The Cost of Being the Token Black Friend

<p>For generations, the narrative sold Black folks a dangerous promise: proximity to whiteness equals safety. But stepping into a primarily white space without a safety net of your own people isn&#39;t progress, it&#39;s exposure.From the 1841 capture of Solomon Northup to the 1936 creation of the Green Book, history has repeatedly proven the fatal reality of being the &quot;only one.&quot; Today, the tragic case of Nolan Wells reminds us why that nagging anxiety in a room full of white faces isn&#39;t paranoia. It is a highly evolved survival instinct forged by a history of betrayal.Sources:Twelve Years a Slave by Solomon NorthupThe Negro Motorist Green Book by Victor Hugo GreenSundown Towns by James W. Loewen</p>