Dr Boyce Watkins from Syracuse University Gives Financial Advice

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University 

I received a call from CNN today about a major corporate mistake. We talk about such marketing issues in our Finance and Business Management classes at Syracuse University, and this was surely one that will be analyzed in many case studies for years to come.

In an apparent slip of intellect, someone with the Costco Corporation decided that it might be a good idea to put out black dolls with the words "Lil Monkey" on the top of the doll’s forehead. Alrighty then, that makes sense.

I don’t think that any executive with the Costco Corporation woke up this morning saying, "How do I offend as many black people as possible today?" But this does not excuse the fact that this move will be interpreted as a racist one, as it should be. The world is no longer plagued as much by good old fashioned racism, where a klan member shows up on your porch and calls you the n-word. We now have corporations and other institutions with white male dominated power structures that have not embraced diversity of ethnicity, thought or perspective. Racial ignorance remains acceptable and economic imperialism over people of color becomes the rule of the day. The point is simple: Someone should have caught this error before those dolls left the door, but no one cared enough to try.

Click to read.

In his video called "Rich N*gga Sh*t" (I can’t even write the title, since I don’t want to pollute the eyes of my readers. Maybe you can fill in the missing letters, like in the TV gameshow "Wheel of Fortune."), the rapper Soulja Boy has worked overtime to set an all-time record for massive hip hop buffoonery. But he’s only 19-years old, so I am going to give him a pass in hopes that he will choose to wise up at some point.

Showing off his new diamond chain that doubles as a remote control toy Lamborghini, the young brother proceeds to wow his audience by pushing the limits of financial extravagance. I’ve seen rappers with chains shaped like the state of New York or jewels that have their names on them, but I have never seen a chain that doubles as a remote control car. When I saw his latest "achievement," I truly felt that he’d lost it. I am not here to say that Soulja Boy has not planned for his financial security, I really hope he has. At the same time, I’ve seen a ton of rappers get wads of dough, only to find themselves broke and spending their lives in the studio trying to create their next breakout hit. Let’s be real: the industry is not here to empower the rappers - it is here to enslave them. Soulja Boy’s comments about giving "big ups" to slave masters (for bringing black people to America) should have been saved for the slave masters in the recording industry who control his destiny right now.

Click to read more.

by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

OK, was I confused when I found out that Tiny and Toya (TI’s "baby mama" and Lil Wayne’s ex-wife, respectively) were being given a reality show on BET? Yeah, I was a little surprised. If only I could find a way to become a high profile baby mama — that seems to be the way to go. With my being a man, I guess that might be difficult to accomplish. All jokes aside, I watched this show with tremendous curiosity, as I think we can all learn from observing the thought patterns of those who live behind the scenes of our favorite celebs. Part of me feels sorry for both of these women, who seem to be desperately fighting their way out of the massive shadows being cast by the powerful men in their lives. Even the daughters of TI and Lil Weezy are trying to get their own reality show. Maybe they too are feeling the weight of their daddies’ collective fame. Why don’t we just give a reality show to the family dog? Now that would be hot!

Click to read.

Click here to watch Dr Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University debate Roland Martin on CNN.

Written by Dr. Boyce Watkins, Syracuse University

Hello to my friends,

I’ll be guest hosting the Jim Reith Radio Show on 570 WSYR radio today from 3 - 7 pm EST.  The show is actually a conservative one that comes on between Hannity and Limbaugh, so the audience is "challenging."  But as you know, I believe strongly in the idea of communication, listening and trying to understand other viewpoints.  This is part of my personal growth process, as I am far more of a student than I am a professor.  If you want to listen online, you can also go to www.570wsyr.com.

Also, as some of you know, this is going to be a trying year in my relationship with Syracuse University, where some of my colleagues are not comfortable with my presence.  I personally feel that I’ve done all that is necessary to earn tenure here (when my tenure case is compared with those who’ve already received tenure).  This is particularly true as it relates to our chancellor’s consistent and overwhelming call for publicly engaged scholarship (I think I’ve done that pretty well).  I’ve also got some solid scholars around the nation who’ve shown support for my work, which I sincerely appreciate.  But while there are challenges of overcoming what I perceive to be structural racism in academia (which is well-documented in the literature), I think that great hurdles also present great opportunities.  With the help of my mentors, I’ve decided that rather than worrying about my own tenure case (which is still under appeal - Bill O’Reilly’s pressure might have caused some people to become weak in the knees about my case), I’ve decided to encourage all fair-minded Americans to do the following on their individual campuses or with their alma maters:

1) Think about the academic department in which you’ve studied or taught

2) Count the number of African American tenured professors in that department.

3) Try to find out how many have been tenured in the last 100 years

4) Try to determine why the numbers are what they are.

5) Hold the university accountable and ask them to explain the racial disparity.

One of the problems with our great nation is that the disease of racism has its greatest impact on those who’ve been cured.  My own campus, Syracuse University, has many departments that have never granted tenure to a single person of color in over 80 - 100 years of operating history.  I must honestly assess why we are very good at finding black basketball players, but turn away many qualified black faculty members and students.  Additionally, we must realize that the first conditioned response of any systemically racist institution is going to be one that explains away the racism (i.e.  "We want to hire black people, but the ones we find are just not good enough" - This assessment does not consider who gets to decide what it means to be "good.")  Anyone honest about academia knows that this place is about as arbitrary, biased and laced with cronyism as any place on earth.  Diverse ideas are not usually accepted and academic freedom doesn’t really exist for African American scholars who actually try to use it.

Again, this is not about my own tenure case, I am going to be just fine.  This is about all of "blackademia" and the fact that it is time for us to stand up against the persecution of African American scholars and students who are being told that they are not good enough or don’t belong simply because they choose to embrace ideas that differ from the White American norm.  Forgive me for being blunt, but I must make this clear statement: WHITE PEOPLE DO NOT OWN ACADEMIA, and African Americans are not simply invited guests of the White American power structure.  We are just as American, just as intellectual, just as determined, just as hard working, just as committed, just as dignified and just as justified in pursuing the same rights of intellectual discovery and community upliftment as the rest of America.  I cannot, will not and refuse to allow myself or people like me to be relegated to second class citizenship. 

In other words, it’s time for a REVOLUTION in the way our children are educated and in the way the teachers are chosen to educate them.  I am willing to do whatever is in my power to make a difference before my time on this earth is through.  We know the difference between right and wrong, and I pray that we allow our hearts to guide us toward the truth.  When we see that truth, I also pray that we do not run away from it.

Take care and God bless,

Dr. Boyce Watkins

www.BoyceWatkins.com

Dr Boyce Watkins of Syracuse University and Anderson Cooper talk about the Obama Administration.

Click here to watch!

Anderson COOPER: Professor Watkins, do you believe this is an issue about race, or do you think this is an issue of two people with — with big egos or clashing egos?

WATKINS: I think that the answer is that we don’t know.

And that is the problem, that we were making bandwagon assumptions based on things we didn’t know. Look, either Sergeant Crowley violated procedure or he didn’t. If he did violate procedure, he either violated it because Skip Gates was black or for some other reason.

But the truth is that we can’t read this man’s mind. And, so, the truth — the reality is that this could have happened to someone of another ethnicity, potentially, particularly when you look throughout Sergeant Crowley’s record.

And I assume that he wouldn’t be teaching classes on racial sensitivity if he had a record of arresting black men for no reason. Now, I’m not trying to say that this did not happen in this case. I’m not anybody is a liar.

But what I’m saying is that we can’t use this case as a — some sort of poster child for racial-profiling issues across America, because there is real racial profiling that goes on, on places other than Harvard University, because I guarantee you this much.

MARTIN: Anderson…

WATKINS: Skip Gates is a guy who knows he is Skip Gates.

And being a black professor at Harvard, with all the money that Skip has, I guarantee you he has probably got more privilege than most white Americans have anyway.

(CROSSTALK)

MARTIN: Anderson, race — race is involved, because you all — look, when you step back and say, here, you have an African-American professor in his home. The cop comes there.

The black officer said, I think it may have been — differently if it was an African-American cop with this actual black male here. What we have to learn here is, what is going through a black man’s mind when this kind of thing is happening?

Again, people say, well, it needs to be overt. Well, people all self-perceive things differently. What is implied? What is inferred? And, so, here, he is standing here saying, this is how I am interpreting this.

We cannot dismiss that and say, well, that is not relevant. It is relevant, because it happens every day. People make assumptions. Women make assumptions based upon, well, is this happening to me because I am a woman? Is this happening to me because I am Hispanic? COOPER: But some assumptions are correct and some assumptions are not.

MARTIN: Absolutely. But that’s why we can’t…

WATKINS: Right. Absolutely.

Click to read more on the Dr Boyce Blog.

by Dr. Boyce Watkins

Syracuse University

I am a curious professor, a compassionate capitalist and the owner of a small business. All of these hats create a complex perspective on whether or not it is a good idea to increase the minimum wage. After all, we are in a recession, and one might be tempted to argue that any sort of pay increase would slow down our nation’s economic recovery, eliminate jobs, and significantly reduce corporate profitability.

Sorry to burst those bubbles, but the data don’t validate most of the above concerns.
First of all, the minimum wage was introduced during the Great Depression, the mother of all economic downturns. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938 was designed to ensure that the most vulnerable Americans were no longer going to be exploited by the power of big business. The Great Depression came to an end shortly thereafter, and there is no evidence that it slowed down the economic recovery in any significant way.

Secondly, the budgetary implications of minimum wage increases are not very large. According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics, only 2 percent of all men and 3.6 percent of all women currently earn the minimum wage. But while the impact on our national budget is small, the gains for those affected are tremendous: there are nearly 5 million children in families who earn the minimum wage, and nearly all of these children are going to have better lives in the advent of an increase.

Click to read.