Pondering: Hampton Univ. White Homecoming Queen--AAs are Afflicted with a FATAL Degree of Non-Critical Thinking

Racial Doubts At Va. College Homecoming

Controversy Simmers Over Non-Black Queen

Miss Hampton University Nikole Churchill (center) after she was crowned at the Miss Hampton U. Pageant. 

By Jenna Johnson

Washington Post Staff Writer
Friday, October 16, 2009

HAMPTON, Va. -- Nikole Churchill, a tall, thin woman with long, dark hair, was named homecoming queen at historically black Hampton University last week. The next day, she appeared with her court at the football game against Howard University, another historically black school. . . .

{See the link for the rest of this article below.]

_________________________________________________

Felicia, when you sent me this, it was a further indication of just how much the AA ship has sunk, and actually I don't need any more proof. There is  no point in me commenting on all of these AA horror stories, and this is why I don't want anyone to send them to me. I'm commenting now because I told you I would. And yes, this is a type of AA horror story because you can kill a person's spirit just as easily as you kill their body. Either way, they''ve been laid low. I can imagine how devastating this is to  some of those young bw on Hampton's campus because the choice of a white queen was a highly symbolic decision. Symbols have immense power.

 However, my comments are way too little and way too late. This story reflects why I lost all of my anger toward whites a long time ago for their historical atrocities against blacks. If there's any anger I've had for the last 2 decades, it's towards AAs. I've been noticing the non-progressive attitudes and behaviors of the overwhelming majority of AAs for a lot of years now. The overwhelming portion of AAs suffer from a FATAL degree of non-critical thinking.

AAs dropped the ball after the Civil Rights movement when they didn't try to reclaim or put together a unifying, uplifting culture for the masses of AAs. Embedded in the "uplift" portion of that cultural training would have been the critical thinking training.  I know hindsight is 20-20, but in life, you don't get  a pardon for not knowing something, just like ignorance of the law doesn't get you off the hook when you break the law.It's not "fair," but as I always say, "Fairness has nothing to do with life."

So AAs made a fatal mistake when they didn't work on devising that  RUCOSS (reasonably uplifting culture of some sort), so we're now seeing the aftermath of them not doing that. There'll just be tons more stories like this. AAs are currently in a triage situation.  I'm personally only concerned with assisting INDIVIDUALS at this point who have a reasonable chance of surviving and thriving. I hope I don't need to keep repeating that.

However, for those folks who might be a bit surprised about this situation and for those AAs who believe that alla our people can be saved, I would wonder if I were them, who exactly was steering the ship in this situation? Obviously, no one with common sense was on board.  I really feel bad for the young black women going to this particular HBCU, which is considered one of the black Ivy League colleges.

Okay, here's  the short version of my analysis.  If we look at all the social research, (and I've read a slew of articles & books about this), it points to the fact that in just about any contest of positive traits and attributes, the overwhelming majority of people of all  races and ethnicities--including the vast majority of black people of all ethnicities--would choose a white person as the winner and they will do this almost all of the time.

One of the more awesome privileges that whites have is that they are virtually always considered GOOD, BETTER, BEST.  ALL of the major institutions in Western civilization have socialized/indoctrinated (yep, that word again) whites and  many (but not all) among other groups of people who've been influenced by Western civilization to view whites and whiter-looking people as nicer, kinder, more intelligent, prettier, more innocent, more honest, more valuable, etc, etc. etc. and to view themselves as less-thans. These are attributes that cannot be measured objectively and that makes their impact more insidious. Therefore, whites will usually win, hands down, in a contest for any of the more positive traits unless it's a something like "who is more religious?"  AAs/blacks would win that one.

[As an aside, I've also noticed how many women also tend to see men as 'better,' more qualified, less culpable, etc. than women. I noticed this as far back as when I was a young girl and when I've asked other girls or women why they don't like other women, they say silly things like, "Women gossip too much," or "Women are too catty." Even as a young girl, I knew that something terrible had happened to women's brains to make them favor the opposite gender in a male dominated world where women were all too often the victims of men. I came to that conclusion very early in my life. I didn't know the word for it then, but I know the word for it now: INDOCTRINATION and Indoctrination is a sho nuff b#tch! ]

Anyway, since AAs have most often been the loser in most categories when compared to whites, you would just think that they would be able to somehow summon up the will to acquire plenty of critical thinking. I know, I know, they haven't been taught it, but I guess it just seems to me that somehow or the other, they would have caught some clues from somewhere by this time. LOL!

The fact is that this young white woman (white mom, Asian dad), who some of the blacks there are trying to argue, is NOT white (SMH) didn't even have to show up (and actually barely did because she attended her classes on a satellite campus which means she didn't go to school on the main campus with the students she competed against or where the students she will represent attend) easily won.

Naturally, those 5 judges (their races and ethnicities don't matter) were shaped early on to see white as "right." They were swayed by the fact that the woman was white or white looking. The fact that most or all of the judges voted her the winner only reinforces what the research by white, black and other researchers have long concluded. So, if I had been one of the higher-ups at Hampton, I would have made it a point to have an apparatus in place to prevent this from happening, just as whites have a built-in apparatus in place to insure that they almost always get or control the perks in all white-run institutions.  It's critical thinking on their parts, which makes it a high priority for them to control of their institutions. Calling them racist does not prevent that.

Whites control Western civilization through their institutions (media, law enforcement, education, military, finance, etc.) Sensible people who plan to thrive are not going to fight to acquire, set up, and maintain institutions and then hand over control of those institutions to other people.

Yeah, yeah, I know that AAs rant all the time that that's not  "fair." FAIR? LOL! This is quite a naive utterance. People don't care what you call them as long as they have the power.

I've worked in various systems in this country and in absolutely every workplace, whites (and many blacks) virtually always voted for or favored whites for the perks. This doesn't make me angry because that's a waste of energy. It won't  change the fact that AAs dropped the ball and the overwhelming masses of them show that they have no interest in picking it up. However, when there are blacks in high places in these workplaces, it's expected by the black masses for the blacks to speak up and provide balance. Other than that,  why do blacks even care about blacks being in high places like upper management?  It's pointless if they don't insure as much balance as possible.  When I worked as a professional in various systems before I transitioned to the farm--LOL, I always spoke up to provide that balance, just like I speak out here for bw, and I was sometimes labeled a "troublemaker" for doing that, the same as I'm labeled a bm basher here. I considered myself "paying it forward" because if someone hadn't spoken up for me and fought for me, I wouldn't have even had the job and wouldn't be living comfortably like I do now.

It appears to me that most whites and most people among other groups AND most men are socialized to promote and protect their interests 'first and foremost' and they do it automatically. Most people who have any pride, self-esteem, and plan to thrive are going to do that.  Blacks in the past worked hard to get those HBCUs. That was a part of the resources that they were due. But if they're going lay back and allow highly important symbolic perks like Homecoming Queen to go to nonblacks, then what exactly is the purpose of an HBCU???? Why should blacks even push to put blacks in high places or in charge of anything?

Since I study human behavior, one of the things that  has always struck me was that even some of the  whites who consider themselves to be very "fair"-minded can't see how blinded they are by their "white"ness. But many, many blacks, Hispanics, Asians, etc. are ALSO blinded by the "white"ness. Thus, the Hampton Homecoming Queen is a white woman who astonishingly some blacks are claiming is not white.  Have we noticed how some whites now are able to be white sometimes and not white at other times: namely Bill Clinton, Kim Kardasian, and now the Hampton University's Homecoming queen? This 'slipping out of whiteness' is always spearheaded by blacks who pave the way for these whites to slip in an out of their "white"ness when it's to the benefit of the whites and blacks--a very interesting social phenomenon. I wonder whether Bill, Kim, and this homecoming queen ever check the "nonwhite" racial category on forms????????? Do they tell other white people that they're actually not white? Do whites ever spearhead or pave the way for blacks to slip out of "black"ness?

 Regarding this homecoming queen, it's entirely possible that she was the most talented, the most beautiful, or may be the winner in all the categories that could be objectively measured, but if that's how winners are actually chosen in the real world, then the law of averages would make blacks the winner in many more  situations by virtue of sheer natural randomly distributed talent and ability, etc. But this is NOT how perks are distributed in the vast majority of cases, no matter how much people pretend that the best person gets the prize based on merit alone. Perks are mainly distributed based on politics/the amount of power of those handing out the perks. That's why I asked who is steering the ship at Hampton. Who has the power there? I don't know what's going on at Hampton. Maybe HBCUs now have a different mission? If so, I think they need to make it plain.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/10/15/AR2009101504227.html

Anyway, here's a comment that I took from one of the sites discussing this situation. I think it sums up the views of many.

"First off, I want to say, I have actually done my research as many of the posters here have failed to do. I understand both perspectives of the situation. You must understand firstly, an HBCU is an HISTORICALLY black college or university. Meaning, its history. It's no longer a "black" college, even though the majority of the students are of African descent. So it's fair that Churchill be an equal opportuned student.

But on the other hand, you must remember the reasons most students go to HBCU's. I know for me, as an incoming freshman, I wanted to go to a school that would represent me and better my awareness of my place in society. I wanted to feel empowered in my own little world, outside of my everyday world (America), which never includes me. So in the process of choosing a school, with my intentions being as stated earlier, why would I choose a school that ONCE AGAIN puts the white woman on top but says its for me? Out of all of the students in that school, you're telling me that this white woman is the only one qualified? Now if there was a school wide election held (which there wasn't as the article stated it was) and the student body elected her, then i would have no objection. But I KNOW she would not have won if so.
So in closing, i would like to say, even though she deserves an equal opportunity, there are consequences for every action taken. She chose to go to an HBCU and should have known the values of and HBCU. She should not be allowed to serve as queen unless she was chosen by the student body, and not a panel or committee. "

Comments

[Pamela]

I may sound really old but I never thought I would live to see the day that a white person would be homecoming queen at a HBCU. I would say I have heard all but I know better. I have said this before this event. I am absolutely speechless.

[evia]

Pamela, of course many will argue that some predominantly white colleges (I think Mississippi State, for ex.) are choosing black homecoming queens, but this is why we have to look at the power structure and the symbolic weight of these decisions. If a white college in Podunk chooses a black queen, that's very different than a black Ivy League school or any HBCU choosing a white queen--due to the immense difference in the POWER, resources, and influence of whites and AAs.

However, to many blacks, these two instances are the same.

If this win was based on OBJECTIVE measures, I wouldn't have a problem with it at all. For ex, when a wm became valedictorian of Morehouse last year, you didn't hear a peep out of me. It's these "subjective" wins that make me very suspicious.

[ann]

@ Evia, Good Post as usual.

I am not surprised by the "new age" queen. Since the student body did not vote for their queen then I believe the voting was more for integration purposes. Show the world that Hampton is different from other HBCU's. And, as you say most white institutions have in place barriers so that the majority of whites will still be in control. What is so hard to understand about that?

I attend an HBCU and more and more White and Asian students are choosing to go to school here...it's less expensive. This month we no longer have an open enrollment; therefore, many AA's will not get into this or any other University. The other race students are also joining the few clubs that are on campus and so far I have not heard of any racial problems.
Also, there are more White, Asian and African faculty and staff being hired. I sometimes jokingly say that one day it will be hard to locate a native AA New Orleanian on this campus. Things are changing so fast and it really bugs me that we are still trying to block each other. We pay little attention to the other races; but, we will "knock" the heck out of each other. This is why I agree with alot of what you write.

[ann]

Today at lunch I was speaking with three AA women and one of the women have two daughters who are educated and attractive. One is 36 yrs. old and I am not sure of the other daughter's age. Their Mother complained that she wanted grand-children. Of course, I eventually brought up dating/marrying out. She said that she does not have a problem with her daughters marrying out; however, her husband may have a problem.
Ironically, my co-worker's sister is married to a wm and their daughter is married to a white doctor. So, I supposed my co-worker was trying to tell me that I do not have to convince her because both her sister and her niece are living very well. "...living well", her words not mine.

I told her that she should go and remind her daughters that they should not worry about what other people think and that they need to make a life for themselves. I also bought up your site and how time is running out for them to have children. Before the 36 yr. old knows it she will be 40 years old still waiting for that ibm and I am more than sure that is what she is doing.
If Dad is not on board I am sorry to say- too bad for him.

LOL, another one of my co-workers bought up the subject that some women in their 50's are having children. This is coming from a woman who has two educated, attractive and single daughters and she too was complainting about how difficult it is for her daughters to locate the "right" type of man. We are all aware of the problems that can happened to a more mature Mother and her child.

Thanks

[evia]

Ann, maybe I misunderstood what the MISSION/AIM of the HBCUs is, and in that case, I stand corrected. If it's been publicized that your aim is to reach CA and I send my child to you because I want my child to go to CA, then that's one thing. If you say that your aim is to go to CA and you then go to FL without publicizing that you've switched directions, then that's what causes this kind of confusion.

Or maybe I'm the one that didn't hear what the new mission/aim is. I'm still going by what I "thought" the mission was.

BTW, I would never send my child to an HBCU anyway--because I'm from down South and I know how massive the colorism is in most of those HBCUs. I know I harp a lot re colorism, but I absolutely HATE it! I think my hatred of colorism is because some of the black people (women and men) who've been the most wonderful to me throughout my life have been very dark skinned. I will fight to the death and beyond defending and trying to uplift darker skinned bw, for that reason, if no other. That's just me.

Anyway, the issues with AAs are just too many, and AAs do not know how to communicate with each other well enough to resolve many of their issues. SMH

Re your comment about those bw waiting for their "Mr. Right Black Man," one thing for sure is that if any organism does not adapt to changed conditions, it's doomed--unless it has the power to change those conditions. So, every AA woman needs to ask herself whether she has the power to change the conditions, and if she concludes that she does, then I think she should continue "waiting." On the other hand, if she concludes that she doesn't have that power, she'd better just MOVE ON (if she wants marriage) by positioning herself EARLY to be around higher quality men. If she doesn't, then I want her to keep the heck away from me with her anger, depression, whining, and general bitterness later on.

So what will be, will be.

[Felicia]

"Whites control Western civilization through their institutions (media, law enforcement, education, military, finance, etc.) Sensible people who plan to thrive are not going to fight to acquire, set up, and maintain institutions and then hand over control of those institutions to other people."

SENSIBLE PEOPLE...

http://www.sanfranciscochinatown.com/events/misschinatown.html

Miss Chinatown Applicant Information
Qualifications

You must be a citizen or a permanent resident of the USA
You must be of Chinese ancestry, meaning your father must be of Chinese descent
You must be single, never married, and never had a marriage annulled. You must have never been a parent.
You must be at least 17 years of age and not over 26 at the date of the pageant.
You can be a former contestant of Miss Chinatown USA Pageant, but not a title holder.
You must be available from January 29, 2009 to February 8, 2009 and participate in all pageant rehearsals, and all other required Chinese New Year activities.
You must have a talent presentation for the talent competition phase of the pageant. You must not be or have ever been a "professional" entertainer or model. You are deemed a "professional" if:
a. Your federal income tax return states your occupation as an entertainer, a model, or singer, etc.
b. More than half your working time is spent as a performer.
c. More than half your income is derived from performing as an actress, dancer, or a singer, etc.
You must be duly sponsored. Sponsorship may be effecuated either before or after you have qualified as a contestant.

http://min.unitedtribespowwow.com/

The Pageant is open to all Native American women who are at least one-fourth degree Indian and are between the ages of 17 to 26. Proof of age and tribal enrollment are necessary. Applicants must be single and non-parent. Click here for more information!

The National Miss Indian Nations Pageant was created to promote the goodwill of a Cross-cultural Education Program.

The primary function of Miss Indian Nations will be to serve as an Ambassador for all Indian Nations as well as to serve as an official representative of United Tribes Technical College.

The Pageant is a nonprofit organization sponsored by United Tribes Technical College.

The Miss Indian Nations Pageant Program also provides an educational/scholarship program. Miss Indian Nations emphasizes the importance of education and in this endeavor shares not only her belief in education in general, but also emphasizes a Cross-cultural Education Program during her reign.

Miss Indian Nations' primary goal will be to utilize her communication skills through teaching and sharing with our non-Indian brothers and sisters the rich traditions, cultures, and heritage of Native American Indian people.

The National Miss Indian Nations Pageant is proud to be affiliated with the internationally recognized event, the United Tribes International Powwow.

http://www.missindiaireland.com/howtoapply.php

All young women of Indian descent are invited to take part in the most prestigious and highly anticipated pageant in Ireland! There is no experience in modelling needed.

Applicants must meet all of the following qualifications before applying (please note: organizers reserve the right to modify rules, regulations, requirements, and any other related issues/segments regarding the pageant):

Must be of or between the ages of 17 and 27 years.
Must be of East Indian origin or East Indian background. (Also includes Caribbean countries/West Indians.)
Must be of single status; never married before and never had a child.
Must be an Irish citizen or a Permanent Resident.
Please submit via e-mail or post a short biography and at least two recent photos of yourself (preferably a full-length and a headshot). The photos do not have to be professionally taken. If the applicant is chosen to be a finalist in the pageant, she is required to submit hard copies of the photos to the organizers in-person as well.

I could go on and on but you get the picture. Other groups outside of African-Americans have a built in system to promote the beauty and desirability of women of their groups. Because they rightly and instinctually know that the condition, mental, and emotional state of it's women is DIRECTLY related to the condition of the GROUP. They (unlike African-Americans) are interested in SELF preservation FIRST and foremost. That's why ALL other women OUTSIDE of the African-American construct (not community) enjoy higher marriage rates and father participation with their young. Because these other cultures hold their women (thus their group as a whole) in higher esteem.

"It appears to me that most whites and most people among other groups AND most men are socialized to promote and protect their interests 'first and foremost' and they do it automatically. Most people who have any pride, self-esteem, and plan to thrive are going to do that."

Right. That's why those individual BW who still have any pride, self-esteem, and who are determined to thrive are going to have to gravitate to those men REGARDLESS of "race" who is willing to promote and protect HER interests and those of any resulting children preferably born within wedlock.

"Blacks in the past worked hard to get those HBCUs. That was a part of the resources that they were due. But if they're going lay back and allow highly important symbolic perks like Homecoming Queen to go to nonblacks, then what exactly is the purpose of an HBCU???? Why should blacks even push to put blacks in high places or in charge of anything?"

First of all BW need to avoid HBCU's like the PLAGUE for a number of reasons. Including a growing number of HIV positive down low BM attending them.

http://www.usatoday.com/news/health/2004-02-11-aids-students_x.htm

Black women need to ONLY push those - again, regardless of "race" - who are willing to reciprocate fully.

[ann]

I absolutely agree with the statement about HBCU'S switching directions. If the HBCU's have switched directions why haven't the various schools made it known? Maybe such a statement would upset many AA's or contributions may suffer. I really do not know the answer.

"Or maybe I'm the one that didn't hear what the new mission/aim is. I'm still going by what I "thought" the mission was."...Evia

Present company excluded...I think that is one of the problems with some AA's is that we are not dissimulating vital information. Some of us hold on to information that could benefit other AA people or we give the information to a select few. This type of selfish behavior have been going on for decades. No, I am not saying all.

When my school advertises on tv one will see an Asian and a white female in the commercials. The aw who now works on campus and is doing very well financially; but, that's another story.

After reading some of your reasons for not wanting your children to go to an HBCU, I can agree with you. I have also noticed that the majority of our faculty and staff's children do not attend this university. Why? Do they know something that the average AA's do not know? Their children usually attend a more diverse university or an Ivy league type of school. It is like a game is being played and most AA do not realize it.

I agree with your comment about the anger, depression, etc. People who feel disenfranchise will become upset and no one wants to be around unhappy people. Ladies keep moving upwards.

[ann]

After Katrina, I had worked a few months at one of our "sister" schools a two year HBCU and one of the bw students told me that a friend of hers was one point from entering the nursing program and a ww was three or four points from entering the program, guess who got in.

Also, on this majority blk campus I kept seeing 6 or 8 wht students walking around in uniforms. I finally asked someone who were those people and someone said they were in a medical program. There was not one blk. person in the program. I was and still am shocked that not one black person was in the program. And, one bw told me well blks. do not want to go to school. Who is failing whom? This would never have happened at a majority white, Asian or Hispanic school.

Yes, we are simply giving away our resources. Some of us AA's always want to show other races how nice and giving we are with little reciprocity. Reciprocity is my new favorite word.

[evia]

Thanks, Felicia! Obviously ANY group and ANY person should choose VERY carefully who they give their resources (time, money, energy, support, etc.) to and this is why other groups make sure to give the resources (perks, opportunities, etc.) to their own FIRST. And there are ALWAYS strings attached or RECIPROCITY is clearly expected. They make sure that recipients know that they must give back to them or their group. Or else! But this is actually a very dead horse.

I'm ONLY interested now in helping the AA women who are in my segment. I, personally, don't want to hear about the rest. I only want to help alla my small segment because I personally lack the time and energy to help the rest. However, some of y'all may feel you can help a bigger chunk, but I know my limits.

Ann, the bulk of AAs absolutely don't know about the switch in the HBCU's mission because NONE of the HBCUs would ever allow that to circulate; therefore many AAs continue to give to the HBCUs through the UNCF and other conduits, thinking that their money is going to help an AA black child who is a descendant of slaves. SMH

And to look at it from another angle, many AA youth and adults are ANTI-INTELLECTUAL. Many AA youth are NOT motivated to excel academically; they just want to make lots of money. AAs as a group do not have any common destiny in mind. They don't think in terms of the common goal of using their intellect to "move on up" or evolve together as a group. AA "leaders" at any level NEVER talk about the lack of common goals of AAs as a group. However, the bulk of people in other groups DO want to evolve together.

From speaking to my black educator friends, many of them are exhausted with trying to do virtual "tap dances" in the classrooms to get or keep the students interested in their school work. The overwhelming portion of AA youth & adults are addicted to all of this stupid stuff in the media, gameboys, X-boxes, ridiculous haircuts/styles (males & females), sagging pants (males), multiple earrings (males), tatoos (males & females), pumping iron so that they can flex their muscles instead of their brains (males), sports, talking "black love" but sexing light/white women (males), and other types of the most vapid types of superficiality, etc.

Most youth of ALL groups are caught up in silly stuff, but the difference I've noticed is that when youth of other groups become adults and get older, they become MUCH more serious; however, many AAs are like perpetual children, at all ages--even in their 40s, 50s, and 60s! They don't seem to ever get serious; they remain focused on silly, superficial stuff, with barely any growth in their intellect. I want y'all to observe that.

I actually do dumb-down what I say to many AA adults because otherwise they'll accuse me of thinking "too much." LOL! This has happened a lot to me in my life; it happened the last time about 10 days ago.

However, many of them continue to be mad at 'de evil wm.' That anger stunts the growth of AAs in so many ways because so much of the energy and other resources of AAs is invested into this anger and demonizing whites. LAWDY! It's just amazing.

For ex., I'm going to church this morning and I already know that the bm minister is going to tie the Haitian tragedy to 'de evil wm.' LOL! Of course, he doesn't realize how he's stunting the growth of the people there because his growth was stunted in the same way. SMH And there's no point in trying to get AAs to look at this anger situation differently because if you or I try to do that, then they will turn on us, label us as "traitors" and try to burn us alive. So I keep my mouth shut because I'm not sinking with them and their children. So the bulk of AAs are already gone.

This is why my children do NOT go to that church, just as you said that the children of the HBCU higher-ups don't attend the HBCUs. LOL! The mindset of too many AAs is simply rigid, non-creative, and non-progressive.

Anyway,thanks for commenting, y'all, but I don't see the point in going on and on with this same-ole, same-ole discussion. This is why I've closed the comments section on my essays in general. I write the essays mainly because I'm just documenting. If y'all have articles and such that you want discussed, you should send them to other bloggers who have an "open comments" policy.