For those who have not heard of it, the Griot Society is a Contracted Independent Organization here at the University. Latasha Levy, Assistant Dean of the Office of African-American Affairs, founded it in 2000 ostensibly to serve as a "support system for students majoring or minoring in African and African-American Studies." The Society also claims to be "committed to educating the masses about issues of concern in the African Diaspora" and"fighting for global justice among all oppressed peoples." These are all admirable goals. But upon closer examination, these stated objectives don't match up to the group's rhetoric. In fact, the content displayed on the Griot Society's Web site fosters racial tension on Grounds and even seems to advocate racial violence. Levy and every student member of the Society should strive to tone down this activist propaganda and focus more on the educational pursuits for which the group was founded.
The following mantra is displayed boldly on the Griot Society's Web site: "We lost our land through blood; and we cannot gain it except through blood. We must redeem our lives through the blood. Without the shedding of blood there can be no redemption of this race." Centered above this statement is the flag of African nationalism, a traditional symbol embodying the ideal that people of African descent should band together and form their own politically independent nation. To complement this symbol of racial segregation and divisiveness, the "quotations" section of the Griot Society's Web site bears "words of inspiration" from Kwame Nkrumah, one of the fathers of African nationalism, Bobby Seale, co-founder of the violent Black Panther Party, and Malcolm X, who supported black political separation.
As a final touch, on their main Web page the Griot Society presents a picture of convicted cop-killer Mumia Abu Jamal. Jamal is now in prison for standing over a defenseless white policeman and shooting him in the head as a way of lashing out against what he perceived as the racist white establishment. Scrawled across the front of Jamal's photograph on the Griot Society's Web site are the words "Mumia is all of us." Sure he is -- so long as we're all militant racists who have been convicted of brutally killing a police officer based on the testimony of five eyewitnesses and a preponderance of physical evidence.
In a phone interview, Griot Society Vice President Joe Obi assured me that his organization does not condone racial violence or segregation. But he should consider the message that his group's Web site conveys. After displaying statements about the "shedding of blood," the site quotes violent Black Panthers and other supporters of racial segregation. Then, it presents a glorified photo of a racially-motivated cop-killer. No matter what positive educational or anti-oppression intentions the Griot Society might claim to have, this radical propaganda taints the group with irrational, hateful, racist and violent undercurrents.
Perhaps an analogy will help. Imagine a hypothetical white assistant dean of the Office of Caucasian-American Affairs founding a group whose Web site seemed to support the "shedding of blood" and the creation of an all-white country to further the white race. He'd be run out of town as a racist, and Jesse Jackson and Al Sharpton would be on the first plane to Charlottesville. The University would be closed down and President John T. Casteen III would declare a day of infamy to be observed in memoriam forever more. The only difference between this hypothetical group and the Griot society is the skin color of the individuals involved.
Levy herself stated in a phone interview that she would like to see the group that she founded move away from activism toward its original educational pursuits. The Griot Society would do well to follow this suggestion. Racial isolationism and militarism both are desperate ideals that were born in the darkest days of our nation's past. To reiterate these philosophies of violence and separatism today does nothing to bring about positive change or education. Instead, it inflames racial passions and actually interferes with the Griot Society's educational mission.
The Griot Society has the right to exist and to advocate whatever radical viewpoints it wishes, and it is up to the group's members to decide what type of organization they want it to be. If, as Obi claims, members of the Society do not support racial segregation and violent revolution, let them turn away from militant rhetoric. Peaceful individuals should not belong to a group that posts radical slogans of hatred on its Web site. Otherwise, they run the risk of being perceived as what the worst of their rhetoric makes them appear to be: just another hate group.
(Anthony Dick is a Cavalier Daily associate editor. He can be reached at adick@cavalierdaily.com.)
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