Preparing for his 16-year old son's sweet sixteen party yesterday, Courtland Milloy was surprised to hear that Howard students were going to be protesting outside of the Washington Post office.
"I had no idea that they would be protesting," Milloy said during a phone interview yesterday right before his son cut his birthday cake. "Otherwise I would have made sure that I was there."
Milloy's last two columns featured in the Metro section of the Washington Post angered students because of its insinuation that Howard students were not politically active.
In his columns, he raised eyebrows, by saying that "Howard is not some hotbed of political activism, and that the biggest event of the year is Homecoming, which features two fashion shows, a step show and lots of hip-hop celebrities."
Milloy who has written more than 300 columns on Howard, said he never expected the cloud of controversy that his latest two had caused.
" Almost 99 percent of the articles that I write are positive, and I never hear from students," he said. " You say something good about them and they brush it off and you wonder if anyone is listening. You write a piece like today [Nov. 2] and you say why 'Wow maybe they do.'"
Milloy said that he is harder on Howard students because "they are the talented tenth."
"Howard students now are some of the smartest students that I have ever met," Milloy said. "The times are different and the challenges require all of the combine brain power that we can muster. A little bit more can be demanded of Howard students. If people only use 10% of their brain power, then I would like to see Howard students use 15%.
With the protest last Thursday over the visit of First Lady Laura Bush, Milloy said that he used Sunday's piece to discuss Bush's misadventure on Howard's campus.
"People thought I was deliberately try to provoke them to anger," he said, adding that he would accept the invitation of HUSA president Byron Stewart and come and speak to the campus. "I was trying to hold a mirror up to provoke discussion."
Milloy said that he feels many people were upset not because of his words, but because they felt like he betrayed them to the white community.
"The Afro, The Hilltop have been talking about these issues, but they don't get upset about it until they think that white people are listening," he said. "That's where it gets frustrating. White people already know. They are sitting back talking about stuff they already know."
Milloy said that while he thinks political activism is alive on Howard's campus, it is not a school-wide phenomenon.
Milloy related a story about when he came onto the law school campus during Hurricane Katrina relief efforts and there were only five men loading donations onto trucks.
"If I say that there is no political activism those five guys are going to be upset," he said. " The whole school cannot take credit for what those 5 guys do. If they are not already established or have a big name attached we don't want to be a part of it. The people who do the heavy lifting at Howard are few and far between."
Milloy said that political activism also extends to how Howard is portrayed to the outside community through homecoming.
"There are little girls who are imitating the fashion show," he said. "You go to a sixth grade talent show and you see these see-through dresses. Somebody's got to help them. Somebody has to show them the way."
Having received angry letters from Howard alumni from all over the country, Milloy said alumni should instead use their energy to give back to their alma mater.
"They [alumni] have one of the lowest alumni support rates in the country and yet they want to defend the capstone," he said. "Why is the alumni coffers so low?"
Milloy said that he was very impressed with students putting together a protest on such short notice and hopes that this is only the beginning of students addressing other problems facing the school and the community.
"These things have to be dealt with and you can do that by standing outside holding a sign," he said. There are things that can't be dealt with a sign. We are in a serious crisis situation. We need that brain power. To whom much is given, much is expected."
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Sunday, November 6th 2005 at 7:54PM
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