'Black Boy' and 'Black Girl' are not their names

Sometimes, your tribute is not a tribute at all. Lately, I've seen folks supposedly paying homage but, in reality, revealing ignorance. It reminds me of the saying "Don't do me no favors." Two outlets stand out in my mind -- one this year and one from 2018 that has resurfaced.

Picture these two headlines:

1. "9-year-old Black girl who has no hands wins 2 national writing awards in the US"

2. "Black Boy Scores Higher On IQ Test Than Bill Gates & Albert Einstein"

Well, isn't that, um, special?

The news, apparently, is that amazing feats were accomplished by folks who are black. That's why race was highlighted in the headlines, right? Let me make something clear: I have zero problem with acknowledging race. At times, it adds to the conversation. It celebrates differences. It provides cultural lessons. So I have no issues with calling a spade a spade. I do have issues, however, with these jacks expressing shock that someone black accomplished something amazing.

What do the writing awards have to do with the recipient's race in this case? The fact that someone with no hands won writing awards is what's worth noting. Her race makes no difference here at all.

In the other story, it is indeed incredible that a 16-year-old has a higher IQ than Bill Gates and Albert Einstein. It's probably incredible that anyone would surpass those IQs. So why mention the "Black Boy"? The only reason race is news here is because of the belief, even if subconscious, that a black boy should not be this bright. Could you imagine a headline stating "White Boy Scores Higher on IQ Test than Bill Gates & Albert Einstein"? Of course, you couldn't. We all know that would never happen, and if you say otherwise, you're just being dishonest. So am I building a case about racism? Not at all. What makes race an absurd angle is that this is published at the Rickey Smiley Morning Show website, and, for obvious reasons, the folks over there should know better. If it's not obvious to you, just Google "Rickey Smiley." Look, even the BBC opted for "Ramarni Wilfred tops Bill Gates and Einstein with his IQ" as a headline. Imagine: "Black Boy" has a name.

The headline about the writing awards winner, who does not have hands, has either been changed or the race-related one is the SEO headline. The URL still includes "black girl," and if you plug it into a site that displays a preview, it pulls up that headline. A trip to the site itself, however, shows a different one. Whatever the reason, we go from "9-year-old Black girl who has no hands wins 2 national writing awards in the US" to "9-year-old girl Ayana Ellick without hands wins 2 top national writing awards in USA." Maybe someone sent a memo.

My coworker pointed out that this particular outlet is from Ghana and asked, "Does it make it better or worse that that outlet is from Ghana?" I personally feel this makes it worse because, like Rickey Smiley, Ghanaians should know better -- should not experience jaw-dropping surprise that a black person, specifically, accomplished something spectacular. Although not condoning the headline personally, my coworker mentioned that "Ghana is doing the whole 'Year of Return' campaign to get American black tourism," adding, "I could see it being a thing where they are trying to highlight amazing black stories." Perhaps. I don't know. What I do know is that someone somehow managed to find this brilliant child's name, which is not "Black Girl" -- and use it.

Nonetheless, in the "Read Also" section below the article, there's this: "Ayana Ellick is interesting[ly] not the only 9-year-old Black child with amazing exploits," then pointed to "Camden Myers, a 9-year-old boy Black boy in the United States [who] has set up Cam's Coffee Creations which employs only people living with disabilities." So not only is it interesting that one black child did something amazing; it's even more interesting that they found a second black person who did something amazing. Oy vey!

Again, I'm not one of those "I don't see race" people. In fact, I don't trust people who make this claim -- because they're lying. Besides, there's nothing wrong with seeing race. How could you not? What's wrong is when that's all a person sees. Concerning these accomplishments, I believe these outlets primarily see black people because they can't believe they see black people doing such great things. (Read that again.) Therefore, when something challenges their "soft bigotry of low expectations," they throw a party, which, though meant to be an honor, is an insult instead.

Adrienne Ross is owner of Adrienne Ross Communications and a former Southeast Missourian editorial board member.