Remembering MLK: Death, Life & Secrets

On April 4, 1968, Martin Luther King Jr. was assassinated on the balcony of a Memphis motel as he prepared to support striking Black sanitation workers there. Although James Earl Ray initially confessed to the crime – he later recanted – doubts about what happened persist. 

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In the late 1990s, former FBI agent Donald Wilson, who investigated the murder, presented evidence he claimed to have found in Ray’s car – slips of paper that support charges of a conspiracy involving federal agents. Wilson didn’t produce the evidence earlier, he said, because he didn’t trust other investigators and feared for his family’s safety.

Coretta Scott King and the rest of King's family won a wrongful death civil trial against Loyd Jowers and "other unknown co-conspirators." Jowers, the owner of a restaurant near the Lorraine Motel, claimed to have received $100,000 to arrange King's assassination. The jury of six Whites and six Blacks found him guilty and concluded that "governmental agencies were parties" to the assassination plot.

William Pepper, who represented the King family in the trial, charged that Ray was framed by the federal government, and that King was killed by a conspiracy that involved the FBI, CIA, military, Memphis police, and organized crime figures from New Orleans and Memphis. A friend of King near the end of his life, Pepper also represented Ray in a televised mock trial in an attempt to get him the trial he never had. The results of his investigation are provided in his book, An Act of State: The Execution of Martin Luther King.

Yet, it’s easier, in a way, to accept that King was the victim of a conspiracy than to face other aspects of his life. As Kentucky civil rights leader Georgia Powers put it, “He was a great man – but he was still a man.” Like Bill Clinton, whose record as president was largely overshadowed by relentless investigation of his personal behavior, King was hounded by FBI Director J. Edgar Hoover, who hoped to discredit the civil rights leader by exposing his alleged “womanizing.” Many civil rights leaders dismiss such charges as mean-spirited attempts to sully King’s memory and discredit his achievements.

Georgia Powers certainly had no intention of doing that. On the contrary. She worked closely with King in the 1960s, organizing to end discrimination in public accommodations and employment and pass open housing laws. In 1967, she became that first Black and first woman elected to the Kentucky State Senate, a position she held with distinction for the next 20 years. During her first term, less than a month before King’s death, she spearheaded passage of a statewide open housing bill. After a distinguished career, she passed away in 2016 at 93 years old. She was in her early 70s when we first met in 1997.

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MLK and Georgia Powers

As she explained then, her relationship with King was more than professional. Her 1995 book, I Shared the Dream, described how their work together led to a love affair that continued until the last moments of his life. Keeping that secret for almost three decades, she went public only after other civil rights leaders released inaccurate accounts of their relationship and the events surrounding King’s death.

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She was particularly upset by a comment in And The Walls Came Tumbling Down , an autobiography written by Ralph Abernathy, King’s close friend and confidante. Although willing to attribute Abernathy’s repetition of Hoover’s smear to illness and poor memory, she felt compelled to set the record straight. “When Dr. King’s life is researched,” she wrote, “I want the part relating to me to be available in my own words. It is my own history as well, both the good and the bad.”

It began with mutual admiration, she explained, and “progressed into a deepening friendship in which we shared opinions, confidences, and laughed often.” She called him “M.L.,” and he called her “Senator.” But King was under tremendous pressure, and ultimately turned to Georgia for intimacy and emotional support, she claimed. Although they sometimes discussed issues and strategies, his main unmet need was time to let his hair down and set his cares aside.

“Some people called him a prophet, and compared him with Jesus,” she recalled. While she did believe that he was divinely inspired, “I knew Martin had all the imperfections, foibles, and passions of a mortal man.” A meticulous person with an affection for silk suits, he enjoyed laughter and jokes, barbecued ribs and soul foods, not to mention the company of attractive women. In short, she said, “He had a good appetite for life.”

He also had a strong sense that he wouldn’t get to see his visions come to pass. Tired and melancholy one night, he told her, “I’m just as normal as any other man. I want to live a long life, but I know I won’t get to.”

Georgia was in Memphis with King on the day he died. The previous night he’d confided, “I’ve never been more physically and emotionally tired.” On April 4, they waited most of the day to see if a temporary restraining order against the planned demonstration would be lifted. But King was adamant. Regardless of what the court decided, he promised, “We will march on Monday.” When Abernathy asked whether he feared what might happen, King answered softly, “I’d rather be dead than afraid.”

As the meeting broke up and the group prepared for a soul food dinner, King brushed past Georgia on his way out the door. “I’m looking forward to a quiet and peaceful evening,” he said. “Don’t make any plans.” They were the last words he ever spoke to her. Moments later he was shot.

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Looking back, Georgia regretted that her actions may have hurt others, especially King’s wife. But despite those feelings, she didn’t regret her decision, insisting that it wasn’t just some tawdry affair. “When we were together,” she recalled, “the rest of the word, whose problems we knew and shared, was far away. Our time together was a safe haven for both of us. There we could laugh and speak of things others might not understand. He trusted me, and I him, not to talk about it.”

As the years passed, however, she became increasingly uncomfortable with the rumors that distorted their relationship. She also realized that her own life, like so many, was full of hidden truths. One was her ancestry. Although she didn’t know the identity of her father’s father, she eventually learned that he was White. Another involved her great aunt Celia Mudd, who was born into slavery but eventually inherited the rural Kentucky farm on which she spent all her life.

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Eventually, she uncovered most of Celia’s story. The key was a 1902 will in which Sam Lancaster, whose father had bought the Nelson County farm, left it to his most trusted employee – the former slave whom Georgia knew as Aunt Celia. That fateful decision led to a court battle with Sam’s surviving brother. The case went to Kentucky’s highest court, yet most newspapers declined to report about it. A Black woman inheriting more than 500 acres of land from a White man apparently wasn’t considered news. Neither was the fact that Celia Mudd went on after winning the case to become a local philanthropist, admired by Blacks and Whites alike. 

Powers and I collaborated on a novel , Celia’s Land,* that explores this forgotten history. During the research I visited the farm on which Celia spent her life. Stepping into the old slave quarters where she was born, I reflected on how much we still don’t understand about that time, when Whites believed Blacks were no more than property. I also thought about how often racism is still ignored, distorted, or downplayed.

Rather than the petty arguments, name-calling and cruel distortions that often characterize political discourse these days, what we need is the courage to face our own and society’s uncomfortable realities – to openly acknowledge them, replace hatred with compassion, and stop accepting convenient myths.
  (Original version posted on April 4, 2008; most read post, Jan. 2012)

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* In addition to working with Georgia on the book I have written a play, The Inheritance, also based on Celia Mudd's story.

Immigration, Rights & Citizenship

In 1996, when President Bill Clinton signed a so-called Anti-Terrorism Bill, he was actually setting the stage for a long-term assault on civil liberties and undermining non-citizens' rights. A few months later, in an election-season capitulation condemned even by his supporters, Clinton embraced welfare "reform," denying benefits to immigrants – even legal residents. The law imposed a state feudalism that punished the poor and the vulnerable while giving governors open-ended welfare checks – called Block Grants – to spend as they pleased.

Ending an entitlement that began with the New Deal, welfare "reform" also put much of the burden of cuts on immigrants, eliminating access to food stamps and Supplemental Security Income. Even disabled legal immigrants lost benefits. New York Times columnist Bob Herbert called this "a form of officially sanctioned brutality aimed at the usual suspects – the poor, the black and the brown, the very young, the uneducated, immigrants. Somebody has to be the scapegoat and they're it."

Anti-terrorism legislation passed during that era also hurt immigrants. For example, it allowed asylum officers at the border to turn back people fleeing persecution or death if they just didn't thoroughly document their case – or request travel documents from the government that was threatening them.

But the most sweeping attacks, then and now, have come in the guise of immigration "reform" legislation, largely designed to drive the undocumented underground, perpetuate exploitation, divide communities, and punish children. A true example of post-modern doublespeak, such "reform" epitomizes a fortress mentality that fuels hate crimes and allows racism to wrap itself in the flag.

Throughout the 1990s, Human Rights Watch accused the US Border Patrol of routinely abusing people, citing a pattern of beatings, shootings, rapes, and deaths. In response, INS detainees in a private jail rioted in June 1995 after being tortured by guards. But even when such crimes – including the sexual abuse of women in custody – have been reported, agents know that the most they will get is a slap on the wrist.

More recently, the US Congress considered legislation that would combine a “compromise” legalization program with new border and interior enforcement measures likely to increase arrests, detentions, and confrontations in Latino and ethnic communities. Blocking traditional avenues of legalization, the leading proposals would increase the size of the undocumented population, while undermining the legal and human rights of immigrants.

After 9/11, the US considered placing soldiers along the Mexico border. It hasn’t happened yet, but similar plans - from a higher wall to drone patrols -- are often touted. Meanwhile, efforts to curtail immigration through tighter security have redirected the flow into the most desolate areas of the border, increasing the mortality rate of those crossing. Between 1998 and 2004, at least 1,900 people died trying to cross the US-Mexico border.

Fragile Rights

"All persons born or naturalized in the United States," states the 14th Amendment, "and subject to the jurisdiction thereof, are citizens of the United States and of the State wherein they reside. No State shall make or enforce any law which shall abridge the privileges or immunities of citizens of the United States; nor shall any State deprive any person of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor deny to any person within its jurisdiction the equal protection of the laws."

That could change, however. Some politicians want to abolish the citizenship guarantee of this 130-year-old Amendment. The rationale? Too many undocumented immigrants come to the US to insure citizenship for their children. Like the idea of letting states deny free public education to children of undocumented parents, it uses the immigrant "threat” as a pretext for attacks on basic rights and constitutional principles.

“Citizenship in this country should not be bestowed on people who are the children of folks who come into this country illegally," argues Tom Tancredo, a Colorado Republican who has led the charge. In 2006 at least 83 GOP co-sponsors pushed a bill that would restrict automatic citizenship at birth to children of U.S. citizens and legal residents.

In the past, the Supreme Court has described citizenship as the most basic of all rights, a "priceless possession." The opening clause of the 14th Amendment was designed principally to grant both national and state citizenship to the newly free Blacks. Under its terms, citizenship is acquired by either birth or naturalization; thus, any person born in the US is a citizen – regardless of parentage.

A primary goal of the Amendment was to overrule the Dred Scott decision, in which the Supreme Court held that neither Blacks who were "imported into this country and sold as slaves nor their descendants" could become citizens. During debate in 1866, Congress also considered the likelihood that it would apply to children of immigrants. Until the 14th Amendment, there was no constitutional definition of US citizenship. Ironically, the Republican Party pushed this and other Reconstruction measures through Congress after the Civil War.

Some claim that, if children born in the US to illegal immigrants are citizens, it's too easy for their parents to obtain visas and citizenship later. The idea surfaced in a 1996 GOP platform proposal; recommended by a panel created by then House Speaker Newt Gingrich, it called for "a constitutional amendment or constitutionally valid legislation declaring that children born in the United States of parents illegally present are not automatically citizens." Scholars have warned that an amendment would almost certainly be needed to make such a profound change.

A month before she died, Barbara Jordan, former chairwoman of the US Commission on Immigration Reform, eloquently denounced the idea. "To deny birthright citizenship," she told Congress, "is to derail the engine of American liberty." Walter Dellinger, Acting Solicitor General at that time, added the following prediction: It would create "a permanent caste of aliens, generation after generation born in America but never to be among its citizens." Nevertheless, the proposal is back.

This article is excerpted from a longer analysis written in 2006 but contains material originally published in Toward Freedom and Borderlines, and from a talk delivered at Eastern New Mexico University on September 15, 1996.

Talking about Racism: From School to City Hall

A superintendent’s contract is extended as local debate deepens: Burlington’s school board has given Superintendent Jeanne Collins two more years, but debate over racism has revealed divergent views about coded language, intimidating behavior, and the continuing need for change.                        Story and videos by Greg Guma

ELL students from Somalia
protest outside BHS.

BURLINGTON, VT – The five hours of discussion leading up to an eventual school board vote to extend the contract of Burlington’s superintendent for two years offers a poignant demonstration of how difficult it can be to openly discuss racial tensions.
     Much of the meeting was consumed with parliamentary matters – whether to hold an executive session, whether discussion either in public or private could include an already completed evaluation of Superintendent Jeanne Collins, repeated requests for legal opinions from school board counsel Joe McNeil, and confusion over whether a motion represented an agenda change or merely a deletion. There was also the impact of Collins’ decision, midway through the evening, to let her contract and evaluation be debated in an open session.
     By midnight very few remarks had been squeezed in about the specific complaints or the underlying problems that have fueled the dispute.

     Robert Appel, executive director of the Vermont Human Rights Commission, pointed to this difficult dynamic in a letter following up with the school board after a particularly intense meeting in May. About one hundred parents, teachers and students had turned out to speak in favor and against the handling of diversity, equity, and harassment by school officials, particularly Superintendent Collins. Some were already urging the board not to renew her contract.

     Appel, who attended and spoke, wrote afterward that he was encouraged to see “white people with power honestly grappling with, and attempting to move the conversation about the school community climate forward.” Conflict and tensions in Burlington could be an opportunity if leaders can “rise to the challenge,” he argued. “This means leaders embracing rather than avoiding the necessary conversations.”

     The problem, however, is a “seemingly circular conversation.” As a result, wrote Appel, “little concrete progress has been accomplished despite this repeated rhetorical commitment to change the culture and close the various identified gaps between white middle-class students and others.”

COGNITIVE DISSONANCE: In May students, parents and teachers brought a strong message to the school board: they were tired of waiting for a serious work to address racism and unequal treatment. Dozens of people addressed the board for more than two hours, many calling for the resignation or replacement of Superintendent  Collins and other members of the administration. Local tension had increased since the release of a new diversity, equity and inclusion plan, its rebuttal by a math teacher, and a protest outside the high school.

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At the June 13 school board meeting that continued a discussion of Collins’ overall performance and contract begun after public testimony the previous evening, one response was to adopt what board Chair Keith Pillsbury called a “more rigorous evaluation process” for the superintendent. Over the next few months, the commissioners agreed, a voluntary ad hoc committee will work with her to develop specific, measurable goals.

     But the meeting stumbled over whether discussion of Collins’ contract should occur in public or executive session.  Without any vote the contract would have automatically continued until June 30, 2014. Ultimately, the board voted 9-5 to reaffirm that agreement.

     One group of board members, including those who later voted to terminate the contract in one year, wanted a private discussion before taking a public vote. Most of those supporting the superintendent opposed the executive session. The result was a tie vote, spelling defeat of the move to exclude the public and press.

     Chairman Pillsbury supported the public route. “People want to know our thinking,” he said. But Board member Meredith King accused him of “managing the story” on behalf of Collins since criticism erupted over the district’s handle of a new Strategic Plan for diversity, equity, and inclusion. “We’ve being sitting here for two months while the issues swirled around us,” she charged, adding that Pillsbury had made it difficult to go into executive session for a frank discussion.

     King was one of several commissioners who felt that the school board has been “put in a corner” by the actions of its administration and the board leadership.  Commissioner Jill Evans called Pillsbury’s handling of the matter “problematic,” and wanted to add that to the executive session agenda.

     Haik Bedrosian and Catherine Chasan were equally adamant in support of Collins. Bedrosian led the successful charge to drop the executive session, attempted to adjourn the meeting before a vote on the contract could be taken, and described non-renewal as “firing” the superintendent. After attempts not to renew and to offer a compromise six-month extension failed, Chasan pushed for the affirmative vote to extend the contract until 2014, although that was not required.

Anti-racism training at City Hall?

Only a handful of observers remained in the cavernous auditorium at Burlington High School by the time the school commissioners voted. But the issues raised by the dispute over school leadership on racism and equity are about to spill over into city government.

     Vince Brennan, the Progressive city councilor who chaired the Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan task force and later became one of the first to call for Collins’ replacement, has joined with Independent Karen Paul and Rachel Siegel, also a Progressive, on a related resolution for the June 25 city council meeting.

     The resolution is still being drafted, and may include proposals concerning the city’s hiring and minority retention policies. In its current form, distributed by Brennan at a recent school board meeting, it already calls for anti-racist training of all city employees, the city council, and more than 100 commissioners. If approved, development of the program would begin this fall, with training that commences no later than next January.

     It also asks the city administration to develop an ad hoc committee by July 16, including experts in anti-racist training, local stakeholders, department representatives and council members, to plan and implement the proposed training program. The draft acknowledges that the cost of such a program is not insignificant, but argues that it “can be a strong beginning to addressing racism, both overt and subtle, in our community.”

A FORUM ON EQUITY: In early April racial disparities turned out to be the main event at the first working session of the City Council after a new mayor took charge. Students of color are 27 percent of the student body in Burlington’s public schools, according to a Task Force report, and more Black students drop out of school. They're less likely to take SAT tests and more likely to be suspended. The report was supposed to set the stage for a strategic plan to address diversity, equity and inclusion. On April 16 School Superintendent Collins and Board Chair Pillsbury outlined the efforts that led to its recommendations. But not everyone was satisfied. Some teachers said they had been excluded, and residents pointed to ongoing racial disparities.

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Democrat David Hartnett, although an unlikely supporter for an anti-racism training resolution, recently made a related point in his regular column for the North Avenue News. Hartnett, who managed Republican Kurt Wright’s campaign for mayor last winter, disagrees with Brennan about how well Burlington’s schools are doing. “While imperfect, the schools are doing a very good job.” But he wrote that “all of Burlington needs to be part of the solution.”

     In the bigger picture, said Hartnett, “this is not just about the schools. As a whole community we need to do better.”

     Wright attended the Tuesday school board meeting and spoke up for Collins. “No one asked me to come,” he noted before arguing that “she is capable of doing what is right” and it would be a “huge mistake not to retain her.”

Lost Trust and Heated Language 

What began last October with an ambitious plan for top-to-bottom educational change -- training for everyone, more people of color and “culturally competent” staff, better leadership and accountability, increased transparency, and a “multicultural mindset” – has turned into a sometimes painful but much broader community debate over the persistence of institutional racism, and even how the problems are discussed.

     At dueling press conferences last week in the run up to the school board’s decision, supporters and critics of the current leadership attempted to define the problem using often stark language.

     Episcopal Bishop Thomas Ely called racism “a deeply rooted disease of the soul,” and suggested that Collins may have experienced a “conversion” since admitting that she was slow to address the problems.

     Rabbi Joshua Chasan, a leading Collins supporter who organized the press event on the back steps of City Hall, took the opportunity to apologize for having previously used the term “bullying” to describe some criticism of the superintendent. However, he argued that he was just responding to the unfair charge that some school board members were racist. Chasen concluded that he should have said “intimidating.”

     Chasan was grateful to the high school students, he said, mainly to the new American students in ELL classes who protested about their treatment and image in April. But he viewed Collins’ “slowness to see the dimensions of the problem,” along with her “capacity to apologize,” in a hopeful context. In background information provided to the media, he went further, predicting “social breakdown” and “communal meltdown” if any move was made to replace her in response to criticisms.

PROTESTING RACISM: On April 19 English language (ELL) students were joined by local activists and parents for a morning protest a few feet from the front door of Burlington High School. The students felt unfairly judged by outdated tests and objected to statistics that they felt correlates poverty with poor academic performance. Despite progress or promises of change in the new strategic plan for diversity, equity and inclusion, they said racism remained a real and persistent problem.

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Two days after religious leaders held a press conference in late May, an ad hoc group met at the Fletcher Library to repeat the call for non-renewal of the contract. Erik Wallenberg said that trust had been “eroded beyond repair as a result of her (Collins’) years of resistance, and demonization of those who raise concerns.” He and others claimed that the school administration was doing the intimidating.

     “She can’t overcome the betrayal,” Wallenberg claimed. “We need transformational leadership.”

     Suzy Comerford, a parent with two children attending local schools, accused the school district of spending money on public relations to frame the issue as “divisive and bullying.” She meanwhile faulted the media for focusing only on racial inequities. The issue is “more than about just race,” Comerford said, “it is about the needs of kids with disabilities, of children from low-income families, and about new American children’s education, whatever their skin color.”

     Education and equity consultant Denise Dunbar, a Hinesberg resident, went after the idea, expressed by some people who have spoken at public meetings, that they are “colorblind” or “don’t see race.” Dunbar called such language “a newer face of liberal denial” and, quoting Angela Davis, suggested that claims of color blindness are “camouflaged racism.”

     At the board’s Tuesday meeting several speakers made a point of saying that they are not colorblind.

     Some in authority are involved in a “cultural war” that upholds the status quo and uses coded language like “civil” and “bully” to define insiders and outsiders, Dunbar charged. She also faulted the religious leaders who met earlier for taking Collins’ side, and for “a demonization of advocates and stakeholders for equity and equality.”

     Such remarks can cut deep. There have also been accusations that both teacher and student voices have been “squelched and discredited.” During the debate some of those who spoke, and a few on the board, expressed concern about the larger effects of what some called “poisonous” or “dangerous” rhetoric. Hartnett has charged that the local debate “is on the verge of being destructive.”

     As the school board’s decision approached last night, however, the appeals became more nuanced. Brennan did not reiterate his call for Collins’ replacement. Instead, he called her recent missteps unfortunate while agreeing that some things have begun to change.

     Rev. Roy Hill, a Collins supporter who is president of the Vermont Ecumenical Council and Bible Society, also struck a tone of reconciliation, while warning against targeting scapegoats.  Others said it simply wasn’t the best time for someone new as superintendent.

     State Rep. Suzy Wizowati, a Diversity Now supporter, concluded that blaming one person for the community’s problems is a mistake, like “expecting one person to change the world.”

Accusations of Intimidation

 In response to mounting criticism Superintendent Collins has released an action plan, based on recommendations in the original Strategic Plan, and has pledged to “eliminate race, ethnicity, class, gender, and sexual orientation as predictors of academic performance, discipline, and co-curricular participation.”

     The steps she has described include strengthening complaint procedures, upgrading professional development, reorganizing administrative staffing to improve the handling of equity issues, improving retention of a more diverse staff, and creating an Equity Climate Team to monitor and follow up on incidents.

     Her critics say that they have heard such promises before and do not believe, based on its past performance, that the current administration is up to the challenges.

     In print and public statements Collins has repeatedly admitted that she missed opportunities, acted too slowly, and has been bureaucratic rather than heart-centered in her response. Beyond taking the steps outlined recently and refocusing her efforts, possibly under increased school board scrutiny, she therefore plans to spend more time actually interacting with students and teachers in the schools.

     But as Appel’s May 10 letter to the board suggests, while frank discussions and rhetorical commitment are hopeful signs they have happened before and leave some issues unacknowledged.  He argued, for example, that existing resources are not being smartly deployed, specifically asking why Diversity Director Dan Balon “appears to be being kept on the sidelines.”

     Confirming suspicions that some school administrators do not adhere to the superintendent’s zero tolerance standard, Appel also reported from “multiple credible sources” that Vice Principal Nick Molander tried to intimidate speakers after the May public forum.  According to Appel’s sources, Molander sought out several people of color and “in a confrontational manner informed them, in so many words, that their perspectives were not valid.  The perception of those who received this message from Mr. Molander was that he was attempting to intimidate them.”

     Appel informed the board bluntly that an administrator who does that “should not be in a school setting, and should have his licensure investigated.” If Molander behaves like this with adults, he added, “just imagine how overbearing and abuse he may well be one-on-one with a student of color in an unsupervised context.”

     Denying itself the option of an executive session to discuss personnel, evaluation and contract matters the school board did not get near this level of scrutiny in dealing with Collins responsibilities and contract. There were only indirect references to the difficulties of supervisory oversight and how to define board and management responsibilities.

     School board members meanwhile emphasized that equity issues were not the only matters bring addressed, in general or in relation to Collins’ tenure. As Jill Evans, one of several commissioners on the losing side of Wednesday’s votes, put it in a local newspaper column, the school board “is not exclusively concerned with race in its decision.” But the district does need “a visionary leader who can be proactive and take risks.”

SUPERINTENDENT UNDER FIRE: After months of criticism, Burlington School Superintendent Jeanne Collins responded to charges she had ignored racism with new plans to move forward. But questions at a June 1 press conference centered on what went wrong and whether the School Board would extend her contract. Collins talked about bringing more of her heart into addressing harassment and racism, and Board Chair Keith Pillsbury was pressed about whether she is the right person to lead in the future. Two weeks later Collins received a contract extension.

HIGH VOLUME: Race, Education and the F-35s

Scenes of informed dissent

     Turnout has been high and dialogue heated at public meetings held lately in Burlington and environs. On a recent Monday, for instance, dozens of people both in favor and opposed to a proposed health access buffer zone at Burlington reproductive health care centers brought their arguments and deeply held beliefs to the City Council. On the same night dozens more Vermonters showed up nearby in South Burlington just to watch the City Council, in a 4-1 vote, reject a plan to base F-35 fighter jets at the airport. I missed that, but I was was there a week earlier…

     Noises Up… It was the most dramatic local showdown thus far this season. More than 300 people gathered at the high school in South Burlington for an Air Force public hearing on the environmental impacts of the multi-purpose F-35A, the military’s most expensive pet project yet. It was civil -- but intense -- as Vermonters talked passionately about military pride, damaged neighborhoods endangered jobs and rising noise for over two hours. 
     The lighting was spooky. But the testimony – a dozen people appear in the scene above – was often compelling.

     More than 100 residents showed up at Burlington High School a few days before that to speak their minds about racial inequality and harassment in the schools. Some were calling for Superintendent of Schools Jeanne Collins to resign. 
     Tension had increased since the release of a diversity, equity and inclusion plan, its rebuttal by a math teacher, and protests outside the high school. This scene captures several statements, plus a confrontational moment involving one leading Somali student. Collins has issued a public apology but says she does not intend to step down.

     From my place it’s a short walk up the hill to UVM….

     Part of my job for VTDigger is to cover some of the region's large institutions. The University of Vermont certainly qualifies. More than 10,000 students and half a billion annually in expenses and revenues. 
     “You can see the analogy with the banking industry,” lamented John Bramley at one point during the recent Trustees meeting. What he meant was that large institutions have economic advantages, and also that a university education could again “become the preserve of the wealthy and the privileged. Temporarily promoted last year after the tumultuous departure of President Dan Fogel, he delivered the news forcefully in final remarks before the arrival of a new president, lawyer and former University of Minnesota Provost Tom Sullivan. 

     Bramley sounded like he was borrowing from the Occupy movement. In this scene Provost Jane Knodell also defends the university's strategic plan. It ends with a brief look at financial aid that might not put you to sleep. 
     For more details check my articles on UVM, race in Burlington and the F-35 debate at VTDigger. But now some drumming and few last words....

     Yes, there's a lot going on. But that's no excuse to neglect the Maverick Chronicles. Hope you enjoy these scenes. On the other hand, sometimes you have to just kick back, watch and listen. So, I’ll end this installment with a rhythmic take on opening day at the Farmers’ Market in City Hall Park. It was lovely and the dancers were terrific. If you’ve come this far and especially if you sampled the earlier scenes, don’t skip the climax. It's worth it. 
     Dissent without music, food and laughter would not be worth all the trouble. Just saying... 

Revolution & Transformation: African Lessons

May 2, 2012, 6 pm
The William Bross Lloyd Jr. Lecture

Celebrating the 60^th Anniversary of Toward Freedom
Program of African Studies, 620 Library Place, Evanston, Illinois

Prof. Horace Campbell, Syracuse University

with introductory remarks by Greg Guma, former TF Editor

     Sixty years ago at the height of the Cold War William Bross Lloyd Jr launched the newsletter Toward Freedom, one node in a network of international activists  that has carried the  vision of  a world ethic that honors the human spirit and the right of individuals to freedom of thought and creativity. 

     This 60th anniversary lecture will focus on the seismic changes in International  politics since the uprisings in Tunisia and Egypt in January 2011.  Drawing from the inspiration of the youths of Tahrir Square Professor Horace Campbell will interrogate the call from Samir Amin to be audacious in conceptualizing alternatives to the political and economic dominance of the ruling one per cent. 

     Campbell will reflect on the rapid economic growth in Africa and the implications for the Union of the Peoples of Africa in the changed world economy.  In order to heal the planet from rapacious forms of economic relations and exorbitant consumption it is necessary to embark on a new system that enables equality and mutual understanding. Hence, there must be a quantum leap from the current neo-liberal system to a new social system that is not based on discrimination and hierarchies. Drawing from the present thrust for Reparations and Reconstruction toward a multi-polar world, the lecture will examine the multifaceted transformations necessary to rise beyond the linearity and concepts of ‘modernization.’

     The talk will challenge intellectuals in the academy to transcend old images and ideas of Africa with the call for boldness in formulating political alternatives to the existing system. A “humanist consensus” rather than a Washington, Beijing, or any other kind of consensus, is now necessary to work for world peace in a moment of crisis when the triggers’ of war are poised to engulf humanity into greater conflagrations. In this quest centers of learning will be encouraged to join the new process of re-education to break the dominance of the exploiters.

The Speakers

Horace Campbell is Professor of African American Studies and Political Science at Syracuse University in Syracuse, New York. He is the author of Rasta and Resistance From Marcus Garvey to Walter Rodney; Reclaiming Zimbabwe: The Exhaustion of the Patriarchal Model of Liberation; and Pan Africanism, Pan Africanists and African Liberation in the 21st century. His most recent book is Barack Obama and 21st Century Politics: A Revolutionary Moment in the USA.

     Greg Guma met William B. Lloyd in the 1970s, succeeded him as editor of Toward Freedom in 1986, and helped to bring the organization to Vermont. He served as editor for more than a decade, expanding the publication's scope from the end of the Cold War to the start of the digital age. In Burlington, the state’s largest city, TF found a second home that has nurtured the publication and its educational work for the last 26 years.

     Greg's introduction will feature a new documentary (see above) examining the events surrounding the launch of Toward Freedom as a Chicago-based international newsletter, the legacy of the Lloyd family dating back to Henry Demarest Lloyd, and the publication's accomplishments over 60 years. In person he will also recount TF's early coverage of colonial struggles and the non-aligned movement, writing by Lloyd and others on independence movements, and the relevance for our time.

Diversity Plan Spotlights Race Debate

As most students went to classes at Burlington High School on Thursday morning about 40 students, most of them English language learners (ELL) from Somalia, gathered at the school's entrance for a surprise protest.

     Angered after seeing a newspaper article posted on a school bulletin board that described them as “statistical outliers” who lagged behind, they overcame embarrassment and delivered their message with youthful energy and creativity. They feel unfairly judged by outdated tests and object to statistical analysis that correlates poverty with poor academic performance.

     They also made it loud and clear that, despite any progress or the promises of change ahead, racism remains a real and persistent problem in local schools.

     Their goal, chanted while marching around school property, was to “end racism at BHS.”

^^^

     When the findings of the Diversity and Equity Task Force established by the Burlington School District were released last October Vince Brennan was almost as optimistic.

     As Task Force Chairperson and a Progressive member of the City Council he saw in the year-long effort the “noble ideal of building a better future.” Six months later what he sees instead is “fear and a loss of hope for change.

     Last Monday, during the city council’s first working session with the new Weinberger administration, he had some strong words for BSD Superintendent Jeanne Collins after a report was delivered by school officials on the new strategic plan for diversity, equity and inclusion.

     In a commentary submitted to the Burlington Free Press in late March – but not published – Brennan questioned whether Collins was “really being true to her words about free speech or is picking and choosing who to silence.”

Councilor Vince Brennan

     The school system needs “new leadership,” Brennan concluded. He was calling for the superintendent’s replacement because she had declined to intervene after Math teacher David Rome issued a pointed refutation of the report’s findings.

     Brennan’s commentary was written in response to a Burlington Free Press op-ed that said he was wrong to criticize Collins for not speaking out about Rome’s rebuttal. The teacher’s questioning of statistics and conclusions cited as the basis for the school system’s strategic plan undermined the report’s initial public reception and has raised fresh questions about racism in the schools.

     Brennan insists he does not want to silence Rome, despite suggestions in the press that it is a free speech issue. But he does think that “not participating with the Task Force while it was assembled and then condemning the whole process after it was accepted is exercising what researchers call ‘privilege’ based on race.” 

Disparities and disagreements

Schools in Burlington are considerably more diverse than most in Vermont.  Students of color—Asian, Black, Latino, Native American and Multiracial—make up 27 percent of student body, according to school district figures. About 15 percent are English language learners from other countries. Over 60 languages and dialects are spoken by their families. Statewide, the ELL population has more than doubled in the last ten years.

     Minorities will be more than 50 percent of the US population by 2042. Although the white community may be able to maintain the status quo, the report argues, doing so will create “an inhospitable climate for students and families of color and will severely limit the potential of all our students to succeed in a rapidly changing environment.”

     With these and other trends in mind the Task Force attempts to make the case for rapid change with a portrait comprised of “statistically measured facts” about the local system.  The report states, for example, that the dropout rate for African American students is measurably higher, that “students who are eligible for free and reduced lunch” are 25 percent less likely to graduate, and that “there is nearly a one in five chance that an otherwise qualified student of color did not take the SAT or ACT exam.”

     It also notes that minority students “are extremely over-represented (60%) in being punished through out-of-school suspensions,” and although students of color make up 27 percent of the student body, they represent only 13 percent of those passing Algebra 1.

     The strategic plan that has emerged from this analysis involves top-to-bottom change in educational policies. That includes ongoing training and professional development for all employees, hiring more people of color along with “culturally competent” staff, leadership and accountability by the school board and administration, increased transparency, and incorporation of a “multicultural mindset” into curriculum, hiring and other policies that “values cultural pluralism and affirms students from all backgrounds.”

     In a section on what needs to be done during the next year to change the local climate, the primary objective is to “infuse the district with the message that the social and educational climate in our schools requires urgent attention to erase many negative stereotypes, subtle and overt behaviors, assumptions, and decisions that favor conventional, white upper middle class Judeo-Christian values and beliefs.”

     Rome’s response focuses mainly on statistics he has found inaccurate, but he also calls the report’s references to Judeo-Christian culture inflammatory and divisive. “The use of this phrase is truly an insult to the professionals who work with individuals at BHS to make the school as inclusive and welcoming to as many students as possible,” he writes. At least one other teacher has publicly agreed with him.

     Rome’s central argument is that factual errors in the report have produced “false conclusions leading to a reaction by the Board and community members that the school system is badly flawed and in need of drastic repair when, in fact, it is doing a remarkably fair and equitable job.”

     The Task Force cites a 5 percent dropout gap between African American and White students, but Rome notes that only one African American dropped out of the senior class last year. He adds that it is unfair to expect newcomers to the country to graduate within four years. On math performance he argues the figures actually indicate improved course completion for students of color. He also disputes suspension statistics cited in the report.

     Sara Martinez De Osaba, director of the Vermont Multicultural Alliance for Democracy, sees such criticisms as an attempt to “negate that there are disparities.” Like Brennan she describes Rome’s critique as an example of “white privilege.”

Developing the new roadmap

The process that led to the new plan began in 2008 with an attempt by the board to define diversity. “We are a community of many cultures, faiths, abilities, family constellations and incomes, birthplaces and aspirations,” said the resulting statement. “The depth and richness of this diversity is our strength when we work toward a common goal.”

     The Task Force on Equity and Diversity was created two years later, and initially grappled with the hiring of a new principal for the Integrated Arts Academy. Since the district “faced extensive needs in recruitment and hiring of teachers and staff of color,” it focused in the early months on human resource questions. A Town Hall meeting and three other community input events helped to inform the work.

     After the report was completed and accepted by the school board last fall a town hall-style gathering was staged in February to present the findings and strategy. About 120 people attended. By then Rome had released his rebuttal and the local mood gradually turned less hopeful.

     According to the Task Force “troubling educational disparities exist in Burlington along race and socioeconomic status. They represent an ‘opportunity gap’ as well as a shortfall in the overall number of high school graduates and potential college grads.” The situation produces “inequalities of all kinds which in turn have multiple long-term effects.”

     BSD’s plan describes broad-ranging changes in leadership, human resources, climate and curriculum. Within the next year, for example, one objective is system-wide staff training aimed at creating an “anti-racist and culturally responsive curriculum to support all students.” The idea is to have teachers “consistently reference the multicultural nature of their teaching tools, noting the contributions and accomplishments of distinguished individuals from a variety of cultural, racial, ethnic, and linguistic backgrounds. “

      One example in the plan discusses teaching about westward US expansion. Rather than focusing on the perspective of hunters, pioneers, the beginning of the industrial age and the harnessing of natural resources, the report suggests that curriculum should look at the impacts on different groups and cultures, as well as the role of various institutions “in achieving specific outcomes.”

     Curriculum activities during the first year are expected to include an online resource guide for teachers; workshops and use of diversity coaches; advisory groups at each school; an Interdisciplinary Curriculum Guidebook that presents “the rationale for using an anti-racist, culturally responsive and socially just method of inquiry;” and development of working definitions for key terms like “anti-racist,” “culturally responsive,” and “social justice.”

     To jump-start that process the report includes a six-page glossary of terms. Defining “anti-racist education” it notes that racism is not only manifested in individual acts of bigotry but also in policies like “failure to hire people of color at all levels and the omission of anti-racist regulations in faculty and student handbooks.”

     Cultural competence involves “being aware of one’s own assumptions” and “understanding the worldview of culturally diverse and marginalized populations,” the report explains.

     Two key concepts are “institutionalized racism” and “privilege,” both of which came up during the city council’s review of the plan.

     The glossary explains that “institutionalized racism” is seen in “processes, attitudes and behavior which totals up to discrimination through unwitting prejudice, ignorance, thoughtlessness, and racist stereotyping which disadvantages people from ethnic minorities.”

     “Do you believe while privilege exists?” Brennan asked Collins during an extended question period during the council meeting. Absolutely yes, she answered. Ward 1 Democrat Ed Adrian agreed.

     But Ward 7 Republican Paul Decelles was troubled by the question and asked, “Could you explain what you mean by that comment you just made.” He didn’t get a direct response but the report includes a definition.

     White privilege, it says, “helps explain how white people – relative to people of color and who do not present as part of the white racial group – and despite their intentions, are ‘advantaged’ to access and opportunities over people of color and those who do not appear to be in the white racial group.”

Voicing frustration and dissent  

Faulty research and conclusions by the task force are pointing Burlington in the wrong direction to address the real problems, Rome argues. “Hiring teachers of color has little, if any, correlation to student performance, but hiring competent teachers, regardless of color, does."

     He also suggests that the district should focus on “improving the economic situation of lower socio-economic families and educating them about the link between academic success and their future.”

     Beyond questioning the statistics used as a rationale Rome also finds fault with the report for failing to mention areas of local success, a list on which he includes a higher rate of students of all colors going to college than the state average, a knowledgeable staff with  “a great amount of diversity and cultural experiences,” student resources like the Homework Center and Shades of Ebony, and “the conscious choice that most staff members make to work at BHS precisely because of the diverse student population and the high level of professionalism of the staff.”

     Rome also claims that both teachers and students were excluded from the task force report committee. “At no time were teachers interviewed or questioned for their expertise about the veracity of the comments made at the meetings or discussions in an effort to get their input for further discussion,” he charges. As a result the report’s release was “a blow to morale” that he claims has upset many teachers.

     As evidenced by the Thursday protest many ELL students at the high school are also frustrated and upset.  According to De Osaba, who put out a call to local activists to show up in support, students are offended by the suggestion that they are “statistical outliers.”  The term does not appear in Rome’s report, but she says that he has used the term in a hand out. Others claim that he has brought up the dispute in class.

     Like teachers who feel their efforts have been undervalued, students attending the protest were angry and disappointed by the sense they are being blamed for the school’s problems. The ELL curriculum used at the high school is outdated, they charge, and they don’t want to be judged on the basis of unfair testing.

     “BSD has been beleaguered with racism issues since the '80's,” De Osaba contends. She adds that tensions are increasing because many steps identified years ago by the school system have not been taken. “None of this is the fault of the African ELL students. They are not running the schools. 

     UVM faculty member Denise Dunbar, who also attended the protest, points to the emotional toll of social isolation and humiliation faced by students attempting to learn English and adjust to a new society. Some statistics in the plan may be off, she acknowledges, but the problems should not be minimized and cannot always be measured.

     Collins sees things similarly. There is room for debate about the math, she admits. But despite some suggestions that the report should be rescinded she continues to think the conclusions and strategies are on target.

     That position hasn’t been sufficient for Brennan or others who believe that failing to respond to criticism by Rome has undermined what the district is trying to accomplish and should be grounds for administrative change. De Osaba goes farther, charging that the administration condones the Rome’s report by not taking steps to refute or stop him.

     Collins insists that a greater concern is “silencing any voice in this important conversation.”

Trayvon Martin: Re-opening Wounds of Racism

The shooting death of Trayvon Martin has re-opened old wounds for many in Sanford, Florida's black community, and fueled an existing distrust of police. My son, Jesse Lloyd Guma, visited the community last week to produce this segment for The Grio. It aired Friday on MSNBC. 

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     Sanford Mayor Jeff Triplett attended a town hall meeting on Wednesday after traveling to Washington DC with a delegation. They urge the Justice Department to review the case, including why police failed to arrest the shooter, George Zimmerman. But the main source of mistrust, many residents said, is the department led by a man who wasn't there, Sanford police chief Bill Lee.

     Outside the town hall, a group of young men from a local church wore Skittles candy boxes around their necks to signal their fear that they could become victims of racial profiling, just like Trayvon. National NAACP president Ben Jealous said the fear of profiling, especially after the killing of Trayvon Martin, is not limited to Sanford.

     The Department of Justice and a Florida grand jury are investigating the police handling of Trayvon's death.