July 23, 2015
By James Clingman
NNPA Columnist
Now that the confederate flag has been taken down, complete with honor guard and pomp and circumstance, what are Black folks going to do now? Another question is, “What does the math of the aftermath look like?” Everything boils down to economics/business at some point, so let’s take a look at the past few weeks to see what has really taken place.
After all the bluster, the tears, the rallies, the sermons, the rhymes, and the confrontations between pro- and anti-flag folks, the sales of confederate flags show an exponential increase. Like never before, folks are driving around with two and sometimes more flags attached to and unfurled on their vehicles.
Stores that sell the flags experienced Christmas in July when it came to their sales revenues. The flag was in high demand, and still is. Thus, the math connected to the aftermath of the flag controversy has already resulted in profits for those who sell it, Walmart’s and Amazon’s decision to discontinue sales notwithstanding. Confederate flag hats, shirts, posters, underwear, etc. have suddenly experienced high demand as well. I am not mad at those folks for profiting from the flag. It’s simply part of the “After-Math” involved in protests and other collective strivings. I can hear the storeowners now saying, “Yee-Haaaah!” as they make their way to the bank.
Now let’s look at the “After-Math” for Black folks. First, the discussion of the flag literally overshadowed the fact that nine Black folks had been killed by Dylann Roof. If that flag had not been in the photos of him, it would not have even come up as an issue and would probably still be flying on the state capitol grounds. It became the focus of our attention rather than the victims of that heinous crime, as if the flag made this guy go to that church and shoot these people. Heck, if the flag had that much power, there would be a lot more us dead from its mesmerizing allure and gravitational pull on mass murderers of Black people.
Many Blacks are now left with a feeling of euphoric victory because the flag is down; they have called off a 15-year boycott of the state and the NCAA announced it has lifted its ban on holding championship events there. Uh oh, here comes the money. What will South Carolina Black vendors and contractors get from that?
On several occasions, I saw South Carolina State Senator Marlon Kimpson saying on CNN that the most important thing for Black people in his state is economic empowerment. He warned that folks should never lose sight of that, even in the aftermath of such a tragedy. Of course, he is right, but will Black folks have seats on the money train coming through the state because the flag is gone?
I had the privilege of speaking to a group of Black business owners in Columbia, S.C. on July 11, after which many of the attendees shared their feelings about the flag controversy. Their words were similar to Kimpson’s. They felt the flag was a distraction, a diversion to what is really important to Black people as we try to survive and thrive in the land of plenty. They know what time is it. I told them now’s the time to really test Gov.Haley’s compassion and empathy for Black people. I suggested they go to her and make demands for reciprocity for their tax dollars by opening up the channels for economic inclusion in government purchasing and development.
Now that the private sector has shown its willingness to capitulate to the pressure, go to them and demand they also capitulate to calls for equity in their construction, professional services, and supplier deals. In other words, Blacks in South Carolina should do the “After-Math” of the flag brouhaha and make sure their benefit is more than just a good feeling. And what about the University of South Carolina, which makes a tremendous amount of money from the participation by Black athletes in their various programs? How many Black companies have contracts with that school?
Black folks celebrated the unveiling of the MLK statue, but a Chinese man got the $10 million to sculpt it, and used stone not from Elberton, Ga., but from China. Each year thousands of people go to Selma and stand on the bridge, crying and making speeches; from their vantage point they can see 40 percent poverty in the town they celebrate. What is the economic “After-Math” of 50 years of that?
The beat goes on with superfluous issues such as flags and now maybe even the carved images on Stone Mountain, but in the aftermath of these kinds of symbolic victories, Black folks must also take a very close look at the “After-Math.”
Jim Clingman, founder of the Greater Cincinnati African American Chamber of Commerce, is the nation’s most prolific writer on economic empowerment for Black people. He can be reached through his website, blackonomics.com. He is the author of Black Dollars Matter: Teach Your Dollars How to Make More Sense, which is available through his website; professionalpublishinghouse.com and Amazon Kindle eBooks.
July 16, 2015
BY JESSE JACKSON
Recently, the Confederate battle flag came down on the South Carolina Statehouse grounds. This symbolic, long overdue gesture has significant meaning. The flag celebrated the sedition, slavery and secession of the Civil War. When Robert E. Lee surrendered, that flag was furled. It was raised over the statehouse in 1961 to celebrate segregation, suppression and states’ rights. Previous efforts to remove it failed. Former Gov. David Beasley called for it to come down, and probably lost his re-election as a result. Even after the triumph of the Civil Rights Movement, South Carolina burnished this symbol of racial division.
This symbolic victory came in the wake of bloodshed: the murders of the Emanuel Nine, brutally slain while in church at a prayer meeting. It came because of the amazing grace of the relatives of the slain, offering forgiveness to the hateful killer who shot the nine in cold blood. It came because of the leadership and courage of the governor, Nikki Haley, who stood up and spoke out in the wake of the horror, calling on the legislature to take the flag down. It came because of the pressure of the Chamber of Commerce and business leaders — from Boeing, Volkswagen and others — making it clear that they would find it difficult to invest in a South Carolina still intent on honoring this symbol of racial division.
The question now is whether South Carolina can discard not just the symbol of the flag but also the substance of the flag’s agenda. Can the governor now grasp this moment to lead in resurrecting the South?
Bringing down the flag has opened the way. The NCAA lifted its ban on post-season championship events in South Carolina, a decision that could produce millions in tourist revenue. New investments are likely to go forward now that the flag is down. Last month, Gov. Haley signed into law a bill requiring police to wear body cameras, putting the state in the national leadership on that issue. But much more needs to be done.
South Carolina is one of the states that chose to reject the expansion of Medicaid offered by Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, even though the federal government would pick up virtually all of the expense. It turned its back on $12 billion over the next five years, money that its hospitals and health system desperately needs. It deprived over 160,000 of its working people, more whites than blacks, from getting health insurance. Surely this is the time to reverse that decision.
South Carolina has joined other Southern states in erecting voter ID laws designed to make voting more difficult, with disproportionate impact on the elderly, people of color and the poor. This too was discriminatory in effect and in intent. The more extreme North Carolina law is now being challenged in the Supreme Court. South Carolina could lead the South in reforming its laws to ease registration and voting rather than restricting it. South Carolina’s Republican representatives in Congress tend to support their party’s assault on public investment. The U.S. Army Corps of Engineers has just announced that it plans to go forward with a project to deepen the port at Charleston. South Carolina will benefit greatly if the ports at Charleston and Jasper are able to handle the larger modern container ships. As the state benefits from federal investment in its ports, surely it is time for its representatives to push for greater public investment in infrastructure, and not continue to starve it.
Gov. Haley could be the determining force. She has focused on jobs, driving an agenda designed to make South Carolina attractive to business. She has demonstrated leadership in regard to the flag. She’s announced her commitment to save South Carolina State University, a historically black college, appointing a new board to help dig it out of the hole it is in.
She has earned the good will of the vast majority of South Carolina citizens and businesses. Now she can turn that authority to making South Carolina a leader of the new South.
July 09, 2015
By Lekan Oguntoyinbo
NNPA Columnist
Over a picture of two bearded tuxedo-clad men kissing, a Nigerian-born acquaintance of mine posted the following on Facebook: “May I, my children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren never be part of this abominable act.”
A short piece that’s been particularly popular among English-speaking Africans on social media for months, reads:
“(Whites), you asked us to wear (suits) under the hot sun and we did. You said we should speak your language and we obediently dumped ours. You said our ladies should wear dead people’s hair instead of the natural ones the Lord gave to them and they obeyed. You said our decent gals should wear catapults instead of conventional pants and they obeyed. Now you want our men to sleep with fellow men and our women with fellow women…We will not agree with you this time. If you like keep your (foreign) aid.”
Yes, same-sex relationships get significantly less buy-in from Blacks around the world, including here in the United States.
In the wake of the recent U.S. Supreme Court ruling effectively legalizing same-sex marriages, there’s been a lot of talk about the possibility of a ripple effect, possibility extending to some of the world’s most conservative regions, including Africa and the Middle East. Twenty countries, including Canada, the United Kingdom, Norway, Denmark, Argentina, Spain and South Africa already had laws on the books sanctioning gay marriages before America’s high court ruled.
But none of these countries carry the global clout of the United States.
Still, it’s hard to see how that clout will influence the African continent and the Muslim world, where negative attitudes toward homosexuality are the most conservative in the world.
According to a 2013 Pew Research Center survey, Africa is less accepting of same-sex relationships than any other continent. In Sub-Saharan Africa, nine in 10 people believe homosexuality should not be accepted by society. In Nigeria, 98 percent frown on it.
The numbers are 96 percent in Ghana, 96 percent in Uganda and 90 percent in Kenya. In South Africa, which is reputed to have the most progressive constitution in the world, 61 percent say it should not be accepted. And that figure is relatively low only because acceptance is significantly higher among Whites and Asians in the rainbow nation.
Over the years, leaders of many African countries have publicly blasted gays. Zimbabwe’s President Robert Mugabe once described gays as “worse than dogs or pigs and worse than organized addicts or even those given to bestiality.”
In a 2013 address before the United Nations General Assembly, Gambian President Yahya Jammeh called homosexuality “very evil, anti-human and against Allah.”
More than two-thirds of African countries have laws on the books criminalizing homosexual acts or same sex relationships. Six years ago, Uganda’s parliament proposed a bill calling for the death penalty for anyone who engaged in acts of “aggravated homosexuality.”
In 2013 Nigeria’s legislature passed a bill banning same sex marriage and the formation of gay rights organizations. In 2010 a court in Malawi sentenced two men to 14 years in prison for sodomy. The men were pardoned a couple of weeks later during the visit of United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon.
Here in the United States, Blacks are less likely than Whites and Hispanics to support gay marriage and are typically less accepting of homosexuality. A recent poll showed that 59 percent of Whites support same-sex marriage compared to 41 percent of Blacks.
Many academics have come up with an assortment of reasons to explain these racial differences in attitude, including religion and disparities in income and lower levels of educational attainment. But such explanations are simplistic. The majority of the most vociferous opponents of gay relationships in Black communities around the world are highly educated, well heeled and driven by a desire to strengthen families. Besides, such arguments fail to take into account other factors – custom, tradition and deeply held conservative views among Blacks about family and procreation – views that were once widely held in western culture and are still deeply entrenched among certain groups in this country, including evangelicals, Latter Day Saints and ultra orthodox Jews.
The United States, which for years has leaned on many African countries to show more tolerance toward gays, would be wise to tread carefully as it continues to expand its influence on the continent.
In the economic sphere, many African countries are finally starting to come into their own. Six of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world are in Africa. Several African countries, including Nigeria, are strategic allies of the United States in the war against terrorism.
Successfully fostering relationships will require understanding and, most important, respect of the culture and traditions of people of African descent.
Cultural Imperialism does not make for good partnerships.
Lekan Oguntoyinbo is an independent journalist. Contact him at This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it. . Follow him on Twitter @oguntoyinbo.
July 02, 2015
BY JESSE JACKSON
“It is time to move the flag from the capitol grounds.” With those words, South Carolina Gov. Nikki Haley captured the new understanding that came after the brutal murders of nine church members in the Emanuel AME Church in Charleston.
Over the weekend, I attended the emotionally draining funerals held for the slain. The governor attended each, receiving thanks for her commitment.
The blood of martyrs often changes the way we see. That was true after Emmett Till’s mutilated 14-year-old body was displayed in an open casket in 1955. It was true in 1963, after the four little girls were blown up in the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Ala. It was true after Dr. King was assassinated in Memphis. In South Carolina, the “amazing grace” of the relatives of the victims, directly offering the murderer forgiveness opened the way. The governor’s declaration on the flag took the first step. Now states and companies across the South are taking down the Confederate flags and putting them — so long a symbol of hate — into the museums where it belongs.
Removing the flag is long overdue. But for the crucifixion to turn into a resurrection will require removing the flag agenda, not just the flag, addressing the substance, not just the symbol. South Carolina — like many states of the old Confederacy — has refused to accept federal money to expand Medicaid. This deprives at least 160,000 lower-income workers of affordable health care, and costs an estimated 200 lives a year. It deprives the state of $12 billion in federal money from 2014 to 2020. That costs the state’s hospitals and medical facilities dearly. South Carolina could use this moment to accept the money and aid its workers, disproportionately people of color.
South Carolina is one of the states — aligning once more with many in the old Confederacy — to pass measures restricting the right to vote, particularly an onerous voter ID law, challenged by the NAACP and others as racially discriminatory. The state could express the consciousness by repealing this law.
South Carolina State University, the historically black college in Orangeburg, is imperiled. It remains open, still accredited but on probation due to its financial difficulties. The state has changed its leadership. Now is the time for the state to act boldly to rescue the only historically black college in the state.
As President Obama stated in his memorial address, we’ve had enough talk about race. Now is time for action. Action that will turn this act of terror into an era of new hope, this expression of the Old South into a reaffirmation of the New South, this crucifixion into a resurrection.
Action now is essential for the old forces of hate and division still exist. The Southern Poverty Law Center reports that five predominantly black churches have caught fire over the past week, four in the South and one in Ohio, apparent targets of arsonists. Only continued action to bring us together can insure that we overcome those who would use terror and fear to drive us apart.
Gov. Haley has shown the way. She didn’t wait for opinion polls. She didn’t put her finger into the wind to see which way it was blowing. She worried about her state, asking “How are we ever going to pull this back together.” And so she acted on the flag, starting a movement that is sweeping the South. Now the governor might show the way once more. Moving to pull the state together by acting on the substance of divisions as well as the symbols. The blood of the martyrs has once more forced us to look anew. Now is the time to act boldly to express this new consciousness.
Jesse L. Jackson is founder and president of the Rainbow PUSH Coalition.