Professor Larry Moore at The University of Memphis is on a mission. The African American professor has decided to take on his campus for not being diverse enough. Dr. Moore has done what black professors and students across America are doing, which is holding their campuses accountable for their lack of desire to recruit, promote, and reward faculty of color. This issue affects everyone, since most black college students never have the chance to be taught by an African American without taking courses in the African American Studies Department.

In an open letter written to state legislators, Dr. Moore has made his issue clear to the American public and put his university "on blast" for problematic recruitment and retention procedures. As a fellow business school professor myself, I say to Dr. Moore, "Way to go brother."

Here are 3 reasons that The University of Memphis (and nearly every other campus across America) should listen to Dr. Moore:

1) The numbers don't lie. Dr. Moore mentions that The University of Memphis has not granted tenure to any African American professor of Business for the last 18 years. This means that every single black scholar who has applied for tenure has been told that they are not good enough. This also means that many qualified black professors have applied for the job and have been told that the school doesn't believe them to have the credentials to work there. This folks, is reflective of a serious racial sickness, which says, "I don't care what credentials you have. If you are not like us, we are going to deem you unqualified to be here." Rather than arguing that every African American on earth is not capable of teaching on your campus, it might behoove U. Memphis to realize that the evaluations are going to be distorted when southern white males (and those "trained" to think like them) are the ones being consistently allowed to decide what it means to be qualified. Diversity of skin color is not as important as diversity of thought, especially in academia.

2) This is a nation-wide problem. The University of Memphis, not having tenured a black person in nearly 20 years in the business school, is actually better than many universities, including my own (Syracuse). Many campuses have business schools that have not recommended tenure for a black man or woman in almost 100 years of existence. Some schools have their tenure decisions reversed by conscientious administrators at the highest levels, but even then, the professor can be made to feel so uncomfortable by the other faculty that they just leave the university. I find it ironic that many of these campuses pass over the resumes of high quality black professors every year, while simultaneously stating that they simply can't find any qualified minorities. At the same time, schools like U. Memphis are very good at finding African Americans who are qualified to dribble a basketball. My alma mater, the University of Kentucky, has a similar problem of not being able to tenure black faculty, but they were very quick to pay millions to John Calipari, the scandal-plagued former basketball coach at The University of Memphis, who has a 44% graduation rate for African American athletes. Funny how we get past our excuses when we really want to get something done.

3) This problem is not going to solve itself. Black professors are kept quiet on key social and academic issues (like this one) by a couple of things. First, there is the hope that you get to be the "chosen negro;" the one who is not going to be fired for being unqualified. This position is not one granted based on merit - it is granted to those who are wiling to support the pre-existing systematic infrastructure of the institution. So, your job, at that point, is to lend legitimacy to institutionalized racism, since tokenism is a very powerful way to avoid accusations of racism or sexism. Just look at any campus brochure to see what I am saying. There are numerous studies showing that the diversity on promotional material is almost never reflective of actual percentages. This approach is taken for the same reasons that men accused of rape usually hire female attorneys to represent them. The second thing used to keep black professors quiet is the fear of being black-balled by academia: Many universities won't hire you if you're identified as a trouble making black person. A "trouble maker" is not a thug or criminal - it is someone with the willingness to intelligently speak on issues that no one else is willing to address. Notice that Dr. Moore wrote his letter when he was 2 years from retirement. Personally, I only speak out on these issues because I am willing to sacrifice significant opportunities in order to fight for truth (most black administrators get nervous when they see me coming, and I've had numerous arguments with black faculty who wonder why I don't just quietly appreciate the fact that white folks are giving me a chance). But when conversations occur behind closed doors, you find that many black scholars, like slaves on a plantation, understand exactly what is going on, but consider it to be foolish to face the power structure head-on. Believe me; I am sure there is someone plotting right now to punish Dr. Moore for writing this letter, and I hope he can withstand the counter attack. You don't go to battle unless you are fully prepared to die.

The bottom line is this: The University of Memphis and other systemically racist campuses have a choice. They can either continue the 400 year tradition of punishing and ostracizing every African American who speaks conscientiously and intelligently on race (as Dr. King was shot in the great city of Memphis), or they can have the vision to respect Dr. Moore's rights to academic freedom and intellectual leadership by listening to his unpopular set of opinions. Perhaps by reading the letter with a critical, honest and open eye toward the blatant and undeniable impact of past racial traditions, they might be able to actually do something good for America. But then again, I am probably wrong - the disease of racism runs so deep that most people would rather just live in denial, so I can't wait to hear their long list of excuses. Instead of being an intelligent and progressive scholar, Dr. Moore should have been a 6'3" basketball player who cheats on his SAT. Perhaps then they might lend him an ear.

Dr. Boyce Watkins is a Finance Professor at Syracuse University and author of "What if George Bush were a Black Man?" To have Dr. Boyce commentary delivered to your email, please click here.