So my daughter’s college, UNC-Chapel Hill, made history this month.
Long-time head basketball coach Roy Williams retired, and Hubert Davis was selected as the University’s new head coach. This decision was historic because Hubert Davis is the 1st African-American head basketball coach in UNC’s 232-year history. It took a university that heavily recruits African-American young men to play on their championship team 232 years to decide that a black man could be the head coach? As I walked down Franklin Street with my daughters the other day I could not help but wonder if there was a direct correlation in this 232 year delay and the downright pain and anger some influential alum seemed to experience when protestors pulled down the Silent Sam Confederate Statute in 2018. Could there be some systemic racism going on at one of the best institutions in the state of North Carolina? Of course, if that were the case, it was solely due to implicit, and not explicit, bias, right?
Sorry, I have digressed as I sometimes tend to do. 🙂
Last night my daughter sent me the tweet below as I am chillin’ on my couch taking a break from the world.
I read the quote and paused.
I did not want to overreact because sometimes social media misquotes people. So, I clicked on the video to watch for myself only to see that Mr. Davis did, in fact, express great pride in his “white” wife. Clearly, this was no slip of the tongue. There was actual thought put behind this statement. Now, don’t get me wrong, I understand Hubert Davis being proud of his wife. He should be. I want my future husband to be proud of me. But, I am struggling to understand his need to announce that he is a proud African-American man married to a white woman during this historic time. As though her whiteness is a significant factor in his pride.
As a black woman who is the mother of black girls living in a country built on the notion that black people were inferior and
only good enough to labor and toil to build wealth for white people while having their families ripped apart just because a slave owner decided he could make a profit with no regard for the love and life that his slaves had built together, I will not deny the fact that this statement was weird and quite frankly offensive. As a black woman raising black girls in a country where we have too often been told that we are too angry, thus the reason for our failure in relationships, I will not deny the fact that this statement was weird and quite frankly offensive. As a black woman raising black girls in a country that has created an atmosphere that, until recently, made black women struggle with feelings of inferiority because the standard of beauty set before them was that of a white woman, I will not deny the fact that this statement was weird and quite frankly offensive. Since I don’t know Hubert Davis, I will stop right here and give Hubert Davis the benefit of the doubt. Might I suggest that Hubert Davis and his publicist rethink the presentation of his intentional message? I am not sure the intent is clear. Or is it?
Much Love,
Tonza
I agree with you. The sequence of thoughts is unusual. We have no idea what another person’s intentions are when they speak.
Racism is a part of everything we do. It shows up in the strangest places at the strangest time.
I also agree that we should probably. “leave it there”.
He meant what he said. Wow. He’s not too bright that’s for sure
Hey councilor……. Maybe, just MAYBE, that was a FACTOR of him breaking the proverbial glass ceiling…… Ummmmm… He might have been compelled to RECOGNIZE this fact…… Signed a NY Knicks fan who drafted Hubert in the mid-nineties….
Maybe so🤔😊
All of this Tonza!!!
Thanks for the reading.
It’s is definitely tone deaf.Even if he believes that his promotion only happened because he has a white wife (which wouldn’t be far-fetched) – he should shun the idea that two black people, joining together in marriage, should present less opportunity. It’s weird and honestly, I don’t like it.