NCA&T-UNC Halftime Show - Soundtrack for Unity, or..........
Sept 16, 2015 14:01:35 GMT -5
rodj likes this
Post by Deleted on Sept 16, 2015 14:01:35 GMT -5
NCA&T-UNC Halftime Show - Soundtrack for Unity, or Distraction From Reality?
hbcudigest.com/post/129220606386/ncat-unc-halftime-show-soundtrack-for-unity-or
NCA&T-UNC Halftime Show - Soundtrack for Unity, or Distraction From Reality?
By: Jarrett Carter Sr. - @jlcarter_sr
It used to be that a good HBCU band performance was good for masking athletic issues. A blowout loss wouldn’t seem so bad if the band you came to see killed it during halftime. You never thought about enrollment drops, presidential turnover and financial issues so long as you could claim the baddest band in the land on message boards and Facebook.
But now it seems halftime shows are driving attention away from drastically important issues beyond the campus borders and culture. The joint halftime show put on by North Carolina A&T and UNC-Chapel Hill last Saturday is a perfect example of how frighteningly easy we can be entertained by, and convinced to connect with the symbols which advance our own struggle.
UNC is the poster child for academic rulebreaking, athletic entitlement, stereotyping of black athletes and lack of institutional control - all of which resulted in the school being placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges. They face what may inevitably be the harshest penalties ever levied by the NCAA, and may be permanently damaged by their own wealth, arrogance and privilege.
But Chapel Hill is also the flagship institution of the state’s higher education system, a reality that makes the school too big to fail, and too important to face real scrutiny and opinion from local or regional media. They have too many graduates within state legislature and among the legislative lobby, too much brand influence over voters and residents, and too little competition from other public universities in the mid-atlantic to be completely undone by their own ineptitude.
But the same is not true for North Carolina A&T, which despite its growth as a research institution and its current standing as the nation’s largest HBCU by enrollment standards, it still remains along with North Carolina’s four other public HBCUs, under constant scrutiny and threat of merger or realignment. It is regularly the target of quiet rumors about merger with the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and has not, in spite of its growth as the state’s flagship HBCU, achieved the level of state and civic investment that other large schools in the state
Two years ago, the New York Times editorial board discussed the political state of emergency in North Carolina, where the rise of elected republican leadership threatened stability in education, economy, public health and racial equity.
Six months ago, members of the state’s higher education board of governors openly discussed the need for merger or closure of HBCUs as a remedy to shrinking the bloated system.
Historically black colleges will also be a focus, (BOG Member Harry) Smith said. North Carolina, with five campuses, has more public HBCUs than any other state.
A budget provision last year would have closed Elizabeth City State University, a small HBCU in the impoverished northeastern corner of the state which has struggled to keep enrollment up, but did not make the final budget.
“You’ve got to have a conversation about HBCUs,” Smith said. “And how many you need, we’ve got five.”
The scrutiny will come at a time when HBCUS have fewer proponents in the state’s political leadership, with Democratic members who traditionally served as the boosters and defenders of the schools now out of power. All but three of the 32 current Board of Governors are white, and no members attended any of North Carolina’s five public HBCUs.
NCA&T faces a threat for merger, but it would never be credible enough to overcome the national backlash the state would receive if it ever worked to make it a reality. Other HBCUs in the state aren’t blessed with the same network capacity, and if there is a call for unity to be made, on or off the field, its with sister HBCUs and not the UNC marching band, which represents a school that will always be okay in spite of its crimes against black athletes and their futures.
I’m sure band organizers and school officials never viewed the unity performance as a ultra-political statement beyond state institutions needing support, and fans recognizing that we can be agreeable on terms of loving football and marching bands. The moment will live forever on YouTube and in the minds of Aggie supporters who believe that any foot we can get in the door of the system will, one day, reap benefits for future Aggies and other HBCUs.
But with black colleges, black bodies, and black culture all under outright attack, is unity outside of the HBCU community our best investment strategy? Or an effort to feel good about the storm which no longer is headed our way, but is already here?
hbcudigest.com/post/129220606386/ncat-unc-halftime-show-soundtrack-for-unity-or
NCA&T-UNC Halftime Show - Soundtrack for Unity, or Distraction From Reality?
By: Jarrett Carter Sr. - @jlcarter_sr
It used to be that a good HBCU band performance was good for masking athletic issues. A blowout loss wouldn’t seem so bad if the band you came to see killed it during halftime. You never thought about enrollment drops, presidential turnover and financial issues so long as you could claim the baddest band in the land on message boards and Facebook.
But now it seems halftime shows are driving attention away from drastically important issues beyond the campus borders and culture. The joint halftime show put on by North Carolina A&T and UNC-Chapel Hill last Saturday is a perfect example of how frighteningly easy we can be entertained by, and convinced to connect with the symbols which advance our own struggle.
UNC is the poster child for academic rulebreaking, athletic entitlement, stereotyping of black athletes and lack of institutional control - all of which resulted in the school being placed on probation by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools’ Commission on Colleges. They face what may inevitably be the harshest penalties ever levied by the NCAA, and may be permanently damaged by their own wealth, arrogance and privilege.
But Chapel Hill is also the flagship institution of the state’s higher education system, a reality that makes the school too big to fail, and too important to face real scrutiny and opinion from local or regional media. They have too many graduates within state legislature and among the legislative lobby, too much brand influence over voters and residents, and too little competition from other public universities in the mid-atlantic to be completely undone by their own ineptitude.
But the same is not true for North Carolina A&T, which despite its growth as a research institution and its current standing as the nation’s largest HBCU by enrollment standards, it still remains along with North Carolina’s four other public HBCUs, under constant scrutiny and threat of merger or realignment. It is regularly the target of quiet rumors about merger with the University of North Carolina-Greensboro, and has not, in spite of its growth as the state’s flagship HBCU, achieved the level of state and civic investment that other large schools in the state
Two years ago, the New York Times editorial board discussed the political state of emergency in North Carolina, where the rise of elected republican leadership threatened stability in education, economy, public health and racial equity.
Six months ago, members of the state’s higher education board of governors openly discussed the need for merger or closure of HBCUs as a remedy to shrinking the bloated system.
Historically black colleges will also be a focus, (BOG Member Harry) Smith said. North Carolina, with five campuses, has more public HBCUs than any other state.
A budget provision last year would have closed Elizabeth City State University, a small HBCU in the impoverished northeastern corner of the state which has struggled to keep enrollment up, but did not make the final budget.
“You’ve got to have a conversation about HBCUs,” Smith said. “And how many you need, we’ve got five.”
The scrutiny will come at a time when HBCUS have fewer proponents in the state’s political leadership, with Democratic members who traditionally served as the boosters and defenders of the schools now out of power. All but three of the 32 current Board of Governors are white, and no members attended any of North Carolina’s five public HBCUs.
NCA&T faces a threat for merger, but it would never be credible enough to overcome the national backlash the state would receive if it ever worked to make it a reality. Other HBCUs in the state aren’t blessed with the same network capacity, and if there is a call for unity to be made, on or off the field, its with sister HBCUs and not the UNC marching band, which represents a school that will always be okay in spite of its crimes against black athletes and their futures.
I’m sure band organizers and school officials never viewed the unity performance as a ultra-political statement beyond state institutions needing support, and fans recognizing that we can be agreeable on terms of loving football and marching bands. The moment will live forever on YouTube and in the minds of Aggie supporters who believe that any foot we can get in the door of the system will, one day, reap benefits for future Aggies and other HBCUs.
But with black colleges, black bodies, and black culture all under outright attack, is unity outside of the HBCU community our best investment strategy? Or an effort to feel good about the storm which no longer is headed our way, but is already here?
