City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
Meeting Date: 01/04/11 Item Number: A-4___
PRCS COMMISSION AGENDA ITEM: Discussion of the “Words Matter”
Presentation on the February 1, 2011 Parks, Recreation and Community Services
Meeting Agenda.
Contact Person/Dept.: Pam Robinson,
Acting PRCS Director
Phone Number: (310) 253-6655
Fiscal Impact: Yes [] No [X] General Fund: Yes [] No []
Public Hearing: [] Action Item: [X] Attachments: [X]
Commission Action Required: Yes [] No [] Date: _______________
Public Notification: (Email) Meetings and Agendas – Parks, Recreation and Community
Services Commission (12/29/10).
Department Approval: Pam Robinson
(12/21/10)
City Attorney Approval: N/A
Chief Financial Officer Approval: N/A
City Manager Approval: N/A
RECOMMENDATION:
Staff recommends that the Parks, Recreation and Community Services (PRCS)
Commission discuss the “Words Matter” presentation on the February 1, 2011
Commission Meeting Agenda and make recommendations as deemed appropriate.
BACKGROUND:
On Thursday, October 21, 2010 the members of the Human Relations
Subcommittee, Commissioners Daly Redholtz and Greene, met with Acting PRCS
Director Pam Robinson to discuss various Human Relations related topics. At that
meeting, the members of the Subcommittee agreed that the PRCS Commission
should become proactive in imparting information and education to the public on
issues of importance to the community. It was determined that the Human Relations
Subcommittee would present a report to the PRCS Commission at the next meeting
and recommend options for hosting a Human Relations related event and/or
program.
At the November 4, 2010 PRCS Commission meeting, the Commission heard a
report from Human Relations Subcommittee and discussed the possibility of hosting
an interactive presentation by Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson on the topic, “Words Matter.”
Subsequently, the following motion was passed:
City of Culver City, California
Agenda Item Report
MOVED BY COMMISSIONER DALY REDHOLTZ, SECONDED BY
VICE CHAIR KIM, AND UNANIMOUSLY CARRIED THAT THE
PARKS, RECREATION AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMISSION
HAVE FOR THE MAIN AGENDA ITEM FOR THE REGULAR
FEBRUARY 1, 2011 COMMISSION MEETING BE A GUEST
SPEAKER INVITED TO PROVIDE A SHORT PRESENTATION AND
ANSWER QUESTIONS ABOUT THE TOPIC “WORDS MATTER”.
DISCUSSION:
At the December 7, 2010 PRCS Commission meeting, there was consensus that
this item be agendized in order to give the Commission the opportunity to discuss
and make recommendations regarding the “Words Matter” presentation to be held at
the February 1, 2011 Commission meeting. Assuming that Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson
will be available to attend the February meeting, information regarding his
background and career is provided as an Attachment.
FISCAL ANALYSIS:
There is no fiscal impact associated with the discussion of this Agenda Item at this
evening’s meeting. Costs to the City associated with the “Words Matter”
presentation, if any, will be presented when more information becomes available.
ATTACHMENT:
Information on Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson as posted on the Internet by Answers.com
MOTIONS:
That the Parks, Recreation and Community Services Commission:
1. Discuss the “Words Matter” presentation on the February 1, 2011 PRCS
Commission Meeting Agenda; and,
2. Make recommendations as deemed appropriate.
Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, writer; journalist
Page 1 of 5
Personal Information
Born on October 8, 1945, in Chicago, IL; son of Earl Hutchinson, a postal worker, and Nina
(Brown) Hutchinson; wife's name Barbara (Bramwell) Hutchinson; children: Fanon and Sikivu.
Education: California State University, Los Angeles, B.S. sociology, early 1970s; California
State University, Dominguez Hills, M. Hum., 1989; Pacific Western University, Ph.D. sociology,
1991.
Memberships: Black Journalists Association, Coalition Against Media Exploitation.
Career
KPFK Radio, Pacifica, CA, 1974-82; author of The Myth of Black Capitalism, 1970; Let Your
Motto Be Resistance, 1974; Black Fatherhood: Guide to Male Parenting, 1992; Black
Fatherhood II: Black Women Talk About Their Men, 1994; The Assassination of the Black Male
Image, 1994; Blacks and Reds: Race and Class in Conflict, 1919-1990, 1995; Betrayed: a
History of Presidential Failure to Protect Black Lives, 1996; Beyond O.J.: Race, Sex, and Class
Lessons for America, 1996; The Crisis in Black and Black, 1998.
Life's Work
Whenever the American media has provided coverage of the social issues and concerns facing
African Americans, it is quite likely that Earl Ofari Hutchinson has offered his opinions.
Hutchinson is a political analyst, social critic, author, and nationally syndicated columnist. He
has lectured at universities and has also appeared on talk shows and radio and television
discussion programs.
Learned From His Father
Hutchinson was born on October 8, 1945 in Chicago, Illinois. His father was a postal worker
who went into real estate after retirement. His mother had been a talented seamstress who made
clothes for family, friends and neighbors. Hutchinson's parents were loving and nurturing, and
took he and his sister to church regularly.
Hutchinson's father was a role model who taught his son by example. In his 1992 book, Black
Fatherhood: the Guide to Male Parenting, Hutchinson told the story of a family trip to
California. During the trip, he learned a valuable lesson. "Each evening, as dusk began to settle,
my father pulled into a filling station. He took a small blue-covered book from the glove
compartment and carefully circled an address in it." His father's blue book held the names of
motels or private homes where African Americans could find lodging. Due to segregation, many
motels and restaurants refused to serve African Americans. Hutchinson noted in Black
Fatherhood, "I did not realize it at the time, but my father was giving me a lesson in the art of
black survival."
Hutchinson received a bachelor of science degree in sociology from California State University,
Los Angeles in 1969. Following graduation, he worked for a radio station in southern California
Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, writer; journalist
Page 2 of 5
for about ten years. He went on to earn a masters degree in humanities from California State
University, Dominguez Hills in 1989. Hutchinson began a doctoral program in sociology at
Cornell University. However, he transferred to Pacific Western University and received his
doctorate in 1991.
In 1982 Hutchinson began a subscription newsletter, Ofari's Bi-Monthly, which discussed
political and social issues. He published this newsletter for 12 years. Hutchinson had never
considered journalism as a career option. Instead, he wanted to be a teacher. In an interview with
Contemporary Black Biography, Hutchinson spoke about his entry into the world of journalism.
"I backed into it. The week after I finished my degree work at Cornell, I was talking to a friend at
the old Los Angeles Free Press and, in passing, he indicated they needed a piece analyzing black
nationalism. I agreed. He liked it. A few days later, he told me that one of his staff writers had
quit and they needed a temporary replacement. Well, as they say, the rest is history."
Published Books On Black Issues
Hutchinson went on to write for several newspapers and magazines, including the Chicago
Tribune, Los Angeles Times, San Francisco Chronicle, Black World, Ebony, Essence, Newsday,
Nation, Harper's, and Emerge. In 1965 he edited The Black Book, a book of African American
quotes which was published by the Radical Education Project of Detroit, Michigan. Hutchinson's
first book, The Myth of Black Capitalism, was published by Monthly Review Press in 1970. Two
years later, Let Your Motto Be Resistance; the Life and Thought of Henry Highland Garnet was
published by Beacon Press of Boston. Hutchinson's book, Black Fatherhood: The Guide to Male
Parenting, examined the challenges that African American fathers face while raising their
children in contemporary African American society.
In Blacks and Reds: Race and Conflict, 1919-1990, Hutchinson explored the links between
African Americans and communism during the 20th century. The book detailed how the
Communist Party in America had attempted to win the support of African Americans. Paul
Robeson, an African American actor and singer, was greatly admired in both African American
and white communities in the 1940s. On one occasion, he made comments that seemed to praise
communism. These comments caused Robeson to fall out of favor with the American public, and
he was called upon to testify before the House Un-American Activities Committee. Journalist
W.E.B. DuBois, who had worked for the NAACP, also supported the Communist Party. In
addition to DuBois and Robeson, Hutchinson related how the Communist Party in America had
influenced other prominent African Americans, including Malcolm X, Stokely Carmichael, and
Eldridge Cleaver.
In The Assassination of the Black Male Image, published by Middle Passage Press in 1994,
Hutchinson discussed his views on how the African American male is portrayed by the media in
a consistently negative fashion. He also examined the perceptions of American society toward
African American men, and called for greater respect and understanding. Hutchinson originally
published The Assassination of the Black Male Image himself, and sold 30,000 copies before
signing with the publishing house Simon & Schuster. The book was a tremendous success, and
was eventually released in paperback. In its review of The Assassination of the Black Male
Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, writer; journalist
Page 3 of 5
Image, Kirkus Reviews remarked, "He [Hutchinson] argues that the overwhelming mass media
image of black men is of evil incarnate, and that Americans--including many black women--are
ready to pounce any time a black man slips up, from O.J. Simpson to Michael Jackson to
Clarence Thomas to Louis Farrakhan." Hutchinson also argued that racism, poverty, gangs,
drugs, family roles, and male-female relationships are among the greatest challenges facing
African American males.
Commented on Social Issues
During the year-long murder trial of former football star and television commentator O.J.
Simpson, Hutchinson served as a media trial analyst for MSNBC and KCBS-LA. In 1996, he
wrote the book Beyond O.J.: Race, Sex, and Class Lessons for America. The book discussed the
O.J. Simpson trial and its social implications. Lillian Lewis, in a review for the American
Library Association, noted that "Hutchinson offers compelling comparisons of recent cases
involving white and black male defendants with similar charges, yet with disparate dispositions.
Not only were the white males treated differently by the courts for the same crime .. Hutchinson
is seemingly building a strong case for the view of the black male as a menace to society ..
In his 1998 book, The Crisis in Black and Black, Hutchinson discussed several topics dealing
with social issues and prominent African Americans such as Clarence Thomas, O.J. Simpson,
and Louis Farrakhan. A reviewer for the American Library Association remarked, "Hutchinson's
style and candor provide an excellent commentary on ... contemporary issues. He begins each
chapter with the scientific approach of stating an opinion and raising the questions to debate.
After a brief and engaging analysis, including statistics, the chapters end with a final comment
that dispels and challenges the opinion."
In addition to his career as an author and journalist, Hutchinson was the co-director of the
Sherrice Iverson Justice Fund and an official spokesperson for the mother of Sherrice Iverson, a
seven-year-old child who was murdered in a Las Vegas casino in 1997. In his online column for
Davey D, Interview/Analysis, Hutchinson remarked, "Strohmeyer [the man convicted of
Iverson's murder] is middle-class and white. Iverson is African-American, and her parents are
working class. This virtually guarantees that it will be a highly charged trial in which race,
income and public attitudes often determine legal fairness." He also noted in his online JINN
magazine column for the Pacific News Service that, "The murder of Sherrice Iverson is a near
textbook example of indifference, insensitivity, and disdain toward black victims, no matter how
young and innocent."
As director of the National Alliance for Positive Action, Hutchinson has voiced his desire to
have the word "nigger" eliminated from the Merriam-Webster dictionary. The National Alliance
for Positive Action, which was founded by Hutchinson, is a multi-ethnic public issues advocacy
group whose mission statement, in part, is to "promote justice and fairness for America's
dispossessed." Merriam-Webster officials told Knight-Ridder Newspapers that, "We do not
believe we can make offensive words go out of existence by leaving them out of the dictionary.
People do not learn these words from the dictionary nor would they refrain from using them if
we left them out." Hutchinson disagreed and remarked to the Knight-Ridder/Tribune News
Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, writer; journalist
Page 4 of 5
Service that, "a word as emotionally charged as 'nigger' can reinforce and perpetuate
stereotypes." The word is defined in the 1996 edition of Webster's as: 1. A black person--usually
taken to be offensive. 2. A member of any dark-skinned race--usually taken to be offensive. 3. A
member of a socially disadvantaged class of persons. The NAACP also gave its opinion, stating
that the definition needed to be changed from "a black person or member of any dark-skinned
race," to simply a derogatory word and not one that was another name for African Americans.
Hutchinson said in his JINN column, "If the word must be dictionary defined--and several
dictionaries have deleted it--it should be 'deracialized' and defined simply as 'a racially
derogatory term applied to African-Americans.'"
In his work for the Coalition Against Media Exploitation, Hutchinson was able to convince
President Clinton to pardon African American sailors who were court martialed in the 1940s for
refusing to load ammunition onto Navy ships following an explosion. This incident occurred
during World War II, when mostly African American sailors were ordered to load live
ammunition onto Navy ships bound for the Pacific theater. At the Port Chicago Naval Magazine
near San Francisco, an explosion on July 17, 1944, killed 320 men and injured almost 400. The
African American sailors who survived were ordered to continue loading ammunition onto the
ships. However, 50 sailors refused to obey the order because they were afraid that another
explosion would occur. These sailors were accused of disobeying an order, court martialed,
convicted of mutiny, and jailed. In December of 1999, President Clinton granted a pardon to one
of two known surviving sailors, 80-year-old Freddie Meeks.
As director of the Coalition Against Media Exploitation, Hutchinson openly criticized the lack of
African American actors and producers both in television and the movies. He told Jet magazine,
"African Americans are still mostly invisible on and especially off-screen in Hollywood."
Hutchinson accused television producers of segregation when one network announced that it
would put most of its African American-themed programs into a single time block. He also
challenged network executives who believed that white viewers would not watch African
American oriented television shows. Hutchinson noted that the success of African American
sitcoms from the 1970s and 1980s, such as The Cosby Show, were due to the fact that they
appealed to viewers of all races.
Hutchinson has a syndicated column that appears in over 150 newspapers nationwide. He is also
a columnist for the Los Angeles Daily News, and his writings are often published in the Los
Angeles Times. He is a regular commentator for Pacifica National News, and writes for Pacific
News Service. In regard to his future plans, Hutchinson told CBB, "I'm a writer. That has always
been the emphasis--I'm first a writer, second a writer, tenth, twentieth a writer. I would like to
see essentially my place established as a leading authority, or to be recognized in many circles as
a prominent and even cutting edge issues person, to influence opinions, to help make changes in
public policy."
Awards
Outstanding Book Award, Gustavus Myers Center for the Study of Human Rights, 1995, 1997;
Best Published Article in a Series, Parts 1 and 2, National Association of Black Journalists, 1997.
Dr. Earl Ofari Hutchinson, writer; journalist
Page 5 of 5
Works
Selected writings
• The Myth of Black Capitalism, 1970.
• Let Your Motto Be Resistance; the Life and Thought of Henry Highland Garnet, 1972.
• Black Fatherhood: the Guide to Male Parenting, 1992.
• The Assassination of the Black Male Image, 1994.
• Black Fatherhood II: Black Women Talk About Their Men, 1994.
• Blacks and Reds: Race and Class in Conflict, 1919-1990, 1995.
• Betrayed: a History of Presidential Failure to Protect Black Lives, 1996.
• Beyond O.J.: Race, Sex, and Class Lessons for America, 1996.
• The Crisis in Black and Black, 1998.
Further Reading
Books
• Hutchinson, Earl Ofari. Black Fatherhood: The Guide to Male Parenting, Middle
Passage Press, Los Angeles, 1995, p. 133-134.
Periodicals
• Essence, April 1996, p. 140.
• Jet, December 14, 1998, p. 12.
• Kansas City Star, (Missouri) December 24, 1999, p. A-1, A-6.
• Knight-Ridder/Tribune News Service, October 16, 1997.
Other
• Additional information for this profile was obtained from
www.daveyd.com/earlchasepol.html ; a 1995 American Library Association review of
Beyond O.J.: Race, Sex, and Class Lessons for America at www.amazon.com; a 1996
Kirkus Associates review of The Assassination of the Black Male Image at
www.amazon.com.; a 1998 American Library Association review of The Crisis in Black
and Black at www.amazon.com; an Author Biography Media Sheet from Middle Passage
Press; a Coalition Against Media Exploitation Media Release published at
www.theafrican.com; JINN, Pacific News Service, September 26, 1997 and August 18,
1998 columns at web site www.pacificneews.org/pacificnews/jinn; and an interview with
Contemporary Black Biography on January 6, 2000.
— Sandy J. Stiefer
SOURCE: Answers.com at http://www.answers.com/topic/earl-ofari-hutchinson