An Open Letter From A Black white dog on Super Bowl Sunday
-by “Privilege” Bishop, the dog
Butt sniffs, my friends. It’s a pleasure to make your acquaintance.
First of all, that’s me on the left in the header image and Papa is over there on the right. He has mentioned that it’s not often that you could say he’s “on the right”. In the right? Yes. All the time. On the right? Almost never. I have no idea what that means. But There’s a lot of things I’m still learning.
You may notice your humans are extra excited today and I think I can explain. It’s Super Bowl Sunday. But Papa is extra, extra excited. Dude is like “involuntarily piss on the kitchen floor” excited. And you need to understand why.
Let’s rewind about a week. Last Friday, I was adopted by this guy and his pack — I mean “family.” Still getting used to that.
1.Papa is Black.
Now, while we’re all “color blind,” I’ve known a chocolate lab or two and this guy’s not “chocolate.” According to him, he’s Black. (And we’re the color blind ones???) And, according to him, since I’m now a member of this Black family, I’m therefore now Black, too. (Understanding this human “race” thing is way more complicated than learning what they mean by “Sit.”) Anyway, I may be white… but now I’m Black.
2. It is a BIG deal that there are two “Black” QBs in the Super Bowl.
I mean, HUGE. Like, you would think Papa heard the world is gonna turn into Milk-Bones and hydrants or something.
3. Back when Papa was a pup, he hardly ever saw Black quarterbacks.
There was a guy named Warren from the moon and a guy named Cunningham. (No idea how he earned that name, but I think we can all agree that we do whatever we have to do to get some ham. Cunning? No judgment here.) But all he heard was that Black QBs were not ‘smart’ enough to play in the NFL.
4. But then some Black human named Doug Williams played in the Super Bowl.
Yep, just like today’s game. They have one every year. Big deal. It’s like the Westminster Dog Show with concussions. In 1988 this Doug guy steps in, plays amazing football, and wins the Super Bowl. Papa smiles when he talks about it 245 years later. (That’s 35 years in human years.)
5. Pretending
Now, some of the same people who said Black QBs couldn’t do it and who kept many Black humans from even trying are downplaying the two Black QBs thing and saying, “What’s the big deal?”
6. The Thing Is…
Papa says, “It wouldn’t have been a big deal, if they didn’t make it a big deal.”
7. In Conclusion
I think I get it: It shouldn’t be a big deal what color we are but when your freedom is limited, you will rejoice when you experience some freedom. Hell, I’ve only been Black a week and I’ve learned that much.
Author’s Note: Whatever “Privilege” is, it must bring great joy. I don’t have my official name yet, but in the meantime Papa has nicknamed me “Privilege.” He says it’s because I’m white. And every time he calls me “Privilege” he just laughs and laughs and laughs.
