Dear Ted Nugent,
Today I read your column for World Net Daily (http://www.wnd.com/2013/02/i-honor-blacks-the-dems-destroy-them/) in which you announced that you will name your 2013 tour: "Ted Nugent Black Power 2013." I think that it is admirable that you have declared your appreciation for black culture and hope to embark on a path that fosters racial equality and support governmental policies that provide real economic and social opportunities for improvement. I agree that the Democratic party has not always had the interest of ethnic and cultural minorities as a priority when crafting legislation, nor do I argue that President Obama will act in the best interest of black folks in his office. But I fear that you are missing an opportunity for real dialogue about race relations in these United States by leaving out the legacy of the Republican Party and Conservative politicians of also crafting policies that harm black and brown folks.
There is still a lot of work to be done around racism in the United States, both at the individual and institutional levels. At present the Republican Party is scrambling to find the same sort of token representation that will appeal to minority voters as the Democrats have found in President Obama. You might have seen Marco Rubio's presentation of the Republican response to the State of the Union. The Republican desire to lump itself with minority interests in the hopes of gaining additional votes isn't far off base from how the Democrats have used the president to label itself as the party of inclusivity. But outside of this sort of tokenism, which is harmful to all Americans, limits opportunity for discussions about race and cultural relations, and pits us against each other, we really should talk about policies.
You discuss the rate of drop out among African Americans in your article, and it is true that high school completion rates are at an astoundingly low rates for black teenagers, particularly boys, hovering just above 50%. I don't think that Black History month will solve this problem, but I do believe that more culturally appropriate and inclusive curriculum could help to raise the graduation rate. We saw an example of this sort of program with the Mexican American Studies program in Tuscon, Arizona, which helped raise high school completion rates among Latino students, as those who participated in the MAS program were over 40% more likely to graduate. Rather than put more support into this program, perhaps even expand it to include additional ethnicity's, superintendents Tom Horne and John Huppenthal pushed, and succeed in their efforts to eliminate the program.
While I understand that not all folks agree with all of the content in the program courses, I'd like to state that I didn't agree with a fair amount of the curriculum that was available to me as a student. I attended public schools in a predominantly white city where curriculum that related to the experiences of people of color was largely limited to slavery, Martin Luther King Jr. and Rosa Parks. Discussion of the realities of people of color, sociological understandings of racism and power, or the encouragement of critical analysis of the material wasn't introduced or encouraged. The Board of Education in Florida recently unveiled separate benchmark standards for black and Latino students, and by separate I mean lower. Both Florida and Arizona are headed by Republican Governors. For a party that stresses small governments and states rights, we must recognize the role that Republican headed states play in preserving and expanding racial inequalities within the educational system.
At the national level, President George W. Bush enacted No Child Left Behind, an unfunded mandate that, with even the best of intentions, continued the legacy of racism that was already prevalent within the U.S. educational system. Schools that had high academic success began to not meet benchmarks under the new system, and schools that were under performing lost students to more better performing schools and the reduction in FTE adversely affected families and students in attendance at their neighborhood schools. Looking at the data of school performance through the filter of neighborhood economic status, it is clear that under performing schools tend to be housed in neighborhoods with lower incomes, and many of these neighborhoods exist within communities of color. This being said, for the students who did decide to transfer to other schools, commute times had an impact on time at home, with friends, homework and extra-curricular activities. Educators at every level found this mandate troublesome, and wasn't enacted by a Democrat or President Obama.
I do not agree with our President on many things, and I certainly didn't vote for him because he is black. But I did vote for him, and I do believe that he was democratically elected (as much as that can be true considering our outdated Electoral College system), but I cannot say the same for the second President Bush. Warrentless wiretapping, loosened standards relating to torture, new categorizations for people participating in armed conflict (i.e. "enemy combatants"), lack of concern for international law, loosened environmental regulation, two unwinnable wars (three when you count the war against terrorism) that cost thousands of Americans their lives, reliance on faulty intelligence and posturing that damaged our reputation in the international community hurt not only people of color, but all Americans.
You discussed the prevalence of single parent households within the black community but failed to mention the Bush era Abstinence Only sex education projects served to legislate his Evangelical beliefs instead of taking the realities of public health into account. I don't know how that was good for anyone.
Considering that you stated that only whores, pimps and welfare brats voted for Obama, while also acknowledging that the president received 93% of the black vote, I am forced to question your real feelings toward black folks. I love it that you love black music, I do too. But music is but one element of a culture, and your characterization of who I am is at odds with what I understand unity, respect and power to mean. I may have different beliefs than you, I may have different values than you, I am a different color than you, but I am neither a pimp nor a whore. Instead I am a working class black woman who has benefited from social welfare opportunities such as grant money for college, which was made available by the Higher Education Act of 1965 during the Democratic administration of Lyndon B. Johnson. While I understand that education can be as much of a divider as it is an accelerator, my appreciation for my educational opportunity is one of the defining principles of who I am.
It is impossible for someone who is elected to office to serve the specific interests of all people, and I truly appreciate your disdain for President Obama. But I do ask you, in good faith, to reconsider naming your tour. Surely an artist of your caliper can determine a title that is representative of your actual beliefs and agenda. I am not sure that you understand the political and social beliefs of the people who support you as a musician, people who listen to you on your visits to the Political Cesspool radio show, which counts among it's principles: "We wish to revive the White birthrate above replacement level fertility and beyond to grow the percentage of Whites in the world relative to other races," and "America would not be as prosperous, ruggedly individualistic, and a land of opportunity if the founding stock were not Europeans." This is not what black power looks like, and if you truly wish to honor the black folks who inspire you to make music, please think about real ways that you do this. It does not include supporting white supremacist, separatist culture and organizations, but may include working to create an inclusive environment where black folks can be safe to come to your shows without feeling threatened and/or like you wish to make a mockery of our experiences of racism. It does not include making death threats to the man who holds the office of the presidency, but may include working to build upon the example that he has set for many black folks, particularly young folks, that with hard work the American Dream is possible.
I will not attend any of your tour dates, because I don't much care for your brand of music nor do I wish to voluntarily share space with people who support your attitudes and beliefs. I will not watch your television shows, where you shoot animals from trees. I respect your right to say the things that you like and call our nations policies into question, it is our duties as Americans to do so. If I were a praying person I would pray that the people of color who do venture to your shows are able to do so without bodily harm and racial slurs. I will also, from this point forward, choose to abstain from listening to REO Speedwagon, who I have liked a bit in the past, and who will join you on this tour. As part of my power, as a black woman and as an American, I can exercise my power through choice, and I choose to not support or enjoy you or artists that associate with you. It is my hope that others, regardless of the color of their skin, make the choice to do the same.Graciously,Monica Wilson
