John Brown, the real White Ally
Many do not know the story of John Brown, the White abolitionist who grew up in a family that had strong and radical anti-slavery views. He was a White man who died for the lives of enslaved Black people and because of that he should be a model for White people who claim they want to ally with Black people.
Now, I’m not asking White people to ally with Black people. I err on the side of the film, Malcolm, when the White college student approached Denzel Washington who played the role of Malcolm X and asked him, “What could White people do to help Black people in the struggle?”, in which Malcolm replied, “Nothing”. I’m not sure if Malcolm X actually replied in this way in his real life or if he was even approached by the student, but I’m not someone who is asking for White people to ally with Black people in the first place.
I first started to really hear the word “ally” a lot after the murder of George Floyd. After his murder the perceptions of a racial lens began to shift for all people all over the world. It seemed as though people began to empathize with Black people’s experience with systemic racism and oppression from many different angles. It also seemed as though many companies, businesses, organizations, higher educational institutions, The President, public figures, etc, issued these well constructed politically correct statements confirming how they…
