Another Perspective on Charlottesville and Colin Kaepernick
From The Ramparts
Junious Ricardo Stanton
Another Perspective on Charlottesville and Colin Kaepernick
I rarely write about sports
because while it is mostly viewed as a form of recreation and entertainment at
its core it reflects the values and consciousness of our society and folks don't
like to be reminded of that. Some say sports is a form of tribalism a vicarious
way for males (and increasingly females) to engage in a form of ritualized combat,
group identity and belonging. In the US, sports is deeply tribal in the
sense we root for our teams (or countries of origin) during the Olympics,
international contests and tournaments like the World Cup. On the local level
we usually support the neighborhood teams, area college and professional teams
especially if they are doing well.
There is
nothing inherently evil with tribalism it is natural extension of the family an
integral part of human existence/experience. Tribalism was the first social
organization it called for hierarchal leadership, cohesion and cooperation. The
West retains its tribal legacies of the Goths, Huns, Angles, Saxons, Vandals
etc with their cultures of war, invasion and rapine.
The modern nation state has replaced the
indigenous tribe and the clan as the predominant socio-political entity around
the world. Nevertheless, modern nationalism
and patriotism are forms of tribalism. The brouhaha about Charlottesville and Colin Kaepernick are
interrelated examples of tribalism, tribal loyalties and antagonisms. They both
deal with identity politics.
The clash
in Charlottesville
came about because Neo-Nazi and white nationalist (who identify with Aryans)
wanted to demonstrate to preserve a statue of Robert E Lee a famous general in
the Confederate Army who led the Army of Northern Virginia during the war.
There were counter demonstrators who wanted to remove the statue because in
their minds it symbolized an era of human oppression.
People take
sides on the War Between the States although most are woefully misinformed about
the war and have been bamboozled about the real causes of the conflict. The War
Between the States euphemistically referred to as the US Civil War (1861-1865)
was not, I repeat not, fought by either side to end slavery! Both the North and
the South wanted slavery to continue Abraham Lincoln said so himself on
numerous occasions.
Slavery was
the economic engine that drove the whole US economy and both sides profited
handsomely from it. When this country was formed, slavery was sanctioned and
protected by the US Constitution (Article 1 Section 2, Section 9 and Article IV
Section 2). The framers deviously substituted euphemisms instead of the words:
slavery, Africans or Blacks. The end of
slavery would have meant the demise of the bourgeoning US economy,
adversely impacting both the North and South. Cotton was king because of free slave
labor and it was the nation's most profitable crop and export. Once the war was
over and slavery was abolished by the Thirteenth Amendment to the US Constitution,
the nation instituted quasi-forms of slavery: share cropping and convict
leasing to reestablish unpaid labor using mostly Blacks!
The Blacks who fought on the Union side during
the war made it their cause and campaign for freedom; but that was not why
Lincoln and the North waged the war. Today 152 years after the conflict, people
still take sides despite the fact most have no clue about the real issues and
reasons for the war.
The war was
really about which faction (Northern bankers industrialists, shippers, brokers
etc or the Southern planters and agriculture) would control the economy and
politics of the nation.
Taking sides
on the War Between The States is a form of tribalism. Tribalism often leads to fanaticism
and violence as we saw in Charlottesville.
When it comes to the War Between the States, race is the elephant in the room.
The propaganda claiming the North fought to end slavery and the South fought to
keep it generates heated debate and raises passions. Ideological battle lines
have been drawn and over time have become quite rigid with flags, symbols and
accompanying propaganda that each side rallies around.
In the
US
sports enthusiasm is akin to tribalism. "After all, we are social animals.
We depend on the tribe for our safety and well-being. When the lion attacks, as
a group we've got a shot. Alone, we're lion chow. When our tribe is doing well
(economically, militarily, public
health, whatever...), our chances go up.
When it's doing poorly, our chances go down. So it feels good to belong to a
winning tribe, and not so good—threatening, in fact—to belong to a group that's
losing.
Think
about all the ways we support the tribe. We subconsciously choose our views on
many issues so they match the views in the groups we most strongly identify
with, a theory called
Cultural Cognition. We vote for our tribe
(political party). We fight to the death for our tribe in everything from gang
wars to wars between nations (tribes). In fact, if you look at a lot of the
wars and mass violence in recent history they were about nothing BUT tribe;
Protestants v. Catholics in
Northern Ireland,
Serbs v. Croats v. Muslims in the Balkans, Hutus and Tutsis in
Rwanda."
David Ropeik
https://www.psychologytoday.com/blog/how-risky-is-it-really/201110/the-tribal-roots-team-spirit
The issue of Colin Kaepernick
refusing to salute and pay homage to a US tribal symbol (the national anthem
which is at its core a racist song written by a bigot) divides us into tribal
camps/groups: those who see his actions as an affront to the nation (their
tribe) and those of us who think he is taking a noble long overdue stand.
In both the
Charlottesville
and Kaepernick controversies, race and power are the underlining factors. Tribal
groups, their rituals, symbols and identities feel threatened and under attack.
The people who relate to the Confederate flag and statues feel their heritage
is under assault and they fight to sustain their values (as immoral as they
are) and their passion is gaining.
It doesn't
take much for white folks to resort to violence so clashes like what happened
in Charlottesville
will increase as the various tribes (the Right and Left, liberal, conservative
are merely ideological tribes) feel more and more helpless due to current political
and economic uncertainty. These feelings of helplessness and fear will embolden
the tribes as they seek security during uncertain times. On the national level
both political parties enflame their members which divisive rhetoric.
Likewise the
NFL is a very profitable corporate tribe. The NFL doesn't want anything to damage their multi-billion
dollar golden goose, least of all what they view as an uppity mixed race
athlete who identifies with African-Americans. So they've done the same thing
to Kaepernick they did to Paul Robeson, Muhammad Ali and Craig Hodges; they
white-balled him to marginalize him and teach their other contract athletes not
to get out of their place.
Paul
Robeson was so influential and feared, he was shunned by the big civil rights
organizations of his time. Muhammad Ali was hugely popular and garnered the
support of millions because of his stand against the draft and the Vietnam War.
It remains to be seen how many will rally around Colin Kaepernick, there are
signs he is making a dent in people's consciousness. However, the NFL and the
network tribes are major adversaries.
As far as
the tribal/cultural wars percolating in the US, the conflicting tribes are
becoming more vociferous and increasingly demonstrative. Will the clashes intensify
into a major internal war, or will the upcoming NFL season provide a
distraction and respite from the commotions?
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So Much Going On So Much Propaganda So Little Truth
From The Ramparts
Junious
Ricardo Stanton
So Much Going On, So Much Propaganda, So
Little Truth
"Never allow an insult
propagated to go unanswered by you. Be ever vigilant to down anything by way of
propaganda that dishonors or discredits you. Don't help the other fellow to
carry on propaganda against yourself or your race." Marcus Garvey from
Marcus Garvey Life and Lessons edited by Robert A. Hill and Barbara Bair page
291
Last week following a rally to
support Cheyney University,
the Philadelphia Inquirer Editorial Board wrote an Op-Ed piece about Cheyney University and indirectly Heeding
Cheyney's Call that was so disingenuous I could not let it go unchallenged. Their headline read Cheyney problem isn't racism: it's failing to compete for students. In
an article attributed to the whole Editorial Board rather than one individual, the
piece blatantly minimized the role racism has played during the ninety-five
year history since the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania purchased the school from
the Quakers in 1922. It dishonestly stated "Cheyney’s predicament
certainly has a racial component, but the solution must go beyond that
perspective. It thrived in the 1960s when it was known as Cheyney
State Teachers
College and served as the principal institution in Pennsylvania training
African Americans to become teachers. But it has struggled to find its niche in
post-segregation America."
What the
editorial board deliberately failed to mention was, during the 1960's students
picketed, demonstrated and took over buildings to protest the state's biased
treatment of the school. I know because I was involved in those protests and I
was part of student government when the state begrudgingly began to give the
school more attention and funding.
The Board
also failed to mention that President Wade Wilson (from 1969 to1980) was a wise
and visionary leader who leveraged the student unrest, demonstrations and
protests to get more funding, buildings and degree programs from the state.
The
Editorial Board neglected to do its homework and due diligence and blamed Cheyney
for its failings, conveniently overlooking and omitting something called the Performance
Based Funding Formula employed by the Commonwealth that negatively impacted the
PASSHE system.
In theory the
formulas are supposed to generate increased efficiency, enrollment, retention
and graduation rates and fund raising on the part of the university. Critics of
performance based funding say these policies do not generate the goals they are
put in place to accomplish. "The
most instructive findings come from case studies of Indiana,
Pennsylvania, Tennessee,
and Washington,
all of which based their policies on the seven principles identified by
advocates. In Indiana,
universities have become more selective and less diverse while also not
improving degree production. In Pennsylvania,
universities did not produce more degrees even after operating under
performance-based funding for nearly a decade. After Tennessee increased the financial incentives
and redesigned its policy, universities did not improve their graduation or
retention rates. And in Washington,
the state’s community colleges responded not by producing more associate’s
degrees but by increasing short-term certificates. Despite each state having
goals related to improving college completions, their performance-based funding
policies have not yet achieved the desired results." Why Performance-Based College Funding Doesn’t Work https://tcf.org/content/report/why-performance-based-college-funding-doesnt-work/
During
a meeting Heeding Cheyney's Call had with outgoing Chancellor Brogan in 2014,
he stated PBF was not working and the schools would receive additional funding.
But of course the Inquirer Board didn't include this information since they had
another agenda which was to discredit HCC and Cheyney.
The Board
also mentioned the Keystone Honors Program but failed to inform their readers
the program was created as the result of intervention by the US Department of
Education's Office of Civil Rights in 1999 when the OCR hammered out a binding
agreement to remediate the Commonwealth's long history of underfunding and
discrimination. The Inquirer also ignored the fact the Commonwealth has failed
to live up to that agreement by underfunding the Keystone Honors
Academy in the agreed
upon amounts.
All these facts are public record but somehow
the Inquirer's "Editorial Board" chose to indict Cheyney for failing
to diversify its student population. Here's another fact the Inquirer failed to
mention, unlike many schools in the PASSHE system Cheyney has never
discriminated on the base of skin color, ethnic origin, creed or philosophy. In
fact at one time Cheyney was the most integrated school in the PASSHE system!
What the
Inquirer did was patently disingenuous; but then we must remember the Inquirer
is part of the fake news industry, purveyors of propaganda and disinformation.
Don't believe their hype!
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Help Us Save Cheyney University
Help Us Save Cheyney
University
Junious Ricardo Stanton
On Tuesday
August 1, 2017 Heeding Cheyney's Call an alumni coalition of which I am a proud
founding member, along with distinguished clergy, elected officials such as
Philadelphia Councilman David Oh, Congressman Dwight Evans, Karen Warrington
from Congressman Brady's office, State Rep Stephen Kinsey and State Senator
Vincent Hughes along with a hundred other concerned alumni, community and
political activists held a press conference and rally outside the Philadelphia
office of Governor Tom Wolf.
The purpose
of the rally was to persuade Gov. Wolf to become more involved in saving
historic Cheyney University. I say more involved because
since his inauguration in 2015 Gov. Wolf has voiced support for saving Cheyney
and has assigned his staff to work with
Heeding Cheyney's Call to remedy its troubles. But now Cheyney is facing an
existential crisis and only Gov. Wolf can save this venerable institution from
imminent demise.
We called
on the Governor to directly intervene on Cheyney's behalf by calling the Middle
States Commission on Higher Education whose offices are in Philadelphia and
tell them the Board of Governors of the Pennsylvania State System of Higher
Education (PASSHE) has called for a search for a permanent president, that only
letting a contract for a consulting firm to conduct the search is holding the
process up. We also are asking Gov. Wolf to intervene and vouch for Cheyney's
fiscal sustainability until a new administration can be put in place to put
Cheyney on a solid financial footing.
While by
all accounts our rally was a huge success: we received excellent press
coverage, we had a hundred people out in sweltering heat and received the
verbal and written support of extremely influential people several who were
unable to attend; we still need your help whether you have a Cheyney connection
or not! We are asking folks to call or E-mail the offices of Pennsylvania
Governor Tom Wolf (717) 787-2500, Fax
(717) 772-8284 or write to him at Office of the Governor, 508 Main Capital
Building Harrisburg, PA 17120 thanking him for his continued support of Cheyney
but ask him not to sell Cheyney's land, cut back on degree programs and to
notify Middle States he will vouch for Cheyney's fiscal sustainability. We are
asking you to do the same thing, contact PASSHE Board of Governors Chairlady
Cynthia Shapira (717) 720-4028 Fax (717) 720-4011 or mail her at the
Pennsylvania State System of Higher Education Dixon University Center 2986 N. Second Street Harrisburg, PA
17110-120. Finally
reach out to Cheyney University Interim President Aaron Walton (610) 399-2275
or write to him at 1837 University Circle Cheyney PA, 19319 and ask them nor to
carry out the Task Force's agenda to cut degree programs, sell Cheyney's land
or eliminate NCAA sports programs.
If enough
of you sacrifice just a few minutes of your time to do this, we can save Cheyney University the oldest institution of
higher learning for African-Americans in this nation. Cheyney started out as
the African Institute. The name was subsequently changed to the Institute for
Colored Youth, Cheyney, later became the Cheyney Training School
for Teachers, Cheyney State Teacher's College, Cheyney State College and
finally Cheyney University of Pennsylvania. This institution has a major legacy
of education, social activism, training and pedagogy primarily for
African-Americans but unlike most colleges in Pennsylvania, Cheyney has never refused
entrance to anyone based upon skin pigmentation, national origin, ethnic
background and history or religious orientation.
You ask,
why should I help save Cheyney? Because higher education is in crisis in twenty
first century America,
especially Pennsylvania.
Pennsylvania
ranks forty-ninth in college affordability. Only one state in the nation costs
more for its in state students to attend public colleges that is New Hampshire. http://www.newsworks.org/index.php/local/education/93251-colleges-in-pa-unaffordable-for-most-low-and-middle-income-families Pennsylvania
spends more on prisons, incarceration and corrections than it does for higher
education. http://www.pennlive.com/news/2016/07/pa_prison_budget_tops_higher_e.html
These
public policies do not bode well for working class families especially people
of color in Pennsylvania!
This means if you live in Pennsylvania and you
want to attend a Pennsylvania public college
or university it will cost you more than anywhere else in America except New Hampshire. As Cheyney goes so goes
PASSHE. The fact of the matter is PASSHE is in trouble but Pennsylvania's elected officials try to
suppress this fact. https://billypenn.com/2017/05/02/what-pushed-pennsylvanias-public-universities-to-the-brink-of-collapse/.
Cheyney is
an HBCU the first institution of higher learning for Africans in America
and many HBCUs is facing existential challenges. Frankly unless we intervene many HBCUs will not survive.
http://www.pewresearch.org/fact-tank/2017/02/28/a-look-at-historically-black-colleges-and-universities-as-howard-turns-150/
If you care about quality, affordable
higher education then you will join us in the fight to save historic Cheyney University.
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