Newspapers / The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, … / Dec. 8, 2005, edition 1 / Page 5
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5A o OPINIONS^ fCte ClMiTloQe $o«t Thursday, December 8, 2005 What’s in a name? Plenty for African descendants It may have been just a subconscious slip or perhaps a deliberate eflfort to be politically correct. Either way, while covering the riots in France, CNN reporter Carol Lin mis spoke when she referred to two black teenagers theife as “African Americans.” A more correct reference would have been to call them black Frenchmen or maybe even French-Tbnisians, since they were French citizens of IVmisian origin. Lin may not have managed to get her euphemisms right, but she did spark discussions about the appar ently still debatable issue over how people of black African ancestry in America are nomi nally defined, Negroid. Negro. Colored. Black. Afix> American. All of these terms have been used to desaibe blacks in America. Angela Lindsay An acquaintance, who is black, suggested that I consis tently use either the term “Afiican American” or ‘black” throu^out my editorials. He stated that people still attach very specific definitions to each teim and maybe offended by their interchange. Interestingly, a Caucasian man expressed similar sentiments to me, pointing out that white people do not consistently refer to themselves as, for example, Irish- American. The difference with black people, however, may lie in the significance labels have played in oiu* collective his tory Many black people associate very distinct experiences with certain terms such as ‘Negro’ and ‘Colored’. Whereas these monikers were once used by both blacks and whites, hearii^ them these days would cause most black p^ple to cringe. These teims have fallen out of favor for various reasons, not the least of which being theii* association to the Jim Crow era and the close relation of the term ‘Negro’, in particular, to the derogatory term “nigger.” Some social commentators say that the creation of a new moniker functions like a defense mechanism, serves as a source of racial pride, and even acts as an objection of white American society Currently, the term Afiican American is the most widely used moniker to describe black Americans. Proponents of the term say it causes them to feel closer to Afiica and what it symbolizes for black heritage and history It also designates a place to which we can relate as a people. Some believed that it increased the status of black Americans because of its parallels with terms for other ethnic groups Uke “Asian Americans.” And for some, such importance is placed on it that they are even offended by the hyphenation of the phrase. Still, the term is not without its dissenters. Opponents of the term “Afiican American” often view it as pretentious and overly politically correct. They deem it inappropriate as many blacks have nev^ been to Afiica, have no relatives there, and are too far removed finni the country itself Some believe that the widespread acceptance of the term by many whites is due to a desire to see blacks like other ethnic groups who came to the United States by choice and to ignore the implications of slavery and the !Nfiddle Passage. And there are even those native Afiicans who have moved to the U.S. in 20th or 21st century and wish to use them term exclusively to separate th^nselves fix)m those black Americans who are descendants of slaves. Then, of course, there is the common argument regarding inequity of termi nology because “Afiican American” technically includes non blacks who were actually bom in Afiica. A popular example includes U.S. Sen. John Kerry’s wife Tferesa, a white who was bom in South Afiica. However, she would likely be greeted with raised eyebrows if she were to refer to herself as such. Along those same lines, critics of the term ‘black” are quick to point out that it is too general since p)eople of other eth nicities, like champion golfer "^^ay Sin^, could be consid ered ‘black” whereas Afiican American is more specific. They point out that it also ignores the key concept of being an American citizen. Those in favor of‘black” poijit out that the term is more universal, represents an entire Diaspora of who we are, and links us to something identifiable beyond just one continent. The touchy-feely topic of race relations causes a lot of tip)- toeing around certain subjects to the point that it leads to incidences such as Lin’s mistake. It is the inevitable result of our society’s constant struggle to find less ways to offend p)eo- ple.I can remember a time when the “race” section of a stan dardized test or application basically included white, black or other. Now the section reads like an ethnic dictionary of our ever diverse society Blackness clearly encompasses more than just the string ing together of a bunch of letters. As a fiiend suggested, we may be better served concentrating on more important titles such as fathers, mothers, and educators. And ev^ if more inventive terms do evolve to identify black poople, an indi vidual’s truest sense of identity should develop fiom the inside out. . ANGE}^ IJNDSAY is a Charlotte attorney. E-mail her at lindsay- law00@yahod-jcoM:- A fix for what ails pubHc schools “Those who do not treat you right cannot be expected to teach you right”—a profound insight by the late Honorable Ely ah Muhammad that is distinctly relevant to the recent rejection of the school bond package by Mecklenburg Coimty voters. For bonds, even if approved based upxDn demonstrated needs, would provide no panacea for mqjor problems of Afiican Americans, both within and beyond Charlotte Mecklenburg Schools. IVagically, the essence of our problems far tran scends and embraces proposals for new school con struction or lenovations, while involving more crit ical issues: (1) A Euro-centric airriculum-what is being taugjit or not being taught and by whom, especially about our ancient black heritage-cul ture,; (2) Grossly dispropxDrtionate white teachem, often with bias p)ersp)ectives of Blacks and witli lit tle or no knowledge of our rich Black history or underlying causes of present black socioeconomic conditions; (3) Faulty student “tracking” or mal- assignment to dead-end academic courses; (4) Gyasi Foluke Large gape in test scores with an overly narrow focus on “train- ing”-readii^, writing, ‘ritkmetic-in contrast to education as wholis- tic development that provides students with more positive self- concepts or identities, both spiritual and ethnic; (5) The failure to create new educational strategies, including Afiican-centered Supplemental Centers or magnet schools to address mqjor dam ages historically inflicted upx)n black parents and students; (6) Grossly disproportionate punishment, suspension, retention and drop>out rates; and (7) The potential misuse of Ritalin (dioigs) on students, etc., ad nauseam. In essence and generally our problems include the historic-con tinuing phenomenon of racial oppression-suppression, loceilly and nationally, involving stolen black wealth-resources, dispiroportion- ate poverty, and/or the relative paucity of more authentic “com munity” And while there is much good, many altruistic p)eople and porhaps some “progress” in ethnic relations in Chaiiotte- Mecklenburg, a plantation mentality pormeates far too much of this area, across ethnic lines. Therefore, we exist in an area char acterized by “dysfunctional civility,” where racial problems are ignored or covered up in lieu of confiontdng them honestly, based upon historic-present facts. And this reality is exacerbated by a multi-million dollar CMS “public relations” budget, too often a pseudonym for official propaganda. Moreover, Dr. Frances Haithcock, interim superintendent, openly has boasted that “we have a great school system.” However and conversely board mem ber Larry Gauvreau has perceived CMS, based upon recent national t^t score ratings, as “queen of the pigs,” with truth some where in between such extreme descriptions, both allegedly depict ing CMS performance and/or official behavior. Significantly, according to Dr. Phil McGraw (of television fame), “The best predictor of present or future behavior is past behavior.” Therefore, if school bonds were approved, we could expoct no sig nificant change in the status of blacks. For clearly, we have “observed” already nearly 400 years of “past behavior” by the col lective majority that controls America and, obviously “our” public school system, including: Nearly 250 years of chattel slavery where it was a crime to teach blacks to read and write; about 100 years of racially segregated, allegedly “separate but equal,” but grossly imequal “education” for blacks, as reflected in palpably substandard school buildings, “hand-me-down” textbooks, unequal pay for black and white teachers, etc., ‘lynching and otherformsof'mentacide’-genodde not included.” AndfinaJJy we have witnessed about 50 years of legally mandated school deseg regation that extended the racial inequality of the segregation era, having evolved today into a “new” system of racial “re-segrega tion.” IVagically with this long tigly record, there are some blacks who believe-falsely that majority controlled public schools will provide a genuine education for our students. Rhetorical questions: Would Jews p)ermit their children to be “educated” today by Nazi Germans whose ancestors allegedly killed 6 million of them. And since Europ)eans and Euro-Americans have killed a “guesstimat ed” 300 millions blacks, as docum^ited in “The Real-Holcoaust” (Foluke, 1995), then why are we-blacks permitting our historic- pJresent oppressors-suppressors to mis-educate (‘Ijrainwash”) or to destroy our young black minds, including “academic genocide,” as noted recently by Superior Court Judge Howard Manning. For “he who controls the mind, controls the behind,” a basic metaphysical truism that und^lies much of our despicable black condition today-one lhat has been described pejoratively as a “moral sewer,” apparently fix)m a psychopathic racist-idiotic perspective. (Dr. Bobby Wright, “The Psychopathic Racial Personality” 1985) Cleariy we should confixjnt, honestly, our major challenge of gross mis-education. For all students need an authentic education, while black students have a critical need for an Afiican-centered and a more authentic “multicultural” education to promote truth, while addressing “Lies My Ibacher Ibid Me” (Loewen, 1995) and related scholariy documented low self-esteem among blacks since desegregation began legally in 1954. Therefore, we - blacks - must become much more serious about creating indep)endent schools, study groups, after-school (“fi'eedom schools”) and weekend pjro- grams within our diurches and community organizations or agen cies, following the example of our “fiee” black ancestors during the antebellum era-a system later imitated successfully by Jewish Americans. GYASI A. FOLUKE, MA, DD, is an author, lecturer, consultant and part- time CEO of The Kushite Institute for Wholistic Development. The right blend of success for black business “The coffee witli a classic taste” is tlie slogan tliat always follows tlie Faileys name, and I can p)ei’sonal- ly attest to the tinitli of tliat statement . Do you know about tliis privately-owned black com pany in Seattle? Have you tasted its fine coffet^s? Artt you awaie of Farley’s coimnitment to and involve ment in economic empxtwennent and conuumiity development? Did you know tliat Farley’s demon strates its corpKM’ate cdtizensliip by giving back to schools, youth pi'ograms, and other woi*tliwhile caus es? Well, if you don’t know about Fai'le/s Coffee Inc., just sit back and read this; and eiyoy a refi'esliing insight on one of this coiuitrys most progressive businesses. Creative, iimovative. altruistic, con scientious, and conscious. All of those words describe the owneis and opiera- tors of Farley’s Coffee. Since first spieaking to company President, Ricky Fjdes, I have been impi’esstxl with his warnith, his sincerity and liis fc41ow through. Not only is he an astute businessman, he is genuiiu‘ly Ada iMSHl'R M.D. concerned about Farley’s social impact on otliei’s. In denionstratipn of that, Farley’s has implemented a brand new “give back” stoategy witli its new “Hip Hop Blend,” which was exclusively designed and is mar keted to help Historically Black Colleges and Universities and undeiprivilegwl students. F>des states, “We will direct a pwitioii of the pixx’eeds fixiin each sale of our Hip Hop Coffee Blend to [HBCUsP’ Chairman and CEO Ptaymond Wlfonl said, “WitJi increasing demands to help sustain education, it is impx)rtant to take the time to support, our comnnmi- ties within one’s capacity to give.” He went on to emphasize, “We are missing economic oppoiliuiities by not investing our doUais within oui* own (X)mmu- nities ... we have a heait and a I’esponsibility to oiii* commmiities.” Those two statements alone reeled me in like a fish on a hook, along with the gieat. taste of “the coffee* with the classic taste,” I immediatoly oixfered a cou ple of poimds and have been drinking Farley’s fiiu^ gommet coffee for several weeks now. There are many blends and varieties from which to choose, and you can lead all about Farley’s, and oixler your special selection, by going to farleyscoffeeinc.com, or call 1- 206-824-7004. Farley’s has a special partner too. Fanuliar to all who follow pm basketball, (imless you’re my age and knew him during his days at Pmvidence) NBA leg end, Lenny Wilkens, has joined Farley’s Coflfee Inc. “Something has to be done to impixjve the futurti of society and create positive opiX)rtunities for our youth. It begins one pierson at a time. We need to suppx)rt each other,” stated an exuberant Wilkens What a team! Farley’s, with an aimual minimmn blending, m.asting, and delivery capacity of 10 million jxjunds, with the infrastructui’e capacity to deliver 25 million pwunds, finds itself on the cusp of gi’eatness. We can all benefit fium its continued gi'owth. Hius, it’s up to us to support this and other companies owned by conscious bmtheis and" sisters if we aie serious about doing more for ourselves and building -and leaving — an economic foimdation for our chil dren. Ricky F>ies laments on why a black owned coffee; company does not get the level of support fmm black p)eople commensurate to our overall consumption of coffee. Of course, he is not asking that only black folks suppx>rt the company, F2irley’s Coffee Inc. is not a charity case; it sells its mffees to all consumeis However, as I have seen over the years and many of my readers know, our tendency is to opt for the prod ucts and services of others, despite how great our goods and services may be. Thus, while Farley's wants your business, it’s not simply because it’s black owned; Farley’s desires your business because it delivers an excellent product - and because it wants to do as much as it can to help our youth. Here’s the bottom line. We must redirect our mffet? dollars to Farley’s. Hiere are many ways to boost sales for this black company and allow it to do more* for our youth and for other worthy causes and insti tutions. Farie^s is a glowing example of doing good and doing well at the same time. Support Farley’s Coffee Inc, “The coffee with a classic taste,” one deli cious sip at a time. JAMES E. CUNGMAN. an adjunct professor at the University of Cincinnati’s African American Studies depart ment, is former editor of the Cincinnati Herald newspaper and founder of the Greater Cincinnati African Anwncan Chamber of Commerce. looMia/ by Aaron McCnuter
The Charlotte Post (Charlotte, N.C.)
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Dec. 8, 2005, edition 1
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