When Black is White and White is Black

By Dwight Longenecker Published on March 23, 2022

Imagine for a moment that you have been asked to review the resume of a candidate for one of the highest offices in the land — a job with immense power, a job that is a lifetime appointment with an annual salary of nearly $270,000. The successful candidate would also receive expenses of the office, a full staff of assistants, and every privilege and prestige that goes with a top job.

An Impressive Resume

When you review the resume you see that the candidate was one of two children born of professional parents. The father an attorney, the mother the principal of a fine arts high school. The candidate attended Harvard University, worked as a reporter for Time magazine, then went back to Harvard to attend Harvard Law School. From there the candidate worked as a clerk for federal judges, worked first at a prominent D.C. law firm, then a top firm in Boston. The candidate married into a “Boston brahmin” family — the elite caste of White Anglo Saxon Protestants who take pride in their descent from the first settlers of New England and who were the founding members of the United States of America. The candidate then goes on to enjoy a dazzling career as a top level federal judge.

Reading such a resume you might toss it aside and say, “This is just another privileged white man — getting a top job by being appointed by other privileged white men!”

In fact it is the resume of Supreme Court nominee Ketanji Brown Jackson — an African American woman.

Surprised? You’re not the only one.

Responses to This Dazzling Nominee

So what should we make of such a dazzling nominee?

There are several reactions. An old white guy might be grumpy and say, “She only got where she did because of affirmative action. A black woman in America gets a free ride. If she wants to go to college they’ll throw scholarships at her left, right, and center. When they’re hiring, if she is a black woman they’ll bend over backwards to recruit her, hire her, promote her, and give her everything she wants, when she wants it, how she wants it. Privilege? If anybody is privileged in America today it’s a young black woman!”

So what, exactly is “white” in America and what is “black”?

On the other hand, some African Americans might also be grumpy and say, “Black? She’s not black. She’s playing the white man’s game. She’s a coconut — an Oreo — brown on the outside and white on the inside. She went to white schools. She worked in white firms. She married a white man who is a virtual aristocrat in the white establishment. That girl is white and her playing their game by their rules is only helping to firm up white privilege. She’s not only white on the inside, she’s a traitor to our race!”

What is ‘White’? What is ‘Black’?

So what, exactly is “white” in America and what is “black”? According to the now infamous “Whiteness chart” posted at the Smithsonian, some of the characteristics of whiteness are:

  • Rugged individualism
  • The nuclear family where the husband is the breadwinner and protector of the family
  • The “protestant work ethic”
  • Christianity
  • Respect for authority
  • Scientific “thinking”: objective, rational
  • Work before play
  • Delayed gratification
  • Optimism: “Tomorrow will be better”

Surely Ketanji Brown Jackson epitomizes such values! She is a Protestant Christian, and since she is so smart, accomplished, and achievement-oriented, she must have been rooted in these standards from an early age by her successful parents.

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Ketanji Brown Jackson and other accomplished African Americans prove that these values are not white or black. They are practical values that have helped people move forward in life in many different races and cultures. Are these values part of the legacy of European Christianity? Probably. Are there other values from other cultures that could be added to the list? Sure. Both-and is better than either-or. When speaking of values it’s best to affirm what is good and add to it rather than dumping something that is good just because it is incomplete.

Consider This

I have outlined two grumpy responses to Ketanji Brown Jackson’s nomination. There is a third. We might also say, “Wow. This is fantastic! That a young black woman can accomplish so much in America today! How wonderful! Now we’ve not only had a black president and first lady, but also a woman of color as vice president and now a black woman nominated to the Supreme Court. Hallelujah! This is evidence that maybe we’re not so racist as we are always being told. America is making real progress on this issue!”

 

Dwight Longenecker’s latest book is Beheading Hydra — A Radical Plan for Christians in an Atheistic Age. Visit his website, browse his blog and be in touch at dwightlongenecker.com

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