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 [...]

Texas: The Unenlightened State

The state of Texas has been guided by a system of poor leadership and what I call a good ‘ole boy network as it relates to its hill billy notion of justice; I have only blogged about my thoughts towards the death penalty once before, but it is safe to say I am beyond angry [...]

King, Race, Class, and Marxism

While on a recent trip, I had to make a connection at the Memphis airport; I came across this large picture in one of the terminals while navigating my way to my next flight. I took a second to read the caption and fully look over this piece; I am a bigger supporter of Malcolm [...]

The Cosby Show: A Nonreflective Reality of (Black) Life

Television’s portrayal of blacks has had its ups and downs, from stereotype-laden comedies like ”Amos ‘n’ Andy” to advances like the late-60’s series ”Julia,” starring Diahann Carroll. It seemed to have reached a new stage in 1984 with the premiere of ”The Cosby Show,” on NBC. The show, about a family of black professionals, the [...]

FOX NEWS

According to Keith Olbermann:  in his view, folks that watch Fox News are “tin foil hatters, conspiracy theorists, paranoids and racists.”

Above: Does FOX attack Blacks?
The crowd of some 150 people wielded a petition with more than 600,000 signatures objecting to news coverage by Fox, owned by Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp, organizers [...]

Faculty Diversity and Schools

Above: Sam Mendazibal of Bolivia and the chairman of the Foreign Language Department chats with me after playing  basketball with students during a recent campus retreat.
I received an email today from a group looking to organize a sub meeting on independent school campus diversity; one of the topics to be addressed is that of comfort [...]

Black Intellectuals

I constructed the above bulletin in the room that I teach in; I wanted to present to my students a list of works and authors that they might or might not know. This is clearly not an exhausted list. And, it represents authors often ignored by teachers. Black scholars have a very important case to [...]

Gates

There is still an unfortunate reality in America when it comes to race: There are those who hold power and those who are forced to sub come to it. Although America  arguably has the best of race relations in comparison to many European nation-states that face ethnic tension, the dark reality of race is that [...]

Education Gap

I still contend that the historical problems of Jim Crow have had a lasting impact on the educational attainment of minorities — especially that of blacks; people such as D’Souza do not believe this to be true. The natural conclusion is that of laziness or a breakdown in the black community; I am not saying [...]

On African-American History by David White

David White is the history chairman at Kaufman High School in Kaufman, Texas. I have known David for what seems like forever;  we have attended conferences together and have exchanged ideas related to the teaching of history over the course of this time. He also maintains a blog here. David is a wonderful colleague and [...]

Tenure, Race, Academic Freedom, and Religion

Addressing matters of faculty, academic voice, tenure, and promotion has long been an interest of this blog; I do believe that good schools — be it a university, boarding, or day school can be measured in status by the intellectual freedom and voice permitted on its campus. Honestly, it is what separates elite schools from [...]

MLK Changed Hearts

I am sure many of you are familiar with this famous photograph above; it accounts for the emotional hate and southern rage held by many in the south during the 1950s — a decade in which the process of school integration was underway after the Brown v Board of Education case.
This is another iconic image [...]

What Might Malcolm X Say about Obama?

The day after November 4th, 2008 — I was walking my puppy (Abbey) around the block when I approached an older black man; I will never forget our conversation:
Older black man: “How are you, son?”
Carson: “It is a good day; it is a very good day.
Older black man: “Yes indeed. Yes indeed. It is a [...]

Went to the Barbershop Today

When one engages in a discussion about the various typologies that are defined by physical characteristics, one cannot pass on the obvious: physical shape, hair texture, nose, and facial structure. The period historians have assigned with the title Enlightenment gave rise to a new form of racial categorizations: Negroids, Mongoloids, and Caucasoid were assigned to [...]

Affirmative Action Part I: The Courts by Jaylon Williams

Jaylon, who teaches at a northern university has contributed the first of three pieces on the topic of affirmative action; I will voice my support for AA more in my next piece on the state of Texas 10% rule and the demise of AA. Jaylon has drafted or sent pieces to The Proletarian in the [...]

The Black Bourgeoisie and Uncle Tom

I posted this a while back but thought after recent developments it would be of interest to jump start this conversation. A very good friend of mine contends that I am a bit confusing in that I am a conservative dresser, teach in a conservative school (my 2nd one), and address life outside of academic [...]

The Talented Tenth

It has long been one of my life goals to join the ranks of the Talented Tenth. I hope to do this by making contributions to the thinking of my community and by advancing the thought processes of my students; it is important that they not conform to rules of textbooks and tradition, but to [...]

Real Olympic Heros

” “Black Power Salute” was the moment during the 1968 Olympics, in which African-Americans Tommie Smith and John Carlos exultantly gestured skyward, effectively leveling the playing field for civil rights. During the Mexico City games, Smith won the 200-meter race, setting a world record, and Carlos placed third. On the podium, they made a statement for [...]

“Nappy Headed Mo” Part II

Mauricia Grant, a NASCAR employee believes she is the victim of both sexism and racism. I have no doubt this type of behavior exist in many work places. I am sad to hear this because NASCAR has worked very hard to change its image from a sport of pot belly red necks in the deep [...]

Thoughts on Ed Blum, W.E. B. Dubois, Toni Morrison, Race, Sex, and Black Literature

I recall reading Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye for the first time in high school; in it, Morrison took on similar issues as W.E.B Du Bois did in The Quest for the Silver Fleece. Ed Blum addressed Du Bois’s character Zora, whose interest in the white Madonna’s whiteness and purity created some comparison to three [...]