RL Polo's new Morehouse-Spelman collection captures classic era style

The Hump Day Hot Topics!

Yesterday, the Ralph Lauren Company announced a partnership with Morehouse College and Spelman College that provides $2 million dollars in donations, and an exclusive clothing line that was conceptualized and designed by SpelHouse alumni that are working for the company; the theme of the campaign is a throwback to the 1920's-1950's, an era when college students and professors dressed in their Sunday best each and every day!

A few historic and present day Morehouse Men and Spelman Women (from the RL Polo ads):

Morehouse President Emeritus Benjamin E. Mays

Classic! And yes, as a Morehouse alumnus who has worn RL Polo products for many decades, my very first question was "will the new items come in Big & Tall, too? 😆"

Whether the products will come in my size or not, I still appreciate the buzz that the Ralph Lauren corporate collaboration provides both from a monetary commitment to two storied Black colleges—while also introducing our schools to potential students and other corporate benefactors that may not be fully aware of their legacies. 

And yet, while I was not surprised to see some negativity on social media because some folks can never see the positive of anything, I posted the following words this morning on Facebook as my push back against some of the hypocrisy springing forth from some of the more dismissive comments following yesterday's press release:

The Hypocrites: "I don't give a damn about no Ralph Lauren's Morehouse and Spelman collection, the company is racist and a $2 million dollar donation ain't nothing..."

Also the Hypocrites: "Roll Tide...Go Gators...War Eagle...Fight on USC...We are Penn State...What time do 'my' Dallas Cowboys play...Fly (Philadelphia) Eagles Fly...Them still 'MY' Washington Redskins not no Washington Commanders..."

Hobbservation: Systemic racism has touched every aspect of American life since 1619, and while we all are entitled to our opinions and have choices to wear what we wish, cheer for who we wish, eat where we wish etc., it strikes me as illogical to see some of the same folks that are blasting Morehouse and Spelman for a campaign that was designed by their alumni and is placing donations in their coffers, being some of the same folks that spend their money cheering for white schools they did not attend, NFL teams that love Black talent but white-balled a whole Black quarterback because he kneeled in protest of police brutality against Blacks; buying paraphernalia that pours money into said white schools and NFL teams, and supporting other American businesses that have equal to worse records on racism as Ralph Lauren?

Unless one is 100 percent fully checked out from any semblance of circulating money outside of the Black community, and as a man whose doctor, lawyer, accountant, podcast producer, public relations adviser, dentist, barber, and lawn servicer are all Black, I still don't come close to saying that all of my money avoids systemic racism. Heck, at minimum, even those who will still say 'Nope, I'm 100 percent economically Black' still pay property taxes to cities as well as state and federal taxes with long legacies of racism as well, so I don't fully understand the logical differences..."

As with any good post, reasonable minds will disagree, but one profound nugget of wisdom came from my friend Reginald Smith, a Florida A&M University educated former naval officer and lawyer who wrote the following on my post about Ralph Lauren: "I don’t get the sentiment. RL is one of the few companies that has embraced, promoted and paid Black folks. RL was one of the the first if not the first major fashion company to use Black models- and it wasn’t bc of pressure from a protest. RL said this is the direction we’re taking the company. The genesis of new line of clothes is Morehouse and Spelman alumni that work for RL. RL’s own employees. Not folks they paid as consultants but HBCU alumni that are employees that RL approached and said we want to do this project; we want you to lead it. RL has also established its own Black Advisory Council. Yes, that’s the name. Black Advisory Council. Black. The Council’s purpose is to promote allyship with Black, African and African American communities. Read that again. So, RL recognizes the different cultures within the African diaspora in America. What? You don’t like the line bc it’s not tight and short with plunging necklines for the women and jackets that don’t cover a man’s butt? Hmph. RL is classic style. Classic. Hopefully the line doesn’t sell out before I’m able to make a purchase."

Indeed, I, too, hope that the order lines don't jam on March 29th before I can get the Ralph Lauren "M" sweater and Morehouse crested blue blazer (below) to rock at the next in-person SpelHouse Homecoming. 

The heart of the matter is that there has been a renaissance of sorts at HBCU's that finds corporations and even the federal government pouring major funds into the very schools that still produce the majority of Black professionals in America. As a lover of HBCU's, I am proud when any of our schools announce some new initiative or round of funding, and I get frustrated when I see Black people, especially other Black College alumni, express contempt for their fellow HBCU's for securing the financial bag. Especially if (or when) the complainers aren’t contributing their own time, tithes, or talents to increase the bank accounts of these hallowed institutions.

Collectively, we can and must do better...

***Facebook Memory reminded me of a post that I made 10 years ago today as I sat in a Death Penalty certification continuing legal education course. 

That day, as we students read through the section that dealt with race and the selection of capital juries, we were provided an excerpt from the Dallas County (Texas) District Attorney's Office training manual that was still in effect until the late 1970's: “Do not take Jews, Negroes, Dagos, Mexicans or a member of any minority race on a jury no matter how rich or well educated." 

Once more, the "systemic" part of systemic racism runs deep in America's history, but modern day conservatives don't want us to discuss those parts because it "hurts their feelings."

Voting Rights Racism

I arose and read this morning how Florida Gov. Ron Desantis is considering a special session of the legislature to eliminate the primarily Black congressional districts currently held by U.S. Rep. Al Lawson (D) and Rep. Val Demings (D). 

Rep. Al Lawson (D) and Gov. Ron Desantis (R)

As my mother always reminds that there's “nothing new under the sun,” lest we forget that nearly 12 years after President Rutherford B. Hayes removed the last federal troops from the south and ended formal Reconstruction, southern state legislatures began attacking Black voting rights as granted by the 15th Amendment of the Constitution, which was passed in 1870 and mandated suffrage “to all qualified male voters regardless of color.” 

Tragically, the loophole within the 15th Amendment that allowed state level shenanigans that would nullify Black voting power for nearly 80 years was the question of what constituted a “qualified” voter.  In 1889, Republican Senator Henry Cabot Lodge of Massachusetts filed a “force bill” that would have addressed this concern and demanded federal oversight of elections and while the measure passed the Senate, it died in the house following a strong filibuster from Southern Democrats. 

Jim Crow era cartoon depicting Black voters

The following year, the State of Mississippi called a constitutional convention for the express purpose of eliminating Black voting rights.  An op/ed in the state’s largest newspaper, the Jackson Clarion-Ledger, declared that the convention was called “to restrict Negro suffrage, if you please.”

Among the reforms to restrict Black voter access included a two dollar poll tax and a provision requiring eligible voters to register four months in advance of an election.  Convicted felons were no longer eligible to vote and voters were required to read—and interpret—a section of the state constitution.  This latter provision included an “understanding” clause that allowed supervisors of elections the discretion to allow illiterate white voters to vote.

In 1868, nearly 87,000 Blacks (97 percent of Mississippi’s then voting age population) were registered, while white male voters were still disenfranchised due to their rebellion in the Civil War.  By 1892, two years after the aforementioned convention, only 9,000 Blacks remained on the voting rolls! 

Mississippi’s success in suppressing Black voting rights was so pronounced that within 15 years, the rest of the old Confederacy and even Oklahoma had enacted similar measures to eliminate Black voting rights--measures that remained entrenched until President Lyndon B. Johnson signed the Voting Rights Act into law in 1965.

Thank you for subscribing to the Hobbservation Point—have a wonderful Wednesday!