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To Publisher, Southern White Man Is Real Victim

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“It Was a Ragged, Besmirched Flag, but It Was His”

Photo of Black Cop Helping White Racist Goes Viral

Little Progress, Some Retrenchment in TV, Radio News

Dori Maynard Among 11 NABJ Hall of Fame Inductees

21st Century Fox Gives Hampton U. $500K Challenge Grant

Cosby Loses His Last Artistic Supporter, a Film Producer

Few Latinos on Sunday Shows Talk Non-Immigration Issues

Why U.S. Blacks Should Explore Links With Afro-Cubans

Cornel West Tries Again in Critiquing Ta-Nehisi Coates

Short Takes

“It Was a Ragged, Besmirched Flag, but It Was His”

An astonishing number of Southern newspapers are calling for retiring the Confederate battle flag from public places and for re-examining the monuments, memorials and street names that exalt Confederate figures. In Anniston, Ala., on Sunday, however, H. Brandt Ayers, publisher of the Anniston Star, mourned the passing of the Confederate flag for a different reason.

In a signed editorial, Ayers wrote, “The white Southerner has no powerful friend to bolster his self-esteem and advocate for him. The Republicans take him for granted and the Democrats pretend he doesn’t exist. He has no caucus or monument in Washington. . . . It was a ragged and besmirched flag, but it was his.”

It isn’t difficult to find flaws in the logic that took the publisher to that point. Despite the heroics of black freedom fighters, free and enslaved, from the days of the American Revolution onward, Ayers asserted, “Blacks did not recover their self-respect until the victories of the civil rights movement of the 1950s and ’60s under the leadership of the great Dr. Martin Luther King Jr.“

Belief in white supremacy was stated in the secession declarations of Southern states, but Ayers wrote of his “fist-tightening anger. . . . at the Klansmen, other thugs and bullet-headed cops with Rebel license tags who kidnapped and cheapened an emblem of loss with honor and turned it into a symbol of hate and fear. . . .”

Although Reconstruction was dismantled by the successors to Abraham Lincoln, Ayers wrote that “there was no Marshall Plan to help the South recover. Instead, it was burdened by artificial freight rates that made refrigerators manufactured in Pittsburgh cheaper than ones made in Birmingham. . . .’

These assertions were offered to make a point: The loser in the takedown of the Confederate battle flag is the average Southern white man, a point applauded as brave by some journalists on Facebook Monday when the editorial was posted.

“He allows himself to be manipulated by sly Republicans, who recently offered a losing amendment to allow the Confederate flag to be flown at a few places on federal lands,” Ayers continued.

“Ignored or asked to live on a diet of shame for the South’s past sins, the working class white’s loyalty is won only by cunning play of the race card, and his flag. It was a ragged and besmirched flag, but it was his. Now it’s gone.

“I know it was right and timely to lower the flag, but somehow I don’t feel like celebrating.”

Meanwhile, some might detect a little Stockholm syndrome at work after reading a piece Monday by Clay Chandler of the Clarion-Ledger in Jackson, Miss. He wrote that “Anthony Hervey, a 49-year-old black man who spent several years parading around Oxford and Ole Miss in a Confederate uniform and waving the battle flag, died in a car accident Sunday.” 

“He leaves a legacy as bizarre as his public persona. He forced Mississippi’s flagship university to rethink its free speech policies. He was also charged with assault after an altercation with a student journalist.

“Hervey had already established himself as a supporter of the Confederate battle flag before the fall of 2000, but the period’s debate over the state flag, when a commission barnstormed the state to take the populace’s temperature on whether the banner needed changing, considerably raised his profile.

“The commission’s meetings often degenerated into shouted insults and threats. Hervey became so unruly at a forum in Jackson, Capitol Police had to escort him out of the room. . . .”

Photo of Black Cop Helping White Racist Goes Viral

“The Department of Public Safety’s top cop said a picture of him helping a white supremacist that went viral showed ‘who we are in South Carolina,’ ” Cynthia Roldan reported Monday for the Post and Courier in Charleston, S.C.

“DPS Director Leroy Smith was among several law enforcement agency heads — including State Law Enforcement Division Chief Mark Keel and Richland County Sheriff Leon Lott — working in uniform with their officers during Saturday’s Ku Klux Klan and Black Educators for Justice rallies at the Statehouse. . . .”

Roldan also wrote, “As Smith — who is black — helped the white supremacist to the top of the steps of the Statehouse and away from the ‘Famously Hot’ city’s blistering heat, Gov. Nikki Haley’s Deputy Chief of Staff Rob Godfrey snapped a picture of it and posted it on Twitter.

” ‘not an uncommon example of humanity in SC: Leroy Smith helps white supremacist to shelter & water as heat bears down,’ Godfrey tweeted.

“Social media posters jumped on the irony and humanity of the picture, retweeting it more than 5,000 times. Smith, a soft-spoken and affable man, downplayed his actions.

” ‘I have been somewhat surprised by how this photo has taken off and gone viral around the world,’ said Smith in a news release. ‘Our men and women in uniform are on the front lines every day helping people — regardless of the person’s skin color, nationality or beliefs. As law enforcement officers, service is at the heart of what we do.

“I believe this photo captures who we are in South Carolina and represents what law enforcement is all about. I am proud to serve this great state, and I hope this photo will be a catalyst for people to work to overcome some of the hatred and violence we have seen in our country in recent weeks.’ . . .”

Little Progress, Some Retrenchment in TV, Radio News

“The latest RTDNA/Hofstra University Annual Survey finds the minority workforce in TV news slid 0.2 to 22.2%… still the third highest level ever,” Bob Papper wrote Monday for the Radio Television Digital News Association. “And the minority workforce at non-Hispanic TV stations rose this year to the third highest level ever as well.

“The minority workforce in radio fell back from last year’s high,” continued Papper, who is emeritus distinguished professor of journalism at Hofstra University and conducts annual surveys for RTDNA.

“In TV, women news directors and women in the workforce both rose to the highest levels ever. The picture for women in radio news was more mixed.

“Still, as far as minorities are concerned, the bigger picture remains unchanged. In the last 25 years, the minority population in the U.S. has risen 11.5 points; but the minority workforce in TV news is up less than half that (4.4), and the minority workforce in radio is actually down by a full point. . . .”

Papper also wrote, “After three years of growth in 2009, 2010 and 2011, the percentage of minority news directors at non-Hispanic stations fell for the fourth year in a row. Three years ago, 10.7% of TV news directors at non-Hispanic stations were minorities; two years ago that dropped to 9.5%; last year it fell to 8.6%; this year, it’s down to 8.3%.

“Half (4.2%) of those were African American — about the same as last year; 1.9% were Hispanic — down another 0.6 from a year ago; 1.9% were Asian American — up half a point; and 0.4% were Native American — exactly the same as a year ago. Three-quarters of the news directors at Hispanic stations were Hispanic; 18.2% were Caucasian, and 6.2% were African American.

“After four years of growth, the percentage of minority news directors in radio plunged by the biggest one-year fall I can remember: six and a half points. Every ethnic group went down, and Asian American disappeared. . . .”

Dori Maynard Among 11 NABJ Hall of Fame Inductees

The National Association of Black Journalists Monday announced 11 inductees into its Hall of Fame, including Dori J. Maynard, the president of the Maynard Institute for Journalism Education who died this year, and Jacqueline Trescott, former Style section writer for the Washington Post who directed the institute’s Summer Program for Minority Journalists in 1982 and 1984, and worked several summers as an instructor.

The ceremony is scheduled for Dec. 16 in Washington as part of NABJ’s 40th Anniversary Gala. The inductees are:

21st Century Fox Gives Hampton U. $500K Challenge Grant

Hampton University’s Scripps Howard School of Journalism and Communications announced a $500,000 Challenge Grant Friday from 21st Century Fox, which calls itself the world’s leading portfolio of film and television brands.

“The funds, which are conditional on the school raising a matching amount of $500,000, will support activities inside the Scripps Howard School’s new Center for Innovation in Digital Media. Established through initial funding provided by the John S. and James L. Knight Foundation, the Center is designed to enable Hampton University students to learn about and explore new ways of gathering and distributing media content.”

“This grant exemplifies 21st Century Fox’s continuing mission to cultivate and nurture the next generation of storytellers on all platforms,” Julie Henderson, executive vice president and chief communications officer of 21st Century Fox, said in the announcement.

“The invaluable work done by Hampton’s Center for Innovation in Digital Media underscores the need to empower young people with the necessary tools to realize their dreams within the creative industries, and we are immensely proud to be a part of that process.”

The announcement also said, “The grant will cover, among other initiatives, digital media projects by students, which include producing research, business plans, media products such as apps, and also assist in placing graduates in digital media jobs.”

Cosby Loses His Last Artistic Supporter, a Film Producer

“Now that everyone from his agents to Whoopi Goldberg has publicly distanced themselves from him, and with even more details coming to light via The New York Times, Bill Cosby has lost what seems to be his last artistic supporter,” Joanna Robinson reported Monday for Vanity Fair.

“Nonie Robinson, the producer of Painted Down, a documentary about black stuntmen, told Deadline today they have cut Cosby loose.

“Back in November during the early stages of the controversy, Robinson remained loyal to Cosby, saying, ‘It’s all very sad and I support Mr. Cosby, who has been nothing but generous, kind and a mentor to me working in this project. I’ve never experienced anything but kindness from Mr. Cosby.’

“But the tide of public opinion has since shifted too far in the other direction, Robinson said. ‘Cosby is no longer attached to the project. We were the last project standing behind him, but now with Whoopi [Goldberg] and CAA [Creative Artists Agency] pulling the plug, we must also disassociate and cut all ties with Cosby. It’s the right thing to do in light of the recent court deposition being made public.’ . . .”

Sydney Ember and Graham Bowley reported Sunday for the Times, ‘Bill Cosby had a chef and a housekeeper, as well as pilots and a chauffeur.

“But we may never know what they saw.

“Four days of deposition testimony from a decade ago show Mr. Cosby as an unapologetic philanderer in a calculated pursuit of young women.

“But another detail to emerge from Mr. Cosby’s deposition for a lawsuit by a young woman who accused him of drugging and molesting her was that some — though perhaps not all, it seems — of the domestic staff in his busy, celebrity-fueled life had signed confidentiality agreements.

“These powerful documents, demanding the highest secrecy, are common among superstars.

“They protect against assistants with tales to tell — even after they have left their positions — or prying journalists willing to pay for information.

“But the apparent mismatch between Mr. Cosby’s public image and his private life raises the question about whether he needed the agreements more than most. . . .’

Why U.S. Blacks Should Explore Links With Afro-Cubans

“On a small cut of land at the corner of 23rd Avenue and F Street in the Vedado section of this city stands a monument to two heroes of the Cuban people,” DeWayne Wickham wrote Monday for The Root under the headline, “Why African Americans Should Be 1st in Line to Cuba.” The piece, with a Havana dateline, appeared on the day Cuba officially opened an embassy in Washington, and the United States did the same in Havana. 

“But the faces carved into the imposing marble-and-granite structure are not those of Fidel Castro and Ernesto ‘Che’ Guevara, icons of the left-wing revolution that chased the right-wing dictator Fulgencio Batista from power and spawned a U.S. economic embargo of this Caribbean island nation that is older than most Americans,” Wickham continued.

“On the side of the monument that looks out onto 23rd Avenue — a wide thoroughfare that stretches across this city from the Almendares River to the Bay of Havana — is the image of Martin Luther King Jr. On its other side, the monument bears the likeness of Malcolm X. . . .”

Wickham, USA Today columnist and dean of Morgan State University’s School of Global Journalism and Communication, has been taking black journalists to visit and report on Cuba for years.

He continued, “African Americans should go to Cuba because the link between Afro-Cubans and African Americans is much deeper than the 23rd Street monument. Like the Martin Luther King Center and Ebenezer Baptist Church that sit side by side in Havana’s Marianao district, the monument is a symbol of the rich historical ties that bind people of African descent in Cuba to those whose ancestors slave ships dropped off in North America.

“There is much more that connects us to them.

“In 1896, the same year the U.S. Supreme Court ruled in Plessy v. Ferguson that racial segregation was legal, Cuba was fighting for its independence from Spain with an integrated army. The second-in-command of this interracial force was Antonio Maceo, a black man. . . .”

Cornel West Tries Again in Critiquing Ta-Nehisi Coates

Cornel West returned to Facebook on Monday after his critique of Atlantic magazine writer Ta-Nehisi Coates’ new book “Between the World and Me” was denounced as ill-informed, perhaps the product of jealousy and a continuation of a vendetta against President Obama.

West wrote Monday:

“My response to Brother Ta-Nehisi’s new book should not be misunderstood. I simply tried to honestly evaluate the book at the level of Truth, Goodness and Beauty.

“Since I believe there will never be another Baldwin — just as there will never be another Coltrane, Morrison, Du Bois, Simone [as in Nina], Robeson or Rakim — the coronation of Coates as Baldwin is wrong.

“His immense talents and gifts lie elsewhere and lead to different priorities. He indeed tells crucial truths about the vicious legacy of white supremacy as plunder on a visceral level, yet he fails to focus on our collective fightback, social movements or political hope. Even his fine essays downplay people’s insurgency and resistance.

“The full truth of white supremacy must include our historic struggles against it. His critical comments in his essays about the respectability politics or paternalistic speeches of the black president in power (absent in his book) do not constitute a critique of the presidency — pro-Wall Street policy as capitalist wealth inequality, drone policy as U.S. war crimes, massive surveillance as violation of rights, or defense of ugly Israeli occupation as immoral domination.

“For example, none of the black or white neo-liberals who coronate Coates say that 500 Palestinian babies killed by U.S. supported Israeli forces in 50 days or U.S. drones killing over 200 babies are crimes against humanity. Yet they cry crocodile tears when black folk are murdered by U.S. police. Unlike Baldwin, Coates gives them this hypocritical way out — with no cost to pay, risk to take, or threat to their privilege because of his political silence on these issues.

“I love Coates’ obsession with Baldwin’s beautiful prose, and Coates does have beautiful moments too. Baldwin’s beauty is profoundly soulful, wise and eager to inspire others. Coates’ beauty is deliberately nerdy, smart and draws attention to itself. Hence, Coates’ obsession with beauty weakens the Baldwin-like truths of resistance to be told or the Baldwin-like goodness tied to social hope.

“Like a Blues man or Jazz woman, Baldwin offers his whole blood-drenched and tear-soaked soul in words and sounds to an incomplete world, whereas Coates offers his well-crafted words with a sad spectatorial self to a doomed world. In this Age of Ferguson, we indeed need different voices, yet the most needful voices should be Baldwin-like all the way down and all the way LIVE!”

Short Takes

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