Pages
May 2014
The AC Phoenix
The Donald Sterling
Fiasco: The Real Story
By Carl Smalls
[continued from page 1 ]
sports teams owned by those on Forbes'
Richest 400 Americans who have an esti
mated average net worth of $3.1 bil
lion). Also, very interesting is that these
two sports are predominantly played by
young, urban African American males
who are seen by the owners primarily as
property.
One does not have to think long before
you can reflect back on how Dan Gilbert
(owner of the Cleveland Cavaliers, and
Founder of Quicken Loans with an esti
mated net worth of $3.9 billion) ridiculed
LeBron James for leaving the Cavaliers for
the Miami Fleat. It appears as though Gil
bert felt LeBron had escaped.
The NBA players' action of demanding
respect from the league after Sterling's
debarring comments is commendable.
Flowever, it is bigger than that; it speaks
more to structural racism in professional
sports, and society in general. It is not
about a private conversation between
two individuals, but about institutional
ized bigotry woven into the everyday lives
of African Americans.
Let's take it further and look into the front
offices of the NBA teams, the NFL teams,
and the Major League Baseball teams and
see how many blacks are functioning at
the executive levels in these organizations.
Similarly, how about the sports agents at
law firms, representatives of sports man
agement firms and finance firms hired by
your black athletes. Perhaps our efforts
can be betterspent focusing on the culture
that created and sustained Sterling versus
his bigotry.
In light of the NFL, the Major League Base
ball and the National Flockey League, the
NBA appears to have embraced diversity
more. Flowever, they still have much more
work to do when only 3.33% of owner
ship at the majority level is African Ameri
can. Furthermore, when you compare the
percentage of black players in the league
to the number of black executives in the
front office of your sport teams, law firms,
sports management firms and financial
firms it is dismal at best.
You only have to drive down 52 South
and then onto 85 South and stop in Salis
bury early next month and attend the
55th Annual National Sportscasters and
Sportswriters Annual Awards Banquet
and observe how many black faces are
not among the sportscasters and sports-
writers
It goes without saying that Sterling's ac
tions were crude and vulgar, but is he an
outlier or simply part of a cultural that
makes similar messages by cultivating an
environment that excludes African Amer
icans?
This reminds me of a biblical parable
that speaks to a woman who was caught
in the act of adultery, and is brought by
her accuser to Jesus to be judged and
stoned. He replied to her accuser by say
ing, "whoever among you is guiltless may
be the first to throw a stone at her." It is
interesting to observe those that are self-
condemned who judge others, and yet
do the same thing.
Let me suggest that the concerned par
ties not close the book because light has
been shown on the actions of a billionaire
bigot, but instead continue to the next
chapter of howto shine lighten the those
whose actions are perhaps more subtle,
but much more impactful and longstand
ing.
Let me suggest dialogue take place on
how the leagues can be more proac
tive about pursuing majority ownership
among African Africans, and hiring blacks
in the front office.
Let me also suggest that it not only stop
there, black players must be proactive
about demanding that the firms that rep
resent them hire African American at the
executive levels.
Until there is real dialogue and a mean
ingful commitment to address racism
from all parties, the environment of ex
clusion will continue.
Mr. Smalls is President, CEO and Found
ing Partner of Morgan Smalls Sports
Consultants. He frequently contributes
articles on the subject of the business of
collegiate and professional sports from
the perspective of African Americans.
Students Promote
Slave Dwelling
Restoration
By Brittany Everett
Brittany Everett
Slave cabins are becoming more and
more rare in the United States as time pro
gresses. Joseph McGill is working hard to
ensure that each cabin is preserved, and
that their stories are not forgotten. Mc
Gill is the founder of the Slave Dwelling
Project which works to develop resources
to preserve African-American slave dwell
ings across the United States. On Friday,
May 9, McGill along with local historians
from Rockingham County gathered at
McMichael High School to host a History
Fair that was a joint partnership between
the McMichael History Club, the Madison
Historic Districts and Properties Com
mission, and the Museum and Archives
of Rockingham County (MARC). Later
that evening, he along with three others
stayed the night in a slave cabin at McCol
lum Farm in Madison. To close the overall
program, McGill and others put on pro
gram at MARC the following morning.
Five stations were offered to more than
300 students who attended the fair. The
first station was monitored by the Madi
son Colored School Restoration group
featuring Lee Mills, Arthur Miller and Jeff
Bullins. Pictures, background information
and videos were distributed in the hopes
of bringing awareness to the current ren
ovation project of the now abandoned
historic school. The second station was
represented by the Museum and Archives
of Rockingham County (MARC). The di
rector Kim Proctor attended and brought
some early to mid-nineteenth century ar
tifacts and exhibits. Rockingham County
Historian Bob Carter was also at this sta
tion sharing information pre-civil war
times. Joseph McGill was present at the
3rd station with his Slave Dwelling proj
ect. During this station, he explained his
purpose and mission to students. The
4th station hosted Bob Rodenbough, au
thor of "Settle: A Family Journey Through
Slavery" and he talked about the Middle
Passage, his Sauratown Project and the
slave trade in Rockingham County. The
5th station and final station featured Kitty
Williams, Fletcher Dalton, and Beulah
Hayes discussing early 20th century Afri
can-American history in Madison, North
Carolina,
John Dillard was one of the people who
attended the History Fair. Dillard worked
at the Madison Colored school in his 20's
and soon became very important in the
school community. Due his service, Dil
lard Elementary school was named after
him. "I learned that most black homes
and communities that were once in our
town are now parking lots to grocery
stores and fast food restaurants," Dillard
was quoted as saying before his death.
The Madison Colored School also had 6
classrooms instead instead of some of
the smaller African-American Rosenwald
Schools that were prevalent throughout
the South during the time of segrega
tion.. Rockingham County had ten Rosen
wald Schools, but all have now been torn
down except for the one in Madison.
County Historian Bob Carter also pre
sented and exclaimed, "It's amazing that
buildings that occupied slaves and even
the white people are still standing." Cart
er also spoke a bout the history of the Mc-
Collum Farm at the program after school.
McGill has stayed in 54 different slave
dwellings in over 12 different states in
cluding Pennsylvania and Connecticut in
the North Carolina. Slave cabins are scat
tered randomly all throughout the United
States. Not only are they near plantations,
but they're also near big houses in the
city limits too. During the time period,
slaves lived in the cabins outside of their
^ A ^ ^ f ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ ^ «• c f* «•*“*•* 1^*1 ■
owners home. The jobs they occupied
included farming, cleaning and etc. The
slaves had a curfew while they were living
in the slave cabins. If they weren't home
by a certain time, then they could face
punishment.
"I woke up to the sounds of dogs barking
at 3 am, it made me think of slaves trying
to escape," McGill said referring to one of
his overnight stays in a slave cabin. McGill
along with the McCollum family, a de
scendant of Thomas Jefferson, and other
community members gathered at the
slave cabin after school to extend the his
torical experience. The event lasted until
10pm and McGill and other members
spent the night in the cabin then headed
to MARC museum the following day.
At the slave cabin McGill, historians and
family members gave tours of the main
house, the cabin, and the other out-build
ings on the property. Dinner was served
to everyone that attended. The menu in
cluded turtle stew, fat back, pinto beans,
field peas, collard greens, corn mush and
much more. After dinner everyone gath
ered around the cabin and the McCollum
family, descendants of the family, Jeffer
son's fourth great granddaughter as well
as Joseph McGill shared their experiences
around the cabin. After strong winds
arose, the gathering was moved inside
the cabin,
McGill shared his experiences from many
different stays he has had over the past
few years which started in 1999. Most of
the time, he was accompanied by various
other people, but sometimes he stayed in
the dwellings all alone. He has seen every
thing from dried up snakeskin, cats, and
alligators. His friend also encountered a
tarantula during his stay at a cabin.
Civics teacher Jon Williams alongside
MARC museum director Kim Proctor, and
Kitty Williams of the Madison Historic Dis
tricts and Properties Commission helped
sponsor and plan the entire program.
The History Club also had cupcake and
doughnut sales to raise money for the
event. It was a huge success that couldn't
have happened without the participa
tion of everyone involved. The McCollum
family were very supportive of the cause
and became closer by investigating the
history of the families that lived on the
property from years ago. Descendants of
the former enslaved McCollums and the
previous owners were in attendance. Mc
Gill ended his information session at the
cabin by encouraging everyone there to
look for more slave dwellings and saying
that he hoped to return back. The cabin
is privately owned and the owners cra-
ciously gave permission for the event to
occur. Joseph McGill closed the program
by saying, "Now that I have the attention
of the public by sleeping in extant slave
dwellings, it is time to wake up and deliv
er the message that the people who lived
in these structures were not a footnote in
American history."
Education is Our
^Passport to the Future