A Black Man, a Ken, and a Karen Walk Into a Zoom Room
Clinging to the advantages of Whiteness is a hell of a drug
Update 6/7/22: Level has a new home. You can read this article and other new articles by visiting LEVELMAN.com.
A Black man will never know what it’s like to be in an all-White room — because it will no longer be all White. Conversely, a White man will never know what it’s like to be in an all-Black room. In both cases, even in the most transparent and “honest” conversation, truly uncensored discourse is all but impossible.
Or so I thought — until a recent conversation defied what I thought was an absolute truth.
For perhaps the first time, race is on the mind of every American. (It has always been there for Black Americans, of course. We might not think about our skin when we wake, but we are reminded of it every day.)
Recently, I spoke with two White friends over Zoom. I’ll call them Ken and Karen. Ken is a media executive who lives in an expensive zip code in Los Angeles; Karen, a finance executive that lives in Toronto. While the conversation began as a general catch-up and to do some brainstorming on a collaborative project, it ended up touching on the same topics so many of my conversations do these days: President Trump and his reelection chances; Black Lives Matter; and Joseph Biden and who his VP pick should be. This one, though, felt different. Both Karen and Ken were informed. They were empathetic to the Black experience. Comfortable in their Whiteness, with my Blackness.
It was raw. It was difficult. But it was also beautiful and liberating. And since then, I’ve gone over it countless times, the exchanges taking on new notes like aging wine. It was an awakening for all of us. For perhaps the first time, race is on the mind of every American. (It has always been there for Black Americans, of course. We might not think about our skin when we wake, but we are reminded of it every day.)
Before I begin to give the context of our conversation, a warning: If you are uncomfortable with identity politics, please stop reading now. If you don’t…
