Loving Someone with Melanin Doesn’t Make You Woke & White

Hello Meltingpot Readers,

I’m introducing another new feature here on The Meltingpot, called “Woke & White Wednesdays.” These will be posts, on Wednesdays obviously, where I celebrate white people who are “woke” – where woke means that they understand, respect and advocate for people of color and other marginalized groups. Because this is my blog and I make the rules, Woke & White Wednesdays will also be used to highlight white folks who are the antithesis of woke, so much so, you could say they are deeply asleep. As is the case today. Today, I’m talking about people who are white and decidedly NOT woke.

Lately on the Interwebs, I’ve been noticing a lot of discussion about white people who are married to people of color or who have adopted children of color. These conversations have been about whether or not these people automatically become card-carrying members of the woke & white club because they have an intimate relationship with a person of color. In other words, does loving a person of color prove that a person isn’t racist?

The answer to that question is a Big Fat No! Rather than write a long explanation as to why this is the case, I thought I’d simply provide three examples that prove beyond a reasonable doubt that being woke & white requires more than a marriage licence or an adoption certificate.

Exhibit A

Mitch McConnell – Senate Majority Leader, Republican from Kentucky, married to Elaine Chao, an immigrant from Taiwan who also happens to be the United States Secretary of Transportation. McConnell is the antithesis of woke, most of his policies negatively impact people of color, poor people, breathing people etc and he has no regard for the rights of immigrants. Funny thing, considering he’s married to one. But another funny thing, despite her own immigrant story, Elaine Chao ain’t woke either. (Which is another point of course, that being a person of color doesn’t automatically confer woke status. You need more than melanin!)

Exhibit B

Nicole Kidman & Tom Cruise – Hollywood actors who were once married to each other and adopted a Black son named Connor and a white daughter named Isabella. I’m not saying these two were bad parents to Connor, all I’m saying is that Nicole Kidman and Tom Cruise are not even on the celebrity list of Woke & White folks, meaning they’re not even pretending to stand up for issues of importance to Black people, despite the fact that they have a Black son.

Exhibit C

The Kardashian Siblings: I don’t keep up with the Kardashians, but I know a lot of them, even brother Rob, have Black love interests and there’s not a single Kardashian who I would consider qualified for woke status. I think the Kardashians are too focused on their celebrity status to put much work into advocating for the rights of others. In fact, I just wrote about Kim and her latest case of cultural appropriation with her braided hairstyle. And there are plenty of people who can break down how the Kardashian clan has profited off a Black aesthetic, which I think automatically disqualifies them for the woke and white team.

So, there you have just three examples of white people in intimate relationships with people of color who prove every day that they are not woke.
What do you think, Meltingpot readers? Would you expect white people who are involved with people of color to be more woke than the average girl or guy? Is it the responsibility of the person of color to educate their spouse or parent? Who wants to start the conversation? I’m totally listening and taking notes.

Peace!