Black Mondays

The Memphis School Crisis of 1969 concerned the racial imbalance of the controllers, providers, and recipients of the education system in Memphis City Schools. In September of 1969, the Memphis Chapter of the NAACP sent a letter to the Memphis City Schools Board of Education citing fifteen demands to advance the standing, role, and education of colored people in the public education system. African American children made up fifty-three percent of the student population, yet there were no African American Board members, and few African American teachers. The NAACP wanted the School Board to rezone to ensure more diversity in schools, open top administrative and Board positions to be filled by African Americans, increase the hiring of black teachers, redistribute teachers and staff to create a racially balanced workforce in every school, and create courses and use textbooks that specifically reflected African American culture and contributions to society. To ensure that the Board would take their demands seriously, leaders within the NAACP—Maxine Smith and Laurie Sugarmon—devised a strategy that came to be known as Black Mondays. This strategy consisted of multiple organized marches, school walkouts (by both black teachers and students), picketing, a selective buying campaign, and perseverance through both unproductive and disrespectful meetings with the Board.

Each Monday in the month of October, the NAACP called the black community to not buy from certain stores, for black teachers to stay home from work, and for black parents to keep their children out of school. This strategy aimed pressure the city economically and socially for change. At this time, school systems in the state of Tennessee were given federal funds according to their average daily attendance (ADA) numbers. A weekly absence of potentially half of the student body would significantly affect the ADA figures, and thus reduce the amount of federal funding received. Black Mondays were responsible for more than 244,000 student absences in the month of October. This campaign however was controversial within the black community for a number of reasons. Primarily, taking children out of school when their right to education had been fought for in the first place was quite counter productive, and for each day the child was out of school, they had the potential to fall behind in classes. Participation in the marches and protests led to firing, discrimination, and police brutality from the greater white community. In the end, negotiations with the Board ended in November. Promises were made that the next two vacancies in the Board would be filled by African Americans, the Board would be restructured to give Blacks an equal chance to be elected, an African American assistant superintendent would be inducted, and any student, teacher, or parent involved in Black Monday would not be penalized and all lawsuits would be dropped.

Sources:

-Maxine Smith, “Report of Executive Secretary: October 8, 1969-November 4, 1969,” Tennessee Electronic Library Volunteer Voices, http://idserver.utk.edu/?id=200700000001641.

-Sherry Hoppe and Bruce Speck, Maxine Smith’s Unwilling Pupils: Lessons Learned in Memphis’s Civil Rights Classroom (Knoxville: University of Tennessee Press, 2007).

Blog Entry #5

               During the spring 2015 semester, I took an education and urban studies course called “Exploring Urban Diversity: Why Race, Gender, and Class Matter.” One of the class assignments was to read the article, “Sexual Orientation and Transgender Microaggressions: Implications for Mental Health and Counseling,” by Kevin L. Nadal, David P. Rivera, and Melissa J. H. Corpus. The article discussed the impacts of microaggression, which was described as discrimination done in a subtle and often unconscious way on part of an aggressor, on the everyday experiences of LGBT individuals (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) and other minority groups – specifically African Americans. According to the authors, sexual orientation/transgender microaggressions and racial microaggressions were interrelated because LGBT individuals and African Americans shared a common subordinate status and suffered from discrimination in the United States. The article demonstrated the sense of superiority fostered by the heteronormative culture and conception of white supremacy within American society.
             While I agreed with the authors that sexual orientation/transgender microaggressions could be compared to racial microaggressions, I did not agree with the three differences between sexual orientation/transgender microaggressions and racial microaggressions they talked through. First, the authors claimed that it was more acceptable to be blatantly heterosexist/homophobic or genderist/transphobic than it was to be racist or sexist in America. Personally, I think that all minority groups are equally at risk of being targets of discrimination. Both LGBT individuals and African Americans face circumstances of subordination daily. Second, the authors stated that microaggressions toward LGBT individuals would likely be more common than toward people of color. Again, I disagreed with this point because although microaggressions were defined as unconscious and not realized by perpetrators – i.e. stereotypes – they were still oppressive and supported the constructed white-male dominant culture in American society, which ultimately would make all minorities victims of microaggressions. Third, the authors stressed that the values of religious families would make people discriminate more against LGBT individuals than people of color. I found this difference to be a very controversial and inaccurate assertion. Since African Americans were not Christians and considered brute and violent, the Europeans believed that it was their moral obligation to keep African Americans enslaved as a means of social control. The authors clearly overlooked the fact that Europeans used Christianity to justify the African American slave trade and slavery in the United States. Although many of the religions practiced in the United States contain a heteronormative perspective and do not support homosexuality, more churches throughout the nation have become open to incorporating same-sex marriage services.

Pariah

1.      I recently read the book Wonder by RJ Palacio. The story is about a boy named August that was born with a serious facial deformity, causing him to spend the first 10 years of his life having 27surgeries and being homeschooled. People had different reactions to his face, most treated Auggie as a pariah, as if even touching him would give them some sort of disease. Others were kind to him, understanding the difficulty of his situation. I was reminded of this book when I read an article, Why I hate Being a Black Man. The image presented by society of black men is one of fear. People have obvious reactions around a black man; they become closed off and wary of what he might do. They assume that he is a thug and a druggy; dangerous. There are not only prejudices against black men, but also women. There are different assumptions associated with black women, though. Examples include, inherent loudness, aggressiveness, and they are often hyper-sexualized.

In the article, Orville says, “the truth is, the image of blackness is ugly—at least it's perceived that way. There is nothing special or wonderful about being a black male—it is a life of misery and shame,” (Douglas). This shame comes when workers or managers follow you around or watch you closely in a store, or a women holds her purse a little closer passing you on the street, and having to work harder to get a job due to the stereotype associated with your race. Orville recounts his experiences riding the bus, “Every time I sit on a crowded street car, bus or subway train, I know I will have an empty seat next to me,” (Douglas). To me, this is something that seems normal. I find that often people will choose to sit alone rather than close to a stranger, but then I thought about how crowded a bus may be. “It's like a broken record. Sometimes I don't mind having the extra space, but other times I feel awkward, uncomfortable and annoyed,” (Douglas). This particular part makes me wonder if people are not simply choosing not to sit next to him, but going out of their way to avoid it; for example, choosing to stand or squish in with others. Just like young Auggie was treated as less than human because of his deformity, African Americans are often treated the same; like a disease.

Citation

Douglass, O.L. (2013). Why I hate Being a Black Man. http://www.theroot.com/articles/culture/2013/11/_why_i_hate_being_a_black_man.2.html

Rhodes

Two of the first things I was told about Rhodes were that it is a diverse campus and the campus as a whole is very involved in the community. Both of these statements are true in some ways, but also deceiving. While there are racially, religiously, economically, and etc. diverse students, the ratio of difference is skewed in one direction; Rhodes campus is mostly comprised of white upper class students. In addition, like-students tend to stick together. In other words, the campus can be some-what segregated, which causes some issues throughout the campus. Students take full advantage of their right to express their opinions, and can be very insensitive towards others that may be effected or offended by these opinions. I am a firm believer in the freedom of speech. On the other hand, I have a lot of issues with our society and societal norms today in addition to the campus climate at Rhodes. The United States was founded on the basis of freedom; freedom of speech, freedom of choice, etc. In zooming out, I think that people have the right to their opinions whether I agree with them or not. Zooming in, on a more personal level, I also think that it is important to be considerate of those around you. On a small campus such as Rhodes it is inappropriate to be posting things such as “build the wall” amongst other things students have posted concerning race. There are students on campus that have first-hand experience with crossing the border or have family members and friends who live with the fear of being deported. In posting things such as these, it, I feel, becomes a personal attack. There is an understood line that should not be crossed, and often times it is at the expense of others.

For example, the recent Trump comments written throughout the campus, or the Facebook comments during the recent campus elections. I related to what Ashley was saying in class the other day. Each time there is an incident that enrages students or causes issues throughout the campus, the college is quick to throw together a town hall meeting, or discussion for students to come and feel heard, but no real changes have been made. Something that students may not grasp, is that it is really in our hands to force the changes we call for. Professors are here to aid us in any way they can, but the professors are paid by the school, there is something to lose. For us, we pay the school to be here. Some may think, “I’m just here for four years, I can tough it out,” but if one is willing to stand by and accept the circumstances during a time in their lives when they have a say, then they will be “toughing it out” for the rest of their lives. I for one, will not be doing that.