Nelson Mandela and Underground Railroads
Image from: http://www.theufochronicles.com/2009/03/return-to-foggy-bottom.html
Last weekend, I took a trip down to Washington D.C. to visit my best friend from High School, Olivia. She’s attending the George Washington University as a freshman, a school that I had an interest in but was turned off by the stereotype of the elite snobby students. I was curious about how true the stereotype was, and this weekend would be the opportunity for me to get a feel for the GW culture. After a long and uncomfortable bus ride and a sleepless night preceding my arrival, I immediately crashed and had to take a nap. When I woke up, Olivia rushed me to get ready for a tour that we were going to take. The Black Student Union had organized a tour of the black history of Foggy Bottom. We met somewhere along F street and as the group congregated, I couldn’t help but notice that I was the only white person among them. I was made very much aware of this by the strange looks I was receiving, a kind of “Why are you here?” being asked.
Interestingly enough, when the tour guide arrived to start our evening off, he was a middle aged white man. One of the first things he addressed was just that: “You may ask yourself why a white guy is giving this tour. I’m not an African-American but i’m an African-Americanist..” and then went on to describe his studies and his role in the Civil Rights movement. He spoke about how this predominantly white rich neighborhood used to be a black neighborhood, a part of history often completely ignored. On this tour we would uncover the hidden gems of black history that GW has, and be in the “presence of the absent.” He opened it up for questions before beginning the tour:
“As we go along, can we pick up black people to join on the tour?”
“Actually, wait, there’s a white person here too. Can we just acknowledge that for a second and give a round of applause!?”
The big elephant wandered out of the room when I was commended, not shunned, for participating in the tour of the spirit of black foggy bottom.
1 comment
I think that when people acknowledge race, it makes for a better environment. Instead of pretending that they didn’t notice you and having everything be awkward, they were able to bring humor to the situation. I think humor is a great way to view race and I think some people take the issue of races and nationalities too seriously. Some people may have been offended if they were pointed out in a large crowd as being white. When you don’t take things so personal and look at things from a humorous point of view, I think everyone forgets the racial differences and accepts one another easier.