"First Black Symbolism" Is Problematic.
The first Black symbolism is worse than an empty gesture. It is actually dangerous in that it often serves as a “Trojan Horse” able to advance Neoliberal policies at home and imperialist machinations abroad under the cover of a Black face as the leader.
I am not suggesting that all that is symbolism is without substance. Even within sports, at Mexico City in the 1968 Olympics, track stars John Carlos and Tommie Smith raised their fists on the winner’s podium symbolizing Black Power. The substance of the moment was that it reflected an evolutionary period of the movement from civil rights to human rights, from limited tactics to unlimited tactics, from domestic to international focus in the struggle for Black liberation. Likewise, former NFL QB Colin Kaepernick’s symbolic kneeling was of substance in that it forced millions into a conversation about police terrorism that many preferred to ignore.
We must be able to identify empty symbolic gestures with underlying counterproductive outcomes. One example would be the DC Mayor Muriel Bowser painting Black Lives Matter on a street while increasing the budget of the police department.
Wes Moore was recently elected the first Black Governor in the state of Maryland. Many are optimistic about this development. I am not! We have seen this story before in the track record of Barack Obama, whom all too many Black folks still consider to be a messiah and for whom it is blasphemy to offer any critical analysis of his impact on Black America.
It works for other "firsts" (first female/woman, first LGBTQ+, first Latino, etc.) as well. People get so caught up on the face or checking the box they neglect two important things: what positive/uplifting things this "first" is going to do for others like them, and whether they will challenge the status quo that has put their group in such a disadvantageous position in the first place.
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