Comments on: What Do You See When You Watch This?

By: dave crockett

dave crockett — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 23:58:25 +0000

I feel you. I think a lot of these white people–at least those living within shouting distance of black people–know, or at least have heard of stepping. This is all just an act of otherizing, of maximizing the social distance between us and them. There howls of “Nazi this” and “terrorist fist bump that” are a feigned ignorance; not unlike the audience in minstrel shows of an earlier time, laughing simultaneously at the otherness and the familiarity of “those” people.

By: Bronze Trinity

Bronze Trinity — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 22:11:05 +0000

I think its okay as long as the kids volunteered for the club and were not forced into it.There's nothing wrong with taking an interest in politics and whats going on with your country. Its more constructive than many other things. If kids can join youth Republican and Democrat groups then this should be okay. They are just doing fraternity stuff (some people might not understand that and think its a militant thing). They are just stomping or stepping.

By: dave crockett

dave crockett — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 20:58:25 +0000

By: Bronze Trinity

Bronze Trinity — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 19:11:05 +0000

By: ljf

ljf — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 17:07:21 +0000

I agree with you. As a public school teacher you can not endorse any political candidate in a capacity as a school employee. You can not do any proselytizing in a role as a school teacher. I learned that a few years ago as a neighborhood outreach person. Another colleague of mind use give parents her business cards for them to reach her in the school office. She had the cards made and it had a line from the scripture. She had given the district supervisor one of her cards. The district supervisor told her she could not give out her cards because the biblical quote. She also warn her that she could loose her job over that. Our supervisor told us that we could not promote our religious or political views while working in the capacity of public school officials. That is one of the reason why that Sheriff in Texas got into hot water.

BTW, I do neighborhood out reach all day everyday at my job. Don't you how much I want to “get out the vote”. But I can not.

By: Rhondacoca

Rhondacoca — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:18:35 +0000

Also, there are plenty of schools esp one with a lot of black students who have focused poltical science, history and just everyday activities around Senator Obama.

By: Rhondacoca

Rhondacoca — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 14:10:41 +0000

Yea, suspending teachers who inspire minority students has always been an offense.

It just happened this year in Watts which made a few news outlets, my friend was suspended from a school in brooklyn on Monday which made no news.

By: Anovelista

Anovelista — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:31:57 +0000

I see your point with a political candidate/middle schoolers. However, my bigger problem is the zero lack of knowledge that allowed the wingnuts to compare the kids to “Nazis in training” and a “cult.” Just another example of how little they know about black people. If a black married couple does a fist bump, it's a “terrorist” fist bump. A group of black kids stepping are like “Nazis” or in a cult. That's my biggest issue.

By: dave crockett

dave crockett — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:20:25 +0000

I feel you on the ignorant stuff people say about stepping. No question. But fair is fair. You can't form an organization that pays tribute to a political candidate with middle schoolers. It would be a different matter entirely were Obama mentioned as part of a larger tribute of inspirational black people–which to my mind would have been FAR more appropriate–but it appears he is the reason for the organization's existence. That was just unwise. You can't just hand a killer a reason to shoot you AND the gun then look surprised at the bullethole in your chest. On this one you could hardly even blame the school for suspending this fool if for no other reason than to try to head off the inevitable Fox News shitstorm this is sure to stir up.

I want the brother to win too, but some of this Obamaholism really does get to just be too doggone much. Like I said above, people on this blog would be 20 different kinds of pissed if a similar tribute to McCain featuring white middle schoolers from some all-white suburb showed up on You Tube. We can do better than that.

By: dave crockett

dave crockett — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 13:03:23 +0000

“It would have been a different situation if the young men were still stepping and came out and said: “Because of Langston Hughes, I want to be a writer.” “Because of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, I want to be a surgeon.” “Because of Paul Robeson, I want to be a performer.”"

Yup. Right idea. Unwise execution. And, the teacher didn't need to center it around Obama per se to produce the same result. Nice tribute, but damn. If this were an all white middle school in a Kansas City suburb like Raytown or exurb like Olathe, KS and the teacher started an afterschool band and had the kids singing “Drill Baby Drill” I'd be kinda salty about my tax dollars going for that. Even if Obama were one of the inspirational sources mentioned I think the grounds for suspension would have been less clear cut. (Although it is Kansas City. So I can't say for sure whether the basis for suspension was merely having a congregation of black males in the same room with fists clenched. Sorry. I grew up in St. Louis and I just can't help picking on my barefooted neighbors to the west.)

By: J.Adia

J.Adia — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:17:49 +0000

I thank this teacher for giving these young men something contructive to do and also for reinforcing that there are other professions outside of entertainment and sports that they should aspire to do. I was very impressed by the brother who said he wants to be the next chemical engineer. Go him! Chemistry kicked my butt in undergrad! My hope with this election is that other young black men get inspired to seek the professions these young men spoke of.

By: Melinda

Melinda — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 12:04:39 +0000

What do I see? The next generation of self-disciplined, educated, community-minded young men. Thank you, suspended teacher, for trying to do something good in this world.

By: spirit_55z

spirit_55z — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 11:59:52 +0000

Good for you Jelana! I got to see Barack in St. Paul in June on the last day of the primaries. I'd recommend you take a copy of his book for signing. I waved 3 copies of “The Audacity of Hope,” and he signed all three of them. 1 for my 85 year old dad, and my 2 daughters. It was awesome!

By: Superhussy

Superhussy — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 08:51:24 +0000

The teacher was suspended because it is a public school, which utilizes public funds and the teacher is seen as pushing political views on the students -- Obama. It isn't as if this was the Young Democrat Club and they were doing research on the democratic party and prepared speeches about various democrats including Obama.

You cannot form political groups at a middle school. You just can't.

What's really sad, IMHO, is that it takes Obama to get these young men to begin to think about their futures when their are plenty of black men (living or dead) who could have been used as inspiration.

It would have been a different situation if the young men were still stepping and came out and said: "Because of Langston Hughes, I want to be a writer." "Because of Dr. Daniel Hale Williams, I want to be a surgeon." "Because of Paul Robeson, I want to be a performer."

By: GreenLadyHere

GreenLadyHere — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:29:30 +0000

rikyrah: When I first commented on this, I stated that I liked the concept for its EDUCATIONAL VALUE. These students are to be commended for their disciplined performance and the knowledge that they acquired.

I don't know the "RULE" that was alleged to have been violated. Sadly, the teacher could have taped this after school in order to preserve her job.

This will come out, I'm believin'

Obama-Biden'08!!

By: WATCH US EXPLODE

WATCH US EXPLODE — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 04:08:37 +0000

To those not at all familiar with black fraternities and “stepping,” this probably looks scary – especially in the current political climate. Ignorance breeds fear.

When we live in a country as divided as this one is along racial lines, we don't learn enough about each other, and this kind of thing happens, which is unfortunate.

That the teacher was actually suspended is perplexing.

By: Anovelista

Anovelista — Fri, 10 Oct 2008 03:02:19 +0000

This is the reaction I just posted on Twitter:

Steppers For Obama! Racist nutjobs lost their sh*t. F 'em! Stepping is Black Greek tradition http://tinyurl.com/3vkhak

For folks that don't get it - read The Divine Nine: The History of African American Fraternities and Sororities

http://tinyurl.com/4g7qmq

If Americans knew the whole of American History which includes Black History (http://www.blackpast.org/), the stepping would not have been a mystery and the teacher would not have been suspended. We are treated as foreigners in our own land (ex. Katrina survivors being referred to as "refugees".)