Week 6: Barbara Major
by SonnyLee on Mar.12, 2012, under Weekly Guests
Barbara Major is a community organizer and trainer with over thirty years experience in many local, national, and international community development efforts. This work includes everything from nurturing leadership development efforts within local communities to assisting institutions in developing strategies to de-institutionalize racism.
Originally trained in Sociology, Barbara is a native of New Orleans and Franklinton Louisiana. Until Hurricane Katrina, Ms. Major served as the chair of the St. Thomas/Irish Channel Consortium, a nationally acclaimed model for holistic community and institutional transformation. For 12 years she was Executive Director of the community driven and controlled St. Thomas Health Clinic. To this day, the St. Thomas continues to serve the Greater New Orleans underserved and underinsured population.
She is a core trainer for The People’s Institute for Survival and Beyond. She connects her local organizing to training in anti-racism for people and institutions that live in or work with struggling communities.
Ms. Major served as Co-Chair of the Mayor of New Orleans’ Bring Back New Orleans Commission. She is a co-founder and President/CEO for Citizens United for Economic Equity, a CDFI small business lending institution. The organization was founded by New Orleanians to ensure equitable African American community participation in the rebuilding of New Orleans.
Barbara served as acting past president of the Regional Transit Authority and is currently the Chairperson of its Board of Directors. She is also on the board of the New Orleans Redevelopment Authority (NORA). Ms Major’s latest published work is titled “Building a Net that Works” in the book State of The Race. She has received numerous awards and citations for her achievements, but says “her family” is the greatest award that God has given her.
March 12th, 2012 on 8:03 pm
Barbara Major was nothing as I expected. I had never heard of her before this class, but I am glad that I found out who she is. Barbara is my favorite speaker since the charismatic Bob Brown. I loved the fact that she brought some of her colleagues with her to the lecture; for me, it created a sense of empowerment, togetherness, and support. One of the reasons why I love her personality is because she introduced David Billings, one of her colleagues, as “one of the baddest white boys she has ever known.” Barbara had a wonderful character about her while she was speaking. When she spoke about the issue of race, I could really tell that she is truly passionate about how race affects all of us in our everyday lives. Throughout my life, I have learned about race and the affects that it has on our society, but I never thought about the issue in a deeper meaning until I came to this class. Barbara really sparked my interest about race with her influential, powerful, passionate, and straightforward personality. Before this class, I was guilty of considering race and its affects on our society as a small issue in the world compared to other issues. Also, I used to brush off this issue because I did not believe that it affected my life. If I remember correctly, someone in the class asked Professor Mayfield why race is an issue; he replied by saying race is an issue because everyone should know what it is. Barbara also brought to my attention that it definitely affects all of our lives whether we notice it or not. Barbara Major had such a great impact on me, and the way that I view the issue of race, because she was a wonderful speaker and a strong, intelligent woman.
March 12th, 2012 on 8:04 pm
There were a few ideas about race that really stuck out to me in the lecture with Barbara Major. First, race is a fairly new social construct based on our physical appearance. This made me ask myself: Are what we call “white” people actually the color white? Are what we call “black” people actually the color black? The answer to both of these questions is no. I feel that determining someone’s race is something that was developed by what we call white people, or the “white supremacy.” Barbara informed the class that every system created in the United States serves white people. I agree with this 100%, especially considering the fact that at one point, it was written in the Constitution of the United States that a black person was to be counted as three-fifths of a person. This example shows that the concept of race degrades a person’s humanity, and this outrages me. The second idea about race that stuck out to me during the lecture was when Barbara said that race has nothing to do with skin color, it determines who has power and access to opportunities in this country. Professor Mayfield went around the class and asked each of us why the issue of race is important to us; I answered him by stating that everyone should have equal opportunity to things like a good education and well-paying jobs. Overall, the issue of race is a lot more prominent in our society than I ever realized before this lecture with Barbara Major.
March 13th, 2012 on 11:31 am
Batbara Majors hasbeen a communicy organizer for thirty years. She is very interested in nuturing and developing strategies, especiallly for those who are underinsured and impoverished. She believes in anti-racism. As a child she remembers being pushed aside, ignored, and being ignored opportunities. She feels Afro-Americans have the right to be treated the same as “white” people. She made a point of bringing out the “black” and “white” is really not the color of people’s skin. It is a term acquired from social class and status. Race is largely determined by the state a person lives in, but the idea of race was initially started by Europeans. Barbara says may came to America to guarantee religiousfreedom, taxation, and revolt. The creation of race is in the founding of our nation so that everyone would stick together. Not talking about race does not eliminate the problem. Race is a pecking order of who has power. Race is about status. Barbara feels that that status is superficial and everyone has the right to the same “status.”
March 13th, 2012 on 11:44 am
Barbara Major is a strong community leader. I had never heard of her. When she started talking about race I thought she was anti-white, but i soon learned that is not true. She feel the term “race” is not good and that if we overlooked the race then more people would be viewed as the same. People have a preconceived notions of “blacks”. It is a form of labeling; if one black steals, then all will steal. Social value in many cases is a barrier. Barbara Majors seeks to break down this barrier. She wants to make race “NOT a problem”. She wants to make a group of people to be productive. There is real equality and it should be seen by all. People are often put in collectives. If they don’t have good alternatives, no jobs, and no education then it leads to crime. When I say that it is you automatically say oh that is the black person, but no not always. Many blacks have little rights because they are included as groups and all seen as “bad”. Where “whites” are seen as individuals, and each have their own individual rights. Each one is considered innocent until proven guilty. Look at the recent killing of a black man a few days ago in New Orleans because he is believed have possessed drugs. If it had been a white man, then they would not have shot so quickly and he would have more rights. Barbara Majors helped me to see how people give less right to the Afro-American group of people in this way.
March 18th, 2012 on 4:15 pm
The class with Barbara Major was the most challenging class so far, because it touched on such a significant topic that she believes is an underlying aspect in everything. Honestly, this class made me feel a bit uncomfortable, because I don’t usually talk so in depth about race. But that’s the stance that the majority of people take, and it’s good that Barbara initiated a racial debate with such fervency. The class had much to say, and I enjoyed how Irvin went around the class to get everyone’s take on the matter, and its effect on our lives. I firmly believe it does effect each and every one of our lives, from the neighborhoods in which we grew up in to our experience in high school and college, and in the experiences we have today.
I’ve lived in a few places around New Orleans, and I felt like all of them were more reasonably mixed than typical areas in Baton Rouge or Lafayette, which is an aspect I deeply appreciate about the city. Legend has it that Louis Armstrong had to leave New Orleans because of the increasing racial tension- that it wasn’t his New Orleans anymore. But in the post-Katrina era, I feel New Orleans is the most integrated city in Louisiana.
In my three years living here, I do not feel that race has inhibited me from experiencing any cultural or academic endeavor. For me, New Orleans presents an opportunity to quell racial feelings by uniting people through three of the most enjoyable aspects of life: food, music, and booze.
March 18th, 2012 on 4:29 pm
Which reminds me, it’s 5:16 on Sunday, March 18th, and I missed Super Sunday.
And that’s an epic fail.
See, New Orleans is a great place, but we know it’s a fucked up place.
Second lines are the coolest thing about New Orleans culture. But last year, a two-year old baby was murdered due to careless gunplay following a parade.
We can choose to detach the violence from the cultural brilliance, but it’s often present.
In fact, without the poverty, which is the catalyst to violent crime, maybe the Indian culture wouldn’t exist in the first place.
In New Orleans we say “Laissez les bon temps rouler.”
And at least one a week someone rolls up on someone else and murders them. And then people don’t talk.
Let’s think the corner of Derbigny and Dumaine.
But walk a few blocks towards Esplanade, and you have a group of artists who built a giant treehouse in the backyard of a mansion that is open to kids in the neighborhood.
We have people coming in Post-Katrina that care.
But with further gentrification, are we at risk of losing the flavor that defines New Orleans to begin with?
That’s the concern. My concern.
We’re in the Lower Garden District.
Sally’s one bedroom at Magazine and Race cost her $1200.
Across there is a coffee shop. You paid 4.00 for a caramel mocha latte.
Flashback: 1980.
Bags of black tar heroin, 3 for 10, Erato and Terpischore.
But you had that bangin’ jazz show at Clio and Carondolet.
That was New Orleans then.
This is it now, and it never dies.
March 20th, 2012 on 12:29 pm
I think it is safe to say that Barbara Major has seen it all. Being a community organizer for thirty years I’m sure she has seen the worst and experienced the worst from racism. Ms. Major even said so herself that she was old enough to experience racism at it’s rawest. This class was very controversial and I won’t lie I was uncomfortable, but i can’t be a baby about it. Racism is just one thing I try to avoid adding to my list of worries. You can call me naive to it, but i would rather not worry about it. But for this class there was no avoiding it. Barbara Majors believes that racism has an effect of just about everything. And she and David Billings have taken it upon themselves to make an attempt to fix it. They have been successful together for numerous years and to this day and for man more days will continue to make the world a better place by nulling racism. For this class I was mainly a listener, soaking in everything Ms. Major had to say. Ms. Major believes that the terms “white and black” are nothing but a social construct that makes racism easier. Along with that fact, the fact that we notice people by their skin color is just another convenience for racism. Its good that some people in the world are trying to wipe out racism. Now if we all could get past it the world would be that much better.
March 20th, 2012 on 3:10 pm
I was unable to make it to Barbara Majors presentation, and judging by the blogs written so far, I obviously missed one of the more intense lectures on a powerful topic that many people try to avoid. It would have been good for me to be in the classroom and discuss race in way that sounds like it was presented in a way that was in-your-face. This is what I gathered from every blog writer stating that they were at least somewhat uncomfortable. I’m sure that Barbara brings about this tension on purpose, although it is also probably unavoidable when talking about this issue in depth. I believe this because you can’t get rid of the problem of the tension that race differences have caused until someone makes a point to bring it out in the open for everyone to feel, so that people can break it. Now let me display on the blog table a piece of tension that I know many of the people in the class were pondering. When I went to class last week not knowing it was cancelled, quite a few people were there and we sat around for a little while talking about Barbara Majors talk. Since I missed that class I put her name in Google, as a few others had done before the class to learn about her and her work. The second web page that comes up, which many of us discovered, talks about how Majors was involved with benefiting from her “non-profit” organization through receiving loans herself and also for her son. I am at no liberty to say whether this is true or not, but I thought it important to state my opinion on the matter. After thinking about it a lot, I remembered that at the beginning of this class, Irvin talked about why he wanted to teach it and why we need to write the blogs. His most important reasoning was that websites such as nola.com have anonymous editorial staff members, with no stated sources, writing articles that may not be based on true information. These articles are then blogged about by your everyday nobody’s that hold a strong opinion backed up by nothing and no one because they have nothing better to do with their time. I just wanted to remind everyone that we should focus on the good that Barbara is doing by giving minority businesses the chance to be a part of rebuilding New Orleans and all her other efforts as an activist. This being in addition to how brave she is to stand up and remind people that just because the Constitution says that everyone should be treated equal, doesn’t mean that there isn’t still issues surrounding that law that cannot be ignored. To say that all is well with this topic I feel would be like saying that everyone goes the speed limit, or waits till they’re 21 to have a hurricane or two.
March 20th, 2012 on 6:11 pm
I was very intrigued by Barbara Major. She brought a realness to our focus group that we have not experienced before. Ms. Major is an anti-racist activist and community organizer who has devoted her life to breaking down the social structure of racism. After having read Barbara Major’s website, I am thoroughly impressed that despite all of her contributions to different social issues around the United States and the world, she was able to come into our classroom and begin by defining what race is. I am a sociology major concentrating in social inequalities, so I was very familiar with many of the things Barbara Major discussed, but I had never heard them explained in such a way. I was glad that Ms. Major explained key terms such as race, racism, ethnicity, and privilege. Along with Ms. Major came David Billings, an old white male preacher anti-racist activist. I really appreciated Mr. Billings’ presence because I think that the explanation of white privilege is the most crucial part of explaining the structure of racism to white people. Together, the duo told us about the history of racism and how whiteness and blackness came into being, and explained the power relations involved in the social constructs of race and class. As soon as Ms. Major began explaining ambiguous, tangled concepts, the class immediately turned into a discussion that everyone seemed eager to participate in. I was honestly shocked to hear what some of our white classmates had to say, but also pleased to see them admitting miseducations about race and inequality, especially since they all seemed to be striving to become more socially conscious individuals. All in all, I think this was my favorite focus group because it clarified very basic concepts for all of us and got people thinking about how they wound up in the social location they occupy. It was also very interesting to see the different levels of social awareness of my classmates given the fact that our class is so diverse in age, race, gender, sexuality and major of study.
March 20th, 2012 on 9:52 pm
A Twofold Compassion
I was very privileged to have had the opportunity to sit in Barbara Majors’ lecture on “Race and this thing we call ‘White’”. It was with a deep since of curiosity that I absorbed each of her proclamations regarding the past and present state of racism and the dominance of the “white man” in America’s heritage and current affairs. My curiosity was met with a very enlightening, and yet deeply perplexing phenomenon – of which I had no previous knowledge of – where many people actually maintain the viewpoint that the U.S.A. was founded upon and is continuously adherent to the “Service to, and benefit of, the white man”. It was difficult, at first, for me to take Majors’ words seriously because they were painting such an extreme picture of the U.S.A, which I have always known to give security, freedom, and hope indiscriminately to all who are its citizens; but as her beliefs unfolded before me, I had an unbearable twofold compassion that welled inside of me for her and all those who position themselves with her beliefs.
The first level of compassion that stirred in me was fueled by the nature of racism itself as it is expressed by and evoked onto many of America’s free citizens. Racism carries with it such a heavy burden that not only weighs on the livelihood and emotions of the victims, but lay also as a deep and unthinkable level of darkness within the heart and soul of the perpetrators themselves. How piercing and shattering the act of racism is!
What can be said of racism as it consumes one’s very heart towards another? It’s as if they were to take the free gift of the sun’s rays on the earth and attempt to completely block out a given portion that they see as unfitting. Why could they not just understand and accept that all of the rays are freely given, and they all emanate from the same source? So with us all, we have come up from the dust, and to the dust we will return. To blind one’s eyes from accepting a particular segment of the sun does nothing to stop the sun from releasing them, nor does it diminish the value of those rays given they be accepted freely.
The second level of compassion that stirred – and continues to stir – within me is one for the victims of racism themselves. When such a spiteful and disdaining action is purposefully spewed towards a person or group of people, the recipients can be so tremendously crushed by the power of this action that the very direction they were taking in life goes through a paradigm shift. Instead of building up hope and purpose for their community out of a since of dignity, honor, and love, their hope and purpose becomes protecting their own with defensiveness, defiance, and backlash towards those racist sources because of the hurt they cause. These reactions, which are all brewed from a deep hatred and disdain caused by pain, are just as powerful at tearing people and communities apart as the act of racism itself.
Let the one who chooses to emit racism towards another remove him/herself from a since of community and human dignity, along with the rest of those spiteful engagers, rather than the victims of racism remove themselves out of vengeance towards the source of hatred. No victim has their since of hope, dignity, honor, community or love stolen from them by the hate crimes done to them by another; it is not the perpetrator’s to take. Rather, that victim has full command over where they place their hope, over what brings them dignity, over how honored they are, and over who makes up community to them. Implore and petition the racist soul to give up their divisive ways, and if/when they do flee from racism, chose yourself whether you will accept them for who they are; but if they stubbornly persist in the filth that racism is, let them force themselves into seclusion from your community out of their own repulsion, rather than lowering yourself to rejecting the people of their community.
March 21st, 2012 on 9:24 am
Barbara Major has brought a discussion to class that no one likes to talk about. It seems ironic or planned by Professor Mayfield that Ms. Major and Bob Brown, our first guest, grew up in the same town of Franklinton, Louisiana. The topic of racism either gets shoved under the rug or you hear from extremists who will make it their life calling and never mention it in a constructive manner. Racism and prejudice, unfortunately, has been around a long time. Children are born free or racial prejudice. However, once they reach the age to learn they start to pick up behavioral habits from their parents, siblings, TV, and music. Damn! Did I say music? Unless education that denounces racism and prejudice is taught at an early age, society is just kicking the can down the road. I grew up in the north and I would lie if I said racism did not exist. But after living in the South, it’s more overt and nasty. It’s the only thing I hate about living in the South. It sucks so much energy out of a productive society. By the way, I have travelled to six continents. The United States does not have monopoly on racism. It exists with an Italian father wanting his daughter to marry an Italian, or the Jewish mother wanting her son to marry a nice Jewish girl. I could go on and on with examples. I don’t think we will ever get rid of microcosms of religion or nationality prejudices. Racism due to color of skin is pure ignorance and it’s eradication has to be taught in schools and religious classes early. Although I am not an atheist, I hold religions(all of them) responsible for perpetuating racism and hate across the globe. Although I thought it was great to go six weeks of class without having to discuss race, I commend Professor Mayfield and Barbara Major for keeping a light shining on a problem we all need to overcome. If we do, there is no stopping our capabilities as a strong nation.
March 21st, 2012 on 11:25 am
Barbara Major was a complete surprise when she came in to speak. I read up a little about her before class and I was expecting class to be something not so interesting. At first I was a little bummed out that she was late to class because I’m extremely impatient but, I’m happy I didn’t let that bother me because this was my favorite speaker so far. She had so much to say about racism and sexism that really affect us day to day that none of us seem to speak about. We are so used to being discriminated in one way or another but never speak out about it as if it is something to be expected when it shouldn’t be that way. I really thought it was empowering when she went through the entire class and asked us all how racism has affected us and everyone of every race has experienced it in one way or another. Recently I have been affected by it because I am talking to a black boy and was told how disgusting I am for that and how wrong I was for talking to someone of another race. I never really dealt with it first hand as I have recently and to me it is pure ignorant of people to judge someone on their color more than what they have to offer as a person. Barbara really touched a lot of this and said the only way to fix it is to talk about it and express ourselves. You can’t ignore an issue this big, that is still very well active in a part of our society today. The work barbara does is inspirational and I am shocked at how much this class touched me and opened my eyes that everyone experiences racism.
March 21st, 2012 on 11:34 am
Barbara Major has been a community organizer for thirty years now and can tell you several experiences she has had with racism for every culture throughout the united states. She specifically spoke about how the racism in the school systems really mess up our society and keep these sterotypes very present in our culture. We have an educational system that is bias based on our culture people get discriminated because they aren’t offered the opportunity wealthier families are which keeps them stuck in the position they are currently in. Barbara has seen it all she was around when black were treated with the most disrespect and has been able to overcome the unjust feeling she has had towards whites, and has fully accepted that it is not an entire race that has acted that way towards her but, individual people. She taught me not to assume it is a specific race based on past experience but, to look at everyone as individuals. If we could all do that our society could rise to amazing power but its the struggle between being superior which causes the conflict and discrimination we all have experienced. Even being a girl I have been denied specific opportunities because it isn’t a job for women. The more we talk about this and work to eliminating our own biases the world would be a better place.
March 21st, 2012 on 11:56 am
When you know better, you do better.
I’ve never had such a personable encounter with someone who’s made such an impact on the issue of race. I almost felt as if I were in a 1980s documentary. Barbara Majors not only had an emotional stands, but she was factual. You could tell that she had done years of research on the topic, but her emotional stands did have a huge effect on me. If was the type of passion that made you want to educate yourself more, so that you could educate others.
Irvin Mayfield took what he called “one of the liberties of being a professor” lol and went around the class and asked why race is important to us. And at that moment, even with all of the past and present racial issues going on, I really had to think about it. Usually, we don’t talk about why race is important; it’s one of those things that “just are”. I’ve never had to think about why. But right then I kind of did a recap of my life and as everyone went around the room and said why it was important for them I thought about all the times where I may not have been racially profiled, but how race has almost always played a role in my life. Whether it was making sure that I was in the top of my class or making sure I spoke properly, or even making sure that I carried myself in a presentable manner, I felt as though I always had to be a step above and work harder because I was African American. Why is that? Because race still plays a major role. Race is important because racism is still current and as long as it is race will always be important. All we can do is educate ourselves so that we can educate others.
March 21st, 2012 on 1:18 pm
When Barbara Major walked into that room I did not know what to expect. Her excitement about race and what our generation is capable of knowing is astonishing. She exclaims how Race is nothing more than box we check off on a piece of paper. I completely agree. Race is a made up social concept. It literally came from a Eurocentric ethnographer that stated his own ideas about race. Then he passed his ideas from scientists to other anthropologists. Their studies included that Europeans were the superior race and they were the smartest. Then it goes on saying that any race “below” the Europeans was not sufficient. This is absurd that we still use this term race. I understand that it has become a major issue in the way people live their lives. Growing up our family moved a lot. My father was in the military. I have lived in some of the poorest places in the country and some of the richest in the world. Anywhere that I have lived “race” was still an issue.
I spent my younger childhood in North Carolina in a very small where it did not matter what color you were because everyone was so mixed you could not tell which litter was from where. It was not until I moved to the middle of Louisiana I realized that race would affect me. I lived in Leesville, La, nothing too exciting at all. As a growing girl I started to get certain emotions for a “race” other than my own. I was not attracted to “white” boys. When my mother found out I had an African American boyfriend she was not the happiest camper. I could not understand why the color of skin had such a burden with my mother. She could never give me a reasonable explanation of why I could not date any other race except my own. People were always people to me, never a color. After awhile I started to lie to my mother, I would never tell her about my boyfriends because she always said she would disown me.
March 21st, 2012 on 4:57 pm
The interview with Barbra Majors definitely hit home for me. She brought up the real definition and origin of race and shed light on a highly controversial subject. Growing up my mother never taught me the difference between black and white; my mother is white and my father is black. So growing up I thought this was normal and excepted but as I got older I realized that I would be horribly stereotyped because of the color of my skin and that being biracial has its ups and downs. Ms. Major informed me that the worst is yet to come and that I will have many hurtles to jump over in the future. Ms. Major might have come off as intimidating to some but hearing her talk about what she is passionate about reminded me of the heated arguments that my family would get into at home, I felt that her presence was very warming and I always enjoy hearing people speak on the things that they are passionate about the most. I liked that she brought in a couple of her colleagues; she claims they were for her protection in a joking manner, but one person in particular that she praised the most was David Billings. Born and raised in Mississippi in the heart of racism and even though he was white and was considered privileged he was an advocate for equality and anti-racism. Ms. Major considered Billings to be like a brother to her and claimed that his family is a mere extension of her own family. It’s this kind of unity that reflects hope of a more unified future and sets a precedent for this falling generation. I must say so far this has been one of my favorite interviews this semester and I hope that I can work with Ms. Major and her crew sometime in the future.
April 4th, 2012 on 6:21 pm
This class was by far the best of the semester so far. And since I am now writing this a few weeks after, I can say that it is still the best yet and stands out far more than all of the other speakers we have had. One of the reasons this is true is because of the topic of Barbara Major’s lecture: race.
As said by Ms. Barbara’s cohort David Billings, racism affects all of us in some way whether directly or indirectly. As Professor Mayfield had everyone in the class say why a discussion on race is important to them, I could not believe that one student said something about it not being important because racism has never affected her. While I know that not everyone has directly been a victim, all you have to do is turn on the nightly news to see someone somewhere in this world who has been. Plenty of people try everyday to brush racism off as if it’s something that is being overplayed, but its reasons like this that racism is still very much alive and kicking. Unless we stop being scared to discuss racism openly, and with races other than our own then it will continue to fester. I wish everyone could have the opportunity to participate in a class like this one.
What I am most disappointed about is that this class took place before the news of the Trayvon Martin case as well as the two black men who were shot by NOPD officers. I would have loved to hear Ms. Major and her associates’ input on those issues, as well as that of the class.
April 4th, 2012 on 6:22 pm
What I found most moving about Barbara Major’s lecture is that she spoke constructively of racism. Too many times we have large black public figures who speak up for blacks, but in the same breath tear down other races. Are you any better than those who oppress your own race if you do the same to another? Rather than make whites, and all races for that matter, out to be “the enemy” Ms. Major and Mr. Billings spoke of race in general as a social construct that affects every single person.
Mr. Billings made a point during this class which I feel will always be engrained into my head. He said that while whites think in terms of an individual, blacks have a “we type thinking”. This type of thinking goes black to the times of slavery, and was a way to keep blacks separate and beneath whites. He gave the example of how when we see a news story about a murder the first thing black people think is “I hope he’s not black.” While I laughed at this, I did so because it’s true. As a black female, I have heard many talks, lectures, speeches on race but never had this “we thinking” been brought to my attention. It had such an affect on me that I even told my family and friends about it. I am more aware of this in my everyday life, and I plan to continue to educate others on it.
April 11th, 2012 on 11:24 am
Webster defines racism as a belief that race is the primary determinant of human traits and capacities and
that racial differences produce an inherent superiority of a particular race.
This very notion I was raised to reject. To not be judged by the color of my skin but the content of my character. The principle that all men are created equal. I believe these truths to be self-evident. Sort of… In my mind I believe if you work relentlessly hard you can knock down any barriers that prevent you from attaining goals, if the goal is truly destined.
So when Ms. Major came to class I refused to receive that racism is now and has always been an immense determinant of this predetermined dislike and/or hate.
Then tragedy strikes in a gated community in Sanford, Florida…
My views became to come into question. Am I just another black man that’s a target as Ms. Majors alluded to? I’m not naïve or ignorant to the fact that racism exists and/or occurs. But when I look at Trayvon Martin, I see myself… a young person trying to get to his destination.
Will I be shot down physically, emotionally, or unintentionally by predetermined biases? I can’t answer that question. However, I can tell you that I have never and will never let my race question my ability to do well and succeed. Plain and simple.
Yes, clearly racism does still exist but I believe if we focus more on the solution, what we can do as nation to really do to change stigmas of race, rather than every time a racial issues come up start a rally and march and forget about it in a couple months.
I intend in no way to downplay the situation that occurred with Trayvon Martin. But in reference to our class. I kind of get tired of talking without action. If we want America to change I think we have to look at ourselves and ask how can this change start with me. I believe this class didn’t focus enough on the solution. However, I was enlightened by the conversation we had and thoroughly enjoyed the discussion.
April 11th, 2012 on 1:53 pm
Barbara Major was nothing that I expected; she is full of life and extremely passionate on the topic of race in comparison to ethnicity. Barbara spoke very little on her past; most of what we know about her is from her biography. She was born in Franklinton Louisiana. In college, she studied Sociology. She is currently a community organizer and connects that to training for people and institutions that live in or work with struggling communities on anti-racism. She has held many positions in the city to help improve the underprivileged communities, but she says her greatest accomplishment is her family. Barbara began by defining race as the way you look and the way you are stereotyped, in contrast to ethnicity which is your geographic bloodline. Race she says is new and is based on the idea of white supremacy this is evident in South Africa, Germany, United States, Australia, and Italy. And because of this the United States social class is defined by race and all systems in the United States serve “white” people. Barbara’s class was a bit choppy in my opinion she jumped around a lot and spoke very quickly. She brought with her to class “one of the baddest white boys she has ever known” Reverend and Doctor David Billings. David expanded on some of her points of race. He participated in the Ole Miss civil rights movement and was asked to leave Mississippi because of it. Barbara in her youth witnessed segregation first hand. I guess when you learn in history class about segregation happening up until the mid 1960s, you don’t connect this to being only 60 years ago. I can then understand why she is so passionate on this topic. Before this class, I had never thought of race as anything more than being prejudice against others due to skin color. So when Professor Mayfield asked the class if race is important to us and why, I was the only student to say no. I said this because of how I had previously defined race. I don’t think of myself as prejudice, so how could it be important to me. The more you spend time talking about a topic the more important it becomes to you. Well I was wrong in making that prior statement. Race is important to me. I believe that with Barbara Major’s work and each of us with a conscious effort we can eliminate race as a way of defining people. People should be judged as an individual not by their race! I respect people of different ethnicity now, because too often they have been profiled by their race. Everyone should have equal opportunities in this world, it is not fair that the idea of “white supremacy” even exists and still runs many decisions in the United States, especially in the south. Much has changed since the Constitution was written but there is still work to be done and I commend Barbara for dedicating her life to this topic.
April 29th, 2012 on 11:25 pm
Barbara Major is definitely interesting. Her view on race relations was very eye-opening but obscure in a sense. I love that fact that she is so passionate about this topic. However, in 2012 I feel that social norms have changed to an affect that race is no longer an issue as it was in the time and journey of Barbara Major. By no means misinterpret my disagreement with being oblivious to the fact that racism exists but to go to the extreme of saying and I quote “the constitution should be rewritten” is reaching. While saying that, her passion in this topic has encouraged me to read more about race relations and culture. I believe that it is still an issue. I even commented that I didn’t realize that I was in my own education that I was trying to refute stereotypes placed on me as a African American man. But it is an issue that’s intensity has dramatically decreased in the time of my generation.
May 3rd, 2012 on 10:53 am
Before Barbara Majors came in to get interviewed, I never thought about racism as such a big, crucial part of a lot of people’s everyday lives. That is most probably because I never let it affect me. Whenever the topic would be brought up, I would just ignore it or brush it off, because I see no reason to argue about it. My view on racism is that it is a problem that affects everything in the world, some directly and others indirectly. The way I see it, it will never be stopped and there really isn’t anything to fix it. One of the main reasons racism exists, is how parents teach their children and what kind of environment the children will grow up in. The main racism in New Orleans is between black and white. When topics arise and I cannot avoid them, I throw out a few facts out. If I hear a “white” person saying something about killings caused by a “black” person on the news, I remind them of all the “white” serial killers in the past. Hell, what about Hitler killing thousands of Jewish people? Barbara Majors was well prepared for her interview and even brought with her a few colleagues, one of which she called “one of the baddest white boys she has ever known.” She was truly passionate about racism problems. She said that every system created in the United States serves specifically white people. I disagree with that statements because if that was true, how is Barack Obama the President of the United States? To me, racism is strictly put in someone’s head based on what their family thinks about it, and who that person surrounds themselves with.
May 6th, 2012 on 11:41 pm
When Barbara Major was introduced, I was honestly nervous about where her lecture would go. I’ve honestly never been confronted with race issues head on like I was in this short class period. I grew up in a “suburban” neighborhood in Baton Rouge and attended private Catholic schools my entire life before moving to New Orleans and coming to UNO. Needless to say, I wasn’t often confronted with complex race issues, if even at all. I hadn’t had much extensive interaction with people of many different races and, unfortunately, I didn’t really see race as an issue in our society today because I was never really exposed to it and the tornado of problems surrounding it. I used to feel that racial inequality was a thing of the past that was solved by things like the Civil Rights movement. Clearly, this is not the case. My view on race and racial issues has definitely changed throughout my time in New Orleans as I have been exposed to more diverse racial groups and able to understand the complexities of race in our world today. It was extremely interesting to see race discussed the way that Ms. Major discussed it. She is not afraid to confront the issues head on and helped me understand that race and inequality are still real issues today. Her passion and enthusiam inspired me to think about my former stance, or lack thereof, on race issues and seek to take a stand for all types of equality in my everyday life.
May 6th, 2012 on 11:41 pm
Barbara Major is a community organizer who works with anti-racism organizations on the local, state, regional, and even national level. I had never heard of her before this class, but I am definitely glad that I was able to hear about her ideas, struggle, and life’s work. She showed up with a posse, which I found to be very interesting for such a confident woman. I felt that she would be more likely to stand alone to share her opinions, but I am glad that she brought her support system with her to show us how her field works and the type of people who are involved in anti-racism activism. As close-minded as this sounds (and is), I was actually surprised to see that one of her close friends was an older white man who was fighting for the same issues that she was. She introduced him as David Billings, “one of the baddest white boys she’s ever met”, which both made me laugh and think at the same time. It took me nearly the entire lecture to truly get to the bottom of who Barbara Major was, but I immediately understood what she stood for, which I found to be very impressive. She wasn’t afraid to speak her mind, which I think is a very admirable train. I’m also sure that her candid demeanor comes in handy in her with community organization. Her friend, Mr. Billings, was also equally as honest and upfront, which was refreshing. Neither Ms. Major nor Mr. Billings tried to sugar coat their opinions, which I loved. Overall, I thought they were both great speakers and really enjoyed hearing their opinions.
May 7th, 2012 on 8:00 pm
In this weeks class Irvin interviewed the one and only Barbara Major. I don’t say this because I knew of her before this this class, but because I certainly will never forget her. This woman had one of the most straight forward, take no shit from nobody, you’re going to hear me whether you want to or not attitudes that I have ever seen and I absolutely loved it. This attitude is so beneficial to her because her goal in life is to educate everyone she can on racism and truth be told nobody really wants to hear it. They either don’t want to hear it, are scared to hear it or think they already know it, and this is where the problem lies.
Growing up white, living in a suburb and going to a Catholic school all my life basically sheltered me from the concept of racism. I knew it existed and I even thought I knew what it is before this class, but now I know I’ve had a blanket over my eyes this whole time.
I always thought racism was just one ethnic group discriminating against another. Boy was I wrong. I also thought the roots of racism was “white” people and “black” people hating each other during slavery. [wrong again] Ms. Barbara and Mr. David accomplished a small goal during this interview because they succeeded in opening my eyes to the truth about slavery.
I learned that racism has been around for ages, even before slavery. I also learned that racism did have its roots in slavery dealing with the United States but not the way I thought it did. Racism became what it is today because the people in power needed a way to make the “white” people feel empowered without actually giving them power. Therefore, racism started not because of race but because of ethnicity and a class system of hierarchy. Racism was created by the founding fathers out of fear of revolt.
Another aspect that I have never noticed but looking back I now realize is how race gives individuality. Whenever a white person does something wrong the other white people say “it’s alright, that was him not me”;whereas, if a black person does something wrong it’s like the entire black community does that something wrong. But why is this the case? It was made clear to me why when Mr. David explained that during the days of slavery, when a slave did something wrong the whole group was subjected to punishment. This state of mind stuck around and still exists today.
Some people are naive enough to think that racism doesn’t really exist. I admit that I was misinformed of the reality of slavery, but never did I think it was a myth. Other people think race is subject to their opinions and/or experiences, but this is not true either. Racism is a fact which truly exists, but is understood by few because of the lack of education. Some believe that if they stay oblivious to racism it will just go away. This would be nice, but the truth is unless the world becomes educated on racism it will never cease to exist.
Ms. Barbara and Mr. David gave me such a new outlook on the subject of racism, and I will never look at it the same way again. I believe in that short class period they taught me more about racism than most people learn in a lifetime and I believe I am a better person for having learned it.
May 9th, 2012 on 3:15 am
If I were to sample the class as it walked in the door, I believe everyone who entered the room would agree that racism is an ugly beast. It has plagued our kind for many centuries and is unwelcome. I believe that if I sampled the same group of people on their way out of this classroom that I would receive the same result. In no way did this lecture offer, at any point, any hint toward a solution. We walked in knowing the history and scope of racism and walked out with our minds refreshed of how ugly it can be. No solution offered. No hope alluded to. It is 2012, as young Americans we understand the perils of racism and have witness countless examples to suggest that it is completely wrong. As young Americans we believe as a generation that we can be the change we want to be. I don’t believe this lecture changed anyone who listened mind’s that racism has existed and a very real vestige is alive today.
I would hope that people knew about the 3/5 vote before this. Honestly it was evil. Let’s think about that framework. The northern states did not want to count slaves as part of a vote at all because that would give the southern states an advantage in numbers. Delegates opposed to slavery generally wished to count only the free inhabitants of each state, delegates supportive of slavery, on the other hand, generally wanted to count slaves in their actual numbers. Since slaves could not vote, slaveholders would thus have the benefit of increased representation in the House and the Electoral College. The final compromise of counting “all other persons” as only three-fifths of their actual numbers reduced the power of the slave states relative to the original southern proposals, but increased it over the northern position. The result is ugly from either angle. Despite our past, I believe in the American doctrine than all men are created equal.
This came about around the late 1700’s. We just found out about electricity. Vehicles would not be invented until 140 years from then. We are a nation now of infinite information availability. We have a black President. It is up to each individual to decide their own destiny. Sure some may have it easier than others but the ceiling is not glass. You can succeed to your greatest imagination as long as you are persistent and persevere. Nothing was given to me. I have the scars to show my climb to just where I am now, but I will all ways cherish this experience. Each African American guest and others we have, with the exception of Mrs. Major stressed this fact. Your destiny is up to you and only through hard work does one achieve their goal
To quote Barbara majors, “If you don’t talk about it, everything stays the same.” To quote George Santayana, “Those who cannot remember the past are condemned to repeat it. …” We are a nation of young individuals who will eventually run this great country. To continue the path of recognizing the divide between races would be unfruitful and stagnate. We as a whole, as a country, have the power to change. I believe we can do this. We need only continue to recognize personal achievement and reward great deeds regardless of those committing them. A man is as good as his character and accomplishments no matter the origin of his background. If you are not on board with the advancement of our modern society and instead choose to resort to the bigotry and nearsightedness of our past then you will be left in the dust.
Everyone is a prisoner of his own experiences. No one can eliminate prejudices – just recognize them. ~Edward Roscoe Murrow, 31 December 1955
One day our descendants will think it incredible that we paid so much attention to things like the amount of melanin in our skin or the shape of our eyes or our gender instead of the unique identities of each of us as complex human beings. ~Franklin Thomas
May 9th, 2012 on 1:39 pm
Barbara Majors was maybe my favorite guest. I felt like we were getting into some real talk, my favorite thing. I hate overly polite discussion, I hate cowardice to talk about what really matters. Barbara Majors is real, and courageous.
It was really disturbing hear so many people in the class say that they did not think racism is still a problem in America. I would have expected to hear this from the ignorant teenagers in my high school back in Michigan, but not college students in New Orleans. I guess I am ignorant, out of touch with the majority…
“I couldn’t understand why white people had been created” I will probably will never really understand what it was like to grow up when and where Mrs. Majors did, but this is an insight into the profound fear and contention present between races. It might be difficult for our generation to understand this conflict, but it’s important that they do. David Billings and Barbara developed a friendship that healed that great rift for her.
“ ‘race’ was created to serve white American interests” It was great to hear this said, that it wasn’t just about oppressing blacks, but to pit the poor folk against each other so that the rich could maintain power. Overcoming racism will be central in America’s continued movement against unethical power.
“the Government was afraid of a organized black population” It’s important to understand that those in power are afraid, they aren’t insurmountable, but they will do whatever they can to keep power. The first thing that needs to change is the fear the oppressed have been be taught from birth, the training they have received to accept oppression as normal.
“our kids are suffering because we are unwilling to have this discussion” Better to say too much than too little, too much is at stake. The new generation is growing up ignorant of the current racial politics, many are taught that “racism is over”.
“The majority of children don’t have good schools, so they turn to crime.” This is convenient for the prison industry, the police industry. More arrests, more prisoners, more money for them and it hamstrings the black communities, not just taking their young people away, but making them harder in prison, and labeling them “criminal” with no chance of recovery from that label. Violence begets violence and communities degenerate.
A few criticisms. I appreciate Barbara’s passion, and I personally prefer a good shouting match, but I think it doesn’t reach a lot of students. This is certainly something to be enraged about, its “fucked up” but to really get another person to reevaluate their values they can’t be made to shell up, to hide, to defend. This is a complex subject, despite how obviously wrong racism is. The time given in class just wasn’t enough to articulate this power structure, especially to a group of students, the majority of which haven’t even taken a basic political science course or even a critical reasoning course.
May 14th, 2012 on 8:51 am
This was, if nothing else, our longest class! But i’m reminded of the phrase ” Long, but strong” Ms. Majors hit the ground running, so to speak. She waisted no time at all beginning to tell us who she was and what she stood for! Ms. Majors stands as advocate against racism and its effects not just here in new orleans, but all over America. Ms. Majors has worked with many organizations and groups to battle the ugly beast known as racism. Ms. Majors uncovered some well concealed racial ideologies of America and humanity as a whole. She along with her cohort Mr. David shed light on the vicious and sometimes hurtful scars of racism in the past and also its affects in present day society. I was taken back when Mr. David made the comment that “all those who don’t believe that racism is an important issue shouldn’t be able to obtain a degree”. All i could say after that was WOW. When dealing with people we deal with the idea of race in some type of way. The one thing that I didn’t know that Ms. Majors brought to our attention was that Race is a fairly new concept. The comment that stood out to me the most during this class was the often familiar phrase, “when you know better, you do better” . This class brought a whole new meaning to that adage for me!