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Census to Test “Negro” Removal

richard

Updated January 9

Inclusion of Out-of-Favor Term Prompts Criticism

In Shakeup, Robin Washington Named Editor in Duluth

Nicole Beharie Returns Prize; Black Critics Group Splits

NABJ to Consider Leaving Accreditation Council

ASNE Fixes Diversity Panel That Lacked Diversity

NAJA Leader Blasts Michael Steele’s “Injun” Remark

Columnists Unanimous on Gilbert Arenas’ Gunplay

“Much of Freelancing Has Become All Too Free”

Sam Cooke Documentary Debuts Monday on PBS

Short Takes

 

Students at St. Louis’ Gateway Math and Science Elementary School work on a census lesson during the launch of the Census in Schools program, which plans to reach all 118,000 schools and 56 million students nationwide (Credit: U.S. Census Bureau.)

Inclusion of Out-of-Favor Term Prompts Criticism

The Census Bureau, criticized by some journalists, bloggers and others this week for including the term “Negro” among the choices for self-identification on the 2010 Census forms, announced Friday that, “A test embedded in the 2010 Census will measure the effect of removing the term ‘Negro’ on reports about a person’s racial identity.¬†

“The results will be used to inform design changes for future surveys and the 2020 Census. In the 2000 Census, more than 50,000 persons chose to write down explicitly that they identified themselves as ‘Negro,’ ” the announcement continued.

Some bloggers and journalists this week criticized the inclusion of “Negro” among the racial choices on the census form as offensive or confusing, while some headline writers simply had fun with it. “Negro” fell victim to the push for self-definition during the black-power movement of the late 1960s. It recalls the days when “urban renewal” was nicknamed “Negro removal,” though the term lives on in the names of such organizations as the National Council of Negro Women and the United Negro College Fund.

“Are You a Negro?” asked a New York magazine headline on Wednesday.

“So the census lists ‘Negro’ but not Octaroon? Haters,” tweeted Baratunde Thurston, Web editor for the satirical publication the Onion.

The discussion also exposed a bit of ignorance.

“Census public information officer Robert Crockett tells us that the word ‘Negro’ has been on Census forms since at least 1950,” Mark Memmott wrote on his National Public Radio blog, “The Two-Way.”

“I can’t believe the bureau is still using the offensive term Negro. And what is the difference between black and African-American?” blogged James E. Causey, editorial writer and columnist for the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.

The Associated Press stylebook provides one answer to the latter. Under “African-American,” it says, “The terms are not necessarily interchangeable. People from Caribbean nations, for example, generally refer to themselves as Caribbean-American. Follow a person’s preference.” Not to mention that there are blacks in and from Africa, Europe and other non-American continents.

In providing an additional explanation for its decision, the Census Bureau used an argument advanced by those who earlier demanded that the news media use “black,” and later “African American“: that people should be called what they want to be called.

“The Census Bureau included the term ‘Negro’ because testing prior to Census 2000 indicated that numbers of respondents self-identified with this term. Census 2000 data showed that 56,175 respondents wrote in the term ‘Negro’ in response to the question on race, even though the term was included in the category label for a checkbox. This does not include the unknown numbers of respondents who may have checked the box ‘Black, African Am., or Negro’ because of the presence of the ‘Negro’ identifier.

“Research in the 2000s did not include studies of the effect of dropping ‘Negro’ from the list ‘Black, African Am., or Negro’ on responses. Such research is important to avoid unanticipated consequences of changing question wording on the outcome of a census. As stated above, this research will be conducted as part of the 2010 decennial census.”

In Shakeup, Robin Washington Named Editor in Duluth

In a shakeup at the Duluth (Minn.) News Tribune, Robin Washington, a veteran journalist and former board member of the National Association of Black Journalists and Unity: Journalists of Color, on Friday was named the company’s editor.¬†

Washington was news director, second in command of the news operation, and before that, editorial page editor.

The appointment comes as a change of pace at a time when more journalists of color have been losing their jobs than being promoted to top ones, although Washington’s promotion resulted from a layoff of the executive editor.

“News Tribune Publisher Ken Browall released the following statement,” the paper reported on its Web site:

“‘Effective today the company has restructured management within the Editorial and Circulation Departments, resulting in the elimination of two management positions at the News Tribune. Executive Editor Rob Karwath and Circulation Manager Tim McLoughlin have been laid off.

“Both of these individuals have made significant contributions to the News Tribune during their careers. These were difficult business decisions. I will miss Rob and Tim both personally and professionally.’ “

“Robin Washington, who served as the News Tribune’s news director, will be the company’s editor, Browall said in the statement.”

“Robin Washington grew up in Chicago in a family of black and Jewish civil rights activists,” he begins his online biography. “Participating in sit-ins and protests when he was three years old, today he recalls those events fondly as ‘family outings.’

“He received the 1996 Silver Gavel Award from the American Bar Association as creator and executive producer of ‘You Don‚Äôt Have to Ride Jim Crow!,’ a national public television documentary telling the story of the first interracial Freedom Ride in 1947.

“. . . He was previously a columnist for the Boston Herald, authoring the newspaper‚Äôs popular ‘Roads Scholar’ and ‘Square Deal’ features, and spent two years covering the Catholic Church clergy sexual abuse scandal. . . . He also worked on the Boston Herald sports staff.

“He was publisher and founder of an engineering journal, editor of a 500,000 circulation women‚Äôs magazine, publisher of a rural Minnesota weekly and managing editor of the Bay State Banner, New England‚Äôs largest black weekly.”

Washington, 53, a former president of the Boston Association of Black Journalists, has also been NABJ’s parliamentarian, a board member of Unity, and a commentator on National Public Radio. The son of a black father and a white, Jewish mother, Washington helped organize the Alliance of Black Jews in 1995. That organization has just reformed via Facebook, he told Journal-isms on Friday.

The News Tribune is a former Knight Ridder property now owned by Forum Communications Co., based in Fargo, N.D.

Nicole Beharie Returns Prize; Black Critics Group Splits

“Nicole Beharie, the gifted actress from ‘American Violet,’ has decided to return her award from the African American Film Critics” Association,¬† Roger Friedman reported Friday for the Hollywood Reporter’s Showtime 411 blog.

In reaction to the controversy over the award, “Three founding members of the AAFCA ‚Äî Shawn Edwards of FOX-TV, Wilson Morales of Blackfilm.com/AOL Blackvoices and Mike Sargent WBAI-FM/Tor.com ‚Äî have seceded and formed a new group, the Black Film Critics Circle,” Melena Ryzik reported late Friday for the New York Times.

Friedman wrote of Beharie, “She‚Äôs sent me this email via her publicist: ‘I‚Äôve been informed that there was a disagreement over the AAFCA Best Actress Award. Because of the discrepancy, I am returning the award. Gabourey Sidibe is an extraordinary actress in a film that I absolutely loved. I wish her all the best.’¬†

“You may recall that on December 22, 2009 I wrote about the controversy within the AAFCA. Members of the group were furious because Gabourey Sidibe, of ‘Precious,’ actually finished first on the majority of the ballots. For reasons that are unclear, the group‚Äôs chief, Gil Robertson, instead announced Beharie as the winner.”

As reported on Dec. 28, Robertson denied allegations that Sidibe was denied the group’s “Best Actress” award, attributing the charges to disgruntled former members.

Robertson told Journal-isms on Saturday that he had not received notification that Beharie had returned the award, wished the new group well, and said:

“AAFCA stands behind its collective decision to honor Ms. Beharie with their highest acting honors for her performance in ‘American Violet.’ AAFCA regrets that the actions and accusations of four of its former members [have] tainted the joy of this recognition.

“Mr. Tennenbaum, Ms. Beharie‚Äôs manager, threatened to release a statement ‘giving back’ the award if the organization didn‚Äôt show him the ballots. AAFCA balloting has been secret since 2003, and will continue to be so.

“We had hoped that Ms. Beharie [would keep] her 2009 AAFCA Award for Best Actress with full confidence that it was given by a majority of the org‚Äôs membership for her riveting performance.”

Morales told the Times, “There was nothing gray, there was no close vote.”¬† Asked why Robertson might have changed the vote, Morales said: “We never got an explanation, we don‚Äôt know.”

The Times story added, “The new group, which includes five other former AAFCA members from around the country, will officially make its debut on Feb. 1 for Black History Month, and will name its 10 best films each year, in addition to other prizes.” [Added Jan. 9]

NABJ to Consider Leaving Accreditation Council

The National Association of Black Journalists is considering pulling out of the major accrediting council for college journalism, a decision that would leave none of the journalist of color organizations on the body.

The Asian American Journalists Association, the National Association of Hispanic Journalists, the National Lesbian and Gay Journalists Association and NABJ sat on the Accrediting Council on Education in Journalism and Mass Communication as one way to ensure that diversity remains a priority in college journalism programs, both in staffing and curriculum.

The groups fought to be included, but finances have become an issue.

“We are taking a second look at any expense that is not an essential service,” Kathy Times, president of NABJ, told Journal-isms on Friday. “The board will be approving the NABJ budget this month and will decide if it wants to continue paying $4,000 for the ACEJMC membership.”

When AAJA withdrew in 2006, the dues were $5,000. AAJA cited the cost, and the then-accreditation council president, Saundra Keyes, flew to the association’s annual meeting in Hawaii to urge it to stay. NAHJ left in 2007 “in protest over their failure to vigorously apply the standards that would have been required for significant diversity gains in the 10 years of our membership.” The same year, NLGJA decided to leave, but reversed itself.

Jackie Jones, NABJ’s longtime representative on the council, opposes withdrawal.

“I know that the Accrediting Council dues are a big nut for any organization, especially a nonprofit service organization like NABJ. That said, I believe it is important that NABJ is at the table,” she said. “We are the only minority industry association still there and besides bragging rights, I honestly believe we’ve been a valuable presence.

“ACEJMC is committed to diversity and I don’t expect that to change, but NABJ’s mission is not only to see that black professionals are in the industry and are valued and sought out as major contributors, but also to see that black students are recruited, retained, trained and graduated into the industry and that the message of diversity is clearly represented throughout programs of journalism and mass comm, from students and faculty to curriculum and ‚Äî whether directly or by influence ‚Äî in student media.”

Referring to historically black colleges and universities, she said, “The accreditation process opens a window through which NABJ can see how to assist HBCU programs seeking accreditation, if necessary, and to assist majority programs that are struggling to meet the diversity standard. It’s a great way to partner with the academic community and while I understand NABJ’s financial picture, I think it is important that we remain on the Council.”

Other journalists and educators of color are still on the panel, however, including a representative of the Black College Communication Association. Peter Bhatia of the Oregonian in Portland, who of South Asian descent, is president of the council and Jannette Dates, dean of the John H. Johnson School of Communications at Howard University, who is African American, is vice president.

From left: David Boardman, Thom Fladung, Susan Goldberg and Bernard Lunzer

 

ASNE Fixes Diversity Panel That Lacked Diversity

“Diversity and downsizing: Can the two coexist?” asked the promotion for a Jan. 26 panel to be conducted by the American Society of News Editors.

Pictured were three panelists — David Boardman, Thom Fladung, Bernard Lunzer — and its moderator, Susan Goldberg.

A member of the National Association of Hispanic Journalists wrote Journal-isms asking, “Is it me or I am missing something. What‚Äôs wrong with this picture?”

All the panelists were white, as they are in many such panels assembled throughout the industry. But this time, when called to the sponsor’s attention, the response was different.

“You’re right,” responded Richard Karpel, ASNE’s executive director. “We made a mistake by not including a person of color. We’re going to rectify that. Debra Adams Simmons, managing editor of the Cleveland Plain Dealer and former editor of the Akron Beacon Journal, will join the panel. We will also seek a representative from AAJA,” the Asian American Journalists Association. “Thanks for bringing it to our attention.” Adams Simmons is African American.

NAJA Leader Blasts Michael Steele’s “Injun” Remark

“The head of the Native American Journalists Association is calling on Michael Steele to apologize for his ‘scurrilous tongue’ in the wake of a derogatory statement the RNC Chairman made about Native Americans,” as Sam Stein wrote Friday for the Huffington Post.

“Ronnie Washines, who heads the association, accused Steele of resorting to ‘uneducated archaic racist remarks’ when he used the phrase ‘Honest Injun’ on Sean Hannity’s radio show to underscore his support for the RNC’s document of principles.

‚ÄúI am thoroughly outraged that the leader of the National Republican Party would use such repulsive language on national television,” Washines said.

“Those of us in journalism have tirelessly worked to ensure that political leaders, newsrooms and the public be respectful to all cultures when speaking [publicly]. Michael Steele‚Äôs scurrilous tongue does no service to his group and only undermines the positive work of those who sincerely seek to respect one another in all of our working relationships. I urge Michael Steele to carefully word a sincere apology to the Native American community, which could help stop such uneducated archaic racist remarks from being made in the future. We here at NAJA are available to assist him and his organization with obtaining an accurate understanding of Native America.‚Äù¬†

Stein noted, “Washines’s rebuke comes days after similar push back was offered by Rep. Dale Kildee, (D-Mich), who co-chairs the Congressional Native American Caucus.”

Columnists Unanimous on Gilbert Arenas’ Gunplay

“It’s difficult to imagine any more laughter coming from Gilbert Arenas on this matter of having guns in the locker room,” the hometown columnist, Michael Wilbon of the Washington Post, wrote Thursday about the Washington Wizards’ star player.

“It’s safe to assume there will be no more pulling a fake trigger for the cameras, no more Twittering, no more seeing this gun episode as another prank. Even Arenas knows the laughter stops when NBA Commissioner David Stern says you are suspended indefinitely. Wednesday, funny turned into career threatening.”

J. Freedom du Lac, a Post colleague, reported Friday, “In Washington, the story of Gilbert Arenas and his guns is yet another in a long line of sports embarrassments for a town that has a tough time finding winners. But in the rest of the country, the news that the Washington Wizards’ star guard displayed his guns in the team locker room ‚Äî and the utter lack of seriousness with which Arenas and his teammates handled the incident in the ensuing days ‚Äî is being perceived as a morality play about thuggish behavior in the NBA, race and the age-old debate over athletes’ responsibility to young fans.”

“Much of Freelancing Has Become All Too Free”

“Today’s reality is that much of freelancing has become all too free,” media writer James Rainey wrote Wednesday for the Los Angeles Times.

“Seasoned professionals have seen their income drop by 50% or more as publishers fill the Web’s seemingly limitless news hole, drawing on the ever-expanding rank of under-employed writers.

“The crumbling pay scales have not only hollowed out household budgets but accompanied a pervasive shift in journalism toward shorter stories, frothier subjects and an increasing emphasis on fast, rather than thorough.

” ‘There are a lot of stories that are being missed, not just at legacy newspapers and TV stations but in the freelance world,’ said Nick Martin, 27, laid off a year ago by the East Valley Tribune in Mesa, Ariz., and now a freelancer. ‘A lot of publications used to be able to pay freelancers to do really solid investigations. There’s just not much of that going on anymore.’

“Another writer, based in Los Angeles, said she has been troubled by the lighter fare that many websites prefer to drive up traffic. A new take on any youth obsessions (‘Put “Twilight” in the headline, get paid’) has much more chance of winning editorial approval than more complex or substantive material.

“The rank of stories unwritten ‚Äî like most errors of omission ‚Äî is hard to conceive. Even those inside journalism can only guess at what stories they might have paid for, if they had more money.”

With ‘You Send Me’ in 1957, Sam Cooke became the first African American to reach No. 1 on both the R&B and pop charts. (Video)

Sam Cooke Documentary Debuts Monday on PBS

After Sam Cooke was shot to death at age 32 in 1964, his record company told listeners that “Sam Cooke lives on in his songs.” Every time “A Change Is Gonna Come,” “You Send Me” or “Chain Gang” airs, it proves the company right.

On Monday, PBS’ “American Masters” series debuts “Sam Cooke: Crossing Over,” an hour documentary on a gospel-turned-pop singer who, the documentary says, was the first black crossover singer, the first African American to have his own record label, the first black man to go to RCA Records with a $1 million contract, and a man who, in 1963, had stopped straightening his hair and refused to appear at segregated concerts.

Made over 10 years, the film features Danny Glover, Muhammad Ali, Herb Alpert, James Brown, Dick Clark, Smokey Robinson, Jerry Wexler, Billy Preston and others, some of whom died before the film could be completed. Check local listings for airtimes.

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