FORUM
Stop the trivialization and preservation
of slavery and racism
Benjamin
Chavis
Guest
Columnist
As one of the co
founders of the evolving
environmental justice
movement worldwide, I am
always interested In how
some people today who
have amassed billionaire
financial status view
racism, slavery and the
issues of diversity and
inclusion. But first, let me
state for the record, I
believe in economic
empowerment and freedom
for all people.
Especially for people of
African descent who have
experienced centuries of
oppression and economic
injustice, we should always
be aware of the challenges
and responsibilities to
advance the cause of free
dom and human dignity.
Usually the standard
principles of preservation
and-conservation are used
by people who are commit
ted to caring for the protec
tion of natural resources.
Also conservationists and
preservationists are sup
posed to help people to
enjoy and appreciate the
magnificent bounty of all
of creation. Wow, these are
lofty terms.
So how is it that there is
a billionaire named Louis
Moore Bacon who prides
himself as a conservation
ist, yet finds himself now at
the center of expanding
allegations of racist actions
in the Bahamas as well as
in the United States? Why
would a very successful
businessman whose family
was involved in the found
ing and funding of the
Confederacy prior to, dur
ing, and after the Civil War
take unprecedented steps to
"preserve" and "conserve"
former slave plantations?
In fact, the National
Audubon Society, one of
the world's leading conser
vation organizations, is
now weighing an urgent
request to strip New York
hedge fund giant Louis
Bacon of an Audubon
Society award that he
received in 2013 for his
work in the Bahamas.
Bacon had attempted to
preserve a historic slave
plantation in the Bahamas
and the Audubon Society
originally thought that
Bacon was up to something
positive and good.
But in a recent letter to
Audubon CEO David
Yarnold, famed civil rights
and high-powered African
American lawyer. William
H. "Billy" Murphy Jr., has
challenged the Audubon
Society and demanded that
the unjustified award to
Bacon be rescinded.
Attorney Murphy repre
sents Vivian Whylly, a 53
year-old native Bahamian
of African descent whose
ancestors were brought to
the Bahamas in slave ships
and then worked and died
as slaves on the former
Whylly Plantation at
Clifton Point.
A relevant note is that
Murphy also successfully
represented the family of
Freddie Gray this year after
Gray died horrifically in
Baltimore city police cus
tody. According to Murphy,
Bacon misrepresented the
facts in getting the award
and he also made racist
comments in his accept
ance speech at the
Audubon ceremony.
Allegedly Bacon went so
far as to praise the slave
justifying novel "Gone
with the Wind" as his "holy
book."
"It was Mr. Whylly and
a handful of other local
activists who spearheaded
the 1999 movement to turn
the plantation into a her
itage park," Murphy wrote
in his letter. The truth is
that many Bahamians took
to the streets back in 2013
to protest the Audubon's
actions concerning Bacon
and his public proclivities
to trivial
ize the
legacy
and hor
ror of the
slavery of
African
people.
To my
personal
surprise
as a result
of some
independ
e n t
research
about
Louis
Moore
Bacon, I
also
found that
he is
spending
a lot of
money in the state of North
Carolina to "preserve" and
renovate the Orton Slave
Plantation in the southeast
ern region of the state.
Orton Plantation at one
time was one of the largest
and most brutal slave plan
tations in North America.
Bacon's motives are
not only questionable, but
as more and more research
is conducted by Harvard
University Professor Henry
Louis Gates and other
scholars about the quantita
tive impact of the transat
lantic slave trade on
Africans and African
Americans, we have to be
vigilant and concerned
about any scheme to desen
sitize, trivialize or to down
play the actual genocidal
realities of African slavery.
The Audubon Society
should immediately
rescind the award to Bacon
and should itself repent for
improperly vetting what
was actually happening in
the Bahamas. Yet there is
the larger looming issue:
racism, slavery, injustice
and inequality must be for
ever challenged. Each gen
eration must rise to the
occasion of advancing the
cause for freedom, justice,
equality and empower
ment.
No matter how much
money someone may have,
there is never a justification
for the trivialization and
preservation of slavery and
racism.
Dr. Benjamin F. Chavis,
Jr. is the President and
CEO of the National
Newspaper Publishers
Association (NNPA) and
can be reached at:
http://drbenjaminfchav
isjr.wix.com/drbfc.
Black students at white universities
harbor solidarity, seen and unseen
Mayeesa
Mitchell
Guest
Columnist
Over the
last few
weeks, stu
dents at col
leges and uni
v e r s i t i e s
across the
- country have
stood in soli
aanty witn Mizzou itne university 01
Missouri], a public university in Missouri
that made national news when members of
their football team threatened to forfeit the
next game if the university president was
not removed from his position.
Some of these schools were large pub
lic universities while others were small
private ones. Some, like UNCG [the
University of North Carolina at
Greensboro], Davidson College and
Wesleyan University are located in North
Carolina while the others are located on
both coasts and everywhere in between.
Some had 15 people come out in sup
port while others had crowds of 60 or
more. Despite their differences, all of the
rallies and demonstrations had one goal -
to make administrators understand that
their lack of vigilance when it comes to
issues that affect students of color is unac
ceptable and will not be tolerated.
As a student at High Point University
IHPU], where only 5 percent of the 4,200
students on campus identify themselves as
African-American, I truly understand what
they are fighting for.
In the age of colorblindness, HPU,
which is the perfect university in many
regards, often doesn't see the need to
address issues that affect students of color.
Issues like: increasing diversity of faculty
members so we also have the opportunity
to learn from professors who look like us
and creating a multicultural office so stu
dents of color feel that they have some
where to call their own on campus.
Although students on my campus have
not had a public demonstration of our sol
idarity with Mizzou, we have been fight
ing toward the same goal for many years.
The process is slow and required us to
learn and work within the corporate hierar
chies, while also pushing the invisible
boundaries.
To my knowledge, there haven't been
blatant racist acts like Halloween parties
where students wear black face, the denial
of students of color into sororities or racial
obscenities said to students on my campus,
but there have been many acts of micro
aggressions.
Throughout my four years at HPU,
there have certainly been improvements.
Nothing as drastic as the president step
ping down, but small victories like an
increase in the students of color on the
campus and an acknowledgement of the
need for a multicultural center.
While fighting to raise awareness
about diversity issues on campus, my
classmates and I have not left it solely to
the administration. By instituting events
like Diversity Week, administering forums
on race relations and going against our
school's conservative background by hav
ing "Orange Is The New Black" actress
and LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and
transgendered] activist Lea Delaria speak
on campus using financial assistance from
the SGA [Student Government
Association], we have made the beginning
strides in creating a university that encour
ages and celebrates diversity of thought,
I admire the solidarity that was demon
strated by the students at Mizzou. Their
demands were heard, met and most impor
tantly sparked necessary change across the
country.
My experience at HPU has taught me
that sometimes change is quiet, slow and
subtle. My solidarity isn't demonstrated in
boisterous rallies, but it is still there. It is
just as strong and just as powerful.
To the students of color at Mizzou, we
the students of color at High Point
University stand with you in solidarity.
Mayeesa Mitchell is an intern with The
Chronicle this semester. She is a senior at
High Point University majoring in
Journalism and Business Administration.
She has been involved in diversity efforts
at HPU since her freshman year. After
graduation, she plans to work as a print
journalist and continue advocating for
civil rights.
N.C. numbers show high food insecurity
Chris
Fitzsimon
Guest
Columnist
Chris Fitzsimon, founder
and executive director of N.C.
Policy Watch, writes the
weekly column called
"Monday numbers," which
provides numerical facts on a
topic each week.
Numbers on rood
insecurity
*14.7: average percentage of households in the United
States that experienced food insecurity each year from
2012-2014 (Hunger and poverty fact sheet. Feeding
America)
*16.7: average percentage of households in North
Carolina that experienced food insecurity each year from
2012-2014 (Hunger and poverty fact sheet, Feeding
America)
*9: rank of North Carolina among the 50 states in the
highest levels of food insecurity (Hunger in North
Carolina, The North Carolina Association of Feeding
America Food Banks)
*26.1: percentage of children in North Carolina under
18 who arc food insecure on a regular basis (Ibid)
*160^)00: number of people in North Carolina who
receive emergency food assistance in any given week
(Ibid)
81: percentage of NC households receiving fopd assis
tance that don't fcnow where their next meal is (coming
from (Ibid)
36: percentage of food pantries in North Carolina that
have turned people away because they have no food to
give them (Ibid)
73: percentage of North Carolina households served
by food banks that have had to choose between paying for
food and paying for health care or medicine. (Ibid)
75: percentage of North Carolina households served
by food banks that have had to choose between buying
food and heating their homes. (Ibid)
61: percentage of North Carolina families served by
food banks that have been forced to choose between pay
ing for food and paying for housing. (Ibid)
22: percentage of North Carolina families served by
food banks that have a member who has served in the mil
itary (Ibid)
6: percentage of North Carolina families served by
food banks that have a member currently serving in the
military (Ibid)'
105,000: number of low-income adults in North
Carolina who will lose food aid in 2016 thanks House Bill
318, the "Protect North Carolina Workers Act," signed by
Gov. Pat McCrory that will bar state officials from apply
ing for a federal waiver to allow people to continue to
receive federal food benefits. (Up to 105,000 childless
adults in North Carolina would lose food aid in 2016 if
legislators prohibit new waiver. Progressive Pulse,
September 25,2015)
83: number of counties in North Carolina where there
are more jobless workers than job openings
("Unbelievable: Last minute bill would limit food assis
tance, expand hunger in NC," Progressive Pulse,
September 24,2015)
Chris Fitzsimon, founder and executive director of
N.C. Policy Watch, writes the daily Fitzsimon File, deliv
ers a radio commentary broadcast on WRAL-FM and
hosts "News and Views." a weekly radio news magazine
that airs on multiple stations across North Carolina.
Reach him at chris?ncpolicvwatch.com or 919-861
2066.
1 ?