Lets Get Serious Here

As you know, I am a student at Hampton University, and any HU student cant tell you, there is a laundry list of things wrong with the policies and administration. Everyone knows about, and usually has first has first hand experience with, the "Hampton Runaround", I've had classes wholly canceled due to deteriorating buildings, and there is a broken window in the Freshman Honors dorm that has been there since my Senior RA freshman year was a freshman. It is not an issue of cost, as it is well known that Hampton is wealthy by contributions from Alumni who value their time spent and the opportunities afford by Hampton University. Well our good ole' "Home By the Sea" is going down the road of removing another one of those check marks from its depreciating list of redeeming qualities.

Before I go in too deep, I just want to preface some of my thoughts. Firstly, these are my thoughts and opinions and I am sure that not everyone is going to agree with me. In fact, one of the reasons i put my opinions on this proverbial soapbox is to see and hear other opinions so that we can discuss them and maybe do something productive about it. Second, its in my personality to question authority and status quo, especially when there is faulty or (better yet) no logic behind it. With that said, here goes.

Another thing Hampton is very (read: overly) protective of is its image. It often portrays that looking the part is more important than the substance inside the suit. I realize that this mindset comes from a time not that long ago (possibly yesterday) when blacks and minorities are discriminated against. It wouldn't shock me to find a business that looks for whatever reason they can to not hire a black employee outside of the required "diversity" standards they may have. I also understand the importance of appearance and dressing properly for certain situations, but the problem comes in on that "certain" part. Last week Hampton had its annual Fall Career Fair. Roughly 150 companies come set up booths and try their darnedest to convince graduating seniors on down that (insert name of company here) is the absolute best place to work and they should apply. The career fair is advertised all over campus with large banners and flyers, teachers give extra credit, and there is virtually NO way one could not know the date time and place of the fair. What is less publicized is that there is a strict and unrelenting dress code in place. By nature, I don't like dressing up all that often. I'd prefer to dress comfortably, however always appropriate. I put on some nice dress pants, a pretty fly (if i must say so myself) shirt, and the most ballin' tie I had in my closet, along with some freshly polished black dress shoes and a modest spray of Lacoste cologne. It was raining cats & dogs yet I get to the fair complete with 15 copies of my resume in a leather bound portfolio, Goldman Sachs branded ink pen, and gallons of swag. I get to the door all ready to go get a job / internship / whatever, only to be turned away. "You will not be allowed in the fair without a full suit with jacket!" With a dejected look on my face, and a scowl on hers, I called up a friend and borrowed a jacket from him. I was allowed in with this newly acquired jacket, and spent the rest of the afternoon talking to people in khakis and company polo shirts.

Last time I checked one of the major benefits or attending an HBCU (besides the "experience") is that the faculty and university as a whole are primarily interested in the success of black students. How is turning away a well dressed highly capable student away from a career fair in anyway beneficial? It would be one thing if I had shown up with a tee, Baus, and Rees (for those unlucky enough to be born outside of New Orleans: A tee shirt with Girbaud jeans and Reeboks), but to be a jacket away from a full suit? Apparently it was only the jacket that was important too. I could have worn a polo with a jacket, or a no tie, as long as I had a jacket. If ANYONE sees the reasoning behind this decision, please leave a comment or something. Its beyond me how turning black students away from companies that have come specifically to see black students is anything other than irresponsible and counterproductive. Don't we have enough going against us as it is? Would not having a jacket had ruined my chances to such an extent where its better for me to just not attend? I'm sure deep down there is a helpful idea behind the rule, but on the surface they are sending the wrong message. Some will argue that the University does want me to attend , they just want me to wear a jacket, and the system worked on me. True, but what about the students who aren't motivated or committed enough to walk home in the rain to get a jacket then walk back? Not to mention those who for one reason or another don't even have that option. Silly rule with good intentions and is completely counter productive in practice.

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Black History Month is Racist

In response to Adrianne Curry's boycott of BET and Black History Month:

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She makes a valid point, but unfortunately America is not yet at that stage in collective thinking. It is very difficult to truly teach and preach equality when we find so many different categories by which to segregate ourselves. I'm not gonna get into naming these things but people are historically elitist to a certain extent, but now we have gotten clever and masked these actions by making them formal rules or policies that apply to everyone in theory, but only a certain few in practice. I feel black history month is necessary and relevant in today's world because it "forces" at least some parts of the story that are often times left out, to be told. Hell, alot places only talk about MLK and Malcolm X or Langston Hughes anyway. I am all for exposing the country to more Native American or Jewish history, however ( I may have a slight bias here) considering the number of "blacks" in America, the blatant injustice that has extended well beyond slavery into 2007, and the numerous contributions made by that same group to America, it is nothing short of pathetic how little those people are recognized or celebrated. Black history month is a necessary evil if you will. It sucks that we have to explicitly set aside time in the year to ensure that the people that have been labeled as "Black" can have their story told, but I also know that somewhere, that story wouldn't be told in the absence of such an event. Eventually maybe people in general, not just Americans, will grow to be fully accepting of all people as people and honor their stories and achievements and compile them into the great human diaspora, but until that day comes, alot of people have to be force fed.

Stop With the Stop Snitchin' Foolishness

Anderson cooper did a story on the movement and how in urban area's police are having a hard time getting cooperation when tryin to solve crimes, but not just from witnesses (because poorer people or people living in less wealthy areas tend to not like police anyway.) Victims are also not cooperating and they think its partially because of the commercialization of stop snitchin. In the interview Camron says, and i quote "If the serial killer is next door, I'm not gonna go run and tell anybody. I'm gonna move, but i aint gonna be like the killer is in 4E." Also a dude got killed at the video shoot for busta's touch it video, and of the 20 or so people in the room when he got shot, including Busta himself, not one will coop with the police cause they don't wanna lose "street cred". Not to mention the tagline for Lil Kim's show on BET that chronicled her days before going to jail for purjury was, "She's going to jail with her mouth closed and her head held high." Then black people are quick to complain about why we cant come up and grow as a people. We blame the whiteman or the mexican, and look at what we do to each other. We complain about being forced to live in bad neighborhoods but when in reality, we creatin the bad neighborhoods by not snitchin. Whites snitch all the time, and look at their neighborhoods. We don't snitch, but we are scared to come home at night because we might get robbed. Not that their arent bad white neighborhoods or good black ones, but you get the point. We are too busy trying to be cool and have street cred and all this stuff, that we dont report crimes that happen on our block or in our homes. We spend so much time and energy trying to be hard that we just end up makin life hard for ourselves, our families, our kids, and everybody else in the process. And then we wonder why we are in the predicament we are now.

To clarify, I'm not saying to go be a taddle tale or whatever term you would like to use, but I am saying that we should stop complaining about problems that we perpetuate through our mindset. Just so that there is no confusion, I am not a snitch but if the serial killer lives in 4E and I know he/she lives in 4E, so do the cops. Not because I like seeing my brothers and sisters (of any race) behind bars, but because I'm tired of seeing those same brothers and sisters in body bags.

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