Sunday, February 21, 2021

No to The Double Standard of Discrimination


This one is challenging... 

Recently it has been reported that Harvard University denied tenure to esteemed and noted scholar and professor, Dr. Cornel West.

On the one hand, a professor of Dr. West's stature and prestige should not have to even ask for tenure. Harvard should be asking him to accept tenure. Certainly far less qualified, less proven and undeniably far less worthy white professors have very easily been tenured by their colleagues. Tenure is a peer review process wherein all too often white "liberal" professors practice blatant discrimination, especially at these prestigious institutions, all the while claiming diversity and equality for all as they  protect and make allowances and/or exceptions for their own less qualified but highly favored white peers. Its a very subjective process that needs to be exposed.


On the other hand, criticism that these noted Black scholars bypass teaching at HBCUs for the glitz, glamor and certainly money and prestige associated with PWIs all the while bedazzling the Black community with their brilliance and appearance of acceptance and comeuppance at these prestigious other institutions, flirting with and seeking confirmation and adoration from the Black community, is warranted and makes it easy for us not to rise to their defense at a time like this. But in the interest of 'shit ain't right', we must. 


Yes our Brotha' has certainly been controversial. He will forever be remembered as that otherwise smart guy who we all adored but who went left with our other previously admired Brotha', Tavis Smiley, over the Barack Obama presidency, saying some of the right things at what felt like the wrong time, for all the wrong reasons. The jury is still out however on their content. That's a whole other story, for a whole other time... 


But to ignore blatant application of the double standard and to call it anything other than blatant discrimination if not racism because we don't support the Black recipient of said treatment is to be complicit in the promotion of racism, discrimination and practice of the double standard...  


So for that reason, I say we must accept the challenge to take Harvard to task... 


#notothedoublestandard 

#stopdiscrimination!

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