Written by a white woman:

Because I work in a medium sized organization as a diversity coordinator, many people express their opinions about racism to me.  In 2002 a white man stopped me in the hallway and said, "Denzel Washington, Halle Berry, and Sidney Poitier all won awards at the Academy Awards last night.  So what is their (African-Americans') problem?  What do they want?"

I said to him, “I think the problem is that people of color in general don’t have equal access to resources.  You assume that because a few black actors achieve success all blacks are better off.”  The man countered, "African Americans just have to work hard enough, pull themselves up like the people who won the awards.  I come from a working class background, and I pulled myself up, so what is their problem?"

Questions for the reader: What do you think the white man is trying
to say about African Americans?  How might you respond
to him if you were the diversity coordinator?


View Commentary to African American Vignette #8

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