In HBO’s Succession, the ambitious, ultra-wealthy heirs to an international media empire battle to become their father’s heir apparent.
The family patriarch, Logan Roy, essentially controls mainstream news. He is so powerful that he can literally handpick the president. They take helicopters to private jet ports where chauffeurs in luxury limos drive them around their private islands. They have more money than God. Logan’s children’s great-grandchildren will be wealthier than Jesus ever will.
And they are miserable.
Throughout the show, Logan’s children refer to their father’s throne as “it.” In the final scene of the fourth episode of season two, the turmoil-ravaged heir apparent, Kendall Roy, reveals his anguish to his equally tormented sister (and rival) Siobhan. In a moment of tenderness, Kendall reveals the source of his misery. Despite having all the wealth, power and privilege the world could offer, he confesses that, without “it,” his entire existence would be worthless. Or, as Kendall tearfully explained:
“I don’t know what I would be for.”
I think about that a lot.
As someone who wasn’t born with the inheritance of privilege that whiteness offers, I can’t fathom the heart-wrenching melancholy that would make someone doubt the purpose of their very existence. Questioning the meaning or significance of one’s life is understandable. But before Kendall Roy, I didn’t even know it was possible to want more than everything.
I know Succession is a fictional show with fictional characters. Still, I’ve always thought this scene was the best metaphor for whiteness I have ever seen…
Until yesterday, when I read this comment from a ContrabandCamp reader.
Why should any white or half-white person even try? If they are damned to be white supremacist no matter what - what’s the point? Is segregation better?
I understand it now.
Imagine living in a country that was created in your own image. Imagine if the people who controlled the media looked like your daddy and the people on the money looked like your grandfather. Imagine if the people in your house and the worshippers at your church and the people at your Thanksgiving table got to pick the president. Imagine growing up as an heir-apparent to the greatest fortune in the history of the world. Imagine knowing that “it” was possible.
All of it.
Now imagine white supremacy.
Imagine living in a country that was built on labor stolen from 89% of Black people and the stolen land of indigenous people. Imagine a system that took 90% of the land from the hardest-working people in the history of the planet and gave it to you. Imagine a nation where 72.4% of Black children attended underfunded, high-poverty schools. Imagine knowing that Black kids drink contaminated water and breathe unclean air. Imagine a place where Black people were underrepresented in executive positions, politics, mainstream media newsrooms and in the halls of power.
Now imagine a nation filled with people who didn’t do anything about it.
What would you call those people?
Now imagine if, when Black people correctly pointed out who was responsible for these disparities, the nothing-doers were more concerned with being labeled a white supremacist than white supremacy itself.
But I understand why a white person wouldn’t try.
Because they don’t care. Because there is no reason to dismantle a system that benefits them. Because they already have everything. Because you want more. More importantly, because there is a slight possibility that you could someday get “it.”
To answer the question, there is only one reason a white person in America should even try:
Because you are a good person.
Otherwise, I don’t know what white people would be for.
Except more.
This week’s Reading List
Americans Don’t Understand Who’s Rich by Owen Zidar and Eric Zwick
This Ain’t It, Amanda Seales by Michael Harriot
Writer Michael Harriot Calls Van Jones ‘A Liar’ & Releases Audio Of Jones’ Apology To The Jewish Community by Cassandra Santiago.
White Water Welfare: Jackson, Baltimore and the other racial wealth gap by Michael Harriot
Thank you, Marcus Flowers, TJC, Awkward.Becoming, Laurin L, Gilda Johnson, and many others for tuning into my live video with Genetta M. Adams! Join me for my next live video in the app.
