Not Every Brother in a Tight Suit is a Racism Expert
Ever since large numbers of white folks collectively decided to acknowledge the existence of racism in 2020, there has been a prevalence of “The Conversation”.
You know the conversation I’m talking about, the race conversation, also known in some spaces as the diversity/inclusion/awareness conversation that many companies, academic institutions and media outlets have seemingly decided to prioritize in the past year.
I’m all in favor of The Conversation… in theory. In fact, I’ve spent much of my career facilitating these kinds of discussions with college students, faculty and staff. Yet, as time goes on, I realize that not all of these types of conversations are useful and that’s partially because not all people who facilitate them are well-equipped to do so.
Earlier this week, I saw a few clips from the The Bachelor: After the Final Rose finale in which guest host, author and media personality, Emmanuel Acho, talked to Bachelor finalist, Rachael Kirkconnell, about the controversy surrounding pictures of her at an antebellum plantation party in 2018. Kirkconnell attended the party as a part of Kappa Alpha’s (a college fraternity) “Old South Week”, a tradition in which they participate in various forms of Confederate nostalgia.
