White Fragility on Board

A Message From The Publisher

 By Bobby R. Henry, Sr.

I must preface this article by saying this behavior of White Fragility, and Karenism is a proponent of White privilege. Its infiltrations into our democracy is causing an erosion to what is being put into place to offer some form of equality to people like me, who want what’s right and are willing to fight for it.

Back in 2018, a National Rifle Association (NRA) spokesperson, Dana Loesch, sent shock waves through every household when she professed to the media— “You love it. Crying White mothers is ratings gold to you.” She made this comment specifically in response to gun reform advocates who were speaking out after the Marjorie Stoneman Douglas mass shooting. Without much regard for the pain and suffering of living victims, Loesch took aim, pulled the trigger and pierced the hearts of mothers who have lost children in any capacity to gun violence.

But was she right? Do crying White mothers elicit a stronger empathy reaction than crying Black mothers?

At the October 25th School Board meeting, Debra Hixon lost control of her emotions and cried. Fighting a lump in her throat and a flood of oncoming tears, she professed that the tragedy that she and Lori Alhadeff suffered is being used against them. She went on to say through tears that their loss was being thrown into their faces.

I am not sure which statement shocked me more. Was it this one or the one Hixon made the week prior ever blaming former Superintendent Robert Runcie for the mass shooting? She absolutely did blame Runcie and she used her pain and the tragedy of her loss to get her elected  as a school board members and drive the call for his firing. And when that didn’t work, she continued to use her pain to push for the Grand Jury report that resulted in his arrest and forced resignation. Hixon was fueled by her pain and worked tirelessly to make sure Runcie got as little as possible in his separation package. And she was angry. She sat in glutton satisfaction as people from Parkland came to Board meetings and various listening sessions and talked to Runcie like he was lesser than a mange, orphaned, mutt dog.

Let it be known. I don’t blame her. Had any of my children been killed at MSD that day, I am not sure if I would have responded much differently. Yet, here is where Hixon and I part ways. She admonished people from the Black community for their tone and use of words when they expressed frustration and anger about their injustices. Where was that disdain for “uncouth” behavior when Runcie was suffering a public dragging by an angry mob of Parkland parents?

I reemphasize from a couple weeks ago, that while I am not a White man, I feel Hixon’s pain. But where is her empathy for me and my community when we are crying out for justice? Hixon suffers from “White fragility” similar to most Whites who profess things like: This is not about race. I am not racist. I never owned any slaves. I have a Black friend.

What happened at that October 25th Board meeting was all about race. It may not have started that way, but it certainly ended that way.

White Fragility is defined as when Whites feel stress at the mere mention of race or when they feel that race is the unspoken topic of conversation. They become defensive and begin displaying a range of emotions such as crying, becoming argumentative, displaying tight lipped silence and anger. Sometimes they become so incensed, they leave the room. The goal is to become the victim to reinstate White racial equilibrium.

This behavior by Hixon at the Board meeting was almost identical to the definition of White Fragility. She used her White woman tears to delay justice. Her performance flipped the Board chair, Torey Alston, and had him agreeing to literally extinguish public speakers from mentioning Nicolas Cruz’s name or talking about the shooting because of Hixon’s pain. Yet, she used her pain and threw it in our faces to get every human and financial resource possible for MSD High School (even at the risk of leaving other schools destitute), millions of dollars in lawsuit damages and the arrests and forced resignations of Superintendent Runcie and former Board Attorney Barbara Myrick.

Race and race relations in this country have a long way to go. Who would have ever thought that the empathetic response to a grieving mother could possibly be different based on race? It is. Just like the response to young Black girls who go missing as compared to White ones. Just like the discipline responses to Black and Brown students as compared to White ones. There are scores of research studies that support this. This is nothing new. Unfortunately it is exacerbated in this climate of disenfranchisement and the tenor produce by a racist mentality permeating in our elected leadership.

Until this Board and the greater Broward community hear the anguished cries of Black mothers, the despairing agony of Black fathers and the desperate frustration of the Black community, we will not move forward. But, we, as a Black community will keep coming.