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[ Friday, Feb. 25, 2000 ]
Black Caucus protests speaker
By Jared Cohen
and Alissa Wisnouse
Collegian Staff Writers
Reginald Jones came to Penn State to speak about "How Hip-Hop Beat the Welfare State," but when he saw the number of protesters gathered, he changed the focus of his speech.
Black Caucus organized a protest of the advertising techniques used by Young Americans for Freedom to promote the speech they sponsored, which included a handbill that said "Hey bee-atch, see this spee-atch!" and a sign that said "YAFrican History Month."
"Some of it was offensive. I think they intended it to be a joke, but I don't think it's something to joke about," said protester Sharleen Morris (junior-restaurant and hotel management).
Black Caucus President Joe Dawkins emphasized the protest would be peaceful and respectful, with protestors standing silently in the aisles until the end of the speech.
PHOTO:Jim Rajotte/Collegian
Black Caucus President Joe Dawkins shows the audience a flier from the Young Americans for Freedom he found offensive.
"We want to go in there and we want to listen," he said. "We have no problem with the speaker or with freedom of speech. I'm not concerned with his speech, but with Young Americans for Freedom and their promotion of the speech."
Before the speech began, YAF Chairman Rick Sollman issued an apology and disclaimer. "I feel the need to apologize to some people here," he said. "The advertisements were not representative of our speaker, but of Penn State Young Americans for Freedom."
Jones invited the protesters to take a seat and make themselves comfortable, but Dawkins declined. "I think we prefer to stand," he said.
Jones began his speech by expressing his displeasure with the ads.
"I was bothered by it, especially because I don't use that language," said Jones, addressing about 80 standing protesters and 120 seated people. "The fervor that you (protesters) show is something new to me."
Although Jones was not responsible for the content of the advertisements, some audience members felt that he should have declined to appear because of them.
"I think you're here to get a check," said Sharomine Martin (senior-operations and information systems management) to Jones following his speech. "I think you should be embarrassed to speak because they falsely represented you."
He replied, "Reggie don't work for free."
Martin was not swayed. "Then your cause is not true," she said.
Jones, making numerous references to his roots in the South Bronx, spoke of the need for African Americans to be self-reliant in improving their socioeconomic status. "Power is something you take, not something someone gives you; because if someone gives it to you, they can take it away."
Affirmative action is not the answer, he said. "The solution lies with us."
He pointed out a number of areas in which blacks are generally successful, especially sports and music, saying affirmative action was not responsible for these successes.
He spoke of the need for African Americans to support each other, noting 97 percent of black people's money goes to non-African-American businesses. "We are financing our own downfall," he said.
He encouraged blacks to use their money to support their community instead.
After Jones' speech, he invited Dawkins to respond. Dawkins said he supported some of Jones' points, but said he ignored larger issues, like racism, that create hurdles on the way to prosperity.
After Dawkins spoke for about an hour, the protesters affiliated with the caucus left, but other critics remained, and voices were raised in the question-and-answer period, which lasted over an hour.
YAF officers maintained their support for Jones despite the many detractors. "Mr. Jones showed incredible patience in trying to impress his points, especially given the noisy minority here," said YAF Treasurer Cheng Tseng (senior-economics).
