Sort of Black Like Me
Last week on my morning radio show I put an offer on the table that not a lot of listeners took me up on, so I decided to see if I would have better luck here.
In the wake of the “Beer Summit” between the President, Harvard Professor Henry Louis Gates and Cambridge Police Sergeant James Crowley, I decided to ask the audience if they would be willing to be Black for a year?
My logic being was that even though we have made tons of progress in this country when it comes to race relations there are still some things people who look like me have to deal with that people who look like my best friend from college don’t.
Now a lot of people said they would be willing to take the challenge if they could be Will Smith, Kobe Bryant or Colin Powell. Uh, no. You can be Willie Smith, Kenny Bryant, or Charles Powell, but you can’t be famous, wealthy or politically influential.
You can keep your name, current address and all that other stuff, you just have to have darker skin and kinkier hair. If you’re light-skinned with straighter hair you might be able to pass and that would ruin my experiment.
If you decide to live in the “hood” I’ll throw in first and last month’s rent and a couple weeks worth of spending money to get you started. But that’s it.
So, who’s up for the challenge? For anybody who thinks there’s no difference, I think you might be in for a, pardon the pun, enlightening experience.
