White Christmas 2005
By: Molly Secours
Tennessee Tribune
Originally posted 1/2/2006
I probably shouldn't admit this, but generally I don't read newspapers between Christmas and New Years. It's not a hard and fast rule, just a little tradition that erupted spontaneously one year that seemed to make the holiday season less stressful and annoying.
So I continued this tradition which offers escape from those pesky end of the year "Best and Worst" lists. You know, the 'Who's Who' of everything and anything or 'the Ten best this and the 10 worse that." The lists that tout the bold and the beautiful, the rich and the famous, or anyone in general worth revering or envying. Well, until last night.
Late on New Years day I couldn't stand being so out of touch so I collected a weeks worth of local papers and curled up on the couch for a daily news fix -- a week late. And there it was. On the front cover of the Tennessean Issues section on Christmas day: "2005 Tennesseans of the Year": All those who have made Tennessee a better place to live. I held my breath for a second and decided to proceed.
As suspected, most of the names were familiar -- and of several, I'm a big fan -- and most certainly deserving of recognition for being leaders in their fields and contributing to the community. And yet, I couldn't help noticing that of the 11 photographs on the cover page depicting these treasured Tennesseans, only one photograph -- at the bottom of the page -- contained faces of color. The couple were identified as hurricane volunteers being recognized -- along with a large group Red Cross Volunteers -- for opening up their homes and hearts to displaced New Orleaneans after Katrina.
Although mildly relieved to see that there was some inclusivity in folks who were being acknowledged for their contributions, I just couldn't help wondering, if anyone at the Tennessean noticed that of all the individuals highlighted—all of those with large photos and personal tributes -- all nine of them were white. How can that be? Wasn't there someone in the Tennessean office that day that noticed the absence of color and thought twice about touting a significant tribute to all-whites for making Tennessee a better place to live?
Should we assume that there just aren't any Tennesseans of color that make Tennessee a better place to live or that the Tennessean just couldn't think of any?
And then it hit me, if the situation were reversed and a list appeared in the paper comprised of all non-whites who made significant contributions it would undoubtedly be called the "2005 Black Tennesseans of the Year". Black being the operative word.
I'm sure there are numerous explanations as to why Congressman Harold Ford Jr., or former NAACP Presidents, Dr. Charles Kimbrough or Rev. Sonnye Dixon or Rev. Ed Sanders or TN State Rep. Henri Brooks or Councilwoman Brenda Gilmore -- and the list goes on -- weren't recognized as Tennesseans of the Year.
But it's not a unique phenomenon. And frankly, there's no other way to say it but like this: this is what we white people do. When we say "we don't see color", we really mean it -- especially when it comes to recognizing and elevating people for social and charitable contributions in the community. Why? It's fairly simple and yet complicated -- all at the same time. Because a lot of us white folks are accustomed to being perceived as the movers, shakers, 'helpers' and 'savers' and playing the role of benevolent ones, and quite frankly, we deserve it -- or at least think we do.
Accomplishing noble deeds is the domain of the privileged (white and privileged) and it makes us feel valued and enables us to build and maintain identities as do-gooders. In some instances we get to feel like part of the solution instead of the problem -- when in fact, quite often we really are part of the problem.
Unfortunately, because we have assembled an identity as superior -- although most of us deny it daily -- when we are faced with compiling a list of people worthy of recognition, it rarely occurs to us that we've included only people who look like us -- unless we are specifically honoring people of color.
It is the literal color blindness of institutions like the Tennessean that perpetuate the mythology that whites contribute more value to communities than non-whites. This is not an attack on the Tennessean -- as most corporate or community organizations reflect similar unconscious myths -- it's just that newspapers are more public than most other institutions and are reflected in black and white.
Who knows, maybe next year while some are dreaming of a white Christmas, they'll surprise us with the 2006 Black Tennesseans of the Year.
Molly Secours is a writer/filmmaker/speaker and frequent co-host on "Behind the Headlines" on WFSK 88.1 FM. She can be reached at: mollmaud@comcast.net or www.mollysecours.com
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