Two Black women walked through a door. If that sentence sounds like a setup, it is. But it’s not a setup for a joke, nor is it the beginning of a “once upon a time” fable. It’s the prologue to the vicious and toxic reality of right now. Claudine Gay, the former president of Harvard University, walked through a door, one long barricaded by the power and privileges of wealth and race. JaMaiya Miller, an Amazon delivery driver, also walked through a door, one similarly buttressed by the powers of race and class. What happened next was made predictable by the implacable mechanisms of American white supremacy. You see, it’s not that Black women can’t make it through the door, it’s what happens to them once they get inside. It’s what happens when the masters and minions of white supremacy decide that they don’t belong inside.
The Sacking of Claudine Gay
First of all, I wish Dr. Claudine Gay well as she exits Harvard University. Her resignation yesterday left me with little thoughts other than…