Renouncing 'the Magic Negro' urge

I refuse to be “the Magic Negro” of any organization. Common, you know what I am talking about. Many Christian organizations in the U.S. have a myriad of ways of tokenizing black people. It is only appropriate to think about what it means to be “a black face in a white space” right now as a constructive conversation around race will hopefully jump off after the debut of the movie Dear White People. Tokenizing black women and men in white Christian spaces is an old practice. And while most people of color tend to hate being tokenized in general, there still are particular lures to being a community or institutions “Magic Negro”. 

               Most often though, tokenizing is done with the expectation that minorities will be a “Submissive Negro”. This poor soul is merely expected to quietly enter into white space without affecting in any capacity the way white dominant cultural space performs and operates. The key habit expected of them is to pursue success through the practice of assimilation. The “Submissive Negro” must not disrupt the culture, values, practices, beliefs, customs, or perspectives that they enter. If change must occur it must be solely thrust on the backs of women and men of color. No mutual transformation is acceptable. The “Submissive Negro” must quietly die to, or at least hide, their cultural, social, and historical distinctiveness. They should be able to be told “we don’t think of you as black” as though that were a compliment. While certainly black people, and minorities in general, find themselves out of necessity and survival, playing this role at times, the truth is that no one desires this life. It is humiliating and its acceptance subtly denies the beautiful marks of a life made in the image of God.