Am I Special? Rethinking Notions of Exceptionality in Black Male Success Narratives

Abstract

I was born and raised in Wilmington, North Carolina—a port city in the southeast region of the state. With a population of approximately 112,000 residents, Wilmington has always felt more like a town than a city. By the time I arrived, my mother’s side of the family had been there for three generations. Like many human migrations, my great-grandparents’, Rosa B. H. and James L. Stokes, Jr., decision to leave their home in South Carolina was not purely self-imposed. They had lived in South Carolina since they were young and I imagine this is where they intended to reside for the rest of their lives. Feeling that he was not being adequately paid for his work, one day my great-grandfather confronted his White boss and a physical altercation ensued. A few days later, a group of White men came to their house looking for my great-grandfather. Fearful for their safety, my great grandparents soon after moved their family to Wilmington, North Carolina. My family’s relocation to Wilmington evidences both the economic exploitation Black workers experienced at the hands of White employers and the potential lethal consequences for standing up to White people. Thus, in very real ways, I was born in Wilmington, North Carolina, as a consequence of Whiteness and anti-Black racism.