An Internet hub for moderates, centrists, and independents, with domestic and international news, analysis, original reporting, and popular features from the left, center, and right

« Going to Seed With Michelle Obama

Mr. Obama’s Traveling Circus (Guest Voice) »

MLK, Jr., Arizona, and Barack Obama

Posted by TONY CAMPBELL, Columnist in At TMV.
Apr 10th, 2009 | Comments

The news today about the non-granting of a honorary doctorate degree by Arizona State to President Obama has come as a shock to the post-racial world of 2009; the sad thing is that if you look at the history of Arizona and race relations… it is not surprising at all.

Arizona is one of the last states to make Martin Luther King, Jr. day a state holiday. In fact, Arizona has had the most problematic history with the MLK, Jr. holiday. In 1987, Governor Mecham signed an executive order that prevented the holiday in Arizona. In 1990, Arizonans voted down a referendum that would have make MLK, Jr day a holiday in the state. One of their leading citizens, Senator John McCain, voted against the 1983 bill that made MLK, Jr. day a federal holiday.

I do not think the decision by ASU is racially motivated; however, I do think that the legacy of Arizona in race relations will not be helped by the fact that they requested the first African-American President of the United States to come to their campus as the commencement speaker and then to dismiss him because his “body of work is yet to come.”

The hip-hop group “Public Enemy” put out a song entitled “By The Time I Get To Arizona” in 1991. Only time will tell if Kanye West or anyone else of this generation will write a response to the ASU decision through their music and lyrics.

NOTE: The link to “By The Time I Get To Arizona” has lyrics that are not for the faint of heart.

Ads by Project Wonderful! Your ad here, right now: $0

T-Steel

This slight smells petty and partisan. Maybe I'm naive, but I thought that all Presidents would pretty much receive an honorary degree based on the the office if they deliver a commencement address. Right now, some right wing sites are having alot of fun with this since it fits in their "Obama is inexperienced" angle. I guess it's cute.

Nevertheless, you can bet there will be some reply from Kanye West or others about this (not going to THAT helpful but to each his/her own). Public Enemy's "By The Time I Get To Arizona" is still one of my rap faves. I knew what the lyrics were saying but I loved the grinding rock/gospel grove that it had.

Gherald L.

I do not think the decision by ASU is racially motivated; however, I do think that the legacy of Arizona in race relations will not be helped by the fact that they requested the first African-American President of the United States to come to their campus as the commencement speaker and then to dismiss him because his “body of work is yet to come.”
I do not think the perceived legacy of Arizona in race relations will be helped by the non sequiturs in this post.

DaGoat

I do not think the decision by ASU is racially motivated

Then why is the rest of your article focusing on race?

CStanley

LOL, my thoughts exactly, DaGoat- although this is how most accusations of racism are made these days. "I don't really think you're criticism of that black person was based on bigotry, but since I consider you a bigot I expect you to keep your mouth shut about any criticism you might have of that black person."

At any rate, I've never understood the whole concept of 'honorary degrees' anyway. I always think of the wizard of Oz giving the scarecrow an honorary degree- pretty unmeaningful if you ask me. But since universities do this, I say we let them decide who to give them to or not give them to. Why would the same criteria necessarily apply to speakers asked to give commencement addresses, as though they automatically meet the criteria for an honorary degree?

Anna

I think the main question here in terms of any kind of discrimination is this: Does Arizona State usually as a matter of course confer an honorary degree on its commencement speaker? If their normal practice is to do so and the fact that Obama isn't receiving one is out of the ordinary, I would venture to say it deserves a more in-depth look as to why. If this has happened before and it's not uncommon, it probably isn't a big deal. I've not been able to determine via any cursory online research so far whether this is out of the ordinary. Does anyone else here have further information?

GreenDreams

who cares? honorary degrees are just as useful as toilet paper and I believe the President has plenty of that.

chinedu

I think this was carefully planned by ASu to embarass Obama. Why did they invite him if they didnt think he had a worthy "body of work"? What could be a greater achievement than leading the greatest country on Earth!! And even more, breaking, perhaps, the hardest of the racial barriers that America has had. In substance: - Senator - consitutional law professor- author of best sellers - Pressident of USA. - How many of ASU's previous recipients have a comparable accomplishment. Shame on the ASU

CStanley

Anna, the only thing I remember reading is that they do have two separate bodies that make the decisions on invites for commencement addresses and for conferring honorary degrees- IOW, it's not automatic that the invite generates the honorary degree as it apparently is with some institutions.

Even if they are not applying a consistent standard though, it certainly doesn't prove it has anything to do with race. At worst, you could say that they made a politically motivated decision to underscore someone's belief that Obama's resume was too thin to be president- but there are thousands of people who felt that way and would have felt the same if he'd been a white candidate.

Anna

CStanley,

I didn't ask if it was automatic...I asked if it was normal practice. Granted, they may be 2 different bodies but that doesn't mean it might not be their usual practice. I'm actually more of a mind that if there is any discrimination, it's not racial...my thinking was more age. To me, their reasons given sound more like code words ("lifetime achievement", "in their field for some time", etc.) for "young whippersnapper" than "black guy". At 47, Obama is definitely one of the youngest presidents elected. So if there is any discrimination, I think it could either be more age-related or partisan rather than racial.

CStanley

Sorry if I misunderstood you, Anna. With the context of this post, I took you to mean "discriminatory" in the sense of racial discrimination. If they do 'discriminate' on the basis of age, I don't see a problem with that since the spokesperson I read commenting on it said they consider the awards to be 'lifetime acheivement' awards. It's a bit hard to make such an award to a young or middle aged person.

Polimom

It's clearly meant to be an insult to Obama, but I can't say I interpreted it as racially motivated.

What's puzzled me about this is why they'd have invited him if they intended to diss him? Or was that the intent all along?

CStanley

Polimom- again, note that there are two different groups making up the respective lists. I would think that probably explains it- the commencement planners wanted to invite him while the honorary degree conferrers didn't want to so honor him.

Dee_Marie

The answer is -- yes, ASU does confer honorary degrees as a matter of course. Past recipients had less "bodies of work" and still received the honorific.

blog comments powered by Disqus