The Only Good “White Ally†Is a Dead White Ally
David Cole
September 08, 2020
It doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure out that it’s getting harder and harder to be a “white ally†in the service of racial justice. And yet sometimes it actually does take a rocket scientist. U.K. native Nick Berry has lived in Seattle for the past quarter century. Berry is a rocket scientist, like, fer real, man (his degree is in aeronautical and astronautical engineering). Berry’s your standard Seattle white male…Trump bad, masks good, Trump hates science, STEM needs diversity, etc. He’s even done a TEDx talk (a rite of passage in that tribe). In his spare time, he runs a neat little science blog that’s actually quite worth a visit.
Nick Berry is dying of stage IV cancer, and he’s using what little time he has left to give free science lectures at colleges and universities. His politics aside, he seems like a decent enough guy who’s handling his bum deal with humor and dignity.
Last week, Berry was sitting in Seattle’s Ravenna Park minding his own business when a large, “muscular†black man started beating the living crap out of him. No provocation, no reason at all. White man sitting quietly in park = “that ofay devil be needin’ a beatdown.†Berry had to be rushed to the ER.
https://www.takimag.com/article/the-only-good-white-ally-is-a-dead-white-ally/
