Slave Catcher of the Week: Marcus Carter, Black Man Handing Out "Whites Only" College Scholarships

Before we meet this weeks award recipient, allow me to highlight a court ruling in Michigan yesterday that I'm sure in months to come will be heavily debated. The following story involves Affirmative Action and college admissions; which is tied to this weeks slave catcher award honoree:

Michigan's ban on considering race and gender in college admissions was struck down Friday by a federal appeals court, which ruled that the voter-approved law burdens minorities and is unconstitutional.

The 2-1 decision overturns Proposal 2, a law passed in 2006 that prohibits the state's public universities from giving "preferential treatment to any individual or group on the basis of race, sex, color, ethnicity, or national origin."

The measure, which passed with 58% of the vote, forced the University of Michigan and other state schools to change their policies on admissions. The three-judge panel of the U.S. 6th Circuit Court of Appeals ruled that the law violates the equal protection clause of the 14th amendment.

The court took issue with the manner in which the ban was enacted. Because the law amended the state's constitution, only another statewide vote could change it. This created a significant obstacle for minorities who objected to the law to overcome, ruled Judges R. Guy Cole Jr. and Martha Craig Daughtrey.

"Proposal 2 reorders the political process in Michigan to place special burdens on minority interests," they said.

[...] Mark Fancher, an attorney with the American Civil Liberties Union, which was part of a coalition that challenged the law, said the ruling would provide equal opportunity within the admissions process.

"It reopens the opportunity for minorities to not only be heard by university administrators, but have an expectation that if they can persuade the administrators that there is validity in considering their racial identity, that the university can actually act," he said.

Michigan Atty. Gen. Bill Schuette said he planned to appeal the ruling by requesting a rehearing with the entire 6th Circuit Court of Appeals. The law will remain in place pending a final decision.

The law "embodies the fundamental premise of what America is all about: equal opportunity under the law," Schuette said in a statement. "Entrance to our great universities must be based upon merit, and I will continue the fight for equality, fairness and rule of law." (source)

Oh yeah, there's that dreaded word again: merit. Funny how that word is always brought up within debates on Affirmative Action. But sadly, it's overlooked when it comes to the children of wealthy alumni donors.

Yep, merit automatically assumes that there's no way anyone represented as a minority admitted, isn't qualified; and obviously, said unqualified semi-illiterate-minority, takes away the opportunity for educational advancement for any obviously qualified person from the dominant culture.

Yep, that's the argument.

Which brings us to this weeks slave catcher: Marcus Carter. Marcus who is Black, is the vice president of the Former Majority Association for Equality, an organization that awards college scholarships exclusively to white men:


Now look, I have no problem with white men getting scholarships exclusively. I mean hell, what's wrong with making the assertion and execution white privilege official, right? However, something just ain't right with a Black man the vice president of, an organization who sees themselves as a "former" majority, now turned minority.

Nothing against white men; seriously, some of my good friends are white men. Hard to believe, I know, but it's true. But this is what baffles me: when the hell did you guys become a minority? No seriously, you guys had a significant head start in this vast land of freedom and opportunity that is America, what happened? Are youse guys that starved for some oppression in your lives? Do you think this makes us even?

I've given this award to many people for the last 3yrs, but Marcus has to be the most deserving. I know, that's hard to believe given the actions of the many slave catchers before him. And as painful as it is to give it to this obviously misguided 27-year-old Black man who has never seen any oppression (?).  Award him I must. His actions folks as small as it may seem to some, is right up there with maybe the chopping off of Kunta Kinte's feet.

I'm sure Marcus feels that he's doing the right thing. Helping the less fortunate is never bad. However, being a minority and being pimped assisting a group who falsely claims minority status, is slave catcher behavior. One has to wonder whether Marcus would donate his time, money, and energy to the United Negro Scholarship Fund as he does to his old army buddy. Though I don't know him, my guess is resounding hell no.

Somewhere, there's a dead slave who wasn't allowed to learn to read crying.

SURPRISE!!: Black College Grads Struggle to Find Employment in Today's Economy

I've been communicating with the good folks at the Center for Community Alternatives via one of the producers at National Geographic Television, on the results of a recent study, which investigates the impact criminal background checks have on minority college applicants. I bet you can guess how that turns out, right?

More to come after I secure an interview with the Executive Director of the program. However, somewhat ironic considering my interview and subsequent piece involves pre-college minority youth, is the following from my people over at colorlines.com, which discusses life for minority college grads post-graduation.

A Generation of Black Youth is Losing its Future in the Jobs Crisis:


Recently, in speaking with my man Folk, who contributes to this site and blogs at Black Folks Don't Swim, he said something interesting that rings true today more than ever. He said that the only way black folks can make it and remain competitive in the job market, is to continually educate ourselves in our fields of expertise.

My man was right, and given our dismal economy, I'm willing to bet that many are doing just that in an effort to remain competitive in an already gnat-booty tight job market given today's economy. It's bad enough that "regular" folks are having a hard time finding employment. Add to that the countless numbers of black grads.

According to the U.S. Department of Labor, from July 2007 through 2010, blacks between the ages of 16-24, the unemployment rate has been 33.4 percent. And Naima Ramos-Chapman's article at colorlines had this and much more to say about the plight of unemployed youth in this the worst modern economic downturn:

Black youth have the highest jobless rate among all races and ethnicities, and that rate is still rising. In the past year, while other youth jobless rates have flat-lined, blacks and Asians have continued to trend upward. And existing racial disparities have widened across the board since the recession began. As of July 2010, while white youth unemployment rate was 16.2 percent, the jobless rates for black youth was double: A whopping 33.4 percent.

Many things drive that alarming statistic. There’s the fact that African Americans as a whole are feeling the brunt of the recession more severely than other demographics. And then there’s the long list of other inequities that black youth face and that, in turn, make employment more difficult even in a good market: the high drop out rates and the uniquely aggressive policing of black neighborhoods, to name two.

But employment opportunities appear to be sparse even for black youth who have what it should take to get a foot in the door. Among youth with bachelor’s degrees, the 2:1 gap between the black and white unemployment rates remains the same. Algernon Austin of the Economic Policy Institute explains:

For the first half of this year, blacks who are under 25 who have a college degree have an unemployment rate of 15.4 percent; whites in that same group have unemployment of 7.9 percent. We are seeing basically a 2:1 disparity. Recent black college grads … have the highest rate of high student loan debt. So that’s another way blacks, even young black college grads, are being hit from both sides. They are less likely to get a job and more likely to have a debt load.

I spent the fall speaking with my jobless peers at job fairs and, as is plain in the video above, frustration with these realities is becoming a definitive part of our generational experience. Austin warns it also will impact generations above and below us, as our dependence lessens our parents’ wealth and our debt sets our children behind.  “The debt is negative wealth so they are starting off well behind,” says Austin of the jobless college grads. “It’s another real problem facing blacks, and blacks whom people may assume—because they have a college degree—are doing well.”

That’s likely to make a bad thing worse. When the recession began, black families held a dime of wealth for every dollar held by white families; Latino families had 12 cents of wealth compared to that dollar.

Higher educational attainment is too often conflated with middle class status. Although this may be the case for those who can afford to put their children through college, it often cannot be said of many black college students. (source: colorlines)

My oldest daughter is in her last year of high school, and will be going to college next year. She will be closely followed along the college path by the second oldest the following year. My youngest brother who currently attends North Carolina A&T, will be graduating next year, as will my sister-in-law from Tennessee State. Oh, and I almost forgot to mention that my one and only sister (the baby of the family) is a freshman at Rutgers.

I don't know about your family, but to me and mine, this is a pretty important yet dire forecast for our youth. The good news is that through the efforts of the Obama administration, steps have been taken to make college more affordable - something that will positively impact minority you from lower-income families. The trick now, is in getting our economy back on track, so minority youth can at least see light at the end of the tunnel.

Seriously, having a college degree and $50,000 in debt while working at a call-center doesn't cut it. Yes education is and always will be the great equalizer for people of color; and I wouldn't dare suggest differently. But one has to wonder just how long must we suffer even as we attempt to make significant advances for ourselves. Oh well, so much for that "merit argument" often used in defiance of Affirmative Action policies.

Sodomizing our children with hot branding irons!

ByFolk


Got your attention? Good! Maybe we can get our heads out the fvcking sand long enough to see the suffering on our children's faces as we rape them of their futures for our own pride.

How can we as a country continue to lie to our children as we rape them of the opportunity of the future because we are too afraid of our own ignorance and to selfish to even consider giving up something for their success. America has become full of political pussies, governmental dildos, and us ordinary citizens have collectively become nothing more than crack heads looking for another d!ck to suck for a dollar!

"For the second time in less than a decade, Illinois is eliminating the state writing exam for elementary and junior high students, provoking concerns that writing instruction will taper off and fewer students will master the critical skill.

Education officials blamed the state's budget crisis, saying canceling the writing test this year will save $3.5 million at a time when cuts are being forced in a variety of education programs.

That $3.5 million "is not going to balance the state budget," said Barbara Kato, director of the Chicago Area Writing Project, which trains teachers in writing instruction.
[read more from source: Chicago Tribune]

Instead of political figures reducing their pay, teaching volunteering to reduce their pay or put in time for the children's sake, parents taking to the streets and burning shyt up in protest, most people are just counting it up as there is nothing "we" can do.

This shyt infuriates Folk! And it should infuriate you.

Crazy thing is first generation immigrants are sending their children abroad for their children's continued education. Those children return and take the top tier jobs because of their prestigious educations grant them a better chance of naming their pay and choose their job. Folk know these people! Folk know of several immigrants that are doing this! Yet, our own children here is America... The land of the free. Home of the brave. The land of hopes and dreams!

But those hopes and dreams are only as good as the education our children receive! And we are responsible for that eduction! We are responsible for them! We are! You. Me. Everyone!

How does it feel to watch our kids burn in flames of ignorance as you lie to them saying it will be okay because America is #1? How does it feel to hear their screams as they are sodomized by the incompetence of our failure as we turn and walk in complete pessimism.


America has become the bully of the world. We grew up fast and was able to dominate the other kids. As a result of our dominance we skipped school and now we are entering the age where the bully is becoming the bi!tch.

Real Talk

::drops mike and wanders off stage::

Barack Obama signs Student Loan reform bill, and Negroes are happy

Well, depending on who you are, and who you ask. This is yet another one of those government takeovers. But of course this isn't the opinion of the ignorant. Leave to them to shape political discourse and they'll tell you that it is nothing but reparations for the tens of thousands if not millions of unemployed black folks in America due to the economy. Not a bad idea actually; that is, unless you're not into the whole idea of evening the playing field via the great equalizer that is education. Or, if you're opposed to the eventual creation of more competition in the job market due to an influx of newly educated black workers. You know, black people who are now motivated to go college because of Student Loan Reform, and the following commercial:

High School student arrested for trying to get a college scholarship

You ever wonder what happened to those "Super Seniors" from your high school days? You know, those people who just wasn't smart enough or applied themselves well enough to graduate on time? My 16yr old who is a junior and I shared a few laughs recently when she told me the the story of this kid in her school who was due to graduate this year. According to her, dude is almost 21yrs old with a beard about as full as the rapper Rick Ross.

I told her even though it may be a running joke among her classmates, you still have to give him credit for actually being able to finish when you consider the current high school dropout rate nationally. I don't know what its going to take to solve the drop out problem nationally or more specifically among minority high school kids, but something has to be done. According to research: every nine seconds a student becomes a drop out here in the United States [click here to read more]. It's estimated that our nation’s 50 largest cities graduate only 50% of their high school students.

Dropping out of high school is just something I don't understand. Maybe things are just different now, but there was no place I would rather be than high school when I was a teenager. Well, that's with the exception of the one day a couple of friends and myself skipped school to go to this kids house to play Atari and watch porn. I had fun that day, but my ass paid for it dearly with the beating of a lifetime from my father.

Oh just great! Now Barack Obama wants to turn our school-kids into little Nazi soldiers

That Barack Obama is one dangerous man. First he wants to give free medicine and money away to Black people, but kill all the old White people. And now he wants to give a speech to kids going back to school across the nation on September 8th? No wonder people are praying for his death. How dare he reach out to our stupid ass kids and offer them words of encouragement and inspiration to do well. Doesn't he know that's how that whole Jewish Holocaust thing started? Yeah, one guy reaching out to a bunch of stupid kids in Germany? This is America buddy; we like our kids dumb.

I don't know about you, but this latest move must be stopped. We cannot afford to have our kids grow up with hopes and aspirations of attending college or encourage them to grow up to be productive citizens. It's very rare that I'm wrong, and I'm beginning to think that conservatives are right about this one. Yeah, we should keep all of our kids out of school and not let them hear Obama speak. What are you, some kind of idiot? Bush's No Child Left Behind policy seems to be working fine, and was the savior of poor minority children; especially the Black ones; but Obama is taking money from HBCUs [read it here] and you people love him? Seriously folks, this does sound like some form of Nazi indoctrination. Next thing you know we'll all be driving Volkswagen's n' shit.

One reason why I love America: Lawsuits

There's probably one other country in this whole wide world that I love more than America. And that country would be the land of my birth Trinidad & Tobago. So yeah, I know you're probably thinking "Umm, why isn't your Black ass living there instead of here?" Well, I could answer than and give you many reasons. But for right now, I'll give you this one: jobless college graduate sues college for $70,000 she paid in tuition fees. See, this is one of the reasons I love America. In America you can buy coffee at McDonalds and spill it on your crotch as you're driving down the street while trying to send a dirty picture of your penis/vagina to lord knows who, and sue McDonalds for negligence. Yes, and not only can you sue your neighborhood dry cleaners for unsatisfactory service. You can also sue an institute of higher education for their failures as well.

"They have not tried hard enough to help me," the beleaguered Bronx resident wrote in her lawsuit, filed July 24 in Bronx Supreme Court.

Thompson's mother is proud of her daughter for completing her college education, but acknowledges Trina is upset that all her high hopes haven't panned out.

The mother and daughter live together, but Trina's mother, Carol, is a substitute teacher and the only one of the two who makes any money. They're barely scraping enough together to get by, reports the Post.

On top of her unemployment woes, Trina now faces mounting debt from student loans.

"This is not the way we want to live our life," her mom told the paper. "This is not what we planned."

Yup, people in America are all about justice, and so is this lady who wants her tuition money reimbursed. Yep, screw the jacked up economy, the current unemployment rate, or MC Hammer having a reality show. Yep, just cut the check dammit! Now why didn't think of that? I'm pretty sure my student loans would have been paid off by now if I did. Oh, my bad, I forgot: I was one of those Affirmative Action admits to Indiana University. Shucks!! Oh well, shit happens I guess. Hopefully Toni Clark - the 50yr old Black woman who graduated from college a few months ago after attending college while homeless and unemployed - doesn't have to do like this unfortunate victim of predatory higher education practices. It's going to be interesting to see how this turns out. Can you imagine college dropouts filing suit next?

Big Man On Campus? Not if you Don't Graduate!!

Earlier in the week I read an article that said that currently, the graduation rate for Black students from HBCU's (Historically Black Colleges & Universities) was at 37%. It was also noted that this figure was found to be four points lower than the national graduation average for Black students period. Even more disparaging was the finding that there is a stark contrast in graduation rates for Black men relative to Black women at these HBCU's as well.

A recent study by the Associated Press, found that 29% of Black male students graduate from HBCU's within a six year time span. With women making up roughly 61% of the student population at these colleges, that rate of graduation for Black men is very discouraging. The article covered various suspected contributing factors to these results, and there was no clear cut reason or explanation.

A few years ago the stat that was tossed around, is that there are more Black men in prison that in college. A claim that has since been debunked I might add. But that said, it would seem that for the "few" Black men in college, the graduation rates would, and should be higher given the alternative of prison. Especially when we're talking about Black colleges and Universities, right?

One of the factors questioned or discussed had to do with the concept of the "Big Man On Campus" attitude. It was said that because of the disparity in enrollment between men and women, men may develop the big head, and somehow think they're special, or a potential catch. Well, err, umm, if you're not graduating, how much of a catch can you be? I said that to say that in the dating world (not exclusive to college) this has developed into somewhat of a problem for women.

Not in the post graduate world however, Black women have the advantage in the professional setting when it comes to employment. I guess this is one reason why I'm kinda glad as a father of three girls; two of which who will be off to college within the next 2yrs. At least for my own satisfaction, I know that the chances of being sidetracked by some clown thinking about short-term booty may be slim. In my mind I'd like to think that them being around other women who are focused cannot do anything but help them along.

I suspect that's part of the problem with the brothers on campus. I don't know, but maybe they're not thinking long term enough. In other words, maybe they get complacent or comfortable with themselves just in knowing that they're in college, and not in prison. Surely there's more to it than that as the article discusses, but to me, that's a major area where I think they fall short. I don't know, but can you tell me what you think, and how can we fix this? I mean after all, shouldn't we care about our young Black men?

Interestingly something that the article never touched on, was the absence of minority faculty at these institutions of higher learning. I never attended an HBCU, but for some reason I always thought that quite naturally, they would be loaded with minority faculty. But according to what I read from Dr. Boyce Watkins, professor at Syracuse University (who happens to be Black just in case you didn't know) this is a problem in itself. Now, with him being a Black man working in academia, I'm kinda apt to believe what he's saying. Besides that, I've been a fan of his for quite some time. Having said that, I must be clear in saying that I am not against sending or having my kids attend an HBCU to further their education.

So you tell me, what do you think is the central problem that contributes to the current graduation rate for Black men from these HBCU's. You can read the press release on the study right here, and you can go to Dr. Watkins' post right here. You can go to either site and read for yourself. You can do that, or you can simply take a stab at it and tell me what you think is the current problem. Is it the colleges, the lack of minority faculty, the ill preparedness for college because of our atrocious public school system (keep in mind that HBCU's often cater to students who come from low income families), or is it just a problem with Black men in general?

What say you?

Given the current findings, would you be against sending your son to an HBCU?