John Vercher

Writer

I’m raising my sons to be proud of their Blackness, writes John Vercher. But I also know that they’ll benefit from their lighter skin.

The unbearable whiteness of being

The author as a child. (Courtesy John Vercher)

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Commentary

Life

Opinion

Stories published or shared anew to celebrate the 10th anniversary of Cognoscenti, WBUR's home for ideas and opinions.

Cognoscenti 10

President Donald Trump crosses his arms as he listens during a Cabinet meeting in the Cabinet Room of the White House, Monday, Oct. 21, 2019, in Washington. (Pablo Martinez Monsivais/AP)

Not being surprised, however, allows us to do something different -- it lets us keep our eyes on the ball.

Your Shock And Horror Over Trump's 'Lynching' Comments Aren't Helping

In this Sunday, April 22, 2018, file photo, a statue of a chained man is on display at the National Memorial for Peace and Justice, a new memorial to honor thousands of people killed in racist lynchings, in Montgomery, Ala. Facing an impeachment inquiry that he and supporters claim is illegal, President Donald Trump tweeted Tuesday, Oct. 22, 2019, that the process is a lynching. (Brynn Anderson/AP)

Trump Impeachment Lynching South

Commentary 

News

Politics

Donald Trump

race

Racism

John Lee Cowell has been charged with fatally stabbing Nia Wilson, 18, in the neck and wounding her sister, Lahtifa, as they exited a train at a Northern California subway station. (Bay Area Rapid Transit via AP)

Do You Think You're 'Woke?' It's Not A Compliment

Daryle Allums, center, speaks on behalf of the Stop Killing Our Kids movement, about the stabbing of his goddaughter at a press conference Monday, July 23, 2018 in Oakland, Calif., as Bay Area Rapid Transit Police Chief Carlos Rojas, right, and Daryle Muhammad, left, listen. The suspect in the stabbing, John Lee Cowell, 27, is seen projected in the background. A man fatally stabbed an 18-year-old woman in the neck and wounded her sister as they exited a train at a Northern California subway station in what officials said Monday appeared to be a random attack. The suspect attacked the sisters Sunday night as they left a train at the Bay Area Rapid Transit's MacArthur Station in Oakland. (Lorin Eleni Gill/AP)

Subway Stabbings California

Crime & Justice

Less obvious, but no less ominous, white privilege is the ability to be surprised about the state of race relations in our country ...

Rescue personnel help an injured woman after a car ran into a large group of protesters after an white nationalist rally in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. (Steve Helber/AP)

More valuable than any financial donation, [privilege] gives a powerful voice to the cause, one that fights racism where it lives, calls out injustice at its source.

Sad, Angry, But Not Surprised About Charlottesville And Our Enduring History Of Racism

White nationalist demonstrators clash with counter demonstrators at the entrance to Lee Park in Charlottesville, Va., Saturday, Aug. 12, 2017. Gov. Terry McAuliffe declared a state of emergency and police dressed in riot gear ordered people to disperse after chaotic violent clashes between white nationalists and counter protestors. (Steve Helber/AP)

Confederate Monument Protests Photo Gallery

COMMENTARY

Race Relations

Thanks to the Lovings, I have an identity. I’ll honor them, and my family, by continuing to define for myself what it is.

Loving Day, And The Fluidity Of Racial Identity

Richard P. Loving and his wife, Mildred, pose in this Jan. 26, 1965, file photograph. Residents of Caroline County, Virginia, the Lovings married in Washington, D.C., in 1958. Upon their return to Virginia, the interracial couple was convicted under the state's law that banned mixed marriages. They eventually won a U.S. Supreme Court decision in June 1967 that overturned laws prohibiting interracial unions. (AP)

Loving Anniversary

[My father's] loose curls plus my mother’s arrow-straight locks left me with a shock more Prince than Angela Davis; skin more Dwayne Johnson than Wesley Snipes.

As a child, more than anything you want to belong, and so the constant disbelief and invalidation of your identity wears you down, to the point where ... you almost begin to question it yourself.

The Unbearable Whiteness Of Being

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A page from the 2016 comic book series of the Black Panther, written by Ta-Nehisi Coates, winner of the National Book Award.

Here I was, a proud black man, asked to name my favorite heroes, and I hadn’t named a black character. Not one.

 But I want my sons to know heroes of color who are more than sidekicks. The movement looks to change the canon of white saviors that has dominated their pages, but the movies, cartoons and merchandise are slower to reflect this new direction of inclusivity.

More Than Sidekicks: Finding Comic Book Superheroes Who Look Like Me

Comic books now feature more diverse superheroes, writes John Vercher, unlike most cartoons and merchandise. Pictured: The cover of "Black Panther: A Nation Under Our Feet, Book 1," written by author Ta-Nehisi Coates, winner of the National Book Award. (Courtesy of Marvel)

Arts

Books

Media

These successes are a beauty to behold, and are reason to celebrate. But we must be wary; we must be vigilant.

But this story is too often told by those to whom it does not belong. However, in the words of Sam Cooke: "It’s been a long time coming, but I know a change is gonna come."

After 'Moonlight,' We Need More Black Writers Telling Diverse Stories

In the 87-year history of the Academy Awards, only four black writers have won Oscars for screenplays, writes John Vercher. Pictured: Barry Jenkins, left, and Tarell Alvin McCraney accept the award for best adapted screenplay for "Moonlight" at the Oscars on Sunday, Feb. 26, 2017, at the Dolby Theatre in Los Angeles. (Chris Pizzello/Invision/AP)

Barry Jenkins, Tarell Alvin McCraney

 ... I floated in this limbo of racial ambiguity that sparked questions of identity for me far too early, and that have lingered far too long.

Through [this president's] repeated attempts to normalize hatred and bigotry, he has empowered those of the inherently and systemically biased and racist underbelly of our country to step out of the shadows and shamelessly look closer, to question that which they have no right to question.

'Are We Safe?' In Trump's America, A Father Worries

This president is well on his way, writes John Vercher, to making sure there are far fewer casual observers of race than before. He places my children, and children like mine, in danger. (Aaron Gilson/Flickr)

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The Doomsday Clock now reads 11:57:30, the closest it’s been to midnight since 1953.

We’ve been asked to step outside of our bubbles. To remove ourselves from the cacophony of our echo chambers and engage in a dialogue with those whose opinions differ from ours.

Midnight Is Nigh, America. It's Time To Find Common Ground

In organizing with those who share in our causes, writes John Vercher, we must begin to forge the bridges of commonality with those who do not. Pictured: Lawrence Krauss, theoretical physicist, chair of the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientists Board of Sponsors, left, and Thomas Pickering, co-chair of the International Crisis Group, display the Doomsday Clock during a news conference the at the National Press Club in Washington, Thursday, Jan. 26, 2017, announcing that the Bulletin of the Atomic Scientist have moved the minute hand of the Doomsday Clock to two and a half minutes to midnight. (Carolyn Kaster/AP)