Naysayers
English 350
June 17th 2013
Naysayer Exercise 1 1. “We have a black president in the United States today. We have come so far and then towards the end there is the reminder, ‘Well, of course we still have long way to go.” 2. “Most people of all color today will say, so much has changed, just look at all the black lawyers and black doctors free to eat at any restaurant or lunch counter, not relegated to sit at the back of the bus. Just look at Oprah Winfrey. Just look at Barrack Obama. Look at Coda Lisa Rice. Just look at Colin Powell. Until just recently, people were telling me, just look at Herman Cain. We’ve come a long way. But then there’s a pause and the familiar line, ‘But of course we still have a long way to go.” 3. “That black children lack native intelligence or the desire to learn.” 4. “Now I admit that there was a time when I rejected this kind of talk. I rejected it out of hand. There was a time when I rejected it out of hand. A time when I rejected the comparison of mass incarceration and slavery or mass incarceration and Jim Crow. I believe those were exaggerations, distortions or hyperboles. In fact, I thought people who made those kind of claims and those kinds of comparisons were actually doing more harm than good” 5. “And I just said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I cannot represent you if you have a criminal record.” 6. “‘Well, of course law informant should be stopping, searching, and frisk him. Of course they should be keeping an eyes on him, he is a drug felon.’ And we knew we couldn’t put a criminal on the stand because they would be inevitable cross examine in front of a jury about their prior criminal history, their whole credibility would be challenged. So I tried to explain to him ‘I’m sorry, there is just no way I can represent you if you have a criminal record” 7. “...the image presented in the media of black families spontaneously disintegrating because of reasons that defy our imagination” 8. “What’s
June 17th 2013
Naysayer Exercise 1 1. “We have a black president in the United States today. We have come so far and then towards the end there is the reminder, ‘Well, of course we still have long way to go.” 2. “Most people of all color today will say, so much has changed, just look at all the black lawyers and black doctors free to eat at any restaurant or lunch counter, not relegated to sit at the back of the bus. Just look at Oprah Winfrey. Just look at Barrack Obama. Look at Coda Lisa Rice. Just look at Colin Powell. Until just recently, people were telling me, just look at Herman Cain. We’ve come a long way. But then there’s a pause and the familiar line, ‘But of course we still have a long way to go.” 3. “That black children lack native intelligence or the desire to learn.” 4. “Now I admit that there was a time when I rejected this kind of talk. I rejected it out of hand. There was a time when I rejected it out of hand. A time when I rejected the comparison of mass incarceration and slavery or mass incarceration and Jim Crow. I believe those were exaggerations, distortions or hyperboles. In fact, I thought people who made those kind of claims and those kinds of comparisons were actually doing more harm than good” 5. “And I just said, ‘I’m sorry. I’m sorry. I cannot represent you if you have a criminal record.” 6. “‘Well, of course law informant should be stopping, searching, and frisk him. Of course they should be keeping an eyes on him, he is a drug felon.’ And we knew we couldn’t put a criminal on the stand because they would be inevitable cross examine in front of a jury about their prior criminal history, their whole credibility would be challenged. So I tried to explain to him ‘I’m sorry, there is just no way I can represent you if you have a criminal record” 7. “...the image presented in the media of black families spontaneously disintegrating because of reasons that defy our imagination” 8. “What’s