Wednesday, February 1, 2012
Does America Still Need Affirmative Action, or Does African American's Need to Reaffirm their Actions?
Cecil Brown kicked off a firestorm of commentary during our class discussion. What was teased out of the conversation was his argument becoming more of an exclusive conversation about the plight of black males and their decline on campuses. But he also has begun conversing about the impact that African Diaspora scholars has had on the traditional focus of Black Studies. So what does all of this mean in the aftermath of Proposition 209? Is Black Studies still poised to argue the social issues that impact African American people, or does Black Studies need to reflect the times that we live in? Was Ward Connerly the root cause of the changes that we see or were the times already "a changin."
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Historically African Americans have never been compensated for slavery. You see consistently through the decades since reconstuction that their has been a call that was never answered. This is not the forum to state other atrocities that have been rectified but, rather to state the blatant injustice that has occured on our soil. The fact that each passing generation runs from it by adverting blame and spouting reconciliation seems to be a very southern way of things. Keep the skelitons in the closet and show face so the all the gentlemans and ladies are not ruffled or burdened.
ReplyDeleteObviously I am a proponent of AA. Do I think that putting quotas everywhere is an appropriate form of AA? It could be a start but, really is that enough?
America has let a wound fester that has now become infectious. There has to be some other way.
and whaT OF black studies.... I got my degree from a diiasporic program in detroit. We had a class on Pan africanism that was taught by an african american and we had a class on american racism taught by an African. Acciording to brown these programs seem to be making consessions perhaps for funding reasons and losing sight of ideals. Again we are brought back to the economic. Relevency seems to make sense to me. If we frame coursework in terms of urgent relevency the powers that be are forced to attune. Cultural relevency on the economic seems to be a good in for justified funding like dr p was saying about cultural assessments in marketing and what not. Things like this make hip hop relevent not only for pure academic reasons but have huge implications for funding options for struggling AA departments.
I agree, that hip hop has a role in the academic arena, but that who facilitates and directs that role is a critical component. The issue comes to who are at the head of those Black Studies Departments and who has grown up in the hip hop generation to speak to the lived experience. As we talk about in class hip hop is about truth and authenticity and if the people who are involved in the hip hop curriculum do not have the lived experience or identify with the generation I feel it will be hard for them to connect with the youth from that generation. As it relates to Affirmative Action I think there needs to be a new model. Simply providing a route to college is not enough. There needs to be institutional support in those spaces to help students matriculate through the university. It is also not enough to talk about retention and college entrance without talking about youth's experience prior to college.
DeleteAs it relates to hip hop I believe the vagueness and the broadness of it makes it hard to understand for the older generation that are the professors currently. It is not their experience and if they judge it based off what is only played on the radio they may not deem it as something worthy of a space in academics. This notion also goes back to their preparation and if they feel they are properly prepared to engage in a conversation in which they know nothing about.
I agree that hip-hop has an essential role in the future of Black studies, because as we have talked about in class its essence is rooted in truth and authenticity. That is essentially what black studies is, a truthful and authentic study of the black experience. I think black studies professors old and young understand the premise on which hip-hop is founded, however I see the disconnect that has for black studies departments that are not very present in addressing the issues that affect the younger generation of black scholars today. I feel they are almost afraid of being too radical in challenging these current issues, especially on predominantly white college campuses and in departments where the representation of black professors and even students is sparse.
DeleteBrown stated that Laird, an admissions counselor at UC Berkley simply stated "whites feel uncomfortable about race" and goes on to talk about how blackness is "discredited and devalued". These things are true historically and in the present day. Black leaders emerged from college campuses, just as key issues pertaining to the black movement spawned on campuses across the nation. Proposition 209 takes away the space and opportunity for black students to flourish and become mindful leaders. This is a major issue alongside the mass incarceration of black people(both male and female) in this country, and one of the most troubling questions these dilemmas raise- where will the next black leaders emerge from? Is hip hop the answer or is hip hop responsible fro creating and mobilizing these leaders?
Black Studies should be central in creating safe and culturally relevant learning spaces in order to (un)learn, produce knowledge, celebrate, practice and explore histories of Black people. "Black people" in reference to black studies is fluid due to the multiple identities of blackness; therefore black studies should include all those who identify (appreciate) as Black across genders and diaspora. Black studies should be a place of master teaching that promotes and prepare students both male and female, specifically those of color in understanding their positionality and identity politics. In regard to affirmative action, it should be a place to think critically and develop ways in which Black students and faculty can be present on campuses, specifically PWI's. Affirmative action has been known as a policy to ensure equal access, yet based on the standard proceeding of white supremacy much of this policy has been articulated to "dumb down" the urgency of representation of black people in general. Black studies becomes the space where this "dumbing down" is re-articulated, analyzed, and acted on to engage campuses in increasing numbers for black students. Black students, both male and female, are entitled to understanding their histories in order to obtain sanity, identity, progress, knowledge, theory, praxis, celebration, inclusiveness, collectiveness. Since Affirmative action is a policy that targets (or not) black representation (male and female), black studies becomes essential in creating spaces and opportunities for black people. As a student of black studies I conclude that it should always stay present, offering alternative perspectives of the dominant discourse while preserving historical frameworks, theory and praxis.
ReplyDeleteI agree that black studies in the form of affirmative action is extremely important because as Sheri said, it gives both male and female students the opportunity to analyze their culture and history in order to gain a sense of well-being.
ReplyDeleteIn terms of reconnecting the role of black studies, i think it is very important to look at who is teaching these classes. As an international student, i believe that i have learnt much more about African-American history in just one semester at Illinois, than i did for 2 years in England. Yes, I learnt about slavery, the civil rights movement and we even spent two weeks on hip-hop, but as we were being taught by white professors who didn't have first hand experience, i now feel that i only received simple textbook knowledge.
I think that this portrays a general overview of the majority population. Many people don't understand the role of hip-hop within society as a celebration of black culture, rather, they relate it to negativity which is heightened by the media. Therefore, i believe that it is important to maintain a wide range of ways in order to teach people of the importance of black studies, stressing the importance of who is actually teaching this history.
I do agree with the above comments. I certainly agree with Sheri that Black Studies should be central in creating a culturally relevant learning environment. I think the word ‘relevant’ is charged with many connotations. When educating on the histories of Black people and focusing on promoting black studies the information needs to be presented in a way that is relevant in today’s society. In order to learn Black Studies you need to have an engaging mentor/tutor/professor who can engage the individual in all the right aspects of black history whilst keeping it relevant to today’s current hip hop generation, educating them of what they can do for the future of Black Studies. Brown shows the severity of the disappearance of African Americans in universities and thus it will take more than one university cycle to get the ball rolling again. The education and importance of Black Studies is something that needs to continue throughout the generations and hence if a change needs to be made the process needs to be started now by educating the current generation on how to continue Black Studies. As James mentioned above the fundamental point is who is doing the educating. Like James I’ve been studying African American history for the past 3 years at uni in England and whilst I feel I have an in depth knowledge on topics, it’s a factual knowledge which whilst necessary for writing good essays in England, it doesn’t help with the broader context of society. Since doing this class it’s clear to see that this class has a function in society, not only to educate us on the hip hop and post hip hop generation, but also to make a difference. In England, the function lies more with simply learning information of a given syllabus. I think that’s where the discrepancy lies between the English and American education system. Both are obviously striving for the same end goal of a degree, yet get there in very different ways. As James mentioned, all our African American modules were taught by white British teachers who didn’t have any first-hand experience of the issues talking about, giving us a removed version of American history. My point is, the educator needs to know where they’ve been and understand the change that needs to be made in order to be able to move forward.
ReplyDeleteSeeing that I am one of the last to comment, I agree with many keys points that were presented earlier by my classmates. First, and foremost I think Julian set the bar when he pointed out the most critical component of a successful "black studies" program is the administration and facilitators. However, Sheri provided great insight as far as what a "black studies" program should be and who are potential contributors to the movement. In response to James, I feel as though the entire world has textbook knowledge, in which only a select few know the truth behind scenes due to their desire to seek out the information. However, I would like for our fellow "Hip-Hop Heads" from England to know that Hip-Hop is not an American thing because there are many forms of the culture that differ according to the region of the world in which it resides. I can't think of the source, but I remember coming across instances in which the inhabitants of a European country used American hip-hop lyrics in order to voice their feelings toward a specific issue. I say that that to bring to the the class's attention that although Hip-Hop is typically associated with the lifestyles of the minorities of the lower class, one does not have to experience it first hand in order to understand it. In response to the question posed by Dr. P, I feel as though an effective black studies department should focus on the times that we currently live in, and possess the ability to educate us on how the social issues of the past have an influence on the current state of what we experience today. On a more personal note, many of the educators that I come across today blatantly mock my belief that Hip-Hop can be used to make a difference within today's society. Yet, in doing so few are willing to admit that they do not associate themselves with the Hip-Hop generation, they do not understand the potential of its generation, and are viewing it from within the confides of what they have been taught by the media. History reveals a similar misunderstanding of former misunderstood cultures/generations grounded defined by music such as folk, rock 'n roll, and jazz to name a few.
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