Houston town hall meeting addresses “Negro business”
- By Jesse Muhammad
- Published 01/25/2010
- Community
- Unrated
Jesse Muhammad
Jesse Muhammad is a motivational speaker with over a decade of experience speaking to diverse audiences across the country. He has been featured on various television and radio shows in Houston, New York, Chicago, Milwaukee, Philadelphia, Los Angeles and other cities throughout the country. He is a Staff Writer for the Final Call Newspaper and has received rave reviews for his coverage of stories that the mainstream media tends to overlook. He is credited with bringing national and international attention to the historic case of the "Jena Six" and has been recognized for his consistent coverage of Hurricane Katrina survivors. He is also the Founder and Creative Director of Jahaanah Productions which provides a wide range of services. He is the Co-founder and Senior Editor of For Youth Teens and Young Adults(FYTYA, Houston's largest youth and college paper. To add to that he is a budding photojournalist.
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Marcus Davis, of the Breakfast Klub
and host of Sunday Morning Live,
Magic 102FM.
Photo by Jesse Muhammad
HOUSTON– The use of the word “Negro” on the 2010 U.S. Census questionnaire sparked a recent town hall meeting in Houston held at the Judson Robinson Community Center to discuss its impact and the need for Blacks to still participate in the census process. Council Member Wanda Adams, who co-chairs the Houston Counts Committee, urged the predominately Black audience to not “let that word deter us” at the forum held earlier this month.
“For every person who does not take the census, that is potentially a $1,500 dollars loss,” said Adams. “Let’s get our money here in Houston. We stand to get millions in federal funding plus a new Congressional seat and two City Council positions. Let’s participate.”
Houston Counts is a City of Houston grassroots, community-based awareness program highlighting the importance of being counted in the 2010 Census. Although he agreed that Blacks should still participate in the census, activist Quanell X asked, “Who in this room has actually looked up the word ‘Negro’? It comes from a Latin origin which means the ‘living dead’. Do we want to pass that shameful word on to our children? I’m not a Negro.”
Question 9 on the survey asks “What is person 1’s race?” and part of the option is “Black, African American, or Negro.” The U.S. Census Bureau defended the option by stating that some 56,000 surveyed Blacks preferred to be called Negro instead of Black or African-American.
Sitting on the panel also was 69-year-old Harris County Judge Zinetta Burney, who disagreed that the term is offensive. “I am a Negro. I don’t see anything wrong with that. I was born in 1941 and my birth certificate says ‘colored’ on it. I am not going to change that document. Being counted is more important than any word.”
The panel’s moderator was Marcus Davis, owner of the Breakfast Klub restaurant and host of Sunday Morning Live on Magic 102 FM. Others on the panel included Jason Lee (2008 Harvard graduate), Carolyn Scantlebury (NAACP), and Judson Robinson III (Houston Area Urban League).
“Being counted and being represented is most important,” said Jason Lee. “But it’s hard to discount the emotions of the people.”
“Let’s participate in the census, move our city forward and get pass this controversial issue,” said Carl Davis, who spoke on behalf of the Houston Census Count Committee, along with co-member Erica Fowler.
Jeffrey Boney, founder/CEO Texas Business Alliance, noted that many Black organizations still bear the word ‘Negro’ in their names such as the United Negro College Fund and even the word ‘Colored’ used in the name of NAACP.
“So in light of this discussion, would the heads of those organizations be willing to lead by example and change their names and stop using those terms?” asked Boney. Audience member Chad Akpabio-Wilson advised “Don’t let terms keep our sense of self limited to a label. Don’t confine ourselves to a word.”
“When it comes to democracy, this government we live within, we want to be counted in that number. We must continue to do our part to get our part,” said Davis. According to the Houston Counts web site, the census questionnaires will arrive in mailboxes in March. The completed form should be mailed back to the Census Bureau by Census Day, April 1.
For more information visit: http://www.houstontx.gov/census2010