The Book

Growing up Black in White, Upper Middle-class America,
Lessons on Healing the Divide

As my wife and I entered the ski gondola to make the accent to the top of one of Canada’s more well-known ski slopes, we could see the look of surprise on the face of the woman sitting across from us. She was White and appeared completely befuddled, not just because of the sight of two Black people, my wife and I, heading up the mountain to ski, but also because she had seen hundreds of African Americans across the resort throughout the morning.

She smiled, said hello, and after introducing herself as Susan, she asked, “Is there something going on this weekend?”

After years of skiing around the world, my wife and I were used to such inquiries from White people when they saw Blacks skiing. On this occasion, the National Brotherhood of Skiers (NBS), America’s largest ski club dedicated to promoting skiing in the Black community, was holding its annual summit at the Canadian villa, and 3,000 of its members, mostly Black, had arrived the night before.

Admittedly, the sight of 3,000 African Americans on skis in the middle of Canada is not exactly typical, but my wife and I often like to have fun in these instances. We looked at each other quizzically and then looked back at Susan to answer her question and said, “No. Not that we know of. Why do you ask?”

Susan looked stunned and appeared to swallow as the smile slowly left her face. She was visibly uncomfortable, fearing her question may have been inappropriate. After pausing for a moment, my wife and I burst out laughing and, with a smile, explained the NBS Summit and told her we had been NBS members for a while. Her question may have been awkward, essentially asking, “Why are so many of you Black people around? You are Black too so you must know,” but it was not completely unreasonable. What she said next did cross a line.

The woman responded, “So since this is your first time skiing, you might want to get off the gondola at the halfway point because the runs at the top of the mountain are pretty difficult.”

Despite us having just told Susan we had been ski club members for a while, and despite the fact we both were carrying high-end ski equipment clearly visible to her and easily discernable as being made for advanced skiers, she assumed we were beginners.

So, if Susan's comment and false assumption about our ability to ski, likely based on our race, crossed a line, what line did it cross? Should my wife and I have been offended? How should we have reacted? Should we have considered this woman’s line of questioning racist?”  What is the impact of race-based assumptions by people who mean well when it comes to more consequential aspects of life like education, employment, governing, or policing, and how do we deal with it?  

In his book forthcoming book, Between Two Worlds: Growing up Black in White, Upper Middle-class America, Lessons on Healing the Divide, “Colonel Mike,” answers these questions and many others as he offers his opinion on race in America and puts forth concepts and ideas that serve as possible solutions to help bring us together. Most notably, Colonel Mike introduces the concept of the Racism Spectrum™. Drawing upon his lineage as the son of parents who grew up in the Jim Crow south and having been raised in upper middle-class White neighborhoods, Colonel Mike weaves tales of his life experiences with insightful analysis on how the lens through which we see the world is often colored by race, whether we realize it or not. From culture to politics, sports to education, religion to recreation, Colonel Mike provides his perspective and ideas on how to bridge the divide.

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