by Shauna Jo Watson & Becky T. Chavez
Lex Luthor. Source: Wikify
Robert F. Smith recently made headlines for announcing he will pay off the student loans for the 2019 graduates of Morehouse College. The billionaire Vista Equity Partners founder and Morehouse College are still working out the logistics of how exactly the money will get to the graduates.
We at the W.O.K.E Collective were initially ecstatic at Smith?s donation to the students of an HBCU. The gift seems rather extraordinary, given that America?s student-debt crisis is now $1.5 trillion. It appeared to be the very model of black excellence. However, further investigation into Robert F. Smith unveiled troubling patterns in the man. Below are just a few of our reasons why he is problematic.
- His wife is white
Terri is the uber-woke. Source: Twitter
Robert F. Smith is an affront to female POC everywhere. The example he set before the graduates of Morehouse College is not just problematic, but dangerous as well. Why bother with a ?hood rat chick? if the ticket to success lies between a white womyn?s legs? Smith has no interest in reinforcing the beauty of blackness, only in gaining white privilege by proxy. Parading a white womyn around tells his fellow billionaires that he is ?safe? ? he?s not going to go off and ?bust a cap? in the room like Obama or Cory Booker would. He?s broadcasting that he?s one of those docile blacks, so fattened by wealth that upsetting the status quo is the last thing on his mind.
Robert F. Smith could have had a strong black woman who knows how to treat men right, like Cardi B. Instead, he chose Hope Dworaczyk, an unremarkable and unaccomplished white former Playboy playmate. Figures though, given that his industry is as white cis-male as you can get. This guy was even a frat-boy in college. He reeks of patriarchy. Talk about an Oreo! ?????
Just like other Oreos, his money, including his donation to Morehouse College, does nothing more than enforce the Patriarchy. That is because?.
2. His money only goes to men
A victim of Smith?s sexist lack of charity. Source: CareerAddict
Morehouse College is a men?s college in Atlanta. This means that none of the money goes to women graduating college. Not a single cent. Do you know what that means?
This means thousands of women who will have to make the painful choice between a lucrative career at Jezebel and working at McDonalds, just to make ends meet. This is especially hurtful given that this college is in Georgia, which just recently passed the heartbeat bill effectively criminalizing abortion. Robert F. Smith?s donation does nothing to help women who will have to make the painful choice of giving birth because they can?t afford an abortion due to their student loans. Instead, he will be donating money to the kind of people who put all women in such a difficult position ? men.
Why did you choose to only help men, Robert F. Smith? Why such blatant misogyny? Worse, this is honestly blatant misogynoir, since you could have donated to Wellesley College or another college where women, even those of color, could have been helped.
Robert F. Smith could?ve shown what a real straight cis-male ally is truly like. Instead, he did this. What a waste ?????
If you want a good example of a cis-male ally, look at Jordan Peele. Besides creating the woke classic Get Out, Jordan Peele has stopped filming in Georgia and has donated money to fight Georgia?s heartbeat bill. Peele?s actions will have a profound impact on Georgia?s economy, and sends a signal to women, especially women of color in Georgia, that they are loved and appreciated.
Smith?s donation won?t help shit. It won?t even help these men. Which brings us to our final point?.
3. The students are still fucked anyway
Fools! Source: AJC
The students of the Morehouse College class of 2019 are still fucked. They?re just fucked sans student loans. Even though they are no longer saddled with student loan debt, they are still graduating into the meat grinder that is Trump?s economy. They?re graduating into an economy where unemployment, especially black unemployment, is at one of the worst levels in America?s history. They?ll walk across the stage and into the impenetrable wall that is white privilege, only herded into a wage slave middle-management position, helping the oppressors buy another gold toilet for their Gulfstream. Do you think the money the students are saving will be spent at POC-owned businesses? Every dollar that isn?t going to be hoovered up on an over-the-top bar mitzvah for a bankster?s son will end up in the coffers of a white CEO.
You know who won?t have to worry about any of that? Robert F. Smith. He?ll continue to be a billionaire in his lily-white profession with his lily-white wife in his de-facto white life.
When your wife is your all-access pass to whiteness. Source: Wikify
Let?s all be honest. Robert F. Smith ? you are just another upper-class Oreo bully like Ben Carson or Herman Cain. You think that just because you are a black man that donating scraps is enough to prove your commitment to intersectionality and communities of color against the white cis-male patriarchy. The facts are these ? Robert F. Smith is not a George Soros, let alone a Prince Harry.
Prince Harry uplifted black women in untold ways when he married Meghan Markle, proving that black woman are worthy of being imperial royalty, too. Robert F. Smith just told black women that they aren?t worthy of his attention. That is pretty short-sighted, bro. If Robert F. Smith wants to prove he?s woke af, he?s got to work twice as hard as a Prince Harry, a Soros, or even a Joe Biden.
Your privilege is showing, Mr. Smith, and we at the W.O.K.E. Collective will have none of it! ?
If you haven?t already, please read our older articles to awaken your mind to more ways to fight injustice. We come out with new articles regularly, so stay tuned, because the outrage never stops!
