Deborah Gray White, the Board of Governors distinguished professor of history and professor of women’s and gender studies at Rutgers University, delivered a speech at Hofstra University on Wednesday, Oct. 16 titled, “Are There Really Forty Million Ways to Be Black in the Age of Trump?” White’s talk was part of Hofstra’s “The Legacy 1619-2019,” a series of events on subjects that reflect on “the journey of African Americans over four centuries and the hopes of a people, past and present.”
In addition to teaching at Rutgers University, White directed “The Black Atlantic: Race, Nation, and Gender,” a historical analysis project at the Rutgers Center from 1997-99. She was also the chair of the history department at the university from 2000-03.
White expressed her take on what led to the Trump era coming about in the first place, and also laid out a roadmap for how black people can persist through it. She stressed that this is a pivotal moment for the African American community, offered insight into where the future is heading and how she is working to guide the community forward.
“When so many of my peers were marching, and they took so many different paths to fighting racism, I said, ‘I’m going to do the research, and I’m going to write, and this is going to be my contribution. That’s going to be my activism,” White said.
White focused on the plight of black people under the Trump administration and how important it is for the African American community to organize and persevere through this time.
“I feel like we [need to have] a mindset about protecting black rights to be who we want to be … We do have to understand that we can be whoever we want to be but being black means that we have to do it together because we are simply outnumbered,” White said.
White emphasized that now is a particularly important time for the black community to stick together, since it is facing what she deemed as unprecedented territory. White repeatedly emphasized the point that unity, especially in the face of adversity, is what is most important.
To White, the black community isn’t just fighting; it’s fighting back against oppression. “In 2016, that backlash, and make no mistake, [the election] was a backlash against having a black president … That’s what it was,” White said. “It was as if they said, ‘We’re gonna push you right back into your place.’”
While White was insistent on the importance of unity, she also singled out those in the African American community who she sees as taking away from its ability to stick together and stay strong.
“We can think differently. We should think differently. But I just want us on the same page when it comes to self-defense,” she said, prefacing a discussion about conservatism in the black community.
“I just don’t get black conservatism,” White said. “I get if you want to be a fiscal conservative, but what I can’t see is when people look at what’s going on with mass incarceration, and they see these figures and they say, ‘Well, I think police treat black people just as fairly as they treat white people,’” White said. “Really?” she asked.
An audience member vociferously agreed with White on this point. “[Black conservatives are] not informed. It’s not a part of their world,” shouted the member of the audience.
To White, anything that diminishes the strength of the African American community does not just take away from the present or limit the progress made in the past, but also has the unfortunate potential to do harm in the future. This is something White said she cannot live with.
White stressed, however, that since the ultimate goal is “first-class citizenship” for black people, any effort to attain this requires unity in the African American community. “I think that everybody is going to have their own way. I just think that once your eyes are on the prize, and that prize is first-class citizenship, then however you feel you need to progress in that way, however you feel you can make a contribution, then that’s what you should do.”
