Calling for Health Care Reform

Might this be the future of the health care industry:

The Obama administration called on Anthem Blue Cross on Monday to justify its controversial new rate hikes of as much as 39% for individual policyholders, saying the increases were alarming at a time when subscribers are facing skyrocketing healthcare costs. (see full article here)

My folks could not afford to keep me on their insurance plan once I left for school, thus the inevitable happened while in college: I tore my knee up which required roughly around $100,000 in reconstructive surgery and rehab. I am still paying for this and I am upper middle class. Think about those folks that cannot afford to deal with insurance hikes that by far exceed the rate of inflation? I wish you well Mr. president.

What is the Problem of the 20th Century?

When we think about race in America, many of us think back to the classic statement presented by W.E.B. Du Bois: “The problem of the 20th century is the problem of the color line. Jim Crow was ugly; it marked a period that forced blacks to question the point and purpose of democracy. I received the piece below from a colleague who asked me to do this:

1. Read it.
2. Ask yourself what would you do and why?
3. Ask yourself what do you think he did?
   

“I’ve been thinking; you know, sometimes one thing happens to change your life, how you look at things, how you look at yourself. I remember one particular event. It was when? 1955 or ‘56…a long time ago. Anyway, I had been working at night. I wrote for the newspaper and, you know, we had deadlines. It was late after midnight on the night before Memorial Day. I had to catch the train back to Brooklyn; the West side IRT. This lady got on to the subway at 34th and Penn Station, a nice looking white lady in her early twenties. Somehow she managed to push herself in with a baby on her right arm and a big suitcase in her left hand. Two children, a boy and a girl about three and five years old trailed after her.

Anyway, at Nevins Street I saw her preparing to get off at the next station, Atlantic Avenue. That’s where I was getting off too. It was going to be a problem for her to get off; two small children, a baby in her arm, and a suitcase in her hand. And there I was also preparing to get off at Atlantic Avenue. I couldn’t help but imagine the steep, long concrete stairs going down to the Long Island Railroad and up to the street. Should I offer my help? Should I take care of the girl and the boy, take them by their hands until they reach the end of that steep long concrete stairs?

Courtesy is important to us Puerto Ricans. And here I was, hours past midnight, and the white lady with the baby in her arm, a suitcase and two white children badly needing someone to help her.

I remember thinking; I’m a *Negro and a Puerto Rican. Suppose I approach this white lady in this deserted subway station late at night? What would she say? What would be the first reaction of this white American woman? Would she say: ‘Yes, of course you may help me,’ or would she think I was trying to get too familiar or would she think worse? What do I do if she screamed when I went to offer my help?

Stop reading. Now, answer questions 2 and 3.  Then, read his reaction.

I hesitated. And then I pushed by her like I saw nothing as if I were insensitive to her needs. I was like a rude animal walking on two legs just moving on, half running along the long the subway platform, leaving the children and the suitcase and the woman with the baby in her arms. I ran up the steps of that long concrete stairs in twos and when I reached the street, the cold air slapped my warm face.

Perhaps the lady was not prejudiced after all. If you were not that prejudiced, I failed you, dear lady. If you were not that prejudiced I failed you; I failed you too, children. I failed myself. I buried my courtesy early on Memorial Day morning.

So, here is the promise I made to myself back then: if I am ever faced with an occasion like that again, I am going to offer my help regardless of how the offer is going to be received. Then I will have my courtesy with me again.”

Learning from Haverford on Faculty Diversity

Above: Terrence Johnson leads his class in a discussion. Johnson appreciates Haverford’s “Quaker values of hospitality and collegiality.”

Many minority faculty members and school administrators discuss the hiring of  minority candidates in two terms: comfort and fit; however, both terms can mean different things to schools and minority faculty members. Houston Christian has a fair number (though not an astronomical number)  of minority teachers…  which is great seeing that we are an upper school. I have found that minority  faculty members offer a different voice on matters of socioeconomic status, race, and perspective; still, the ideology of  my campus is conservative, with less than a one percent view that differs. However, it is important that all faculty members and students believe in the overarching mission of their institution.

People of color, be they African American, Native American, Asian, Middle Eastern or whatever ethnic group, have spent years discovering their roots, developing a keen pride in their heritage, and accepting who they are. So don’t expect the current crop of prospective faculty to fit into your conservative profile. Many of them will not, and, frankly, I don’t think they should even try! Is that shocking? Is that unacceptable to you and your clientele? Then, perhaps, diversity is really not for you. If a turban or a dashiki pants suit offends, then so will diversity! Diversity by definition implies that the status quo will be upset.

I like Haverford’s approach to this topic:

The Journal of Blacks in Higher Education recently reported that Haverford “leads the way” in its percentage of African American faculty members: Data from the U.S. Department of Education shows that the College’s 12 black professors make up 7.9 percent of full-time faculty. And according to the 2009 Factbook, there are 34 faculty members of color overall, a full 25 percent of the faculty head count.

“We look to identify and recruit truly outstanding and diverse scholar/educators every time we launch a faculty search,” says President Stephen G. Emerson ’74.  “Our fundamental respect for diverse backgrounds and perspectives projects during the search process, and so the individuals we most seek are delighted to join our faculty.”

Haverford participates in the Consortium for Faculty Diversity, which allows member colleges to bring underrepresented dissertation-level graduate students to campus for a year, familiarizing them with the school and its professors. And every faculty search committee includes an affirmative action officer who ensures that the College complies with the proper hiring procedures.

You can read the rest here.

Christian Scholars’ Conference

Wow! My summer is a busy one; so much so, that I am already blogging about it. I am involved in a number of academic venues this summer; however, I am most excited about the Christian Scholars’ Conference being held on the campus of Lipscomb University in Nashville, Tennessee.  Mark Elrod, professor of political science at Harding University, asked me to join a panel of academics in delivering conference papers focusing on social networking and its impact on Christian institutions. It is safe to say this is a very different venue for me, but the implications of this are profound. I took a number of Mark Elrod’s courses while an undergrad at Harding. He was one of my favorite  and most demanding teachers during my tenure. Also, professors Jim Miller and Stephanie Eddleman of Harding will be on the panel, along with professors Jeff Baker of Faulkner University and Michael Lasley of Pepperdine University. My relationship with Jeff Baker goes back to our first year on campus. Back then when I first arrived on campus as a freshman, I was really far to the left; Jeff on the other hand, was over in the right hand side of the spectrum; I am no longer as far to the left, and Jeff has moved closer to me over the years. Hey, becoming an academic will do that to you.

Because this panel’s focus will center around academics and Christian institutions, I am looking at HCHS in a more anthropological way. That is, the role of our faculty members as Christian teachers, academics, learners, and mentors. Furthermore, what are the perceptions and realities of such multi-roles, and the pros and cons that exist? Thus, the idea of dualism will be a center piece.  Since we as a Christian school face the challenge of academic work and faith, I am in the process of creating an online survey asking members here to share their thoughts on how the following mediums impact their faith and academic work: journals, organizational/professional memberships (AHA, APA, MLA etc…), blogs/blogging, Facebook, and Twitter.

Houston Christian is focusing on a long-term goal of going from good to great; I have decided to use this opportunity as a way to assess the academic nature of our campus and others when it comes to intellectual vitality. The conference headlines this:

Christian Scholars’ Conference 2010
Beauty in the Academy: Faith, Scholarship and the Arts
June 3-5, 2010
Lipscomb University, Nashville, Tennessee

NHS Induction, 2010

I delivered the keynote address at the 2010 National Honor Society induction ceremony at Houston Christian yesterday. I was honored to have been asked by the NHS officers. The event went very well as NHS inducted 24 new members.  Current officers Lexi Peterson, Katie Brand, Alex Bui, and Sarah Rommelmann did a fantastic job, as did their advisor and my department colleague, Casey Bourland.  It was the first time I have given an address to the entire  campus, that consisted of the faculty, students, and parents. The premise of my talk was to encourage students to be lovers of learning; I wanted them to seek knowledge, not memorize it for an exam; I asked students not to focus on being careerists, but life long lover of ideas and books. Furthermore, I wanted students to know they are lucky to be surrounded by some of the brightest and most talented teachers in Houston; I used a few faculty members and my department as an example of people that seek knowledge, not careers.

I used W.E.B. Du Bois reference of the talented tenth to showcase how society would follow a vanguard of intellectuals and progressives forward. Moreover, I linked the notion of the tenth to Ben Carson, who became gifted once he embraced knowledge. Thus, making him a member of the tenth. I also stated:

Many had given up on Ben, including himself, who at one point was at the bottom of his class. Being a poor black student from the inner city, he found inspiration from his mother, who motivated him to seek excellence. Thus, he would later go on to attend Yale then medical school at the University of Michigan. Ben Carson was one in ten. You NHS members are one in ten. It is your fate, mission, destiny to model to the rest of society what an elite education is. Being a member of NHS places you in the talented tenth.

On the Run with 5 weeks To Go

Wow! Not only has this been a very busy week, it has been a busy month. With five weeks left until the LR Marathon, I am “highly” focused on upping my miles and long runs. Though exhausted at the end of the day, I am determined to keep up my level of training.  As was the case this past weekend, I will do at least one run per week of 20 or more miles; I have done 33 this week alone… with four training days left. Above is the recently unveiled medal for Little Rock. And, I have signed up to run with the 3 hour and 15 minute pace race group.

WHA Conference Paper

World History Association of Texas

Divergence & Convergence:  People, Events, & Ideas that Have Shaped the World
World History Association of Texas 2010 Conference
Co-Sponsored by St. Edward’s University
Austin, Texas
February 27-28, 2010

I just learned that my paper was accepted by the World History Association of Texas. I am looking forward to presenting my work and gaining feedback on my course. I have linked both European and World history concepts into this 20 page piece.

The 2010 Conference of the World History Association of Texas will focus on historical and interdisciplinary approaches to understanding the people, events and ideas influential in globalization.  Conference organizers welcome proposals that connect world history teaching and research.  Possible topics could include, but are not limited to:

• The digital age, social networking sites, and the use of information and communication technologies in furthering or resisting political and economic structures
• Shifts in modes of production, consumption, and entertainment
• Prince Shotoku, B.R. Ambedkar, Hồ Chí Minh, Nelson Mandela, Ayatullah Ruhollah Khomeini, and Margaret Thatcher
• The global impact of religions, ideologies, ethical constructs, trade, commerce and economic theory and practice
• Global themes in the humanities and social sciences

Here is the abstract for my paper:

Title: Exploring the Concept and Impact of Oceans in Teaching World History and European History

The term ocean does not carry much extensive meaning for students taking the World History or European history survey course; better yet, if anything, the term has no political, social or economic value unless it is used in reference to mark political warfare or basic geography. However, one might contend that oceans, specifically the Atlantic, had a significant impact on the rise of the modern European state, and thus contributed to Atlantic revolutions. Because oceans have shaped the development of the World History course, I will explore the impact of waters such as the Indian Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Atlantic. My focus will address that of oceans on the early colonial stages of geo politics, and how formative states such as France, England, Spain, and the Low Countries struggled to maintain stability amidst colonial expansion and state building. Moreover, it is important that students understand the impact of the Atlantic as a shaper of modernity in both the North American colonies and European states. In order to do this, my paper explores the origins of World History by examining the periodization of 600 C.E. to 1750 C.E. The purpose is to illustrate the processes and global connections starting in the “core zone” of the Indian Ocean network and shifting throughout the period to the Atlantic world. Furthermore, the dichotomy of the Atlantic world via economic expansion and Enlightenment concepts have less value to the teaching of both world and European history without discussing the global relationship shared between the Atlantic Ocean, Mediterranean Sea, and the Indian Ocean. Thus, the Atlantic world saw the use of religious constructs as a form and method in justifying Atlantic slavery, racial categorization, and the subjugation of women due to its injection of economic processes linked to the Indian Ocean.

Teaching World History and the modern European history course presents  several challenges as it relates to linking political and economic history to that of social history. Often times teachers separate them as though they are monolithic themes with very little relationship to the other; students are left to make connections for themselves, which works against them in understanding global history. I make a number of attempts at building conceptual bridges that explain the relationship of one theme to the next. To no surprise, it is easy to focus on the political development of states as a reference to other unfolding topics.

The process in my course starts not so much in the Atlantic world, but in the Indian Ocean. Juxtaposing the role of oceans to a time frame is key and fundamental in the development of power politics and economic systems. For example, I like to start with Lynda Schaffer’s Southernization. The basic premise in her work is that the embryonic step of European modernity got its birth in the Indian Ocean world – often noted as the International Zone and center for global trade. She contends in her work that:

The term southernization is meant to be analogous to westernization.  Westernization refers to certain developments that first occurred in Western Europe.  Those developments changed Europe and eventually spread to other places and changed them as well.  In the same way, southernization changed Southern Asia and later spread to other areas, which then underwent a process of change.[1]

The process of southernization had its greatest impact first in the Mediterranean world circa 1450, then in the Atlantic world circa 1650. Showcasing the transition from the Indian Ocean to the Mediterranean then to the Atlantic illustrates change in focus but not in political authority. By mid-eighteenth century, the British interest in India increased as the Moguls slowly declined as a power actor in the subcontinent. Still, the birth of a Eurocentric concept of modernity would start with the five leading Atlantic states that expanded across the Atlantic market. The true development of a western culture starts with this sense of political and economic exploration. It was the expansion of European society, which consisted of a number of parallel and competitive enterprises by European states and trading companies in which the main enemy was not an overseas power but a European rival – hence the term geo politics.[2] The economic development of European colonies and trading points were designed to cater to the needs of the imperial power; yet while this economic process was under way via settlement by Spain, England, France, Dutch, and the Portuguese, a process of social and intellectual transformation was taking place vis-à-vis economic labor systems.

By the mid-eighteenth century, western European states were undergoing an intellectual transformation that would define its role as a leader in shaping the Atlantic as well as the world. Moreover, the dawning of the Enlightenment has traditionally been depicted as a benign period of rationalism that saw the triumph of tolerance over barbaric prejudices and superstitions.[3] Recent scholarship has depicted the Enlightenment as a period of economic progress, but at the expense of racial injustice. According to Colin Kidd’s The Forging of Races, the study of the Enlightenment has is a central topic amidst those from the left and right of the cultural wars. Moreover, this central theme often used by teachers to establish what Eric Hobsbawm called the Dual Revolution (political and economic) established the rise in a new form of racism – neo racism, which was linked to the Atlantic. Emmanuel Eze claims that:

The Enlightenment’s declaration of itself as the ‘Age of Reason’ was predicated upon precisely the assumption that reason could historically could only come to maturity in modern Europe, while the inhabitants of areas outside Europe, who were considered to be of non-European racial and cultural origins, were consistently described and theorized as rationally inferior savage.[4]

---

[1] Lynda Schaffer, “Southernization” Journal of World History 5, spring 1994, pp. 1-21.

[2] Hedley Bull & Adam Watson The Expansion of International Society 1988, Clarendon Press, pages 26 – 27.

[3] Colin Kidd, The Forging of Races, 2006, Cambridge Press, page 79.

[4] ibid, 80.

Native Son

It has been calling my name for a few weeks now; I have not read this work since high school, thus I am excited to re-read it in a more mature and evaluative way. I have grown in so many ways intellectually since high school; however, it was by my junior year that my intellectual cultivation had come to form. And, thanks to a number of folks that encouraged me to read complex works such as A Native Son by Richard Wright, my curiosity and mind continues to explode as I seek further knowledge on issues such as religion, race, and class. If you have read this work, I would love your thoughts.

Native Son is not an uplifting book with a happy Hollywood resolution. It has been criticized for its cardboard portrayal of black pathology and heavy-handed Marxist message. But the book is an absolutely gripping potboiler that is also intellectually provocative. It is on one level a seedy, simple story of an unsympathetic character meeting his fate at his own hands, and on another an illuminating drama of an individual consciousness that challenges traditional definitions of heroism, character, and integrity. Bigger Thomas was less a character caught in a specific criminal activity than he was a crime waiting to happen.

Academic Courses and Race

I gave a presentation on Advanced Placement (AP) courses to perspective families last Thursday on the campus of Houston Christian. In preparation for my talk, I put together a power point to showcase the many great things our faculty members have done with the 15 plus AP courses offered. Many students take AP courses in hopes of better preparing their application for college. According to the National Association of College Admissions Counselors, that might not be a bad idea. Here is how they weigh what is important:

Courses selected                                                   82%

SAT Scores                                                            46%

Class Rank                                                            42%

Overall Grades                                                      39%

Essay                                                                       14%

Work/School Activity                                          6%

Still, as I noted in a blog post before, minority students continue to face long odds when it comes to academic and college success.

Due to much of my academic work over the past 8 years of work with the College Board and the University of Arkansas at Little Rock’s AP Center, I have come to understand the complex nature of race, schools, and demanding courses. As a so-called expert in my area and one who is very active in areas dealing with race and curriculum, I have drawn a number of conclusions about the plight of under-prepared minority students. For one, many come from communities in which academic work has not always been valued. This is complex in that minority students, especially those coming from black families, are often still dealing with past institutional problems linked to Jim Crow. But a larger problem is working past the concept of instant gratification. For many Americans, especially blacks growing up in communities that look to those who used musical or athletic skills to get rich quick, academics can be the long road.

There is much debate among academics about whether AP courses are truly college-level, with studies regularly coming out that either question the program or praise it. But even AP skeptics acknowledge that the program is popular with students and parents, that admissions offices value it as an indicator of rigor in instruction, and that AP courses are frequently among the most challenging in high schools. As such, who takes AP matters — and educators have increasingly focused on data from the AP program to see whether the program’s emphasis in admissions is likely to hurt minority applicants and what the participation rates say about the preparation of a diverse pool of students for admission to top colleges.

Students of color (SOC) face challenges that many of their white counterparts will never experience. For one, black students disappear in the more advanced courses. In high school, students of color are thought to be ill prepared to enroll in courses such as AP English, AP European History, or AP Calculus. Teachers, many who draw false conclusions, often assume that students of color have other non-academic interest. I think this is true for many, but not just SOC. In ten years of teaching, I have had a total of ten SOC. I am not sure Advanced Placement courses help or hurt this matter. Although high school faculty members are teaching college (usually first or second year) courses, many tend to want students who will do well on the exam; in many ways I am the same way; but, I do take risks with students; I think it is important that many experience more than the typical high school level curriculum.

Race Still Matters by John Lewis

I posted an article a year or so ago about students of color and independent schools.  My friend and colleague, John Lewis, one of three African-American faculty members on campus, and who teaches in the Bible Department, offers a response to race and its significance; I encourage you to read the above link at some point on students of color and the Black Alcove. Below is John Lewis talking with colleagues before commencement. Lewis can be contacted at jlewis@houstonchristianhs.org if you have questions.

Race matters! It is idealistic to believe that we have grown so far where race, as defined by ethnicity, color, texture, cultural nuances, even musical genre doesn’t matter in America. Race matters in public places, private spaces and that includes public schools and private, Christian educational enclaves like Houston Christian High School. I somehow still long for; hope for; pray for a day of reckoning for those who violate the delicate hearts and spirits of people who yet endure racism, discrimination, and hatred in its many disguises. I shall wait perhaps as long as forever. I am not a pessimist to be sure- but my optimism with regard to the heart of man, (non-gender), is tempered with realism: people in America, especially those who profess Christ as Lord create more damage than any overt act of racism heralded by the likes of a Klu Klux Klansman when they employ conceited, willful, collusion to carry out their systematic practices to deny people of color equal access under the law.

The nation in which we live continues to ignore the meaningful data that suggests very clearly how little our advances have been in almost every area of the American way of life. Race Matters! The fact that it must still be discussed is a signal that [it] does. We cannot seem to grasp that  something fundamentally flawed in our spiritual psyche when one man of color, the late Thurgood Marshall was replaced with another man of color, Clarence Thomas-matters not their political distinctions or judicial loyalties. There remains just one person of African-American descent on the highest court in our land. Race Matters when Antonin Scalia remains the only Italian-American on the court. It matters when there is the newly appointed, sole Hispanic-origin Justice now serving on the same high court. Spare me the court’s make-up represents a microcosm of our society” defense. It states in its own way that there aren’t but a few qualified black justices. Worse, we can only tolerate one at a time. These examples represent only a microcosm of the embedded practices of racism and discrimination still prevalent throughout our country.

We, at Houston Christian High School, still must face in new creative designs; the harboring nature of sin at its worse- when those who employ the name of Christ at the same time misuse one of His own choosing…and for what cause? It should be possible to discover somewhere in an ocean of 3.5 million people qualified, financially robust, politically connected, corporate gurus, reasonably well-connected in society with high school aged children that happen to be of color to join the family.  I know that our admissions office do a great job in presenting the virtues of this school and its people.  But our numbers are anemic in diversity- that’s just keeping it real. When you can count the number of students of color at any school with low-level arithmetic, you haven’t overcome the hurdle of racial matters.

Most preschoolers can count to 12. When you can count faculty of color with the speed of sound rhythm, then you haven’t overcome. It’s simple really. Race matters today as it did yesteryear. It will matter tomorrow. I suppose it is healthy in some sense to speak of it within the context of hopeful expectation. It is encouraging for me personally to hear some of our young students chime in on this issue. They still represent for me the innocent voice in our colored past.

LR Marathon

I am pretty pumped; my training schedule runs Saturday through Friday of each week. My miles had been down a bit but they have clearly increased. Of late, I have done long runs of 17 and 20 miles; one of those was with the father of one of my students; he is preparing to run Houston’s 26.2 mile race. As of today, I have logged 60 miles. After tomorrow, that number will be up to 75. I have decided to push my miles up as I attempt to make up ground in preparation to run what I hope will be a 3 hour and 15 minute time (7 min and 24 secs per mile pace). This will qualify me for Boston. I am excited. I just hit the register button for this (Little Rock Marathon) race as I celebrate the new year; I will race a half marathon in Austin come February and another full marathon in April (Oklahoma City Memorial Marathon).  I am starting to feel cocky.

Oh, I am running with a pace team. This is a group of runners that are guided by a runner who will help us manage our pace in order to reach our time; I will have to submit a qualifying certificate from a previous marathon in order to start in the upper-tier corral. They break it down this way:

You must qualify to be placed in Corral A and Corral B.

Corral Times:
Corral	Time	Pace
A	3:20:59	7:39:93
B	3:45:59	8:37:14
C	4:00:59	9:11:47
D	4:30:59	10:20:12
Open Corral	NA

If you do not give an estimated finish time, you will automatically be assigned to the Open corral. Don’t panic, all races are timed with a timing system (the thing on your shoe) so you will know your net time regardless of your start corral. The Open Corral is also secure area for participants only and for those athletes that do not qualify for a faster corral. Finish times in the Open Corral range from 4:31 – 6:00 hours.

Assignment to these corrals is not automatic and is not guaranteed. If you are accepted into these corrals, you will be notified by race officials. Please provide an email for quicker notification. Please allow five business days for Start Corral assignments to be processed.

To be placed in Corral A or Corral B you must do the following:

• Submit qualifying times in the form of an official finisher’s certificate or race result page from an official marathon within the past two years.
• Email messages or Web site links are not accepted as proof of qualifying.
• Proof of qualifying times must be faxed to 501-371-6832 attention Little Rock Marathon Start Corrals.
• Qualifying times will be accepted no later than Monday, February 1, 2010.
• After February 1, 2010 you will be placed in Corral C or Corral D.

Note: Finishers of the 2009 or 2008 Little Rock Marathon who achieved a qualifying time do not need to submit proof of performance.

Religious History and Teaching

I love and enjoy teaching social and cultural history to that of political history; I am sure this comes as a bit of a surprise in that many of my blog posts address political matters; however, I like to relate the political to venues and constructs related to elements of gender and race. And to an extent, it is difficult to ignore the impact of religious history. Much like my love of art, I avoid the technical elements that relate to paint and style; instead, I prefer to relate art to the historical periodization that promulgated it. This is true of religion, too. I, as is the case for many historians, prefer to address the impact of religion on culture. This affects the political as well. My interest in religious history greatly relates to my interest in African-American studies. As an active member of the American Historical Association, I receive one of their journals entitled Perspectives. In a recent issue, author Robert Townsend addresses the increase in religious history. According to Townsend:

A significant number of the respondents also described the renewed attention to religion as an extension of the methods and interests of social and cultural history—noting a growing interest that extended back to E.P. Thompson. A number of the specialists noted that social historians had highlighted the interests of common people and cultural historians had supplied the tools for studying the influence of religion, but until recently, much of the work treated religion as aberrant. There was a perception that this left a significant opening for new research that treated religion on its own terms.

I am not a biblical scholar, nor do I pretend to be one; much of what I do focuses on religion in the context of both historical analysis and philosophical theory. This past Sunday while attending a religious service, the speaker focused on the topic of reaching heaven not by faith or by believing in Jesus Christ, but by the actions of faith, such as baptism. In doing so, the speaker went on to list a number of verses regarding the actions of Christians in a secular society. I have long wondered why churches focus much of their time dropping and quoting scripture? Do not get me wrong, there is a place for this; however,  Christians seem to interpret scripture in vastly different ways. Hence the vast number of different denominations. To me, this is a simple process. I think it is more important to look at what Christians and other people of different beliefs do and have done to address societal vice and ills as an active interest of WORKS. I did not completely agree with the speaker. His talk is a denominational matter — one in which he contends is the WAY. Of course, if he is correct, then there are a number of practicing Christians that are wasting their time because their way is not the right way. Thus it is here that religious history plays a major part. Academics must teach the importance of religious pluralism in a diverse world. Religious instruction at religious schools must avoid guiding curriculum in a narrow and directive way. Religious schools are not churches nor should they take on that role; in doing so, it opens Pandora’s box: Thus, in what way and to what extent are students permitted to think freely about faith and the impact of religion? Historians have a duty to be objective as well.

My friend and colleague Stephen Hebert has been discussing the direction of our Bible Department on his blog; he wrote a post  regarding what he deems to be the best direction for a department teaching religion; I should make it clear that the emphasis is more on the Bible and less on religious studies. However, according to members in the Bible department, after they visited a number of other independent schools, the consensus from those schools was this: a school is not a church but a place to study religion and how it impacts the lives of people and societies; I agree with this. It is a dangerous game to play when “folks” want to assign a church label to an institution of learning. In doing so, such an assignment limits the processes of free inquiry and intellectual thought. Case in point: the speaker this past Sunday on his message regarding how one gets to heaven. This was presented from one view-point… his denominational position instead of a more universal process. I say this only because there are Protestants that believe one can get to heaven without baptism. The speaker did not see it this way. This is a matter that divides Christians in how they worship.

An issue of the Chronicle of Higher Education ran a piece by Stephen Prothero on the religious ignorance of Americans; he did a nice job addressing how some liberal Americans are quick to anger when the Christian right states that homosexuality is wrong, but do not know why they hold such views. Moreover, those who are a part of the Christian right are quick to claim all Muslims are evil, but have not read the Qu’ran . I have stated this before: All students should be required to take at least a year of required religious studies. This should be the case for both high school and college students. I am not asking for a doctrinal course on how to be Anglican, Baptist, Muslim, Methodist, or Catholic; I am talking about a religious studies course. Even if a person has no faith in a “holy spirit,” part of being educated is being aware of various cultures, beliefs, and norms. Stephen Hawking is a physicist who has devoted much of his time to discovering and understanding black holes. His premise states that if black holes exist, God does not; yet, his religious IQ is not bad. How can he argue against God if he does not know what God has to say. Here is Prothero’s article on religious ignorance. You can read it here; it is pretty good.

Black Religion

The image below–”Christmas in Georgia, 1916,” by Lorenzo Harris, and taken from the December 1916 issue of The Crisis (pp. 78-79). The caption reads: “Inasmuch as ye did unto the least of these, My brethren, ye did it unto Me.”

In chapter 4 of Edward Blum’s W.E.B. Du Bois, American Prophet, Blum discusses the Gospel according to Mary Brown and her child Joshua, who represents one of Du Bois’s black biblical characters, who found comfort among those who were societal outcasts. He, who was [the black] Jesus Christ, marched with the poor, with sinners, and communists; however, this Christ was not embraced by whites. Better yet, this Christ was lynched by the white South because they could not accept a Christ that accepted all people, especially the American Negro. Because of this, Joshua was killed by the very people who awaited him – the Christian South. The image portrays Christ arriving to save His people…but not the Jews…enslaved and persecuted black folks. Blacks during the days of Harriet Tubman (circa 1830) used folk tales via singing to describe Christ’s coming to save them from the Egyptian’s bondage; it would be Tubman — also called black Moses  — that emerged in the days of the Exodus to guide the enslaved folks across the Red Sea into Canada. Such religious tales illustrated a “sense” of religiosity that still exists among black folk, but no long carry the same fervor. My parents, who grew up in the south, do not call themselves Christian. This is unusual due to their race, geographical upbringing, and level of educational attainment. Black academics tend to gravitate more towards being either agnostic or atheist.

In reading Cornel West’s memoir, reviewing the writings of James Cone, and analyzing primary documents by W.E.B Du Bois , I am looking to draw various conclusions about the religious plight of black people in an inherent Christian but plural country. Working on this book with Phil has created a number of questions regarding black folks, politics, religion, and faith in a democratic society. The one question that is often presented to me is this: Can one be black and non religious? This is an interesting question seeing that it’s an anomaly to meet a black atheist. Edward Blum speaks to the religiosity of Du Bois as a spiritual intellectual; West talks about the soulful needs of faith and the church as a process of survival in a world dominated by white supremacy. But in an age of reason, one that places too much attention on academics for profit such as Christopher Hitchens and Richard Dawkins, the norm of thinking is that intellectuals lack a faith in God — particularly white academics; however, the thought of blacks being atheist is unheard of in the 20th/21st century. This can be explained through the roots of slavery and Jim Crow; black folks congregated in the black church as they do today as a form of spiritual “togetherness”, but also as a show of political solidarity. The church stands at the center of the political, educational, and social lives of black Americans. What is different about black theology? According to James Cone, “it is due exclusively to the failure of white religionists to relate the gospel of Jesus to the pain of being black in a white racist society.” For nearly three hundred years, the enslaved houseworker had been listening to their owners’ prayers and Bible readings….they were able to interpret their own inexplicable situation and give themselves reasons to stay alive. This notion has transformed itself from the plantation to the political arena as seen by such actors as Jesse Jackson, Al Sharpton, and Reverend Jeremiah Wright.

While today most African-Americans seem to belong to the general segment known as the Southern Baptists, the first African Baptist church began this trend, in Richmond VA, in 1838 when the pastor and members of the First Baptist Church of that city debated its growing difficulty: What to do with the growing black population in the church. Perhaps one of the reasons so many African-Americans today consider themselves as Southern Baptists is because it is a far more orthodox and conservative branch of Christianity. It  is at this point one might see a division between those of religious academic type and those of pure spiritual devotion. The religious academic types see the church as a vehicle to bring about social justice in eradicating poverty, racism, and social ills that permeate society. This type of black folk tend to be far more progressive than those rooted in the deep southern tradition of spiritualism.

Matt Damon & Howard Zinn: Doing History

I am a big Howard Zinn man; I like to use his readings in my course to offer a balance of historical interpretation. Here is a an interview with actor Matt Damon, who has transformed Zinn’s A People’s History of the United States into a documentary.

Last Day

I am just about done marking all of my finals; I wonder which desk below BEST represents approximate completion? All 100 plus of my students wrote an extensive essay as part of their final grade; I should use better judgment but in some cases it is difficult to measure knowledge through multiple choice questions only. With one section left today, I hope to be working on a writing assignment by noon.

Harkness Teaching by Dr. Tyler Tingley

A square-table concoction of the Harkness in my class.

Students at school X utilizing the Harkness via what is referred to as the Harkness table.

The post below was written by Tyler Tingley of Phillips Exeter Academy; it addresses both the culture and intellectual vibrant nature that defines one of the oldest American institutions.  After graduate school, I quickly adopted this method of classroom instruction; I have been in too many classes in which the instructor stood in front of the class pontificating with little regard to the thoughts and interpretations of students; I find this method to be highly democratic in that it promotes free inquiry. Furthermore, assuming that students are prepared to engage in such discussions, the learning process allows for different voices. This is reflective in my own personal teaching philosophy:

Through the teaching of history, it is my objective to first deconstruct a false knowledge of history by teaching students to build a new synthesis that challenges their prior knowledge. It is at this point in which a teacher and a student work collectively to reconstruct a new historical synthesis. Reconstructionism contends that society is in need of constant reconstruction and change, and such social change involves both a rebuilding of knowledge and how society uses that knowledge to transform the teaching and learning of materialism. Mortimer Adler, who reflects some of the qualities of the realist school of thought, proposed a Paideia method of instruction, which emphasizes a discussion/seminar style of teaching and learning. As opposed to lecture, I find the discussion/seminar method of instruction to be more liberal, hence invoking greater academic freedom of thought. Furthermore, it is here that students focus more on logic, process, synthesis, and analysis over rote memory and conclusion.

Whether it’s English or mathematics, at Phillips Exeter Academy we call all of our classes Harkness classes and our teachers Harkness teachers. Harkness identifies a table you will find at the center of every class, both literally and figuratively. Harkness Tables are oval and seat a dozen students and a teacher, but they are much more than places to sit. Classmates learn by discussing their thoughts and ideas rather than just by taking notes. Teachers participate in discussions and guide students without lecturing.

Harkness Tables originated at Exeter in 1931 when philanthropist Edward Harkness challenged the Exeter faculty to create an innovative way of teaching. The purpose of the Harkness Table was to make class more involving. The 1930s faculty also understood that Harkness Tables would make being smart more fun. They knew that discussing even your least favorite subject around the Harkness Table would make that subject more interesting. But did they know that the Harkness Table would teach students to collaborate rather than compete with each other inside and outside class? And did they know that it would make the whole community respect one another’s ideas and become a safer place to learn and live?

Even though Harkness Tables are in every class, we refer to them as the Harkness Table. That’s because the unique experience of learning at the Harkness Table transcends any individual class.

When I first came to Exeter, I had a conversation with several new students. I asked them why they had come. One senior said, “I wanted to go to a school where everyone was smart and where I could have good conversations.” As principal, that resonated with me. Around the Harkness Table we learn to have intense conversations. When somebody says, “Well, what do you think?” we all have something to say.

A lot of students choose to come here because it’s safe to be smart. When you’re sitting at the Harkness Table, there is a notion of democracy that is characterized by the quality of thoughts, efforts, and enthusiasm. The respect students and teachers feel for one another grows out of being together at the Harkness Table and extends to every aspect of their lives.

Teachers are participants in Harkness discussions and respect the pupil’s perspective. Sometimes parents think this means the teacher isn’t teaching. In fact, the teacher is demonstrating to students how to learn rather than just what to learn. Harkness teachers excel at asking questions that excite inquiry. The more students want to know, the more they learn.

The Harkness Table fosters a sense of collaboration and encouragement that continues when class is over. Students tell me they learn just as much from each other after class as they do in class. “It’s incredible how much you can learn when you’re together instead of apart,” a student said to me. Imagine school like that.

More Questions

I really like the following essays. I handout a number of questions before each exam, but students do not know which one they will get. I must say I love these two:

European History

Machiavelli suggested that a ruler should behave both “like a lion” and “like a fox.” Analyze the policies of TWO of the following European rulers, indicating the degree to which they successfully followed Machiavelli’s suggestion.

Elizabeth I of England
Henry IV of France
Catherine the Great of Russia
Frederick II of Prussia

United States History

Discuss the changing ideals of American womanhood between the American Revolution (1770s) and the outbreak of the Civil War. What factors fostered the emergence of “republican motherhood” and the “cult of domesticity.”? Assess the extent to which theses ideals influenced the lives of women during the period. In your response consider race and class.

Brother West and Bonds by Jose Vilson

Brother West is easily my favorite post-modern thinker. I cannot put his books or articles away. West was in Houston the same weekend I was at Princeton. My colleague John Lewis, a member of the Bible Department, ran into West and spoke with him for a while. Lewis and West have made plans to catch up in the future. While leaving my hotel’s lobby a year ago at Princeton, I ran into Cornel West. My limo driver told me that he saw West enter the hotel right after Tavis Smiley. I only spoke to West for about 10 – 15 minutes, but he told me that he just got back from Houston where he was campaigning for Barrack Obama. I did mention Edward Blum’s visit to Houston for the W.E.B. Du Bois lecture and workshop. He did ask me to fire him an e-mail reminding him of our visit and the Du Bois’s lecture; I suspect I should copy a few people when he responds; I would not believe me if I told myself that I ran into my favorite public intellectual.

Jose Vilson is a blogger, play writer, and academic; he teaches in New York city and is a cool soul brother.

Cornel West

I had the pleasure of sitting in the front left aisle in the Barnes & Noble Bookstore in Union Square for a conversation between Julian Bond, chairman of the NAACP, and Dr. Cornel West, activist, thinker, professor, and leader. As I looked at this rather diverse crowd, young professionals, burgeoning and veteran journalists, liberals and scholars alike, I had no choice but to think about the troubled but auspicious history of underrepresented people in this country. While we still have a long way to go with regards to civil rights, I’m still in awe that people had clamored in the hundreds to hear a Black intellectual (or two) speak his or her mind.

Cornel West doesn’t settle for anything less than being himself, and his track record proves that he doesn’t just stand at the pinnacle of Black intellectuality, but also the forefront of world intellectuals. Revered by those of us who consider ourselves thinkers, he surely makes a fortune just from speaking his mind alone, and never does it to the point where we feel he’s embarrassing us, no matter whether we disagree with his opinions (it seems we rarely do). Julian Bond, on the other side, doesn’t advertise himself as much, but helped found the Student Nonviolent Coordinating Committee, among a myriad of accomplishments. Soft-spoken but firm, Bond has a more authoritative tone when he speaks, but there’s still an undeniable passion there. They both represent two sides of the Black intellectual spectrum: the infamous and energetic versus the measured and methodical.

With that said, here are some finer points I’d like to highlight about the speech. (I skipped some of the less interesting parts. As hard as that is to imagine, I’m skipping some stuff too, as I might use this later for my own writing this week.)

- When asked about where how their prior experiences have shaped them, Julian Bond started by recalling that his father was a college educator and his mother was a school teacher, so he already had a firm ground in education. Conversations of race were prevalent and part of the dinner table, so he and his siblings were very race-conscious. Whenever they got the chance, they were encouraged to not only have a job, but also find time for social engagement, and by that, I presume he meant activism on some level.

Cornel West said something to the effect of being his mother’s child and his dad’s kid, how grateful he was for them, and if he even tried to measure how much love they had for him, he “couldn’t make it to the crack house if he wanted to.” With that in mind, he talked about some of the people who he currently associates with and those who came before. He doesn’t believe in a self-made man because every person, especially those of underrepresented populations, can’t be self-made men. It’s about those that came before that, and before that.

Julian Bond, Chairman of the NAACP

- When asked about the past, present, and future sustainability about the NAACP, Julian Bond strongly advocated for its future, even plugging NAACP.org in the process, and found those who’ve said that the NAACP is not in touch with what happens in today’s world are themselves out of touch. For one, they’re the only civil rights organization that holds 7 seats for members for and voted by members under the age of 25. Also, as many activists say, he said, “Just because you don’t see us doing anything doesn’t mean we’re not doing anything.”

Cornel West was also quick to point out that, indeed, the NAACP was an organization that started as a Black response to American terrorism. Instead of becoming an al-Qaeda-type of organization, NAACP chose democracy and inclusion of all perspectives towards one goal. Even in the midst of American slavery, when America chose to “niggerfy” Black people, people like Frederick Douglass wanted freedom not just for Blacks, but for everyone (instead of a system where they enslave Whites.) I believe he said right after the NAACP didn’t say, in response to America’s trying to niggerfy us, they didn’t say, “We’re going to cracker-fy you!” He’s got a million of those.

- On the subject of President Obama, Julian Bond said, “You know, people always say to me, ‘We already have a Black president. Aren’t you done?” That alone got the crowd riled up. Bond felt that not only is the work not done, we have to think about what’s next. “We’re not the National Association for the Advancement of 1 Black Person, we’re for all.” Poignant. As he said before, “NAACP chose democracy.” He felt proud for Barack and he’s done a lot of things right, but he questioned his decision-making a few times over the course of his few months in office. Would he choose to support the poor and helpless or would he choose Clinton-administration neoliberals who give all their monies to the rich? Right. (I also found this interesting with Tavis Smiley in the audience.) Just because he’s Black doesn’t mean he’s right, even though he’s done a lot of right things. Blackness is not rightness. Blackness is beautiful, but it doesn’t always mean it’s right.

Then, Julian Bond responded with a quip by current NAACP CEO Ben Jealous by saying, “If Barack wants to be Abraham Lincoln, then we’re going to be Frederick Douglass.” And of course, the work of NAACP is not done because, while we have a brother that can fly Air Force 1, his daughters can’t even swim in a pool in Philadelphia he said.

- On their respective futures, Julian Bond said, “I’m going to say this the way Jay Leno said in his farewell speech. When I started, my hair was black and my president was White. Now my hair’s white, and my president is Black. I hold the NAACP responsible for both.” Cornel West chimed in, about the future of the NAACP, “It’s about what do we do now?”, a theme across the whole conversation.

A fantastic afternoon. Yes, I got to see him, shake his hand, autograph my book, and get a few numbers (just kidding about the last one). I also got a chance to shake Julian Bond’s hand too. I think I’ll go be an intelligent Black man my damn self …

Running in Princeton

I missed the snow in Houston yesterday, but the winter gods all but made up for that today here in Princeton by dumping a nice chunk of snow; I have never done a serious run in winter snow; it was great for a number of reasons:

1. Running on an illuminated dark road; yes, I say illuminated thanks to the snow.
2. I did not realize I was hot until I was done running. We only have one season in H town.
3. If its going to be cold, there should be some snow on the ground.
4. Running in and  around Princeton makes you feel smarter.
5. Having to remove my glasses due to snow fall was great.

Again, before coming to Houston I was a prolific runner. It was not unusual for me to log weekly miles of 70 – 80 per week. While coaching the cross-country team at CAC, I would run with my better runners only to add more miles later in the day with my own training schedule. This of course brought about a series of injuries that plunged me into a state of burnout and ultimately ending my running days. IT band syndrome was often the problem. Dating back to June I started building up my miles; I promised myself that I would not return to the days of old when I was logging insane miles. They have been done of late but I feel a change.

Cold Houston

Above: Houston Christian High School lawn

I got this picture from a student earlier today; it is a view of the campus library and chapel after a light snow fall. Currently I am working with a group of people on work related to European history until Sunday here at Princeton; it is colder in Houston than it is in the state of New Jersey. I am sure my students were pleased to be dismissed early due to impending snow/rain followed by temps in the upper 20s. I am sure the entire city shut down. But then again, I would hate to be on one of the million high overpasses found in Houston. I did a run in 76 degree weather just six days ago.