If I haven’t said it by now, Scandal is one of my favorite shows. From to the ultimate portrayal of #BlackGirlMagic displayed by Kerry Washington aka “Olivia Pope” to the social issues that are depicted in each episode, you can’t go wrong by becoming a Gladiator.
One of my the most memorable quotes that has stood out to me the most from this show is the scene where Olivia’s father Rowan confronts his daughter over her relationship with Fitzgerald. He’s berating her with questions about her affair with the president and questioning why she aimed so low. He insists that she could have anyone, but instead she decided to aim as the low as the President of the United States.
As a an African-American woman, Rowan knows the disparities that can come from being black as opposed to being white, especially in Olivia’s case since she does have a senior leadership position. The infamous quote that has resonated within my ears for years states, “You have to be twice as good to get half of what they get”. It means that no matter how hard you might try and no matter how tirelessly you may work, you will never be enough in their eyes. As the minority, we have to be extraordinary at what we do just to get even an inch of what they are already have. To be quite frank, it’s disheartening and overwhelming to know that my best and then some still won’t even be near as good of that of my white peers.
Lets face it, white people have it good in America. Before anyone tries to interject with the whole “My life isn’t easy either!” or “Why does everything have to be about race?” the sad truth is that damn near everything has to do with race. As an African-American male in his third year of college, I am still seen as unequal to that of my peers all due to the pigment of my skin color. It may not always be due to some extreme circumstance, but I’d love to see the day where I’m not ogled as soon as I enter a retail store or the day where young ladies don’t clutch their purses a little tighter as soon as I walk past them. It’s funny because people don’t think I see the little things they do, but trust me I see them and it hurts me to know that people will treat me differently based on something I can’t control.
Day in day out, I make the conscious decision to wake up and want better for myself while still knowing that my aspirations will seem comical and downright impossible to that of my white peers. I know what lies ahead of me, but I’m ready. There are days where I have to remind myself to smile and wave and to control my emotions, because I know “they” wouldn’t like that. There are days where I have to stand and listen as my peers downright degrade the very meaning of what it means to black, because I know that if I loose my cool even for a minute all that I’ve worked for will be undone in that very second.
The disparities between being black and white are vast, but so are the disparities for Muslims, LGBT persons and other racial minorities. Despite the underlining fact that America will never see our hard work as equal or better is what should continue to motivate everyone to work and until change occurs. The simple idea that we have to work harder than the average man or woman should incite the masses to want change. I know it does for me and although I may not always know where I’m going or how I’m going to get there, at least I know I’m going somewhere.
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