A couple of days ago I was speaking to a very close friend
of mine. We've been friends and colleagues for a number of years. He has three beautiful
children; a seven year old son and two younger daughters. He's a very proud and
educated man. He's has achieved a high rank in the military and is very
involved in his local church and community. Recently, his son was talking to
his wife and he said, "Mom, I wish I was White." She asked him why
and he answered, "Because they are better than us." When my friend
Jamal told me this it hurt my heart. I'm sure it hurt his even more. He said
upon hearing this from his wife, he was almost brought to tears. He immediately
took his son in private and talked to him. He showed him a photo of Barak Obama
and explained to him absolutely no one is better than him and that his skin
color has nothing to do with his value. He told him to look at President Obama
as an example of someone who could be anything he wants to be despite the color
of his skin.
That is a particular facet of the Obama presidency that is
lost on a lot of people. It symbolizes a lot more than him just being another
"Black First." Because White males have traditionally dominated
positions of power and seats of vocal influence, many Black kids (myself
included) erroneously grew up feeling that there are two worlds of
possibilities; the heights that White children can achieve and the limited
opportunities given to those that are Black. For example, when I was a child in
the 1980's and 1990's, I would've never ever believed America would field a
Black president in my lifetime. Yes, my thinking was that limited. Most of
those in my generation would tell a similar testimony if they were honest.
After we spoke for sometime about this, I began to think
about how a little boy who lives in a stable home with both of his parents in a
nice middle-class neighborhood could come to the conclusion that his Black skin
was still a sign of inferiority in the 2015. Furthermore, this is occurring
while someone of his same skin color is actually occupying the highest office
in the land. Think about that for a minute. It would have to come from other
sources of learning that he's exposed to.
Let's be honest, our children are by and large influenced by
their peers and television shows/movies. It is from these sources that their
minds are infiltrated and shaped. I always harp on the ways that Black people
are represented in mass media and all forms of entertainment. Here's proof that
we have a long way to go. Television shows, news reports, movies, and even
cartoons are still saturated with images of Black men and women that are
foolish, silly, unattractive, dimwitted, lazy, sexually driven, gullible,
hot-tempered, violent, loud, illiterate, emotional, etc. They are more commonly
portrayed as slaves, cheap labor, criminals, gang members, pimps, loose women,
shady religious figures, buffoons, athletes, single welfare mothers, unruly
children, and poor. Children are not stupid. They are very intelligent and pick
up on all of these representations of people like them. Not only this, these
images are put up against representations of White people as leaders, heroes,
super heroes, government officials, coaches, teachers, soldiers, geniuses,
scientists, models, police officers, and the cool kids in school like the
popular cheerleaders or the handsome athletes. In group settings, the White guy
is the leader and the brains of the operation. If there's a Black kid, he's
either a dumb hot tempered brute who is used for his strength or the clown of
the group who is full of slang and witty jokes. A great example of this is the
popular TV Show, The A-Team (which was remade as a feature film in 2010). In
posters and advertisements of movies and TV shows that contain a majority White
cast, if there is a Black person included, he/she is pictured in the back or
the side. This is a clear symbol of them being minor in importance and thus
included just as a form of tokenism to give an impression of diversity. Even in
religions programming, the heroes and inspirational figures are always White.
Not to mention how many super hero movies are filled with White people with a
few Black sidekicks scattered around. When your child opens magazines,
advertisements for all types of products mostly include White people with
bright White teeth, White women with beautiful shiny hair, White men with large
bulging muscles, White families harmoniously riding around in brand new SUV's,
White children happily enjoying the latest sugary cereal, etc.
People think such things are trivial and like to minimize
their importance. But when it's a society and a system that has historically
portrayed your kind in an overwhelmingly favorable light, you will fail to
notice it. Also when it is brought to your attention, you won't see it as
the grave issue that it truly is. Not
until it is your child coming home wishing to be something other than what he/she
is, will you take it seriously. It will finally break your heart to learn this
because your child has been brainwashed to believe that his/her skin color
entraps him/her into a life of being second best and inferior. But then again,
in America, that's how things are. Nothing becomes an epidemic or serious
social problem until it affects White kids.
