In the 1995 animated masterpiece, Disney’s Pocahontas, Chief Powhatan – who happens to be the father of Pocahontas as well as the leader of the indigenous tribes of what we now know to be Virginia – has a line that Melissa and I mention all the time. It’s about a third of the way into the film and comes off the heels of a skirmish between the British settlers and the native tribesmen. Powhatan states loudly for all his people to hear, “These white men are dangerous! No one is to go near them.”
Yes, the movie is set in a fictional depiction of 1607, but honestly, those words are every bit as applicable today in the reality that is our 2020. Yes, Melissa and I are white, so perhaps us thinking of Powhatan’s line anytime we read of a case of white privilege in the news or witness such an occurrence around us may strike some as odd or uncomfortable, but that certainly doesn’t make Powhatan’s statement any less accurate.
I’m not going to provide what we all know could be a never-ending list of global transgressions that have occurred as a result of white men. I’m confident that anyone reading this can think of several immediately right off the top of their head. I am, however, going to use my blog to echo the sentiments of change that are ringing loudly throughout our nation and world right now in the wake of the murders of George Floyd, Breonna Taylor, Ahmaud Arbery, and others like them.
I’ve lived my entire life surrounded by esteemed people in my community and culture that look more or less just like me. So when I read a headline like I did this past Tuesday that Ferguson, Missouri, a city that mind you is 67% black and where the shooting of Michael Brown occurred six years ago had elected its first black mayor, I was left absolutely astounded.
Living in the St. Louis metropolitan area, I just always assumed that the mayor of Ferguson would be black. That’s where my white privilege comes out, the automatic assumption that the mayor of a predominantly black town would also be black. I mean, the mayor’s of the majority white cities I’ve lived in have always been white, so wrongfully, I just figured the same would go for communities of color. In the grand scheme of things this assumption may be a small blemish, but it highlights how as a white male, I’ll never fully be able to understand what life is like outside of my privilege. It is safe to say that I do not live in the same United States of America that people of color do.
Some of you may have read that last sentenced and scoffed. Yes of course, geographically, we all live in the same United States of America, that’s not up for dispute, but you know that’s not what I mean. I’m talking culturally, and in that sense, our divide in many ways is every bit as prevalent today as it always has been. My gaffe with the incorrect mayoral assumption for Ferguson made me think this blog would be the perfect opportunity to showcase a list of firsts for black America that we as white people take completely for granted.
1981 – Val James – First black athlete to play in the National Hockey League and did so for the Buffalo Sabres. (First year of the NHL: 1917)
1983 – Vanessa Williams – First black woman to be crowned Miss America. (First Miss America pageant: 1921)
1985 – Sherian Cadoria – First black woman to achieve the rank of general in the United States Army. (Formation of the United States Army: 1775)
1986 – Chuck Berry, James Brown, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, Fats Domino, and Little Richard – First black musicians inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. (First Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee class: 1986)
1988 – Johnny Grier – First black man to referee in the National Football League. (First year of the NFL: 1920)
1990 – Douglas Wilder – First black politician elected governor of ANY state when he won his election in Virginia. (First gubernatorial election in Virginia where the populace voted for the governor versus the state legislature: 1851)
1991 – John Singleton – First black director nominated for the Academy Award for Best Director for his film, Boyz N’ The Hood. (First Oscars ceremony: 1929)
1992 – Carol Moseley Braun – First black woman elected to the United States Senate when she won her election in my great state of Illinois. (First United States Senate election: 1789/First United States Senate election in Illinois: 1818)
1993 – Toni Morrison – First black woman to win the Nobel Prize for Literature (First Nobel Prize in Literature: 1901.)
1994 – Darnell Martin – First black woman to direct a major-studio movie, Columbia Pictures’ I Like It Like That. (First Hollywood film studio: 1911)
1995 – Michael Jackson – First person ever to have a song debut at number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart with his single, You Are Not Alone. (First Billboard Hot 100 chart: 1958)
1997 – Tyra Banks – First black model to appear on the cover of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Edition. (First Sports Illustated Swimsuit Edition: 1964)
1999 – Franklin Raines – First black CEO of a Fortune 500 company with Fannie Mae. (First Fortune 500 Company list: 1955)
2002 – Halle Berry – First black actress to win the Academy Award for Best Actress for her role in Monster’s Ball. (First Oscar’s Ceremony: 1929)
2008 – Barack Obama – First black politician to be elected President of the United States. (First United States presidential election: 1789)
I was born in 1986, which is why I started with the 1980’s and with the exception of my first three points, literally ALL of this has happened in my lifetime. That’s too many firsts and I didn’t even list anywhere near all that I could have. When you take note of the dates in the parenthesis, you can see that aside from the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, everything else took decades, if not centuries, before it had any black representation.
Representation matters.
Black Lives Matter.
Our lives aren’t distributed like pieces of a pie. Demanding that everyone amongst us has the same rights and opportunities as one another doesn’t subtract a slice from anyone. It just ensures that all of us have the same amount to eat and I for one am tired of watching too many people go hungry.
The most effective way to bring about change is by voting and you can register to vote or check your registration at vote.org. This is without a doubt the single most important election of our lifetime and only together can we defeat the tyranny of Donald Trump and his Republican henchmen in congress. Vote like your life depends on it because the reality is, it does.
Thank you for reading and please feel free to leave a comment below. Do note that I have to approve anything that’s commented, so don’t waste your time with anything ignorant like all lives matter, nobody will ever even see it. I’ll be back next week with another all new post, but until then, I hope you have THE BEST week ever!
I grew up in a small farming community where almost all the non-white students I went to school with either had one white parent, or they were adopted. It wasn’t until my college years that I became more aware of the reality that not everyone has grown up with the same opportunities I’ve been blessed with. The amount of accomplishments for the black community has been impressive in my lifetime, but it’s eye opening to me every time that it’s a first, that it took this long to happen. We still have a long way to go on this road to equality, and I can’t wait until it’s no longer a white washed society of achievements.
That’s exactly how I felt when I read that about Ferguson electing their first black (& I should have noted woman) mayor! It was so eye-opening to me! I believe positive change is on the horizon, but I know we’ll only achieve it when we all work together to make it happen.
I agree with you on this 100%. I am much older than you and when I was young, in the early 60’s there were still black and white separate restrooms and drinking fountains and black and white separate showers on beaches in Florida. Of course I was too young to understand. I too was brought up in an all white area where are my classmates were white until I began high school at a tech school in Florissant of all places. That was my first encounter with other races and it was an eye opener. I had been pretty sheltered although I do not believe that was my parents intent. When the first black family bought a house in our very middle class suburban subdivision they endured much anguish and did not stay very long. Eventually more moved in and it was not an issue. I do not know what changed, or who changed or if people simply became more accepting. My parents accepted these changes and never said anything about it to us kids. But I do think racism is taught and its taught at a very young age which is so wrong in my opinion. People are people, skin color should not make a difference. Thanks for posting,. Very interesting.
Thank you for sharing your story! It’s always interesting to read about another’s experience even if the reality is that it’s somewhat similar to my own. & I could not possibly agree more with the “people are people” bit. We don’t get to pick the color skin we’re born with.
Thank you for sharing your thoughts on such a current and relative topic and for addressing that our white privilege is real. If the murder of George Floyd and the other innocent victims you listed can bring about a positive and necessary change then there will be a silver lining here. I totally agree with you, black lives matter, all people are equal and voting is the best way to start to fix the racism issue in our country. Great blog Ben!
Thank you so much! YES! You’re totally right! Voting is the most important thing ANY of us can do. Healing the world starts at the ballot box!