Civil Rights Institute Cancels Gala Honoring Angela Davis After Outcry From
Jewish Community
By Michael Harriot, The Root
08 January 19
One of the nation’s most prominent civil rights museums has reneged on its
plans to celebrate one of America’s most outspoken freedom fighters, igniting a
national controversy after seemingly genuflecting to grumbles from the area’s
Jewish community.
On Jan. 4, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute released a weirdly nonspecific
statement canceling its plans to bestow the institute’s highest honor upon
Angela Davis, a Birmingham, Alabama, native. The ceremony was supposed to serve
as the centerpiece of the museum’s annual gala, planned for Feb. 19.
In October, AL.com reported that Andrea Taylor, the Institute’s CEO, called
Davis “one of the most globally recognized champions of human rights, giving
voice to those who are powerless to speak,” announcing that they were
“thrilled” to honor the educator, author, activist, and Birmingham native.
Then suddenly, they weren’t so thrilled.
“In September of 2018, the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s Board of
Directors selected Angela Davis to receive the prestigious Fred Shuttlesworth
Human Rights Award at its annual gala in February 2019,” the statement posted
on the BCRI’s website began, continuing:
In late December, supporters and other concerned individuals and organizations,
both inside and outside of our local community, began to make requests that we
reconsider our decision.
Upon closer examination of Ms. Davis’ statements and public record, we
concluded that she unfortunately does not meet all of the criteria on which the
award is based. Therefore, on January 4, BCRI’s Board voted to rescind its
invitation to Ms. Davis to honor her with the Shuttlesworth Award. While we
recognize Ms. Davis’ stature as a scholar and prominent figure in civil rights
history, we believe this decision is consistent with the ideals of the award’s
namesake, Rev. Shuttlesworth.
We regret that this change is necessary, and apologize to our supporters, the
community and Ms. Davis for the confusion we have caused. We will move forward
with a keen focus on our mission: to enlighten each generation about civil and
human rights by exploring our common past and working together in the present
to build a better future.
The associated gala event, scheduled for February 16th at Haven has been
cancelled. Ticket purchasers will received a full refund.
Because the BCRI was less than transparent in its statement, many people
wondered why the institute would moonwalk back its support for the hometown
heroine. Birmingham Mayor Randall Woodfin cleared up some of the confusion in
expressing his discontent with the Institute’s decision. In a statement Sunday,
Woodfin said:
As I consider the controversy over the Birmingham Civil Rights Institute’s
decision to honor Dr. Angela Davis with the Fred L. Shuttlesworth Human Rights
Award and its subsequent decision to rescind that honor after protests from our
local Jewish community and some of its allies, my overriding feeling is one of
dismay.
“I am dismayed because this controversy is playing out in a way that harks
backward, rather than forward,” Woodfin continued, adding that the decision
“portrays us as the same Birmingham we always have been, rather than the one we
want to be.”
According to people familiar with BCRI’s decision, the institute’s reversal is
centered around the local Jewish community’s opposition with what the
Associated Press describes as Davis’ support for the Boycott, Divestment, and
Sanctions movement, which seeks to rectify Israel’s treatment of Palestinians.
Soon after the institute announced their plans to honor Davis, Southern Jewish
Life magazine published what could only be described as a “hit piece” detailing
Davis’s support of policies that are often seen as anti-Israel.
“Something not included in the Institute’s publicity for the event,” the
article reads, “is that Davis has also been an outspoken voice in the
boycott-Israel movement, and advocates extensively on college campuses for the
isolation of the Jewish state, saying Israel engages in ethnic cleansing and is
connected to police violence against African-Americans in the United States.”
According to AL.com, local organizers have vowed to protest the institution if
the author and internationally known academic does not receive the award.
Activists and academics around the country were outraged by the organization’s
decision to bow to outside pressure, noting, among other things, Davis’ long
history in the struggle for equality for people of all colors, races,
religions, and gender.
Davis was born and raised in Birmingham’s “Dynamite Hill,” whose nickname comes
from the more than 50 bombings by white supremacists trying to thwart
integration during the civil rights era. She became a professor at the
University of California’s Los Angeles campus and was known for her radical
feminism and her involvement with both the Communist Party USA and the Black
Panthers.
After authorities accused Davis of purchasing weapons used in a 1970 courtroom
takeover and police shooting, FBI director J. Edgar Hoover made Davis the third
woman to ever be listed on the FBI’s Ten Most Wanted Fugitives list. She
briefly went on the run, was arrested, and placed in solitary confinement.
Davis was acquitted of all charges.
She has authored a dozen books on race, class, feminism, sexual abuse, and mass
incarceration. Her life’s work has been fighting for justice and equality
around the world.
Using the hashtag #IStandWithAngela, social media users have pointed out that
Davis’ position on Israel is not only consistent with her work and teachings,
but it is also right.
Such is the problem with so-called allies.
Their support is always contingent upon their control. They believe that they
should have a say over what and whom Black America deems “acceptable.” Black
protest is respectable until it appears on their street, dishonors their
agenda, or pops up during their football games. Everyone is cool with the march
as long as their toes aren’t stepped on.
Even worse, we are often all too willing to comply.
But I shouldn’t say “we.”
More than half of the BCRI’s Board of Directors, including its chairman, are
not black.
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