South of the James

by Conaway B. Haskins III,
published on March 31, 2006 by the Black Athlete Sports Network

VIRGINIA—Outside of Baton Rouge, Gainesville, and Los Angeles, college basketball fans nationwide are joining the “Mason Nation.” Among the greatest “Cinderella” sports stories ever told, the journey of the George Mason Patriots from mid-major obscurity to the pinnacle of a national championship has captured the imagination of the sporting public. For nearly two weeks, a motley collection of talented players dismissed by major college programs has stormed through the NCAA tournament, making the Final Four in dramatic fashion against powerhouse teams featuring future NBA players. Now, as the team preparing to face the Florida Gators in Indianapolis on Saturday night, the hearts and minds of the George Mason “family” will be focused on their team.

For one group in particular – George Mason’s African-American alumni - the energy and attention that the basketball team has generated for the university itself could not be sweeter. For them, the rest of America, especially Black America is afforded the opportunity to understand what they have felt for years. Nicole (last name withheld), a 1990 alumnus echoes this sentiment by saying, “Having floor seats at the Verizon Center for the GMU-UConn game- was pure heaven! It was amazing to look up- way up into the stands- and see the sea of green and gold and to hear the true heartfelt school spirit. Many of my friends and co-workers are not too familiar with Mason. In fact, my phone was blowing up from folks watching the game in awe. Now, I don’t think I have to explain anything about the school- finally!”

According to Virginia higher education statistics George Mason is home to nearly 1,400 black undergraduate students and just over 800 graduate students, accounting for 6% of all black undergraduates and nearly 19% of all black graduate students enrolled in public institutions of higher-education in Virginia. With a total of 2,200 black students, George Mason’s African-American community would rank as the 4th largest black college in the Commonwealth, behind public schools such as Virginia State University (4,700) and Norfolk State University (5,200) and the prestigious, private Hampton University (5,600). Still, “black” George Mason is larger than Virginia’s private black colleges such as Division II basketball powerhouse Virginia Union (1,600) and St. Paul’s College (750). Named as the most diverse college in America by the Princeton Review, Mason is also home to one of the largest African student population in the United States and a sizable Caribbean population.

A young university originally founded in 1957 as a two-year branch of the University of Virginia, George Mason received its independent status in 1972. That seemingly allowed the university to avoid the kind of entrenched, institutionalized racial and other biases that plague older, more traditional schools. Racism and bigotry are not without their presence on campus, socially and academically, but it is widely-acknowledged to be much less pernicious than at older, more traditional schools. The university maintains a healthy respect for diversity, with a choose-your-own-adventure mentality where students chart their own courses but which requires a higher degree of self-reliance.

Data seem to underscore this. The politically-conservative Center for Equal Opportunity, which generally opposes affirmative action and related measures, has consistently found that George Mason provides relatively equal chances at admission for black and white students, and the university’s research demonstrates that black students have a nearly equal shot at retention and graduation as their white counterparts. At George Mason, it’s not that race does not matter; it’s that it matters much less than at other places. Though campus and academic life is not without pitfalls, at George Mason, “blackness” often exists more as a matter of cultural awareness than reacting to real or perceived racism. The school is even home to an indirect, modern-day version of the Booker T. Washington- W.E.B. DuBois “debates,” as economics professor Walter Williams holds carries the banner for black conservatism and historian and Civil Rights champion Roger Wilkins holds up the flag of black liberalism.

For many black alumni, it goes beyond simply their experiences on campus during their collegiate days. Caring deeply for the school, they often felt the slights that come with the “commuter school” rap. Says Christopher Preston, a 1996 marketing graduate who is a sales executive with the Washington, DC area United Way, “All I can say is that it is the biggest sports moment of my life and it adds a lot more credibility in conversations with friends that went to higher profile schools. They have to pay attention to George Mason now.”

Notable black faculty and administrators also support this notion. Serious scholars like Toni-Michelle Travis, who holds a PhD from the University of Chicago, and serves as director of the Department of African American Studies and associate professor of Government & Politics, are quite pleased with the recent developments. Travis asserts that, “Achieving national publicity for a quality athletic program, at a university that was making a name for itself in academics and athletics, is well deserved. Proud alumni are contacting faculty by email and returning to campus. The NCAA tournament victory provides a sense of unity that was previously not visible in a commuter school”

That theme is particularly underscored by black alumni who were admitted to higher-regarded schools but chose Mason instead. Nowhere is this more prevalent than among alumni of the University Scholars Program which provides significant merit scholarship support for students from Virginia and beyond. The combination of financial support, program amenities, and opportunities to study with senior faculty has drawn students – particularly African Americans - who were accepted by more elite institutions, such as University of Virginia, Georgetown, and even some Ivy League schools, but who would have paid full-price and taken on significant debt.

Michael Whitlock, a 1996 graduate received a master’s degree in public policy from Harvard’s prestigious Kennedy School of Government, and a law degree from the University of Virginia. He now practices with the prominent New York law firm of Fried, Frank, Harris, Shriver & Jacobson LLP. He says, “This basketball team really has the spirit of the black [University] scholars - everyone has said we couldn’t do it until we shut them up by pure performance.”

For other black alumni, the new fame is as a matter of long overdue recognition for a place near and dear to their hearts. In a recent newsletter by the university’s Black Alumni Chapter, Allen Johnson, a 2000 graduate and former Mason basketball player, was quoted as saying, “This is amazing. To be in the Verizon Center and see all the support and love behind these players is great. Playing on Coach L[arranaga]’s first team at GMU back in 97′ really brings this experience full circle. Those players weren’t just playing for themselves; they were playing for thousands of people that walked that campus from Fenwick library to the Field House. I’m very proud that the world can see and hear what we’ve been saying for a long time: Mason is one of the best kept secrets in the DC area. Culture, education, location and now nationally recognized athletics– yeah that’s MY school…doing it big!”

For black students wanting to attend college in the Washington DC area, Mason is an alternative to more recognized DC area schools, particularly in terms of its setting. Compared to the gritty urban neighborhood surrounding Howard University (a leading black college), the upscale and exclusive environs of Georgetown University, and the center-city and tree-starved feel of George Washington University, George Mason’s main Fairfax campus is a pastoral, modernist setting in the heart of one of America’s leading suburbs and technology corridors. With the growth and continued suburbanization of the black middle class, African-American parents can rest assured that their children will eat, sleep, and yes, party, in a relatively safe environment. At the same time, students gain access to all that Metro DC has to offer at a fraction of the price of other schools.

One element that should not be lost are the constant references to how the Mason basketball team plays with a refreshing sense of purpose, joy, and cooperation and an attention to fundamental basketball skills. While sports fans are accustomed to these types of feel-good stories – a la Hoosiers – the protagonists are most often white. With this Cinderella story, the beautiful irony is that this merry band of young, mostly black men provides a thunderous counterpoint to the stereotypical image of African-American athletes as spoiled, “me-first,” thugs.

In the end, this team of newfound hoops stars has shown the rest of the world what George Mason’s alumni, particularly black alumni, have known for years - George Mason is a great university with great people. This Mason basketball team represents the highest ideals of its university family, especially the black alumni, and no matter the outcome in Indianapolis, George Mason University cannot lose.

Note: This writer has first-hand experience with George Mason University, having graduated from the school in 1999 and as unabashedly proud alumnus since that time.

As promised, changes are slowly but surely coming to this blog over the next few weeks and months. As Alan Jackson said, “Just be patient, I’m a work in progress.” One of these new elements is my desire to experiment by adding regular contributors. For those who have followed South of the James, you know that it has featured some great work from a number of individuals not named “Conaway Haskins.” We’ve had people covering local politics and culture in Chesterfield, writers assessing Black Virginia’s political fortunes, links to other interesting blogs, and even material provided by state legislators and municipal officials. These have all been great additions to the blog. However, as time has gone by, the lion’s share of the material here has defaulted to my own. Well, it’s time for that to change.There is a reason that this blog has the tagline, “Intelligent life on the other side of the river.” That’s because there are some very intelligent and highly articulate people doing really creative and interesting things down here. One of the best things about living and working on the south side of the James is that you find any number of unique perspectives on life, some truly hidden gems. For example, simply having grown up in Lunenburg gave me a decidedly different take on life from the outset (people always tell me that natives of the Greater Kenbridge-Victoria Metropolis are a bit special). Therefore, I know that there are other folks out there whose voices should be heard as they hold forth on the world via their own points-of-view.

To that end, I’m issuing an open invitation for the people of South Richmond, Chesterfield, the Tri-Cities and/or Southside Virginia to join the South of the James team.

Even if you do not have the gift of gab or verbosity yourself, but know of others who do, send them my way. This is a standing call for writers to discuss the arts, culture, economics, politics, religion, sports, and other more unusual and eccentric sides of life here. Come young & old, black & white, Democrats, Republicans, Independents, Capitalists, Socialists, Greens, Libertarians, and even Vegetarians (but please, no vegans because that’s just plain wrong)!

The rules will be simple at first: tell the truth, be creative, don’t gratuitously attack someone, and always have evidence or crystal-clear logic to back up what you say.

You’ll send me your work, I’ll edit it minimally (mostly for grammar), and shoot it back to you for review. Then, I’ll post it for all the world (or simply the 6 people who actually read this blog) to see. I’m not looking for folks who agree with me or who even like me. What I am looking for is for those who are willing to engage with their fellow citizens, public leaders, and the media about issues and subjects of importance to them. So, if you’re game for a new challenge, come ride with me!

You can contact me via email at: southofthejames@gmail.com. I promise I won’t bite.

– Conaway

By Conaway HaskinsBy now it is readily apparent that most of Virginia’s progressive and Democratic blogosphere – the so-called “net-roots” – has lined up behind former Reagan Navy secretary James Webb in the Democratic primary race to challenge ubiquitous Presidential candidate (apparently the innocent victim of “Senate Boredom Syndrome”) George Allen. For various reasons, the other guy – Fairfax’s Harris Miller - has failed to inspire the confidence of this vocal community despite the reality that there is not a dime’s bit of difference between Miller’s positions on most issues and the beliefs of most Virginia Democrats and Democratic bloggers (preemptive strike: in the national progressive community, the jury is still out on H1-B visas and voter-verified initiatives).

Personality and charisma aside, much ado has been by anti-Miller bloggers about his previous tenure as the head of the Information Technology Association of America, a leading Inside-the-Beltway voice for America’s high-tech field, and also about his work as a corporate lobbyist before that. A friend and ally of former Gov. Mark Warner, Mr. Miller is quite wealthy, having earned a small fortune pursuing the always-controversial K-Street “public affairs” game, while managing to dabble in local and state Democratic politics.

Apparently, being a lobbyist makes a guy persona non grata among the Democratic net-roots who loudly whisper the words “Jack Abramoff” in attacks against Republicans (and rightly so for the DeLay situation). But, with Mr. Miller, there are no indications that he is part of the fanciful “culture of corruption” that D.C. is apparently plagued by. Thus, when they harshly attack Harris Miller as a “rich, Washington lobbyist,” the two words that come to my mind are, “so what?”

What strikes me as odd is how some Democratic activists seek to use a loyal Democrat’s employment against him in a party primary. Not too long ago, Governor Tim Kaine, was the subject of vicious attacks for his law firm’s defense of murderers in death penalty cases. That Hitler ad series will live in infamy in Virginia and the nation. The ever-popular Mark Warner struck it rich as a venture capitalist, casting his lot with a nascent cellular phone industry that eventually came to dominate American business and culture. A generation ago, those very same financeers were sometimes regarded as ravenous corporate raiders, “barbarians at the gate” who exploited businesses and hurt workers. Yet, Warner has taken little flak for his prior business dealings, and he is even offered up as a model for “corporate” Democrats.

In his run for Attorney General in 2005, Sen. Creigh Deeds was attacked by his opponent for his work as a prosecutor whereby he negotiated plea bargains with people convicted of sex crimes. The attacks were gratuitous and blurred the real-life enterprise of being a local prosecutor. In 2001, Democrats nominated Del. Donald McEachin for Attorney General, thus placing a personal-injury attorney on the ballot for the top legal job in the Commonwealth. Despite their valuable service to the citizenry and public policy, trial lawyers like Mr. McEachin are often attacked in all ideological corners as “ambulance chasers” for the large sums of money they extract from corporate defendants and for their aggressive tactics (John Edwards, anyone?).

These examples are not meant to cast aspersions on Kaine, Warner, Deeds, or McEachin. On the contrary, they are decen and honorable men who have been valuable public servants. On the other hand, their professional experiences could be construed by some opponents as just as distasteful as Mr. Miller’s lobbying gigs. What their electoral successes and commendable public service records do demonstrate is that denigrating a candidate over his or job, in the absence of real evidence of impropriety, poor judgment, or ethical lapses, is hypocritical, tone deaf and sets bad precedent.

Do Democrats really want to paint Mr. Miller with such a broad brush that they effectively close the door for people like him pursuing office in the future? Do they really want to engage in attacks against a profession whose members are absolutely critical to the conduct of modern elections and legislating? Will they shun Mr. Webb as he reaches out to those same “rich, Washington lobbyists” for financial support for his campaign?

In the game of politics, negative campaigning is par for the course despite Pollyannish calls to the contrary. As such, the “net-roots” Webb supporters are well within their rights to tear down Mr. Miller for being a less-than-stellar candidate. After all, if they believe in their guy, it is a necessity. Still, it stands to reason that the nature of those attacks should be carefully measured for their short and long-term effects, substantive and symbolic. At some point, viciously cutting Miller down over his professional experiences could come back to haunt the Webb allies. One thing that is certain is that should such lines of attacks continue, it will make for great political theater as Webb takes a sip from the wells of those same “rich, Washington lobbyists” who are apparently good enough to give money, but who are apparently not worthy enough to be candidates for office themselves.

I won’t belabor the point - the national sports media is doing enough already. But, I will say that I have never witnessed a more thrilling and emotionally-charged event as I did sitting among 20,000 screaming Mason fans (a good chunk of whom were Wichita State and Washington ticket holders) yesterday. Friday’s game was surprisingly uncompetitive, but still a blast to watch. Mason put on a clinic against Wichita. But, the Sunday affair was simply special.Two games, two nights, two incredible results. On Friday, the top-level seats which I thought were going to be nose-bleeders were actually quite good, and were in the middle of the raucous George Mason section. But, Sunday took the cake. With a little help from my friends, I had a catbird seat just 10 rows behind the Mason bench. It was so close that I could read Coach Larranaga’s lips during some timeouts, and thus, I can attest to the fact that he gets really sentimental. These guys NEVER thought they were going to lose to the bigger, and arguably more talented team, Huskies.

Given the partisan crowd (Chinatown was awash in Green & Gold and looked like a GMU Homecoming celebration), UConn and Coach Jim Calhoun took a bit of a beating from the fans, including me, for their pregame whining about the seeding and guaranteeing a victory. Still, for the most part, the fans of these Connecticut Yankees were good sports and quite gracious in defeat. They were duly impressed with the Patriots and were awed by how amazing this game was in general.

I’ll definitely have more cover on this game shortly, but I’m still trying to come down off Cloud 9. Thanks for everyone who sent their congratulations via text-messaging, email, and blog comments. I really appreciate them.

George Mason in the Final Four! Absolutely unreal.

Go Patriots!

Well, it looks like I’m going to be tasting the sweetness of the NCAA tournament up-close and personal tomorrow night as George Mason takes on Wichita State in a Bracket Buster rematch at the Verizon Center (that just doesn’t sound right). Only this time, I’ll be there in the flesh. Due to some crafty work by some great friends of mine, apparently there’s a game ticket with my name on it (I love you guys!). But, the fun doesn’t stop there.

In addition to the normal yelling, screaming, and general foolishness that I engage in during sporting events, I’ll also be providing a first-hand account of the festivities for my buddies over at my old stomping grounds, the Black Athlete Sports Network. The good people at BASN - The Soul of Sports - have agreed to let me feed my old sportswriting fix once again…but, only if my new stuff is good enough. Thus, if it all works out, by the end of the night I’ll be celebrating a Mason victory, testing the bounds of sobriety, and conducting random acts of journalism all at the same time. Talk about March Madness!

If this goes well, a return to regular sportswriting just may be one of those “changes” that I talked about in my needlessly cryptic previous post. Wish me luck!

“Come writers and critics who prophesize with your pen. And keep your eyes wide, the chance won’t come again…” — Bob DylanAs some of you may have noticed, the number of daily posts here at South of the James has declined somewhat over the past few weeks. For various reasons - work, family, community, and total immersion in the NCAA Tournament - the time that I dedicate to this enterprise is a bit crunched. Blogging tends to be a rather intense avocation for me, and the standards that I’ve set for myself are pretty high. The desire to publish original, relevant work on a regular basis is still a high priority, but the grind of putting out something daily does have its drawbacks. At some point, the law of diminishing returns comes into play.

Nonetheless, I still have plenty to say and plenty of folks encouraging me to push on. Thus, I have no plans to disappear from blogging or writing. On the contrary, I simply intend to become more strategic about what I engage in, which requires me to reorient myself on several fronts. To do this, I’ll need to take a break from the everyday to properly focus my attentions on some exciting new opportunities on the horizon. In time, each of these should prove rather fruitful, and I want to make sure that they all are addressed to the fullest.

Practically speaking, this means that for the time being, readers of South of the James will see commentary, analysis and the like on a somewhat scaled-back basis more in line with my original practice of publishing work several times a week. As the new ventures take off, I’ll be discussing them in more detail. In the meantime, pardon my dust as these works are in progress…

“On Sunday, I’m a Patriot all the way, and the Tarheels will just have to accommodate me by losing to the boys from Fairfax.”

- Conaway Haskins, March 18, 2006

Um, what is there really left for me to say? More emotional drivel wouldn’t do this team justice, and my cell phone has been ringing off the hook and my text messages are being blown up. Mason beats Michigan State, dispatches Carolina, and now will face Wichita State - the same team that it beat 3 weeks ago - in the Sweet Sixteen…in Washington, DC! This is truly a remarkable achievement. The Shockers from Kansas are playing some of the best basketball this tournament has seen, but this is one game that Mason may actually be favored to win. But, let me not get ahead of myself.

Apparently, my wife is now claiming to be distraught at the loss by UNC (she went there for grad school also), and she’s even taking potshots at that fuzzy ball of love, Gunston. But, I have eyewitness testimony that she jumping and screaming for my Patriots as they sent the Tarheels back to Chapel Hill with a loss. She kept saying, “They’re a really good team. They really can play.” Ironically, she seems to have forgotten that her beloved undergraduate alma mater - some little place in Charlottesville - is sitting at home right now while George Mason, THE University of Virginia that’s in the Sweet Sixteen, gets all the glory on ESPN.

Anyway, cue up “One Shining Moment” folks because the Patriots are going home! Now, if I can only swing a ticket….

Ok, so now that I’ve actually had a chance to calm down, I can write a little something about the blowout victory that my George Mason Patriots had over Big 10 powerhouse Michigan State last night. For those of you who regularly read this blog, you’ll just have to excuse me because I’m about to get really sentimental and even really hokey.Often, college sports is such a produced, over-hyped, and commercialized spectacle, that much of the action is not worth watching. This has not been the case when it comes to me and Mason. As such, this is a difficult post to write, not because I’m unhappy, but to the contrary - I’m bursting with such pride at what that collection of valiant young men did that it’s hard for me not to, literally, tear up as I think about it. They played the game magnificantly, and were so exquisitely coached that even their mistakes did not matter in the final analysis. They battled the mighty Spartans not only with the spirit of suspended teammate Tony Skinn motivating them, but with the collective spirits of tens of thousands of GMU students and alumni pushing them onto victory. As a sports fan who has dabbled in sportswriting from time to time, I can honestly say that I have never, ever been touched by any individual team as I have been by these guys.

As readers will know, I’ve been aboard the George Mason train all season long. I did not blog excessively about them only because I don’t like putting the cart before the horse. But, having seen this team play in-person and on television, I’ve been captivated. They took hit after hit in the local, regional and national media over their supposedly un-deserved at-large bid, particularly after the Tony Skinn incident. Yet, they focused on their mission and proved that they belonged, not by turning in a last-minute game-winner, but by soundly beat the crap out of a bigger, supposedly tougher Michigan State team. The final seconds were anti-climactic (made even more so by CBS’s stupid decision to cut-away from it) - this team to control from the outset and never let up.

As I sat through the following game between UNC-Chapel Hill and Murray State, it became clear that the unimaginable was going to happen - my undergradute and graduate alma maters were going to face off in the NCAA Tournament’s Round of 32.

For those of you who went to “major” schools, this is always a possibility, even a commonality. However, the biggest little school in Virginia, George Mason University, made the improbable fully possible. My friends and family have asked me which team I am going to support as I have great affection for each. Before either game started, I thought that this would be an issue for me, but as the night wore on, it became readily apparent where my loyalties would reside on Sunday. The choice was really easy: Carolina will always be big part of my history, but George Mason is just a special place like no other in my life.

On Sunday, I’m a Patriot all the way, and the Tarheels will just have to accomodate me by losing to the boys from Fairfax.

When you spend the 4 most formative years of your life somewhere, it makes a big difference in how you feel. Mason was a place where I was treated royally, a school that helped turn this eager and energetic country boy from Lunenburg into the man that I am today, a place where I found the greatest and most lasting friendships that I will ever know, a place that even helped me reconnect a young woman that I knew at an earlier point in time who eventually became my wife (though she went to UVA, a high school classmate of hers’ lived across the hall from me freshman year). There’s no way that I can turn my back on that much history and equalize the two schools. Case in point, when I got married a few years ago, nearly half of the wedding party (including my Best Man) bled green and gold. Hell, I even wore gold accents with my black tuxedo, and that was no coincidence. I’ll always be grateful for what happened at Carolina, but there is only one George Mason. No other school can eclipse that.

I love this team, and I love George Mason, or as I’ve gloated to my wife: THE University of Virginia..that is in the NCAA tournament!

So, as I get ready to watch Sunday’s game, I’ll have the deep satisfaction in knowing that the prayers of tons of folks from Fairfax (and one humble prayer from Chesterfield) were in fact answered a little after 9:00pm on Friday night. No matter the outcome tomorrow, George Mason wins. And for that I am very thankful and very proud.

To the green and gold, we will ever be true, here and wherever we roam. And we sing of a place, where the young and the old, give the patriot’s dreams a home….

By Conaway Haskins

This post originally appeared on the ThinkSouth blog on March 15, 2006. With James Webb’s entry into the race for the US Senate seat from Virginia currently held by George Allen, a movement is afoot to leverage the power of the Internet to transform Virginia politics and send Webb to Washington. Seizing an opportunity to shift the political paradigm, a significant number of Virginia’s progressive and Democratic bloggers – the so-called “netroots” - are throwing their support behind the former Reagan Navy Secretary and best-selling author who is now a Democrat. According to Raising Kaine, a leading progressive blog:

“For the Democratic and Progressive blogosphere, Jim Webb represents Campaign 2.0…Jim is very interested in the netroots, and in running a different kind of campaign. This is a chance for the Democratic/progressive netroots community to really take things up a notch.”

Lowell Feld, political director of Raising Kaine PAC and a leading figure in the move to “draft” Mr. Webb, says, “So far, the Webb campaign and its grassroots supporters have worked together extremely well, and this cooperation is almost certain to improve as time goes by. This combination of ‘top-down’ and ‘bottom-up’ has the potential to be an unstoppable combination both in the primary and also in the general election.”

With a fundraising campaign designed to raise $300,000 for Webb in 3 weeks, this movement is going to change the complexion of the genteel politics of the Commonwealth. Regardless of the ultimate outcome, this band of tech-savvy activists plans to “shake up the stale Democratic establishment with a huge gust of fresh air.” If successful, “Campaign 2.0” could serve as a model for expanding traditional notions of politicking throughout the Southeast. With blogs becoming a fixture of political life in Dixie, the sky’s the limit as to where such efforts will lead.

by Conaway HaskinsThe Webb campaign and Ben Tribbett have officially announced that Leslie Byrne is supporting James Webb in the Democratic Senate nomination contest. This move is not totally a surprise, but it is still a major event. Mrs. Byrne is a formidable presence in Virginia politics as she barely lost the Lt. Gov’s race to Bill Bolling. A bona fide and proud liberal, she’s a fighter who does not mince words.

Undoubtedly, the Byrne endorsement will offset some of the issues raised by Gen. Claudia Kennedy regarding Webb’s 1979 position on women in military combat. That Leslie Byrne, a true feminist and voice for women’s issues in the Commonwealth, supports Webb should help him fight off controversy on that front. Issues like this will arise as Webb “proves” himself to Democratic audiences. Nonetheless, for an emerging candidacy such as Webb’s, having endorsements of major political figures such as Byrne is a critical sign of strength. It will be interesting to see which political stars will be next to publicly get aboard the Webb train…