Opinion
Gabrielle Douglas’ Hair-Raising Experience
“Challenging People to Shape
a Better Future Now”
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I
f you don’t follow Olympic
gymnastics, you may not have
heard about Gabrielle Douglas
before this year. But the amazing
grace of this 16- year old African
American propelled her to
Olympic gold last week, and she is
the first African American to win
an individual medal in gymnas-
tics.
Indeed, her performance toppled
the Russians, who have portrayed
themselves as unbeatable. So
unbeatable, as a matter of fact that
the winner of the silver medal,
Viktoria Komova, “sobbed uncon-
trollably,” because she so expected
to win.
This calls for unqualified cele-
bration. Sneaking into some of the
celebratory comments, though,
were snarky and rude comments
that many reserve to tarnish
African American accomplish-
ment and victory. Channel surfing
in the talk radio space, these com-
ments came in two categories,
equally objectionable.
First, there were comments
about Gabrielle’s hair. As the
young gymnast did her thing, there
were many – including some self-
hating African American women –
who commented that her hair was-
n’t up to par. Shades of the com-
ments about Michelle Obama. I’m
not sure what style would be
appropriate for a gymnast, but let’s
celebrate Gabrielle’s medal
instead of railing on her hair. Are
we still stuck on the Spike Lee
version of “straight or nappy” as a
contrast?
When Don Imus insultingly uses
the word “nappy,” we Black Folks
B ENNETT
C OLLEGE
Julianne
Malveaux
are up in arms, as we should be.
But when sisters excoriate an
accomplished young woman, there
are those who nod their hair in
agreement. When will we, Black
women, get over this hair thing?
and Afghanistan, is very much part
of her life. He was present for the
Olympic trials, but had responsi-
bilities that kept him from the rest
of the games. His presence or
absence should not be the fodder
for speculation.
I wouldn’t mind the commentary
so much if the same folks spent
any time speaking of the econom-
ic plight of African American
men. The most recent jobs report
shows that while the unemploy-
ment rate ticked up from 8.2 per-
cent in May to 8.3 percent in June,
the rate for African American men
The only thing I want to hear about
Gabrielle Douglas is how amazing her
victory was, and how inspirational she
will be for other young women.
And when will we stop playing
into other people’s stereotypes? To
be honest, hair was the last thing
on my mind when I saw
Gabrielle’s stunning performance.
Why was anyone thinking of hair?
In addition to thinking of hair,
some commentators were thinking
of fatherhood. Where was her
dad, too many asked? One radio
talk show host took a whole five
minutes ruminating on absent
dads. But the truth is that while
Gabrielle’s
mom,
Natalie
Hawkins, and her dad, Timothy
Douglas, are divorcing, Douglas, a
soldier who has served both in Iraq
rose from 14.2 to 14.8 percent.
Unofficial rates would put African
American male employment near
the 25 percent mark.
Furthermore, alternative sets of
data more effectively explore the
plight of African American men.
The
employment-population
ration, which measures the per-
centage of men aged 10 to 65 who
are working, shows that 57.7 per-
cent of African American men in
that age group have jobs, which
means that more than 40 percent
do not.
More than two of three African
American men, then, do not have
work, yet this statistic is rarely dis-
cussed. In contrast, the employ-
ment-population ration for White
men was 68.4 percent, a full 10
percentage points higher than the
rate for Black men. Timothy Dou-
glas is employed, and he is,
indeed, defending our country.
Why is his presence or absence at
the Olympic games subject to
mean-spirited discussion, when it
is clear that he supports his daugh-
ter?
It is easy to suggest that the Tea
Party attacks on President Barack
Obama have made it “open sea-
son” on Black people among the
commentariat. And certainly, cov-
erage of the president and his fam-
ily has been rife with stereotypes.
Still, Tea Party attacks can’t
explain the ways that some
African American women have
talked about Gabrielle Douglas’
hair. In the face of caustic com-
ments about Black people from
outsiders, must we turn on our-
selves?
The only thing I want to hear
about Gabrielle Douglas is how
amazing her victory was, and how
inspirational she will be for other
young women. All of America
ought to celebrate this victory
because Ms. Douglas brought the
gold home, not for herself, but for
our nation. The stereotypes are
simply unacceptable, whether
African Americans or Whites are
wallowing in them.
Julianne Malveaux is a Wash-
ington, D.C.-based economist and
writer. She is President Emerita of
Bennett College for Women in
Greensboro, N.C.
Walmart and Under-Employment
A
s University of California-
Berkeley Labor Center
Professor Steven Pitts reg-
ularly notes, African Americans
not only face a crisis of lack of
jobs, but we also face a crisis cen-
tering on the quality of those
jobs. In fact, “underemployment”
has been a recurring theme in
Black America, where we find
ourselves forced into jobs that are
low wage, few (if any) benefits,
and insufficient hours.
Walmart, for all of its fancy
advertising and suggestions of a
family-friendly environment, is
one of the main perpetrators of
underemployment on the U.S.
scene and this has particular rami-
fications for Black America. Wal-
mart, the largest employer in the
USA (which has a workforce that
is 18 percent African American),
and a very significant multi-
national corporation, is the quin-
tessential
representative
of
everything that is wrong with the
current U.S. economy. At the top,
the Walton family is among the
richest in the country, with more
wealth than the bottom 42 percent
of the population. By contrast,
Walmart associates (employees)
are at the other end of the lad-
der. At salaries of an average of
$8.81/hour, paying for healthcare
insurance becomes nothing short
of overwhelming.
The Walmart example is impor-
tant to note because it points to the
fact that a demand for jobs must be
qualified
with
a
few
Page 4 The Portland Skanner August 8, 2012
T RANS
A FRICA
Bill
Fletcher Jr.
additions. First things first: work-
ers in the USA do not live part-
time lives; they do not have partial
rents or mortgages or partial gro-
piece together additional work or
additional hours just to break
even.
There is little pressure on Wal-
mart to change. The company is
often quite strategic is donating
funds to various causes so that
their
profile
is
beyond
reproach. Yet the workers in their
various stores do everything that
they can to keep a smile on their
faces and to keep standing with
some degree of respect. Con-
sumers go to Walmart stores in
search of bargains, rarely ques-
Walmart is a net destroyer of jobs,
costing 3 jobs for every 2 ‘created’
cery bills. Holding jobs that keep
you near the federal poverty line is
of little help when you are trying
to cover the expenses of a fami-
ly. Yes, having a job is better than
tioning why this company is able
to make so much money and why
the workforce scrapes by. Nor do
they stop and ponder the fact that
for all of its rhetoric, Walmart is
There is little pressure on Walmart to
change
not having a job, but the scourge
of underemployment means that
you have to run around trying to
a net destroyer of jobs, costing 3
jobs for every 2 “created.” Their
business model, in fact, under-
mines existing, local retail jobs.
There is no particular reason that
the wages and benefits of the Wal-
mart workers need be so low. The
profits accumulated by the compa-
ny could adequately raise the com-
pensation of a very hardworking
workforce without creating much
of a dent in the halls of avarice of
the Walton family. Many Walmart
workers realize just this and they
have begun to organize for jus-
tice. Known as Organization
United for Respect at Walmart
(OUR Walmart), this organization
of workers–which is not a union
but has the support of the United
Food and Commercial Workers
Union–has been pressing Walmart
for justice and respect.
[See: Hadley Malcolm and
Jayne O’Donnell, “Some Walmart
workers want better wages, afford-
ablebenefits,” 6/8/2012] Without
greater attention, and certainly in
the absence of community sup-
port, their cause will be a very
uphill struggle.
Perhaps it is time for the rest of
us to give a damn. It is not just
about the Walmart workers; it’s
also about our community.
Bill Fletcher, Jr. is a Senior
Scholar with the Institute for Poli-
cy Studies, the immediate past
president of TransAfrica Forum,
the co-author of Solidarity Divid-
ed and the author of “They’re
Bankrupting Us – And Twenty
Other Myths About Unions.”