to find a way to address issues that matter to you without sounding like a complainer, even when complaining is your only recourse.  Martin Luther King Jr. complained about the nature of this nation and his complaining got him memorialized. Yet, even Dr. King saw the lines between poverty and color blur as he pressed towards a better America for blacks, who's primary challenge was the impact of racism (poverty) and not simply  the viciousness of hate.

There are black people who will falsely tell you that minorities can not be racist' (by definition) because racism is an act of powerful people against weaker ones. Whether the crime is racism or bigotry, there are plenty of examples of how we all let stereotypes of race taint our image of the world, leading to our abuse towards the people in it. As a result, we all expand racism and classism in our own way.  In effect, no one cares to address something that everybody practices.

With as much as we discussed these things in grade school, why is America still full of  racial stereotypes?  

The easy answer is that we forgot the lessons we learned.  We  limited our conversation to those mandatory classes, and forgot to reinforce that, while stereotypes are generally true, they are viciously dangerous to employ.  Our teachers always told us that there are no stupid question because they knew that the height of human ignorance is a question unasked. By asking questions about geometry we indirectly master the language of the craft.  

Race is no different. Without a healthy conversation surrounding race, we do not have the strength of vocabulary needed to further the discussion. In the absence of the proper words for discussions of race, most of us mess up when seeking to learn about others.  Eventually we came up with a term called political correctness (which means the other guy is simply way too sensitive) and refuse to go down that road ever again.

Political correctness has been the fuel to the growth of racial division, but now it is high tide. We must link arms and test these waters for change.  Change is necessary because we take way too much comfort in our stereotypes. Absent of our stereotypes, we are forced to do the work it takes to get to know people independent of their persona, which is largely driven by race and class.  

When it comes to genuine discussion, our reluctance to "go there" as it relates to race is because it is a sensitive scab that just doesn't heal quickly.  Some say that our problem is that we won't leave the scab alone long enough for it to fully heal and fall away.  Some believe that in time, racial division might heal itself because technology has joined people together in a way that removes the ignorance, and thus the fear that we have towards one another.  Unfortunately, this method of racial progress demands the death of several generations of ignorant people who continue to proliferate racial division by breeding the same fear that was bred into them.

President Barack Obama has been extremely aware of the presence of the racial extreme's in America.  Obama needed a significant turnout from his base, so he has tried to be as cool a black man as he knows to be without being a President of just the black people.  As a result, he has offended many of those who voted for him to represent their unheard voices, while simultaneously offending those who generally oppose cool black guys.

It is hard to ever say that 'the time is now' to have this discussion because it is not easy to get any one of the races to embrace their role towards change.  What is an obvious reality is that the Obama family forces everyone (even other blacks) to see black people in a different light.  Before the Obama's, it has been nearly impossible for America to see any black man as smart and passionate and articulate enough to outshine the white guys who have dominated the white house.  Now that the Obama family has come along, the world has an opportunity to see black Americans in a much less monolithic way.  We are more than entertainers.

It is also very hard to gain an understanding about someone else when you start with too many preconceived notions (stereotypes).  Every action that a person does when cast beneath the shadow of a stereotype is darkened by that shadow. Even your positive traits can be rationalized away by someone who generally see’s you in a negative light.  Whites and blacks and all races do this to each other; holding securely to our stereotypes until we meet someone who forcefully snatches them from our grip by defying them all, and then we simply count them as an exception to the rule as we continue to discriminate against the rest. 

Obama has shattered many stereotypes of black people, but he has not removed common questions. Barack Obama has unsettled dust that had long since found a comfortable resting place. He has been a steroid to the leadership journey that  other black leaders started years ago.  Sometimes, their is a legitimate curiosity as to what a black man might do in the face of leadership. Other times, people just want to see what your hair actually feels like. In the end, we haven't given enough black leaders a fair chance to know what the data will show, and we haven't given enough white people a chance to touch our hair. One day we might finally discover that black leaders succeed and fail just the same as others.  One day we might realize that the only true difference does lie in the skin tone and hair texture.

The Obama’s are cool and smart and composed and charismatic and black.  They are the Huxtables who made it to the very top of the mountain.  They make many people have to observe and rethink their impressions of all blacks because if there is one family  like this, there has to be two.   Most importantly, while they help us to accept that we have come a long way, they remind us daily of how far we have yet to go. Especially with matters of race.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
When is the right time to stage an intervention?  

The time is ripe for this debate that we have long since tip-toed around.  We are more polarized than ever because those who are most benefited by divisions of race and class are afraid of what happens when these institutions fall.  The KKK was able to thrive for years by feeding off of the contrived fear that had been developed against blacks and Jews.  As that fear dissipated, so did their power base.  Racism and racist organizations survive from fear. Fear is a funny thing because the less man fears God, the more likely we are to become fearful of one another stifling the quality of our conversation.  In my mind, racism grows because it continues to be fertilized by fear and watered by ignorance.

When race is implicated as a contributor or an impediment to social class, minorities develop class envy breeding a widespread inclination for unhealthy consumerism (keeping up with the Joneses) that only increases the class divide.  Classism is the ugly institution that feeds off of our pursuit to afford an unhealthy version of the American Dream.  Classism thrives from our inability to define the dream for ourselves and not succumb to a force fed dreamlike illusion.  In the end, classism wins if it convinces anyone of us that what I lack is directly related to what you have.  When you then associate this same notion to skin color, you create a destructive convergence which some are describing as the most intense polarization of modern history.

We first allowed fear to polarize us, but now we are letting the fear of our dying familiarity (aka stereotypes) overwhelm the fear of impending change. Our stereotypes are not only easy and familiar to us all, they keep us safe from the unknown and the uncomfortable.   Every black man you once feared isn't necessarily your opponent anymore.  Some of them are like Herman Cain and a few are like Spike Lee who both moved away from city folks when their money elevated their class, but are probably  similarly stereotyped by the suburbanites who they call neighbors.  

Racism may not be gone, but it finds a way to temper itself when confronted by wealth. For people without money, racism seems the same as it ever was.  For those who have money, racism is a taboo topic that most will shun within every environment that money controls.   A person's color might influence our initial impression, but a keenly purchased watch or pair of shoes can offer a sufficient head fake.  Thanks to black conservatism, electing a black president and nice watches and shoes, racism is no longer painted on the face of America even if it remains in our bloodline.

So is racism a legitimate problem worthy of a legitimate conversation, or is the alleged abuse of Barack (because he's a brother) much to do about nothing?....and what do black people's hair actually feel like? 

Who know's because we just won't 'go there.  In order to get a check up, you have to be willing to visit the doctor.  When it comes to getting a checkup on racism, America has yet to make the appointment.

What I know for certain is this.

When you seek to find common ground, you quickly discover how easy it is for any two people moving towards each other to close the gap between them. My hope is for the death of fear and the hope of change wherein lies the conversations of a brighter tomorrow.

Is Diversity Training The Future For American Schools?

No Child Left Behind’ is an insult to all legitimate teachers

  

My wife and I have poured ourselves into the lives of children (including our 5) because we were taught by an educator who was very sensitive to the needs of all kids, that no matter how well we support our kids in their education,  within that classroom, they can only rise to the height that their environment will allow. Although most classrooms are broken, the mere concept of the “No Child Left Behind” initiative is an absolute insult to any legitimate teacher who lost sleep(and still does) trying to reach them all long before Bush pushed this law into being. As a result, the true challenge for all of our educators is how to balance the time and energy spent on at-risks students versus those pushing to get ahead. 

RAISING THE BAR  

Recognizing the symptoms of poor achievement is important, but finding any cure begins with understanding the cause.  To assume that any kid would go to school just to fail is a bit silly.  Human beings don’t set out to fail. Failure (or the acceptance of) is a learned behavior.  When children are taught to see all failure as a form of feed back, they become adults who will confidently try anything. When adults are conditioned to see some children as failures, they treat them accordingly. Some of our kids have the bar set so low for them that they can’t see higher than the ceiling they stare at when losing focus in class after class.  At times we all subconsciously drop the bar for our children by repeating ideas that we once heard in our ears as well.

 “My dad was really bad at math and so was I.  It just runs in our family”.

BREAKING THE MOLD

 No Child Left Behind often results in excelling students not moving on while waiting on the back of the pack to catch up, thus creating a void. Thankfully, this educational void is being filled  with good ole' American ingenuity.  In Denver schools we fill this void with a  program call Breakthrough Kent Denver. 

Breakthrough is located in key cities across the U.S., and only accepts middle school aged students who have completed 6th grade. 
Locally, Breakthrough is housed and supported by Kent Denver (and is thus named Breakthrough Kent Denver)  

The key focus of Breakthrough is to prepare middle school students for success in high school and beyond.  Many ESL (English as a Second Language) students get intensive remediation at Breakthrough, but this program also focuses on intense character development and  pushing excelling students to that next rung of success. To foster the achievement of this educational mission, Breakthrough doubles as a program for training teachers by recruiting mature high school and college aged young adults as the classroom teachers, especially those interested in teaching as a career.  Each classroom teacher undergoes thorough training, and is supported by a master teacher who overseas their specialty area.    In a Breakthrough classroom, there is always an obvious energy from both the teacher and the students.

     The kicker to this program is that it is exclusively a summer school (or Saturday school during the school year)l, so kids have to be willing to give up the most important home time that a kid gets.  Giving up the safety and security of home and common things is one of the biggest challenges of childhood.  

Breakthrough gets it because well over 100 kids attend Breakthrough every summer. Happily! 

Admittedly, some of the kids are not so gung ho when they are first forced into the program by their parents and/or a concerned

teacher.  Even selecting the students  and the teachers each year is a competitive application process.  Each student must have an application, a letter of recommendation from an educator and grade transcripts, and a personal interview in order to be considered for the program. Having the best grades is hardly a criteria for Breakthrough.  Someone simply needs to see your hunger to be and do your best.

Though the first day is scary, when Breakthrough is over each summer, all of the kids leave with tears and hugs because of the powerful impact of this program, eager to return the next chance they can.

 Each of my 5 daughters attended Breakthrough Kent Denver.  Two went on to become classroom teachers and one continued to work with the program through college and  is now an administrator.  She plays an important role because the program insist upon on a culturally diverse group of students, and as an black woman, she offers Breakthrough kids the same inspiration that was given to her  when  she attended Breakthrough as a middle school student.

RECOGNIZING TALENT

Though the kids love their teachers at Breakthrough, year after year they would tell of the love of one very special lady who helped make Breakthrough Kent Denver blossom.   Sistah Girl is her nickname, and she is  not  only renown  for  removing kids from a line when they think  the safety of a crowd creates opportunity  to misbehave, she will also show up at your school to figure out why you keep acting up in line;  or go to your house to meet your parents and learn the best way to get you to behave in line. Some people only know her as “Sistah Girl” but her name is Sharlita Ramirez.

For years Ramirez was a heart and soul role model for every kid at Breakthrough. Suddenly, it came time for her to move on.

Ramirez had a remarkable ability to demand the respect and affection of any kid.    Being the Dean of Students, Ramirez was the central figure and main disciplinarian in a program that has young adults teaching middle school kids. Very smart but troubled kids in the program will try to get in trouble just to get kicked out of  the program when their heart and their neighborhoods started to tug at them for attention. In the immediate absence of Ramirez, bewildered staff spoke of implementing a “3 strikes and you are out” rule as a result of  behavior challenges that Ramirez once handled with ease.

The things Ramirez learned about kids when she looked beneath the surface of bad behavior at Breakthrough would scare most.  For her, it was all part of  the mission.  At times, Ramirez had made her own home a place of refuge  for kids when uncovering the hidden realities in their lives.

 While no job is meant to last forever, what Breakthrough had to replace was  the  diversity skills that existed in the primary disciplinarian who had an ability to reach kids with a myriad of socioeconomic challenges masquerading  as educational hurdles.   Diversity and sensitivity skilled educators  have a keen view of racial, gender and social backgrounds, a skill that is impossible to master with a course book alone, but is natural to the human experience and can be taught.

THE FOUNDATION

 All kids need safety and structure.  All kids!  In the absence of structure at home, some kids come to school to get it. The worst of behavior is a cry for attention or for boundaries. Some kids cry in silence and then explode when you least expect it.  All kids also need someone to be proud of them and someone to inspire them.  Educators with the diversity and sensitivity skills to inspire kids from various backgrounds are  worth their weight in gold and should be paid as such. Diversity trained educators should become the benchmark for the future of education in America. Both in how we pattern education and also in how we compensate educators.  

The unison between parents and schools can create a powerful bridge towards success. Since we know our schools and our families are damaged, we know already the unison between these two is often missing one or both parties and our kids fall between the gaps.  Diversity and sensitivity trained educators fill these gaps in our broken educational bridge and influence a dynamic journey into the realm of lifelong learning.  

Even opponents of teachers unions will argue that no approach matters if you do not have a passionate, dedicated and talented teacher to begin with.  They are correct!  Everything that we dream to do for our schools assumes a quality classroom teacher, and support from home.    As we press towards that goal, we have to provide all educators with the tools to be excellent so that we are resolute when time to replace them, and comfortable when we pay them for their value to the future.  Because our children do not get a do over childhood, it is vital that we get it right the first time.

ART & SCIENCE

We have mastered the science of education.  Now, we must evolve in the art of educating so that we can recapture the kids we lose to discipline problems and other impediments to learning.  In classrooms where we marry the science with the art, magic happens (we miss you Mr. Troutman).  Without this marriage, there are moments of magic, but mostly waves of frustration and despair for both students and teachers. 

     Educators with diversity skills are able to grab hold of at-risk students and have an ability to utilize empathy without sorrow,  creating a comfort zone of learning for every child that they touch. It will take a lot longer to train our current farm of educators to utilize these skills than it would be to simply hire for diversity.  When it comes to the demand of educating a diverse world (and not suspending pre-school kids) we clearly need to do both.