Dr. Boyce: U. Akron Tells Black Male Students Not to Run from Police
by Dr. Boyce Watkins
A peculiar controversy has erupted at the University of Akron after campus officials sent out an email with a special message for its black male students. The email was sent in response to a rise in crime around the campus, apparently designed to give black male students specific instructions on how to conduct themselves in response to the crime wave. The email has upset many members of the University of Akron community, who argue that the email stinks of racial bias.
The email tells black male students to ensure that they “cooperate with police” when they are stopped. It then goes on to tell them not to use profanity, not to run and to be sure to show ID.
“As you may be aware, a series of robberies have occurred around campus over the last few weeks particularly on the south and east ends of campus. Although, most of these crimes have not been committed by University of Akron students, the primary suspects have been African American Males between the ages of 18-23.
Your safety as well as the safety of all UA students is of utmost concern. As a result of these robberies, The University of Akron Police Department is actively addressing this issue and working to make the campus and the surrounding areas safe for all students.
Furthermore, as African American Male students, it is critical to ensure you that you are not a target based on race and gender. However, to ensure your safety, I advise you to be aware of your surroundings at all times.
In the event that you are stopped by the police, here are a few tips to follow:
Cooperate fully with questions
Identify yourself as a UA student and please carry identification with you at all times
Even if you are angered, refrain from using profanity as you could be charged with disorderly conduct
Do not run from the police as you could be charged with a crime
However, in the event that you believe you have been treated unfairly or in an inappropriate manner, please call (330) 330-972-2911 tel:330-972-2911 to make a formal complaint or feel free to contact my office at (330) 972-8289.”
Apparently, Akron is an interesting place. It also happens to be the town where a black single mother, Kelley Williams Bolar, now has a felony record for life after using her father’s address to send her children to a better school. It appears that the racism doesn’t just stop with Kelley’s case, but is a pervasive issue in the Akron community. Kelley was recently denied clemency, so this hard-working mother seeking a better life will likely never be allowed to teach again in the state of Ohio.
THAT is what towns like Akron, as well as police and government officials, think about black people.
The email sent by University of Akron officials, allegedly designed for the “safety” of black students, is interesting because what it inadvertently does is give the police a license to racially profile African Americans on and around the campus area. The translation for the message would be the following: “Make sure you clearly show us that you are not one of THOSE black people by identifying yourselves clearly and not behaving like one of THEM. We know there is a temptation for people like you to get belligerent when under the bright light of police persecution, but the best thing for you to do is to remain calm, quiet and polite as the officers seek to determine if you are one of the people we are allowed to abuse.”
They might as well have said, “All black men on campus, be ready to show your papers.”
This email sent out by a University of Akron official (reports aren’t specifying exactly who sent it) was not designed for the safety of black male students. It was written to maintain the safety of everyone else – why would black men need protection from the people (police) who are supposed to be protecting us? The email was also written to sort University of Akron students from the rest of the black male population of Akron as police seek to sniff out the bad guys. Just so you know, every black male in the city of Akron who doesn’t go to college is a potential bad guy in the eyes of the police.
What’s also interesting about this message and others like it is that they almost always fail to mention the rampant criminality and moral failings of many white college students. As quick as Akron authorities are to throw an innocent black mother like Kelley Williams-Bolar in jail for trying to get her kids into a better school (as they publicly chastise and humiliate her for not accepting the state-sanctioned failing school near her housing projects), they are typically hesitant to conduct raids on white male fraternity houses on the weekends. It’s ironic that the finger-wagging is usually reserved for people of color, while a slew of felonies, including drug abuse, sexual assaults and toxic levels of alcohol consumption by minors, are being committed every day on college campuses all across the country.
The University of Akron needs to issue an immediate apology to the entire campus community. Additionally, the students at the university should challenge the administration on this matter and confront the ignorance of this correspondence (as well as the thinking and culture that produced it). None of this behavior is acceptable and black males should not be the recipients of second-class citizenship. All of this makes the University of Akron and its city look very bad to the rest of the country.
Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Professor at Syracuse University and founder of the Your Black World Coalition. To have Dr. Boyce commentary sent to your email, please click here.
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Black College Students 
This is absolutely hilarious.
because? , you haven’t experienced the ramifications personally, it couldn’t possib’ly be true or accurate. / @ 58 YEARS 0f age n America, think again. When your life can be altered by a freak encounter w/ the wrong – law enforcement person -its no longer a laughing matter.
You are so correct! Right or wrong an encounter of the worst kind can alter one’s life experience especially of monority students. Its amamzaing how we can encourage each other in America to not forget 911 however, if any or mainly black americans remind each other of the instantaneous ideal of law enforcement mobbish behavior then we are wrong and prejudice.
We are not prejudice! It would be silly and insignificant for us to hate any group or target any group knowing the climate we live in as citizens. We must keep each other mindful of law enforcements’ loose belief that any thing done wrong must be of minority or black crime. If being careful is prejudice then yes I am and I will advise others to be likewise.
It is so easy for anyone to believe a black person is wrong without question. Some of us do dumb stuff but many more of us stay in our lane and keep living.
I know race has been an issue for 49 years of my life but for some reason getting our first black skinned president has surely opened up a can of here it is, in you face…
Debbie: That can has been open since 1619 with its brutal legacy of slavery and white supremacy. You and I can have that debate on whether Barack Hussein Obama is the first Black skinned President. Note Debbie a fact which is overlooked by the media is Obama is the 44th White President also.
Yes its true Debbie that Obama turns off his Blackness and whiteness based upon which venue he is in to further his own niggardly political ambitions. Hence his trip to the God for-saken country of Ireland was solely to curry favor and beef-up his support among Irish American voters.
You didn’t see Obama take a trip to Kenya did you? He sent Michele.
For the most part Obama distances his being from Black Agenda issues and he only gives an appearance that he is concerned when it comes time for reelection.
The University of Akron, which is a fourth tier school is not unique in using various questionable methods in attempting to solve an alleged crime problem. Sending e-mails out to solely Black male students gives an appearance
of old fashion racial profiling.
Even though the judicial system is stacked against people of color; I would at least seek the advice of legal counsel to explore the possibility of having the Black male students file a class action law suit against said school.
Now is the time to put-up or shut up. Individual or institutional racism will not go away by osmosis.
Ronald,
I don’t know if you are white or black, but this negative Obama attitude is for the birds. Racist behavior is either encouraged or discouraged by the behavior of its victims. When Black people unite and take care of themselves, then racism will stop. But as long as we damage ourselves and remain separate, racism will continue.
Wow. It was a white male student who just recently tricked someone into letting him in the dorm, and raped an Akron U student. Good thing it wasn’t a black guy. I can only imagine the alarm that would have been rang at that school.
Society has been conditioned to believe that it is okay to treat our black males as criminals, and to deal with them harshly. It happens to our men, and it happens in our K-12 schools. Now it is happening on our college campuses. This sickens me.
That was only once. People need to stop comparing a crime with another crime. There are many home invasions, muggings and and robberies on and near the University of Akron Campus done by black males. This was only directed to black males STUDENTS because the University would like for them to continue their education and not arrested for not complying with police doing an investigation. As stated in another comment black males hamper themselves by running from the police or not providing proper Identification. Why do that if you are innocent?
Damn white folks really!!
All I have to say is wow!
Ebony permalink: It didn’t take a lot of critical thinking skills to say wow.
Now did it!
Critical thinking is what cause her to say”WOW”!
Wow is right! But why did they stop short of saying don’t run “or you will be shot for resisting arrest.” signed — the mother of 3 Black males. It’s sad for me to think of how my sons were/are addressed by police as opposed to how the police address ME!] That’s a sign of ignorant bigots.
okay so basically your saying you would rather the police did nothing at all? if you sons are innocent they have nothing to run from. so the instructions are just there to help keep them safe as well as everyone else on campus. i go to this school and walking to class is a dangerous thing. i’m glad they sent out this letter. sorry to break it to ya, but every crime that happens on this campus is committed by black men. they are looking out for the safety of the students black and white both. come on use some common sense lady.
They need a “LIKE” button on these posts!!!
“ghjffgh”, you are truly an idiot. (which explains why you can’t spell your name correctly)
Really?
~ All crimes committed on the school campus are committed by black males?
See, this is exactly why we are having this conversation because of people with attitudes
such as yourself.
Geez, what a DUMMY you are…………………….
Uh….no, T. “ghjffgh” provided a FACT. 99.99% of all laws committed on that campus are by black males. STATISTICAL FACT, genius.
This is a VERY VERY COMPLEX problem. As a grandfather and a black male I am really conflicted about the circumstances at the University of Akron. Naturally I am greatly angered by the letter that the Unniverstity sent out to its black male students. On the other hand even though I am upset with the bluntness of the instructions in the letter, if it save the life of one innocent black male student from “accidental” death or injury caused by the police it will damn well be worth it! Also it should not be ruled out that the “police” will be restricted to only the campus police. Young black male student might also be confronted by members of the Akron police department on or off campus
It is far too often that when a confrontation event occurs between the police and some young black man which results in the death of the young black man we are left with only the descriptions in the routine police report as to exactly what happened. Therefore, to weigh my personal “outrage over racially profiled mail” against one or more students getting killed by police action, I’ll come down on the side of the “racially profiled preventative email alert” everytime. If I had my way I would make the video “10 Rules for Dealing With Police” (available from FlexYourRights.org) manditory viewing for all black students of every freshman class in every College and University across this nation. This DVD has been shown extensively in my community through the assistance of various organizations and churches, but believe me it really needs much more national exposure and you can help….
I agree with you totally!
Thank you for such a thoughtful response to a highly charged, controversial issue. We all need to constrain our emotional sensitivities and look the facts squarely in the eye. Racisim is alive and well in the United States of America and the face of the president hasn’t and will not change it. So instead of leaving our young people with no strategy to navigate themselves safely through what is clearly a biased legal system, let’s arm them with the “right” tools that will keep them alive.
Here’s another I “LIKE”.
If anyone that reads this attends the university, I’m sure you are well aware of the 10-15 emails sent from the school every week. All of these emails give the same description of the criminals. Black male, wearing a black hoodie, mid to early twenties, around 6 feet. I say the school did the african american students a favor by sending out this email. You don’t want to be targeted? Don’t walk around in groups wearing head to toe black in the middle of the night. The University should send out a second email to all the other students asking them to report these groups on sight. Its the summer, therefore no reason for sweatshirts, long pants, and stocking caps.
I agree
i go here and i 100 % agree. i never feel safe walking to classes. thank god someone has some common sense.
Having grown up in the neighboring geographical area, I often think: why would anyone think that the favored racial group in the area could be anything but racist? Why would any black person want to attend this old southern school filled with red necks in the first place?
lol…….Southern school? Do you know where Ohio is located on the map?
Please, spare me the hysterics. Racism exist and we know that but one of the main reasons I ( a black male) am stopped by police is because a black guy that looks like me and dresses like me is committing crimes. And Dr. Watkins failed to mention that Kelley Williams Bolar lied several times on official documents to get her child into a school that she is not entitled to go to. During her trial it was disclosed that when the school confronted her concerning her false documentation, instead of coming clean and admitting her fraudulent behavior, she chose to compound her crime by changing her drivers license to a fraudulent address and submitting documents saying that she was on deployment with the military even though she is not in the military. At that point the school turned the case over to the D.A. Office. So, Dr. Watkins if you are going to bring up so called examples of racism do us and yourself a favor and stick to the facts, and not just the ones that support your argument.
I agree with you. It’s always odd to me that back in the day when the LAWS of this country deemed us PROPERTY, we had Black people, male and female, overcame the obstacles in spite of those laws. WHAT could possibly be the excuse of our Black youth today?
We have been in this country longer than any other immigrant group, and they are outstripping us academically AND financially. We are foolish if we keep looking to the enemy to help us.
THANK YOU. Dr. Watkins here apparently just glanced over that large, GLARING issue. Not to mention that she had her own father file false court papers, and had repeatedly lied under oath. Oh, yes..poor, innocent black woman.
Please stop with the race card. Not everything is racist, no matter how hard you try to push it to be.
And that’s what Akron is like?
Have you ever heard of King James Court? Or the King James’ Apartments? Or how about the Annual Lebron James Bike-a-thon? Lebron James was this city’s champion and prince for so many years……and…huh. He seems to be a gentleman of African American descent.
Putting a PhD before your name doesn’t make you smart, Dr. Watkins.
So….What else it new? The school stepped on its own toes by sending out a warning. Apparently everyone knows how racist the police are and what they are capable of doing to black people and especially black men. As for the poor black lady who only wanted a better school for her child in a racist town. Shame on you white people for forcing black people into that corner. You steal from us and deny us equal rights and opportunities and the minute we try to get some corrections you start crying foul play and making up absurdities like ‘reverse racism’..There is no justice or peace for us in this whole country even in the age of the “fake” Obama presidency. We’ve got no powerful leaders to help us correct all of the wrongs and injustices this white supremacist country continues to subject us to. Let them tell it they are the victims..What a joke of a nation!
Sure, blame whitey for all of your problems. You are a LOSER!!
Also, if you don’t like white people, then you should get the hell out of this country and try living in an African country.
Thank you. Look I am well aware of the racism that goes on in Akron. However, Akron is full of black people who are raised to hate white people because they are told that white people (who they’ve never met) enslaved their ancestors (who they very well may not even be related to in any way). Unless you have been directly affected by slavery you have no right to play that card. Don’t blame “white folk” because not every white person is racist. Furthermore, you aren’t helping to diminish racism by pissing off the white people who aren’t racist by calling them racist! So instead of making a general assertion that all white people are ignorant bigots, try avoiding racism yourself and focus on the people who are actually trying to do you harm.
i go to the U. of Akron and i’m a freshman who is African American and i feel that people are blowing this out of proportion. The lady who wrote this is the head of the office multicultural development and didn’t send the email trying to be racist. She did it cause she care about the African american male population going to UA. I’m from Akron lived here most my life my uncle who is a cop told me that Akron is 25 percent black but the crime rate committed by blacks is at a disproportional 80 percent. A lot of the people complaining aren’t from a major city were crime is a issue. To be honest i can give two **** about being politically correct if this email saves someone who look like me from being mistakenly shot by the police then so be it. And Kelley Williams Bolar if she would of just said i sent my kids here to get a better education and knew what i was doing was illegal and im sorry for doing what i did.instead she has no guilt for doing what she did and plays the victim role and blame everyone else instead of manning up.
Hey Chris make use you register in a writing class also, it is very important. Writing shows who you are.
And make sure you take the class with him.
I see nothing wrong with the email.I think that it is a good ounce of prevention measure.Our concern is not to worry about the whites on campus until they commit a crime and are charged.We get convicted whether students or not and there are too many dead black men to go against this situation.
I agree.
This is racist you cannot single out one group you must tell all students how to act with police. White students get drunk and do stupid things also. Black alethes should boycott any school that trys to degrade our people. We cannot ask illegals for ID but student citizens of this country it is okay. I blame Obama because he is dividing us on so many fronts that this will become normal. Black people say what you want but he is the president not your buddy and we must judge him by his actions.
Was George Bush your buddy ? And how is PRES.Obama dividing us? You need to show some respect and use the title that is rightfully his the office of the President. Never has there ever been such racist disrespect shown to him by The White politicians,his own white Dem party show that they have no backbone to show loyalty.When you have John Boehner and Mitch McConnell stand up and tell millions of Americans that their main job was to discredit him and bring him down.Nothing else mattered not jobs or working to bring this country out of a horrendous recession which is a DEPRESSION to poor people like me trying to exist on a small fixed income.So I am intelligent enough to know that regardless of what Pres Obama tries to do that would help the country The Republicans and The Tea Party fight tooth and nail to make sure it fails. When you have Race Mongers like the billionaire Koch brothers that has taken control of the Tea Party. It was their money that made it possible for so many republican governors and congressmen and women to get voted in office.What all of us need to get off our butts and help this man.If anyone of the Tea Party Republican extremists gets elected woe be unto America.
All we can do is keep putting ignorance like this out into the light.
I’m not sure if this email is racist…they are just suggestions for black students who will have to deal with racist/white supremacist cops. But the email does have misinformation…
This is how you should deal with the police
http://flexyourrights.org/faq/deal_with_police_on_the_street
There’s been profiling at ua for yearsthe ploice.follow you if ur a black male and harrass you for jus being black……so I think the email is just tellin how they really feel and give gave the greenlight to do it more..
In my opinion, the message was sent in good faith. It clearly says that most of the suspects for the crimes were African-American males between a certain age. As such, it is not illogical to think that some students from the school who “fit the description” could inadvertently be targeted. The university official was only trying to give a heads up to students who could be racially profiled, unfortunately in doing so it made him/her appear to be guilty of the same. I think we need to give this person the benefit of the doubt.
I can understand why this E-mail could be offensive, but at the same time we need to consider the spirit in which it was sent out. I believe that the author is well meaning. I think that I would probably send something similar if I were in her place. It is sad how things can sometimes be blown out of proportion. I do believe that this E-mail should have addressed the entire male population at the school and then all the guys could say that the author was a sexist.
As for Bolar, I was very upset about the mess she got herself in until I read all the facts of the case. She did not have to lie. Had she simply told the truth in the beginning, she would not be in this mess. What does lying about your address have to do with wanting a better future for your children? She should be more concerned with what her lies are saying to her daughters about her character. Instead of providing a better future thru education she has taught a lot of people that lying to get something better does not make it right. A lie is a lie just as stealing from the rich to give to the poor is still stealing. Both are morally wrong.
Although I am not an Obama fan(we don’t share the same values), I think people need to lay of of the bashing. I agree that Obama is more than just the first black president. His mother was white, he was raised by his white grand parents, he was educated in historically white schools, and grew up with white friends and classmates; it goes without saying that he can never fully appreciate what it means to be the average black American male. That being said, as a president for all the people of the US, he would be a fool to focus completely on the issues of one group of people. I’m not saying that issues in the black community should be ignored, just that it would be racist for him to favor black Americans. I think that a lot of blacks thought Obama was going to be the “black Lincoln”. Well, surprise! Black voting in the 2008 election was a beautiful thing, but don’t think for one minute that our votes put him in office. He certainly knows that.
Although I agree with the basis of what the author has to say in this article I feel like the school thought they were acting in the best interest of their students; in other words, I think their intentions were good. I say this because the “tips” that they gave black male students are the tips that we should give all of our young (and old) black males when being confronted with the police. Police brutality is real and I am tired of hearing and reading in the news about a young black man being shot and killed by the police for not doing anything other than being frightened by their approach and taking off running. Then when we go to court they get off because the first thing they say is “if he had nothing to hide, why run.” Is it sad that we have to teach this to our boys to save their lives? YES! However, teaching these “tips” to our boys prepares them for the hard and hostile world we live in and to not teach these “tips” to them would surly mean that more of our sons will be shot down by the racist police. Im just thinking here, if a black fraternity had hosted a event on this schools campus to talk to other black male students on how to avoid being jammed up by racist cops would we feel this was better? or is having this kind of conversation with our sons totally out of the picture.
I am a black women in higher education administration. I am always thoughtful on ways to help assist the black male population at the university especially when it comes to discrimination and being profiled. If I were at this school and was aware that there would be heavier police presence on campus looking for young black male criminals the first thing I would have raised would have been “What about our black male students?!?!” Because I know how racial profiling works, I would have alerted my young black males on my campus also….now would I have sent this email, probably not! I would have had a closed door talk with them by using our student organizations that cater to black males on campus and go the word out that way. But the person who wrote the email and myself have a common intent which is to insure the protection of our black male students.
Just sayn!
I am a 65 year junior at Youngstown State University in Youngstown, Ohio. Youngstown is only a few miles from Akron. This year one of our Black students was having an off campus party and some Black non-students crashed the party, cause an incident, left went somewhere came back with a gun and now the student is dead. There was also a robbery in the parking garage by a Black male (non-student) at 8am in the morning. I know about bias and predudice in America, but I am tired of everything being blamed on the White man. Dr. William Cosby was correct when he said that the problem begins at home. It is a disgrace when a state has to pass a law to make our young Black males pull their pants up. It is a shame when a lot of the rappers have renamed our young Black females bitches and whores and media like B.E.T support them. I respect your blog Dr. Boyce, but what you and others (Black) in academia need to start going after those who have baby after baby by different fathers and show no concern for the child. We as Black are becoming just as morally deficient as society.
This sounds eerily similar to one of the proposed Arizona Laws pertaining to Latinos…can anyone say “The Dread Scott Decision”? We all know that the increase in blatant racial acts coincided with the election of President Obama. It’s his choice not to respond to personal acts of racism directed at himself, but, we don’t have to follow suit. the Black student body needs to ban together and confront the dean. if nescsessaary take it to the local NAACP or to the media. This sounds like the school has already been in talks with the police department. More pointedly. the email sounds like a thinly veiled threat. stand up and fight for your rights the first time or the indignities will only escalate.
It looked to me liked the university went out of its way to try to protect their students from any foolishness with the police. I didn’t take this letter as a negative.
*like the university
thank you sir. you seem to be the only person with any common sense!! they are looking out for the students, both black and white!
For those who think that University of Akron administrators did African-American male students a favor by sending an email basically suggesting that they allow themselves to be racially profiled, I would suggest that they stop consuming whatever poisons they have been consuming in the past or seek psychological counseling. For those who think that such an email is humorous should also heed the same advice. Any description of an alleged robber that is this vague should not even be considered as a legitimate description. This has nothing to do with a crime wave. It has to do with creating a plausible rationale for hostile racist police behavior.
Exactly! How could “black male” as a description, be anything *other than*
a license to harass every African American who comes in sight?
“Black male” doesn’t describe anyone, except as a pass for anyone
who appears to be white!
How can any authority that tries to use “black male” as a
so-called description, be considered competent at all?
Negros have only themselves to blame for how they are treated by other people. They should stopp all the robbery, drug dealing, raping, etc. and maybe people would treat them better.
Ah, see, that’s where I both agree and disagree.
Disagree: Black’s are a people who have been oppressed in our country for centuries and if you think they aren’t any longer, then think again. Other countries continue to laugh at us for the way we treat our Black American’s. They can’t believe that the country built on “running from oppression” continues to racially profile anyone who isn’t white. Constantly Black American’s are treated poorly by law enforcement, schools, etc. This is only one example. If you have two people, one White and one Black, who have committed the exact same crime, do you really expect them to get the exact same sentence? You can argue that different judges have different views, but how do you explain one getting a year in jail and the other getting ten? As the article said, a WHITE male student got into someone’s dorm and raped her. Did all the white male’s at the University get sent a similar message? Not one.
Agree: Blacks in America do not help their case by acting “thug,” talking as though they’ve never seen an English class room, dressing as though the only clothes they can find are 5 sizes too big, and walking like they have a bum leg. Look at the rappers who talk about “thug life,” “bitches and hoes,” killing people, use profanity as though the words won’t exist tomorrow, and doing drugs. The rest of the world think that that is how all Black American’s are. Black American’s DO need to stop lumping THEMSELVES into this category of “thug life,” drinking, drugs and sex. However, white guys aren’t any better. You just don’t hear as much about them. The majority of your famous serial killers aren’t black. They’re white.
There is NO excuse for this sort of thing to happen. White people kid themselves. America… we are the dumbest group of people to walk this earth. Welcome to being black in America.
Euro’s can take some credit for this aborant behavior,we were brought here by people who capatured us ,put us in chains,beat us branded us ,raped our women and made us work for nothing.
Now who taught whom some of this violent behavior?
First of all, you have extremely poor grammatical and writing skills which I surmise is just a small example of an inadequate education but luckily you can solve that easily.. Being of Russian ancestry I doubt that you are aware that this nation was largely built by blacks (not Negroes). Most of the technology you use in your home on a daily basis was invented by blacks, eg.. the light bulb, refrigerator, air conditioner, wrench, ironing board, etc. Our contributions are too numerous to list. Additionally, if I were to assume that all Russians were members of the insanely violent and criminal enterprise known as the Russian Mafia, that would be as ignorant as assuming that the few blacks that imitate Europeans and commit crimes, represent the entire black population in this country. I suggest you get a copy of Stolen Legacy by Asa G. Hilliard and that will help to broaden your narrow, backward thinking. Best of luck.
Sounds like making a mountain out of a molehill. Regardless of color, people need to act like they have common sense when dealing with the police. I don’t know about anyone else’s experience but I have witnessed too many young minorities – AA and Latinos/as – act a fool and get caught up in nonsense with the po-po. (And that’s not to say whites don’t do it, but I have not had the opportunity to witness them first-hand act a fool or be uncooperative.)The police aren’t always about protecting the peace, but there is no need to give them a reason to arrest and/or harrass you if you haven’t done anything wrong. For those who believe the university is encouraging its AA male students to be profiled, you do realized that whether the students cooperate or choose not to cooperate if ask for identity that the profiling will occur. So what’s the problem with being cooperative? What is the big deal with showing proof of identification if there is an ongoing investigation. Why be uncooperative? What good would that do? Would you rather the university not attempt to minimize potential problematic encounters its students may have with the local police? Sit back and say/do nothing – be apathetic rather than what seems like an honest attempt to be proactive? Just exactly what would you rather see the university do?
THANK YOU!!!! YOU ARE 100% CORRECT. I DONT UNDERSTAND THE PEOPLE BLOWING THIS OUT OF PROPORTION. I SWEAR SOME PEOPLE DONT THINK.
Wow, this is pretty bold. No underlying message there – they’re basically saying, “behave or we’ll treat your a** like the criminals we know you are, even if you’re walking around acting like a college student.”
Unlike most of you, I attend this school. I live right at the edge of campus and the crime here is horrible. and YES ITS ALWAYS BLACK MEN. im sorry to break it to you, but BLACK people commit 99.9% of the crimes here. its a FACT. its not just white people being racist… ITS a FACT!! im glad they sent this email out. i never feel safe. just in the past 2 weeks, we’ve had at least 5 emails of black men attacking and robbing students. hmm.. maybe they should enroll as student and make something of themselves instead of terrorizing people for a living.
this website is racist. if they made a website for white college students people would freak… but how is this any different?
Question: What if this email was actually written by a black administrator from UA? Would it be considered racist then or would the message be received “in love?” Just curious.
The e-mail was written by an African American female administrator at the University. She is an amazing woman of strength and I know that she came from a place of really caring about the students. All of these arguments about racism are void when you know her. Akron is not a racist city (hey, we worship Lebron James) – it is just that the letter did not come across how she had hoped it would.
Greetings in the name of His Imperial Majesty Haile Sellassie I the First, Jah Rastafari. I was always thought to pick the battles I fight. Sorry,but this isnt a battle worth fighting. In fact I dont see this as a battle at all. A simple request to show ID and identify yourself as a UA student when stopped by law officals, show respect dont use prifanity and dont run from law officals is being labeled Racial Profiling. Maybe I’m missing something,but how did this request to black students become Racial Profiling? I just dont get it. Natty of ETHOPIAN WORLD FEDERATION
Don Allen, its funny cause its not happing to you… Second U of A student i live in akron and get the zipline emails too and dude you are so wrong cause if you look at the black males on campus they all dress a like or with like-minded urban fashion so it is not fair to say “oh yeah you know most of the crimes are committed by black so black people when the cops stop you this is how you respond to them so theres no trouble” like that is a crazy email… but black and white issues aside @Dr. Boyce the police in this area has issues with the over use of power to control http://blog.cleveland.com/metro/2008/09/akron_police_cleared_in_22shot.html
Did you read today’s Akron Beacon Journal Tuesday Sept. 6? There were two shooting where two black males were shot by another black male. There also was an armed robbery where a black woman was robbed at gunpoint. A few weeks ago a muslin was shot and killed at a drive thru. A black female child was shot and killed by a stray bullet from gunplay between two black males. Last week a black male was killed outside a Gymnasium a few days afterwards another black male was shot in the street and killed. Then a white male was shot in the stomach and later died at the hospital. I even havnt started to mention the black males that were struck my bullets and found in a backyard trying to address his wounds or the cab driver shot and killed.
All these were done in a months time in Akron Ohio. All the assailants were young black males. I fear for the safety of the black males who arent apart of this but i also want them to be safe by adhering to the requests of the police if questioned. Being argumentive with the police when you are wearing the same uniform as the perps doenst make sense.
THANK YOU!!!!! WELL SAID!
I read this article in the Akron Beacon Journal Sat. Sept. 3. It states the orgin of the letter and who wrote it.
Email defended
AKRON: A University of Akron official said an email sent only to African-American male students was an appropriate effort to ensure their safety.
The email was sent by Fedearia A. Nicholson, director of the university’s Office of Multicultural Development, in response to a recent rash of robberies near campus, according to Laura Massie, the university’s director of media relations.
In the email, Nicholson pointed out that while “most of these crimes have not been committed by University of Akron students, the primary suspects have been African-American males between the ages of 18-23.”
The email advised the students “in the event you are stopped by the police,” to cooperate and “identify yourself as a UA student” and to carry a student identification card “with you at all times.”
Nicholson also warned students to avoid profanity “even if you are angered” and not to run from the police.
Massie said she was surprised by a TV news report Friday that some black students objected to being singled out.
“The email was part of a larger proactive effort to communicate to all of our students,” she said. “Two years ago, we did something similar based on the recommendation of our African-American students.
“We’re looking out for their safety.”
What they need to tell black students is to buy you a camera each and everyone of you and record the whole event if you are targeted to be searched or to identify yourself. There needs to be a law that law enforcers can and should be videotapped when conducting a search or inquiry into identifying his or herself. One way to combat police brutality and open season on blacks is to record each and every event with audio from start to finish. We have all of this technology and we need to use it in a manner that protect us, I agree if anyone is pulled over and questioned they should remain calm, show their i.d and politely ask questions to find out why they are targeted. Those in authority should be ashamed of themselves acting as if blacks are the only ones committing crimes. My young son was questioned by police when someone lit fire to the boy bathroom at his school, all of these white parents were saying that it was a black child who was to blame. When all the smoke had cleared it was a little white child and there was no apology given either, my son was questioned without my being called or present, I made a big stink about it but this stuff is ingrained in a lot of whites dna so a lot of times they don’t even know they are being racists and are wrong in their behavior. People are people I’ve seen too many white people with no reason to behave badly and criminally do so, I don’t buy the crap that they are a morale race I’ve seen too much and not just racism but them breaking the law just like any other race.
hah! you people are so f%^&ing sad!
ALWAYS looking for a handout, to sue somebody!
Gonna gets mines!!!!!
typical
Now this is some bullshit.com, really?
typical crybabies..allllllllways whining about something..just obey the friggin law for once!
The “New White Backlash” has been going on in this country, ever since O.J. Simpson was found “not guilty” of the killing of Nicole Brown Simpson in1992. It has become very obvious to those of us who studies the racial history of this country, both past and present that we are at war with the “MAN.” Wakeup African-American, we are at War. And were is the hell is all of our so called leaders? Our church leaders across this country need to stand up and let their voices be heard. It’s time to take to the streets and “DEMAND” that the authorities backup off of us, or there’s going to be “RIOTS” across this nation, the likes of which this country has never seen. What happen in London, England is going to look like child play compare to what going to happen here if things don’t change soon concerning the outright criminal behavior of the federal and states authorities both appointed and appointed,. ie: Those 5 right wing idiots on the “Supreme Court” has a lot to do with the police behavior in this day and age because of their asinine rulings giving the police the leadway to do as they please and not suffer any consequences. The convictions of some of New Orleans Police, was a very rare exception. THANK God.
I believe that this email could be taken as racial profiling, or it could be a sincere effort to keep the black male population of the university safe. If my son were a student there, I would tell him the same thing in an effort to keep him alive. Because for a black person, an encounter with police officers can have a deadly outcome no matter how cooperative or submissive the person is. Police officers can assault, kill, rape and get acquitted, but I don’t much from our white population about that kind of criminal behavior.
A Racist is A Racist! No matter how they attemp to candy coat it!!!!
Papers they say, None of those Racist Crackers are from this country!
Just ask any “American Indian”!
You could help yourself by learning to spell, PS: Where your papers?
This is too much. Everything always ends up to be a race issue. This isn’t a race issue this is a safety issue. Grow up. This about it…if a white female was going around robbing houses in my neighborhood and they stopped me and asked to check my id I would be thankful that they are doing something about the problem. I wouldn’t harass our already scarce police force in the area and make it out to look like they are racist. I also think Akron had every right to send out that e-mail for the safety off all of their students, not just white students. Let me guess, if Akron wouldn’t have sent that e-mail out someone would have came back and say they only care about the white population. Get over it! This group of young men are committing crimes, they happen to be black and the University and Police are trying to make a safer neighborhood for the students and families in the area. If it was a group of white men I would expect the same thing.
ALRIGHT. I am a female student at the University of Akron. I am in no way, shape, or form racist against black people whatsoever. I have many black friends. First off, if blacks want to be equal, they should stop feeling sorry for themselves and stop pointing out the racism. Second, I have never in my time in Akron had a white man say anything rude or vulgar to me. My very first day being in Akron for college last year, a group of black males walked past me and said, i quote “hey watchew tryna do. Let me get at dat pussy.” The same day, 2 black males that live in my dorm building were going to the elevators and one sad “damnnnnn you got some big ass titties what you about to do”. I have incidents like that happen to me at least a few times a week. Again, never by a white man. At akron, we get crime reports in our email. Never once have i gotten an email that said a white male robbed, stabbed, shot, or raped anyone. Always black men. I was walking down the sidewalk and a black man pushed me off of the sidewalk so he didnt have to take one step to the side to avoid running into me and said “what the f*ck you little bi**h you want hurt?” I feel so uncomfortable walking around here becasue black people are so obnoxious, rude, and i actually fear my life when a group of black men walk past me. I am so scared that i carry a tazer now. Also, “nigger” is a profane word that i would never say. But, black people refer to eachother as “nigger” so how is that helping the racial profiling situation? Im a 19 year old female and im 4’11” and very small and i can not defend myself if someone grabbed me. Also, all of the black people around here that i have came across and actualy exchanged words with, all talk about beating the shit out of someone, doing drugs or selling them, f*cking girls, and i’ve also heard one or two say they were going to kill someone over the SMALLEST DUMBEST thing. So how are we NOT supposed to profile the blacks? Like i said I am not racist, but i wish that black people would just learn to be normal respectful people. Thats all.
THE WOMAN WHO SENT OUT THE EMAIL WAS BLACK.
THE WOMAN WHO SENT OUT THE EMAIL WAS BLACK.
THE WOMAN WHO SENT OUT THE EMAIL WAS BLACK.
THE WOMAN WHO SENT OUT THE EMAIL WAS BLACK.
Now why does that change the story? Or does it? The last post by Ms Brandy says much to me. Our young black males(not all) do not respect anyone. Why is this happening and how do we correct this trend? You would think college bound students would not have this mentality. I’m getting so disappointed in everyone wanting to be a rapper. Are there no other choices? Are Rappers the new role model for black youths? Something needs to change….very soon.
I agree eith you young lady. I am a 65 year Black junior at Youngstown State University. We do need to stop always jumping to the racist card. There are not a lot of Black young males at YSU an some of them have their pant sagging, loud talking, and music (vulgar rap) blasting in their cars. There is little or no home training in some of Black families and we are allowing the disrespect of our Black womin to be praised by media such as B.E.T. who has the gall to give awards to people such as Lil Wayne. It is a disgrace that a state like Florida has to make alaw to make men pull up their pants. We have a Black President and our Black young men could care less because the President has an education and tries to respect all people. I wish you well and don’t give up on all Black, but don’t put up with these garbage mouth idiots.
As a University of Akron student, I personally believe people are overreacting to this. Was it a bad idea to send it specifically to African American males at the university? Probably. However, based on the statistics of crime at the university (and the countless amounts of crime reports I receive), maybe once I have gotten a crime report committed by someone other than a black male. I’m not saying they’re committing a crime because they’re black, however, I will say that the black urban culture in Akron is very much a problem. Had there been lots of crime reports with the suspects always being white males, being a white male, I would not be offended had only the white males received one.
I give the school props for keeping it real. A black student at the University of Cincinnati died after being shot with a taser gun by a campus police officer. The police officer said that he shot the student because the student approached him with a balled fist!
It is good to cooperate than be sorry. The presure they have is the same presure everyone have. We are all living in a society where by there in no diferent no different on the past slavery and today slavery it has just modified for us to see like is the way of life
I found this particular blog post , “Dr. Boyce:
U. Akron Tells Black Male Students Not to Run from Police Black College Students”,
truly engaging and it was a fantastic read.
Thanks for your effort-Yvonne