Academic

Tribute to Dr. John Hope Franklin by Professor Trina Jones (Duke/UCI)

Posted on March 29, 2009
      I remember the first time I met Dr. John Hope Franklin.  He kissed the back of my hand, and oh I was so charmed.  I knew of Dr. Franklin?s awe-inspiring intellect, of his ground-breaking publications and his prestigious awards, but I did not know of his elegance, his generosity, and his kindness until I met [...

ASK MOM Are We in a Post-Racial

Posted on March 27, 2009
ASK MOM Are We in a Post-Racial Society? Ali Mustafa Gonzales Washington, IV (fictional name, real person) asks Mom about a colleague who approached him the other day. The colleague, who is Euro-American, asked Ali (who is not), what he thought of Obama?s victory...

John Hope Franklin ? In Memoriam

Posted on March 26, 2009
Yesterday’s news that John Hope Franklin, certainly the most accomplished black historian in American history, had died is one of those moments that we experience too often these days–the passing of an historic figure whose life stands at so many of America’s significant junctures...

Obama, Ugly Betty and the Threat to Affirmative Action by Professor Darren Rosenblum, Pace Law School

Posted on March 04, 2009

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A New Day?: Attorney General Eric Holder?s Remarks at the Department of Justice Black History Month Program

Posted on February 19, 2009
Are Attorney General Eric Holder?s poignant and honest remarks at the DOJ Black History Month Program the beginning of a real racial conversation in the United States?  Read his remarks below.   Every year, in February, we attempt to recognize and to appreciate black history...

Right and Wrong

Posted on February 15, 2009
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Right and Wrong", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/2009/02/right-and-wrong/" });

Clark Atlanta University Has Laid Off 70 Faculty, Including Tenured Faculty.

Posted on February 09, 2009
Just when you thought that it could not get worse, it has.  The economy is continuing, resulting in significant losses for educational institutions.   Tenured as well as untenured faculty members at Clark Atlanta University have been laid off.  The layoffs occurred despite other proposals for saving money by a group of faculty leaders, including one proposal [...

O.J. Simpson Sentencing

Posted on December 05, 2008
O.J. Simpson gets sentenced today for the bone headed act of leading a group of men, at least one of whom had a gun, into a hotel room to steal some sports memorabilia.  His exposure ranges from six years to life imprisonment. Here?s hoping the judge does not throw the book at him...

National Book Award - Overdue

Posted on November 21, 2008
     I was thrilled to learn this week that law professor Annette Gordon-Reed is the winner of the 2008 National Book Award for non-fiction for her work, The Hemingses of Monticello:  An American Family. http://www.nytimes.com/2008/11/20/books/20awards...

Obama and Black Empowerment (Deja Vu?)

Posted on November 19, 2008
Cross posted at Blacksmythe. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Obama and Black Empowerment (Deja Vu?)", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/2008/11/obama-and-black-empowerment-deja-vu/" });

Obama and the Southern Strategy

Posted on November 16, 2008
Cross posted at blacksmythe. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Obama and the Southern Strategy", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/2008/11/obama-and-the-southern-strategy/" });

Diving for Dollars and the Fed Discount Window

Posted on November 15, 2008
The powerhouse credit card company, American Express has just joined the storied list of financial firms converting to bank holding companies.  Like Merrill Lynch and Salomon Brothers, American Express is seeking shelter from the subprime storm by converting to the highly regulated Bank Holding Company form...

My November 4th

Posted on November 14, 2008
This reflection is personal. I voted this morning at my assigned precinct. Though having the option, I just could not bring myself to register to vote by mail. I wanted to make that walk. I wanted to create for myself a complete sense-memory of what I was doing today...

Transition Watch

Posted on November 13, 2008
Some of us are such junkies for all things political that even the transition is, if not as exciting as the campaign, at least a source of intense fascination.  So, as a politics addict, I am deep into a new obsession: what can the transition process tell us about President-elect Obama’s plans and priorities?  It seems the [...

Barack Wins - The Work Continues

Posted on November 12, 2008
So much to reflect on the last week. I wept like many others last Tuesday night, wrote a piece for a Canadian news service http://www.cbc.ca/world/story/2008/11/04/f-vp-ifill.html and woke-up Wednesday feeling like I was in a dream.  Then I hit downtown Baltimore City and, well, like War sang decades ago, ?The World is a Ghetto...

The Obama Election and its Symbolic Consequences

Posted on November 11, 2008
Crossposted at Blacksmythe. References: Does your subconscious tell you that Obama is foreign? Proposition 8 Exit Poll SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Obama Election and its Symbolic Consequences", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/2008/11/the-obama-election-and-its-symbolic-consequences/" });

Perhaps, The Third Time Is The Charm . . . .

Posted on November 10, 2008
  This post appeared in the Des Moines Register on Saturday, November 8, 2009:  http://www.desmoinesregister.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=2008811080326. My children woke up on Tuesday excited about the future. My 6-year old daughter, Bethany, asked, ?Is today the day when Barack Obama will become president??   I looked at her and the glow in her eyes...

President-elect Obama?s Legacy of Quality Education for our Children

Posted on November 06, 2008
President-elect Barack Hussein Obama?s mark on history is clear and undeniable.  For the last 20 months, I have watched and listened to so many people, particularly Black Americans, who just could not believe that in their lifetime a Black man would be elected as our Nation?s leader...

HOPE - with a sprinkling of concern

Posted on November 05, 2008
And so it is.  It really is.  It has really happened.  For the first time in so long, I feel something new flow through me, finally springing eternal - I feel HOPE.  For many of us democratic cynics, despair over the fate of politics and the constant worry that things never change have been part [...

Yes, we can, but will we?

Posted on November 05, 2008
After the euphoria, will legal academics who supported President-elect Obama’s candidacy now help him govern? Will we exchange the thrill of involvement in a world-changing movement for the relatively mundane challenges of working in and with the the executive and legislative branches of government? Will we use the Obama presidency to validate the importance of [...

President-Elect Barack Obama on Election Night

Posted on November 05, 2008
In case you missed it, here is the full version of the speech President-Elect Obama delivered last night.  An interesting mix of celebration and sober reflection on the many tasks that lay ahead. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "President-Elect Barack Obama on Election Night", url: "http://www...

The Moment When History is Made

Posted on November 04, 2008
Its about 11:10 pm EST, and CNN projects that Barack Obama wins the US presidency.  The story is here.  Just think about it.  Obama will be inaugurated as the 44th President of the United States on January 20, 2009. UPDATE:  11:28 pm EST — John McCain just finished his concession speech in Arizona...

Got Inspiration?

Posted on November 04, 2008
As we wait for the results to pour in, I wanted to post this picture to keep Obama supporters inspired. SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Got Inspiration?", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/?p=2172" });

Waiting for Election Results and Looking Back: 2008

Posted on November 04, 2008
As we go about our daily business, anxiously anticipating the results of this election, let?s take a moment to look back on this historical campaign.  I am going to point to three key events that will set the tone for how we deal with racial divisions after this election is over...

More Guest Contributors For Election Week

Posted on November 04, 2008
We?ve added two more bloggers this week to discuss the elections.  Please welcome Bryan Adamson and Aya Gruber. Bryan Adamson is a Professor at Seattle University School of Law where he researches public education, race, and civil rights, and teaches clinical courses in civil practice...

Voter Experience Thread

Posted on November 04, 2008
I thought I?d start a thread for folks to discuss voter experiences on this historic election day.  No matter the outcome, history will be made.  If Obama wins, we get the first African American president.  If McCain prevails, we will have elected the oldest president in history along with the first female vice president...

Election Week ? Guest Bloggers

Posted on November 03, 2008
This is an historic week in American history, and BlackProf has invited a handful of scholars to join us in blogging this election week.  Please welcome guest bloggers Sheryll Cashin, Slyvia Lazos, Kimberly Norwood, Lester Spence, and Muriel Morisey Spence (no relation)...

Lewis Hamilton Wins Formula One Driver Championship

Posted on November 03, 2008
Some of you may recall a post I wrote last year about a young British racing driver named Lewis Hamilton.  Handpicked by Mercedes McLaren team principal Ron Dennis, Hamilton was a rookie in perhaps the most technologically advanced and competitive racing series on the planet ? Formula One...

A New Entitlement for the 21st Century

Posted on October 31, 2008
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "A New Entitlement for the 21st Century", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/?p=2147" });

Race and Presidential Politics: Pre- and Post-Obama

Posted on October 25, 2008
Last year, after Joe Biden opined that Barack Obama was the “first” black presidential candidate who was articulate, smart and telegenic, I concluded that Obama would likely lose the election. My conclusion did not rest on some knee-jerk belief that “Americans are too racist to vote for a black man...

Enough! Powell Endorses Obama

Posted on October 20, 2008
Colin Powell?s endorsement of Barack Obama marks the beginning of the end of the extreme right?s control of the Republican Party.  Cross-party endorsements are always powerful.  But it wasn?t just that Powell endorsed Obama.  Powell?s decision to break ranks with John McCain, his friend, was a full-on denunciation of the disastrous course of the Republican Party...

Powell Endorses Obama

Posted on October 20, 2008
In case you missed the interview this past weekend, watch Powell explain why he has chosen to endorse Obama. Powell reminds us that there are indeed intelligent, thoughtful Republicans out there.  Too bad we don’t hear from more of them.  Powell is profiled in my recent book, Saviors or Sellouts — The Promise and Peril of Black [...

Is McCain His Supporters? Keeper?

Posted on October 18, 2008
  A few days ago, Senator John Lewis remarked that the rhetoric of Senator John McCain and Governor Sarah Palin reminded him of words spoken by segregationist and later Presidential candidate George Wallace.  Senator Lewis later explained this statement, asserting:   ?I do not regret what I said...

Debate Follies: Of Hurt Feelings and Denunciations

Posted on October 16, 2008
So Sen. John McCain?s feelings were hurt because Rep. John Lewis, said that the rallies in which supporters of the McCain/Palin ticket called out threatening remarks, and at which Palin herself suggested that Barack Obama was dangerous, reminded Lewis of George Wallace supporters during the Civil Rights Movement?   http://voices...

?Purge, Baby, Purge??

Posted on October 11, 2008
While most people were watching the Dow Jones, disturbing reports were released last week documenting efforts, often spearheaded by Republicans, designed to discourage minority voters from showing up at the polling place on November 4th.  Two of the best reports aired on NPR and on Amy Goodman?s Democracy Now...

Bailout Passes: The New Color of Financial Failure

Posted on October 07, 2008
                        On Friday, October 3, the House of Representatives changed its mind and voted to pass the modified bailout plan, 263 to 171, with 91 Republicans joining 172 Democrats in favor. I discuss the economic and financial regulatory consequences of the bailout with Bill Moyers, on Friday, just hours after the vote...

Anti-Gay Group Thanks Obama, Seeks to Exploit Black Homophobia to Constitutionalize Bigotry

Posted on October 06, 2008
(reprinted from my blog, Dissenting Justice) Earlier this year, the California Supreme Court invalidated a state law that prohibited same-sex marriage. Applying state constitutional law, the 4-3 ruling held that the law unjustifiably denied equal protection to gays and lesbians...

Bailout Bust- House Votes Down $700 Billion Wall Street Bailout

Posted on September 29, 2008
Today,  Congress rejected the hastily presented and highly pressured Bush-Paulson-Bernanke Bailout Plan that was designed to pump “confidence” into financial markets.  The vote on the bill was 228-205.  This dramatic repudiation of the bailout legislation now calls into question the entire Paulson conceptual approach in which an astronomical sum of money is authorized to buy [...

Bringing Back Welfare As We Knew It: My Indignant Take on the Wall Street Bail-Out

Posted on September 25, 2008
  Bill Clinton?s 1996 “welfare reform” made him (and his wife) the enemy of the left and a hero to moderates and conservatives who apparently believed that single black mothers on welfare were the greatest threat to American taxpayers. Of course, AFDC payments constituted only 1% of the federal budget, and a majority of welfare beneficiaries [...

Back to Basics: Restoring the Human Connection to Mortgage Finance

Posted on September 23, 2008
    John Donne warned that ?no man is an island.?  Wall Street financial wizards have conducted their businesses as though the complex financial products that generated billion dollar compensation packages also created a protective mote beyond public accountability...

The Decline of the Supreme Court?s Influence

Posted on September 22, 2008
As the sun sets on America?s financial empire, it?s probably worth spending a moment noting that the U.S. has lost its international position in one other area as well.  I?m referring to a story in last week?s New York Times which reported that the U...

In My Bookbag: Present at Creation

Posted on September 20, 2008
Under normal circumstances I would never think to write about a book that I had not completed.  But given the fact that I will likely be long gone from blackprof by the time I complete historian Richard S. Newman’s recent book, Freedom’s Prophet: Bishop Richard Allen, the AME Church and the Black Founding Fathers, I [...

Baggy Pants Laws

Posted on September 17, 2008
The police in Florida can no longer lock up people (i.e. black male teenagers) for wearing pants that hang off their rear ends and expose their underwear. Judge Paul Moyle had the good sense to declare the law unconstitutional. Yes, kids look ridiculous when they sport this style but do they deserve criminal records for “disorderly [...

Religion, Race and Riverside

Posted on September 15, 2008
            When I lived in New York City over a decade ago I lived on 21st St.  Without any thought, every Sunday I ventured north to Harlem for church.  I usually made a deal with myself?if the No. 1 train came along, I would go to Riverside Church, and if the No...

Monica?s Revenge: Palin for Vice President

Posted on September 14, 2008
     Until I read the New York Times? investigative piece exploring the governing style of Sarah Palin, http://www.nytimes.com/2008/09/14/us/politics/14palin.html , I couldn?t figure out why the Governor from Alaska seemed so familiar to me.  Now I know:  Sarah Palin is the new Monica Goodling...

Race and Palin

Posted on September 11, 2008
My colleagues Professors Hutchinson and Butler have made two important observations about the Obama campaign.  First, Darren is absolutely right that the Obama campaign’s strategy on Palin has been misguided.  Moreover, liberals in their rush to discredit Palin have engaged in sexist and smear tactics...

The Democrats? Palin Strategy: A Bridge to Nowhere!

Posted on September 11, 2008
On August 31, I argued that, in order to counter John McCain, the Democrats needed to respond seriously to Sara Palin and engage her public policy record and political ideology (http://dissentingjustice.blogspot.com/2008/08/palin-roveian-strategy.html)...

Obama?s Performance of Race

Posted on September 10, 2008
  I have to agree with this column by Richard Cohen that Barack Obama is not angry enough. I don?t know whether it?s a personality thing or a race thing - not wanting to play into the stereotype of the angry black man. The problem, however, is his preternatural cool makes him seem too remote...

Any Reports on Summer Law Firm Experiences?

Posted on September 10, 2008
  Last year, with the help of Professor Michele Landis Dauber, Stanford Law School students made their views about the importance of diversity at law firms known to their prospective employers.  The students created a firestorm last fall with their project ?Building a Better Legal Profession,? which compiles data on the percentages of associates and partners [...

Closing the Courthouse Door

Posted on September 10, 2008
st1\:*{behavior:url(#ieooui) } During my most recent visit home to New Orleans, my Dad and I drove to his childhood home in Silver Creek, MS.  This has become almost standard practice over the last few visits, and I really enjoy it.  I usually get to know more about my [...

The gift

Posted on June 09, 2008
Would you pay attention? Cause if you would, then I could paint a picture, to give a gift to other visionaries. -Little Brother, ?Visionary?  Rapper Phonte begins ?Visionary? by reflecting on a trip to Ghana where he received unprecedented love from fans, especially female admirers (?gimme 5 weeks in Ghana, chicks will wanna marry a nigga; no [...

Making History (and Beyond)

Posted on June 04, 2008
Barack Obama is the first African American to win a major party?s nomination for President of the United States. More importantly, after 15 months of campaigning, Obama appears more poised and energetic than ever. The growing consensus is that his speech in St...

Barack Obama Election Advice: Black Denunciations that Just Might Do the Trick

Posted on June 02, 2008
  by Dr. Boyce Watkins www.BoyceWatkins.com Barack Obama is a nice guy, and I really want to see him have the chance to become president. After all, it appears that we?ve decided that having the first African American integrated into the highest office in the land is more significant than anything we must sacrifice in order to make [...

Racial Exhaustion

Posted on June 01, 2008
Some of you might find my forthcoming article, “Racial Exhaustion,” of interest. You can download it on SSRN (http://ssrn.com/abstract=1113563).  Here’s the abstract: Abstract Racial Exhaustion Professor Darren Lenard Hutchinson Washington University Law Review (vol...

Father Michael Pfleger, Barack Obama: Chickens of Truth Coming Home to Roost

Posted on May 31, 2008
Father Michael Pfleger called me two weeks ago.  I was busy, but I stopped what I was doing to talk to him.  I respect Father Pfleger, for he is willing to do more to fight for racial equality than most African Americans I know.   Michael Pfleger doesn’t just talk, he acts...

BlackProf Included in List of Top 50 Law School Blogs

Posted on May 30, 2008
CollegeDegrees.com recently announced it’s list of the top 50 law school blogs.  In addition, the article points out the wide range of contributions made by law blogs.  According to Alisa Miller, “One thing is for sure, those studying or teaching law sure love to write...

Liz Trotta?s Joke About Killing Barack Obama: A Federal Crime on Fox News?

Posted on May 26, 2008
Liz Trotta?s joke about killing ?Osama, I mean Obama?, if she could, is commentary that needs no explanation. If I still have to explain to you why Liz Trotta and Fox News are screwed up, then there is no point in even having a conversation. However, there is the larger issue of whether or not Liz [...

Duke LaCrosse: Reminders of How College Students and Campus Drinking Remain Out of Control

Posted on May 26, 2008
www.BoyceWatkins.com I recently noticed that the Duke Lacrosse team, the same guys caught in the middle of the rape fiasco that occurred a couple of years ago, were knocked out of the NCAA tournament. The upset by Johns Hopkins ended a season that will surely allow these young men to be remembered as heroes...

Black Love, Black Women and Black Families: What Essence Magazine Doesn?t Tell You

Posted on May 20, 2008
By Dr. Boyce Watkins www.BoyceWatkins.com People fall in love every day. Some fall in love forever, and some just love the idea of falling in love. We are all familiar with the bliss and agony of love, and our mating, dating and procreating choices define much of the quality of our earthly existence...

Keith Olbermann, Bill O?Reilly and Black People - The Power of Black Enterprise

Posted on May 15, 2008
www.BoyceWatkins.com I learned something about the power of money last night. I received an email from one of our readers on Your Black World, who simply said, ?Bill O?Reilly is coming after you again.? I took it in and got back to what I was doing...

Hip Hop vs. America: Oprah Winfrey, Money, Power, Respect

Posted on May 12, 2008
www.BoyceWatkins.com Some people think I hate Oprah Winfrey. I don?t. Actually, I love Oprah. Not the way my grandmother loves her, for that would be technically defined as cult worship. I love her the way I love Black Enterprise Magazine or really good Chinese food...

Hillary?s Rocky Routine

Posted on May 12, 2008
A few weeks ago, when Hillary Clinton was campaigning in Philadelphia, she began to compare herself to Rocky, our city?s patron saint. At first, I dismissed it as yet another ridiculous attempt to paint herself as a working class underdog rather than the delusional underachiever that she?s been this election season...

Bill O?Reilly? OK Fine, I?ll Talk about it

Posted on May 12, 2008
www.BoyceWatkins.com Yes, I was the “crazy black professor” featured as the lead story on The O’Reilly Factor last night.  My sister, who studies at The Mayo Clinic, called to tell me about it. Yes, O’Reilly did the whole “That black man is crazy” routine...

Response to Professor Guy Uriel Charles: I Hear You, But . . . .

Posted on May 08, 2008
    Dear Guy:   I understand exactly what you are saying.  But, at this point, Senator Obama is just the presumptive (and eventual) nominee of the Democratic Party.  He is not THE President of the United States?yet.  Let?s make sure that Obama makes it into the White House first...

Conversations with Professor Guy Uriel Charles (Minnesota): What Can We Expect From Obama?

Posted on May 08, 2008
    Dear Angela: Now that black people have made Barack Obama the presumptive and (and soon to be eventual) nominee of the Democratic Party, what should we expect as our public policy benefits?  Though some might dare dispute this, the fact of the matter is that black voters are the primary voting bloc responsible for Senator Obama?s [...

Black Enterprise, Black Finance, Black Power

Posted on May 05, 2008
  I spoke this weekend at an Entrepreneurship boot camp for The Urban Philly Professional Network. The head of the organization created something I consider to be profound and promising. He regularly gathers the black entrepreneurs of Philadelphia for networking events, training and motivation for their endeavors...

Bittergate Response from Professor Guy Charles: No High-Tech Lynching

Posted on May 05, 2008
    Dear Angela:   I understand your frustration with bittergate.  However, I don?t think the criticism of Senator Obama is an attempted high-tech lynching for being uppity.  The ultimate in being uppity is a black man thinking that he can be President of these United States...

Conversations with Professor Guy Uriel Charles (Minnesota): A High-Tech Lynching?

Posted on May 05, 2008
    As May 6 approaches, I am becoming more and more bitter about all the bitterness over Senator Obama?s comments in San Francisco.  First, the Senator?s words were completely taken out of context.  Clearly, he did not say that people turned to religion ONLY because of bitterness...

Gaseous Pandering

Posted on May 02, 2008
First they pander to working-class white voters by making them believe that their electoral judgments are beyond apprehension, particularly when a black candidate calls them into question. Now Hillary Clinton and John McCain, Senator Barack Obama?s rivals for the presidency, are proposing a gas tax holiday for the so-called summer driving season, which would [...

Take a Chance to see The REAL Jeremiah Wright

Posted on May 01, 2008
I was concerned about the recent attacks on Jeremiah Wright, mainly because I understand what he went through. Last fall, Bill O’Reilly spent 5 days calling for me to be fired from Syracuse University. They claimed I was a racist because I criticized O’Reilly and his condescending views toward people of color...

Barack Obama: The Kunta Kinte of 2008

Posted on April 30, 2008
  I woke up today thinking about the movie ?Roots?. The first scene that jumps out at me is the image of Kunta Kinte being beaten because he wants to keep his real name. With each welt of the whip, he got a little weaker, until he finally changed his name to Toby...

THE NATIONAL BLACK POLICE ASSOCIATION: THE SEAN BELL VERDICT EMBOLDENS LACK OF CONFIDENCE IN JUDGES

Posted on April 27, 2008
  www.BoyceWatkins.com   While I have  a slightly more mixed opinion on the Sean Bell Shooting, I received this interesting statement on behalf of the National Black Police Association.  I thought it was worth hearing, whether you agree with it or not...

Juanita Bynum: Do Blinged Out Pastors go to Heaven?

Posted on April 25, 2008
  People have asked me what I think about Juanita Bynum and her post, pre and intra-marital drama.  In case you haven?t heard, Juanita Bynum is a well-known black evangelist who was allegedly beaten by her husband Bishop Thomas Weeks.  The alleged incident took place in an Atlanta Hotel Parking lot, and received a great deal [...

Dog the Bounty Hunter and Neo-Nazi Relatives

Posted on April 14, 2008
I talked to Jesse Jackson yesterday with my homeboy Marc Lamont Hill. Talking to Jesse is always interesting, since I really don?t know what to say. I am not as conservative as Jesse, so I am never sure if we are in lockstep on many issues. In this particular case we were talking about black [...

In Touch with Our Frustrations

Posted on April 13, 2008
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "In Touch with Our Frustrations", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/?p=2023" });

Oprah Winfrey, Barack Obama and Bob Johnson: Making Financial Lemonade with Few Demographic Lemons

Posted on April 11, 2008
www.BoyceWatkins.com Oprah Winfrey?s support for Senator Barack Obama, while certainly admirable, has cost her some support among fans. According to a recent poll, Winfrey?s approval rating was 74% before the election, dropping to 61% after turning her support toward Obama...

The Gangsta Lifestyle on Trial

Posted on April 10, 2008
  Reuter?s reports that a New York mom and her 14-year-old son have sued, among others,  Rap artists 50 Cent and Tony Yayo, Violator Management and the Universal Music Group-owned Interscope, G-Unit and Shady Records for allegedly promoting a “gangsta lifestyle” that resulted in the young man being assaulted on a Manhattan sidewalk...

Judgmental Judges and The Art of Fear: Come On People, Let?s Stop Being So Damn Scared

Posted on April 06, 2008
?‘White America needs to understand that it is poisoned to its soul by racism’, and that ‘all too many White Americans are horrified not with the conditions of (Black) life but with the product of these conditions-the (Black person) himself’...

In Memoriam

Posted on April 04, 2008
Food for thought, as we mark the 40th anniversary of the King assassination.     *   *   *   *   *   (Caption:  Your tax dollars at work.  Declassified letter to Martin Luther King, Jr. from FBI’s Counter-Intelligence Program (COINTELPRO), 1964, urging him to commit suicide, sent just before he accepted the Nobel Peace Prize...

Vogue Seems to Think Black Men Make Good Monkeys

Posted on March 28, 2008
I was speaking to a friend at ABC News about the Lebron James situation.  She asked me if I thought there was a direct comparison to King Kong being made in the Vogue cover featuring James.  I stated that there was some probability that there might be a word play on the fact that Lebron is [...

Why the World Hates Kwame Kilpatrick

Posted on March 26, 2008
Kwame Kilpatrick is feeling more heat than Michael Jackson when he burned his Jerry Curl in that Pepsi commercial. Detroit Chickens are coming home to roost and the Mayor of this great city, the shining Kilpatrick star of yesterday is getting just a little bit dimmer every time we look...

Jeremiah Wright ? In Context

Posted on March 24, 2008
Barack Obama?s Speech on Race has proven a remarkable achievement in American political history.  It represents one of the few times that a presidential candidate has spoken candidly on matters of race, with intelligence and compassion.  And while I applaud the fact that Obama successfully initiated a public conversation on race, I remain disturbed by [...

Why I Won?t Be Watching March Madness

Posted on March 24, 2008
Last year, I engaged in a short campaign on CNN, CBS Sports, ESPN and the LA Times to highlight major problems with ?big time? college athletics.  It is not my goal to anger anyone, but rather, to share what I have seen in my 15 years teaching at universities with major athletics programs...

DEAR MOM

Posted on March 23, 2008
?The Undying Brotherhood of People of Color?   Robyn Gonzales Washington, IV asked Mom the other day how she would reply to a letter Professor Washington received from a student who had been admitted to her school.   The student identified herself as a person of color who was interested in pursuing a career of public-interest law and said [...

The Recession isn?t coming, it?s already here. How to make 2008 a Great Year Anyway

Posted on March 22, 2008
You may have heard from the ?financial experts? on TV that the recession is coming. For lack of a better phrase, many of us might be tempted to say ?no duh?. Hearing a rich person on TV tell you that hard times are on the way is like being knee deep in water and getting [...

BREAKING NEWS: OBAMA FIRST BLACK LEADER WHO IS NOT A ?VICTIM?

Posted on March 22, 2008
Senator Clair McCaskill of Missouri, an Obama supporter, recently made a statement defending Obama against Wright-Gate.  During the statement she said a number of things, including that Wright’s comments were taken out of context.  But she also left the audience with the following gem: “[Obama], for the first time, I think, as a black leader in America, has come to [...

All the Men Are Black, All the Women Are White, and Some of Us Vote: A Remix

Posted on March 20, 2008
I spent the better half of Tuesday afternoon, listening to and reading the transcript of Barack Obama?s speech on ?race.? Obama?s address was thoughtful, progressive, eloquent, brilliant, moving, and insightful. He did all the things I wanted him to do, acknowledged the founding ?sin? of American slavery, shifted the burden of racial reconciliation [...

The Speech

Posted on March 18, 2008
You need to a flashplayer enabled browser to view this YouTube video SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "The Speech", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/?p=2004" });

Bar Passage Tool

Posted on March 18, 2008
I ran across a new bar prep product that you may find helpful. It’s a software program that organizes your time. Here’s how it works — you create a personalized study schedule around the time that you’re most productive. It’s Outlook based, so if your calendar changes, you can update your study schedule...

Can We Handle It?

Posted on March 18, 2008
Barack Obama?s speech today set the bar high. Maybe too high for America.  He offered the most cogent, clear and honest discussion of race I?ve ever heard by a mainstream figure in public life.  He addressed race and faith in all its complexity.  And standing in the National Constitution Center [...

WELFARE KINGS? FEDS TO BAILOUT BANKING INDUSTRY

Posted on March 17, 2008
  Conservatives and liberals alike have maligned governmental subsidies to poor people.  One of the most pejorative terms to come out of those debates is the “Welfare Queen.”  She defies statistical data (most welfare beneficiaries are white), but she is the icon of waste and laziness...

The State of the Black Union - When Money and Activism May Not Mix

Posted on March 14, 2008
Artwork by Lance Scurvin, YourBlackWorld.com When reading Tavis Smiley-related blogger comments on YourBlackWorld, I actually started to feel sorry for Tavis. Not since Milly Vanilly have I seen a brother lose so many fans so fast. His attacks on Barack Obama were about as popular as Cheeseburger flavored Ice Cream, and the brother [...

DYSFUNCTIONAL DEMOCRATS? HOW THE PARTY COULD SNATCH DEFEAT FROM THE JAWS OF VICTORY

Posted on March 13, 2008
Florida and Michigan (But Especially Florida)  The Democrats have a reputation for being dysfunctional.  The party expertly snatches defeat from the jaws of victory.  There are two looming issues that the party faces, which could potentially cement its reputation for the next century or two...

Deploying the F-Bomb: The Illegitimate Farrakhan Question

Posted on March 12, 2008
It?s perhaps fitting that the media finally relegated Barack Obama to the confines of being just another ?black candidate? in the final days of Black History Month.  Obama?s fall ? or rather push ? from racial transcendance was broadcast on nationwide T...

Note to Barack Obama: Bringing Us Together May Tear Us Further Apart

Posted on March 11, 2008
Barack Obama?s emergence as a powerful Presidential candidate is truly worth celebrating. Beginning as a modest participant in the election, his creative political genius gave African-Americans the courage to support a black man. Hillary Clinton?s role as the ?political sugar substitute? came to an abrupt end once Obama came with the real cane...

The City that Care Forgot and the Case for Black Reparations

Posted on March 10, 2008
I just visited East New Orleans and the Lower Ninth Ward in New Orleans, Louisiana. We drove around these two towns — neighborhoods formerly predominated by African-Americans, respectively upper-middle class and working-class, and disproportionately ravaged by the (foreseeable) breech of the levees and the (perhaps deliberate?) neglect of the federal government...

Why Universities are Fundamentally Racist

Posted on March 08, 2008
I recently spoke at my undergraduate alma mater, The University of Kentucky. Coming back home was an amazing experience, as I could literally look at every corner, street, building and sidewalk on the campus and have a powerful memory of being in that particular spot...

Howard Dean: Tone Deaf?

Posted on March 07, 2008
The Governors of Florida and Michigan ? a Republican and Democrat ? have issued a joint-statement urging the Democratic National Convention to seat delegates from their respective states. This would reverse a decision the DNC made last year, which penalized the states for moving their primaries ahead of the prescribed schedule...

Gary Hart Says Clinton Broke the Rules ? But He Neglects to Mention His Own Past.

Posted on March 07, 2008
On Huffingtonpost.com, Gary Hart has a new post saying that Clinton has broken an unwritten rule in politics by giving ammunition to the Republicans to use against Obama.  Here is a snippet: “By saying that only she and John McCain are qualified to lead the country, particularly in times of crisis, Hillary Clinton has broken [...

Most Black Men Have a Little Barack and a Little Farrakhan - Whether We Admit It Or Not

Posted on March 06, 2008
Contributed by Brother Lance Scurvin, cartoonist at YourBlackWorld.com - There really isn’t much else to say.   SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Most Black Men Have a Little Barack and a Little Farrakhan - Whether We Admit It Or Not", url: "http://www...

The Swift Boat Cometh, Patriotism, Loyalty and the Anti Americanism Attack on Obama

Posted on March 06, 2008
  The Swift Boat Cometh, Patriotism, Loyalty and the Anti Americanism Attack on Obama This Presidential election will provide an important window into the vitality of an age-old American slander. Black people cannot be trusted to be [...

Why Farrakhan Has No Problem with Obama, and Why We Respect Him For It

Posted on March 04, 2008
by Dr. Boyce Watkins During the recent Democratic debate, I saw Barack Obama getting pushed into the “black corner”. This is the same corner that Hillary and Bill Clinton pushed him into during the campaign in South Carolina. The same corner that caused some Americans to (temporarily) limit him to being “just another black candidate”, instead [...

March?s Guest Bloggers

Posted on March 04, 2008
First, I’d like to offer a sincere thank you to Dr. Gregory Parks for his invaluable insights as February’s guest blogger. This month, we welcome two of the nation’s leading young intellectuals, Dr. Salamishah Tillet and Dr. Boyce Watkins, as our guest bloggers...

What is Africa to Me, or Should African-Americans Boycott the Beijing Olympics?

Posted on March 03, 2008
    In 1968, African American athletes Tommie Smith and John Carlos stood on the medal podium with heads bowed and fists raised in solidarity with the Black Power movement as a non-violent protest against American racism. Forty years later, African-Americans have another reason to protest the Olympics: China?s economic and political support of the Sudanese government...

O-BA-MA

Posted on February 29, 2008
“We Are the Ones We’ve Been Waiting For” SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "O-BA-MA", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/?p=1983" });

Same Agenda, Different Race (or Religion or Sexual Orientation)

Posted on February 26, 2008
A friend of mine sent me an interesting email about two weeks ago. It was about a young White woman, named Erica Schlemmer, who quit her White sorority to join Delta Sigma Theta Sorority, Inc.?s (a Black sorority) chapter at Vanderbilt University. ?Top Secret,? as Schlemmer was [...

Picture of the Week

Posted on February 23, 2008
George Bush in Liberia SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Picture of the Week", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/?p=1980" });

BANISHED

Posted on February 19, 2008
    Nooses have fallen so far outside the national conversation that it came as somewhat of a shock last Tuesday when President Bush finally condemned noose displays in a ceremony at the White House commemorating Black History Month. The noose, said the President ?is wrong ...

ASK MOM  Should I exclude whites

Posted on February 17, 2008
ASK MOM  Should I exclude whites from my review sessions?    Heather F. McKinstry, IV, who is white, teaches an extremely technical and demanding law school class that many third-year students take to prepare for jobs in large law firms or the federal government...

BLACK LOVE ENDING

Posted on February 14, 2008
I was up late last night reading for my class on Federal Courts and thinking about what to write for my class on Feminist Jurisprudence (and hopefully a law review article).  Valentines Day is upon us, and love is in the air.  However, in law school, among the well-educated sisters I know who are sure [...

Julian Bond?s Letter and The Delegate Problem

Posted on February 13, 2008
I first heard on MSNBC last night that NAACP Chairman Julian Bond had, in a letter to Democratic National Committee Chair Howard Dean, asked that the DNC seat the Florida and Michigan delegates at the Democratic National Convention.  Seating these delegates based on the primary ?elections? held in those states [...

Stop the Presses - Impeachment Cannot Be ?Off the Table?

Posted on February 09, 2008
I know that the public, the press and the pundits (myself included) are caught up in excitement over the presidential primaries.  I?ve got Obama fever and like many, I?ve been monitoring each candidate?s statements and announcements daily.  But our focus on the primaries has pulled our attention away from a matter than demands our most [...

Black(s) (?Greeks?) and Implicit Race Bias

Posted on February 06, 2008
One of the readers asked me to talk about the implicit racial attitudes of Blacks. I had intended to do that, and Professor Rachlinski and I do just that in our forthcoming article. But let me discuss it in another context?Black Greek-letter organizations (?BGLOs?)...

Yes We Can. But We Shouldn?t!

Posted on February 05, 2008
From the beginning of his presidential campaign, which unofficially began with the release of his second book The Audacity of Hope, Senator Barack Obama has been positioned as an underdog against the Clinton machine. Now, with polls showing him in a virtual dead heat with Sen...

Yes We Can

Posted on February 03, 2008
SHARETHIS.addEntry({ title: "Yes We Can", url: "http://www.blackprof.com/?p=1971" });

Politics and Personality Cafe ? Super Tuesday is Around the Corner, so Sound Off on the Presidential Campaign!

Posted on February 03, 2008
Dear BlackProf Community, There have been lots of Obama posts and comments on this webpage.  We’ve also talked about Hillary as well as leading Republican candidates for president.  As Super Tuesday approaches, BlackProf thought it appropriate  to create a space for you to sound off on your political views and opinions...

Implicit (Unconscious) Race Bias and the 2008 Presidential Election: Does Obama Stand a Chance?, Part II

Posted on February 01, 2008
Let me make a few points about how the research I discussed in my first blog entry relates to Obama and his run for the presidency: First, there seems to be a general pervasiveness to Whites? implicit anti-Black/pro-White bias. Though their general bias is most pronounced among conservatives, conservativism can and should be measured on a [...

Welcome, Gregory Parks

Posted on February 01, 2008
First, I’d like to extend a sincere thank you to Dr. R. L’Heureux Lewis for his brilliant contributions  in January.  We hope that he will continue to bless us with his insightful commentary in the future. This month, we welcome Dr. Gregory S...

Implicit (Unconscious) Race Bias and the 2008 Presidential Election: Does Obama Stand a Chance? - Part I

Posted on February 01, 2008
First, let me say that I?m humbled to be a guest blogger for the moth of February. I?ve thought a lot about what should be my first post. It would make sense to comment on the Obama-Clinton debate on 1/31/08, but I have a bunch of other thoughts running through my head about the election, [...

Obama v. Clinton? I?m Calling This Debate a Draw!

Posted on January 31, 2008
Ninety minutes of debate.  I?m calling this one, again, in favor of Obama.   Obama established himself as presidential, but so did Hillary.  Barack did a better job of distinguishing his position on a variety of issues from Hillary?s.  But Hillary did a better job of re-establishing herself as a credible candidate for president...

Bush is Still Bush

Posted on January 31, 2008
I tried calling my political junkie friends and family members to commiserate with me during President Bush?s Monday night State of the Union address, but no one was having it.  ?Why are you watching that?? was a typical response.  One family member said, ?I haven?t watched him give the State of the Union in 7 [...

I believe the children are (a reflection of) our future?

Posted on January 30, 2008
Okay, so the title is just an excuse to use a lyric from my all time favorite singer, but it does have relevance. I have been recently working on an article that discusses the way Black and White children understand race in America. My main argument is that children today are socially forced to maintain [...