Derek
Walker:
advertising
has no
stomach
for a
fair
fight
Op-Ed By
Derek
Walker
TheDrum.com
I’m
about to
butcher
this
joke. I
apologize
to
comedy
for what
I’m
about to
do. I’m
not a
comedian.
I wish I
could
remember
the name
of the
comedy
team
that did
this but
I can’t.
Still, I
want to
give all
credit
to them.
This is
not my
joke, I
am only
trying
to
retell
it.
For the
record,
I
despise
the
offensive
word in
this
joke. I
loathe
using
it. But
this is
one of
the few
times I
will.
To be
very
clear,
my use
of this
word is
not
approval
for
using
this
word.
One day
two
comedians
(one
Black,
one
white)
were
sitting
around
talking
about
how much
things
in the
South
had
changed.
White
man:
Man,
things
in the
South
sure
have
changed!
Black
man:
Yeah,
but it
sure
hasn’t
been
easy.
White
man:
What do
you
mean? I
remember
when we
let that
first
Black
boy into
the
university!
Black
man:
Yeah,
but not
before
you gave
him an
entrance
exam no
scholar
could
pass,
but he
passed
it!
White
man:
Well we
let him
in
didn’t
we?!
Black
man: Not
until
you
submitted
him to a
physical
exam
that no
pro
athlete
could
pass,
but he
passed
it too!
White
man:
Well, we
let him
in
didn’t
we?!
Black
man:
Yeah you
let him
in, but
it
wasn’t
easy.
White
man:
What? We
let him
in,
didn’t
we?
Black
man: Oh
yeah,
but
first
you took
that boy
down to
the
stadium,
and
filled
it with
70,000
screaming
white
folks.
White
man: But
we let
him in
didn’t
we?
Black
man: Not
before
you took
that boy
to the
end
zone,
and
handcuffed
his
hands
behind
his
back,
shackled
his
feet,
tied him
up with
rope and
wrapped
him in
chains
so that
he could
barely
move.
White
man: But
we let
him in
didn’t
we?
Black
man:
Then you
took
that
poor boy
and
dropped
him in a
hole you
had dug
in the
end
zone,
and
buried
him with
only his
neck and
head
sticking
out the
ground.
White
man: But
we let
him in
didn’t
we?
Black
man:
Then in
the
other
end zone
you
rolled
out a
cage a
tiger in
it.
White
man: But
we let
him in,
didn’t
we?
Black
man: Not
before
you told
that
Black
boy,
“Boy if
you want
to get
into
this
university
all you
have to
do is
beat
this
tiger
that
we’ve
been
starving
for the
last
seven
days.
White
man: But
we let
him in,
didn’t
we?
Black
man:
Then you
open the
cage and
let the
tiger
out.
White
man: But
we let
him in,
didn’t
we?
Black
man:
That
tiger
saw that
Black
boy’s
head,
and took
off! He
was at
the 10,
the 20,
the 30,
the 40,
the 50…
White
man: But
we let
him in
didn’t
we?
Black
man:
…the 40,
the 30,
the 20,
the 10…
White
man: But
we let
him in
didn’t
we?
Black
man:
...at
the
5-yard
line
that
tiger
leaped
at the
poor
black
boys
head.
White
man: But
we let
him in
didn’t
we?
Black
man: And
as the
tiger
was
flying
at him
that
poor
Black
boy took
and
ducked
his
head.
White
man: But
we let
him in
didn’t
we?
Black
man: And
as the
Tiger
flew
over
him, the
boy
reached
up with
his
teeth
and
grabbed
the
tiger by
the
balls.
White
man: But
we let
him in
didn’t
we?
Black
man:
Yeah,
you let
him in
but as
he had
that
tiger by
the
balls
what was
those
white
folks
screaming?!
White
man
(embarrassed):
Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
I
heard
this
joke the
summer
before
my
freshman
year of
college.
I never
laughed
so hard.
I
listened
to it
over and
over
again,
making
sure I
would
always
remember
it.
However,
I would
almost
never
tell it
to
anyone.
But I
would
hear
that
line
over and
over the
rest of
my life.
Soon, I
stopped
laughing
at the
punchline,
and a
glimpse
into my
experience
may help
you
understand
why.
A
creative
director
was
supposed
to pick
me up at
the
airport.
He
walked
past
four
times
because
the art
director
who
recommended
me for
the job
forgot
to tell
him I
was
Black.
Was the
giant
portfolio
case and
me in a
suit not
enough
of a
hint?
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
What
about
having
people
tell me
that I
work in
the
mailroom
or are a
delivery
person?
Or being
asked
countless
times by
the same
person
what
department
I work
in
because
the
agency
doesn’t
have any
Black
creatives?
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
How
about
being
the most
productive
and
award-winning
creative
- the
one
clients
praise
the
agency
for
because
my work
got
results
— and
also the
first
laid
off.?
Then,
days
later,
the
agency
calls
asking
for the
ideas I
was
working
on for
upcoming
campaigns.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
There's
also
having
to hear
several
times
that
your
creative
director
or some
member
of
management
or
potential
employer
not
believing
that
Blacks
could be
creative
or
clients
weren’t
ready
for a
Black
creative.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
Then
there's
knowing
that you
are
underpaid
for your
position.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
Oh,
and,
having
the
quality
of your
work
challenged
because
you
“aren’t
nothing
but an
affirmative
action
hire.”
By the
way,
that was
said to
my face.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
And
now,
despite
churning
out blog
after
blog,
demonstrating
my
knowledge
and
understanding
of
advertising,
being
told by
event
organizers
that
they
aren’t
sure if
I can
present
on the
subject
of
advertising.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
Here's a
rich
one:
being
told I
need to
hire a
“white
face” to
pitch
businesses.
Or being
told by
potential
clients
that
they
don’t
have an
African
American
effort,
when
responding
to my
reaching
out to
them,
not
realizing
that my
agency
doesn’t
focus on
African
American
marketing.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
A
newer
one on
the
scene is
listening
to
people
talk
about
“diversity
of
thought”
as a way
to
side-step
addressing
the
diversity
of
people.
We
listen
to them
assume
that
Black
and
Brown
people
in
America
are just
like
them in
thought
but only
with a
tan,
realizing
they
seriously
don’t
see us.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
Being
fed the
same
old,
tired
excuse
that
minorities
don’t
know
about
marketing
and
advertising
as a
career
choice
and that
the
solution
is
educating
young
people
while
ignoring
all the
older,
experienced
and
talented
people
who have
been
fighting
for a
fair
shot.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
Having
to
listen,
read or
watch
people
talk
about
diversity
in the
context
of
quotas
or
lowering
standards
as if
those
excluded
are less
qualified
or less
talented
—
enduring
their
arrogance
that
they
have
gotten
to where
they are
through
hard
work and
talent.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
And
finally,
watching
careers
and
agencies
build
reputations
for
creative
greatness
by
“borrowing”
from
every
aspect
of the
cultures
of
people
of color
yet
refusing
to hire
people
of
color.
“Fight
fair,
nigger,
fight
fair.”
Yes,
it is
all in
my head.
No one
would
ever
tell me
aloud to
“fight
fair.”
But they
do with
their
actions
and
inaction.
Are
marketing
and
advertising
expecting
people
of color
to fight
fair as
we are
handcuffed,
tied up,
shackled
and
buried
up to
our
necks?
Of
course
it does.
The
thing is
that
despite
all
we’ve
overcome,
some of
us have
done
just
that,
and
pushed
through.
I’m slow
to call
it
success
because
it
doesn’t
feel
like
winning.
We’ve
only
managed
to grab
that
tiger by
the
balls
and
prevented
it from
eating
us. We
still
know
that we
aren’t
genuinely
welcome.
I wonder
what
advertising
would
look
like if
the
careers
of so
many
people
of color
were not
so
restrained?
I look
at
entertainment
as a
point of
reference
— the
music,
movies
and TV
industries
— and
see the
answer:
the work
would be
so
varied,
different,
and
unexpected.
I can
only
imagine
how
great it
can be.
This
isn’t a
pity
party
for
Derek.
I’ve had
a
fantastic
ride,
met some
cool
people,
and done
some
amazing
work —
and that
offsets
all the
crap
I’ve had
to put
up with
over the
years.
Oddly
enough,
I feel
sorry
for
advertising
as an
industry.
I mourn
for what
we as an
industry
could
have
been -
especially
the work
we could
have
created
for
clients.
We
should
be
ashamed,
and
clients
should
be
pissed.
The work
could
have
been so
much
better.
I
just
realized
that in
handcuffing,
shackling,
chaining
up and
burying
people
of
color,
advertising
buried
itself
up to
its neck
relative
to the
quality
of the
work it
delivers.
We need
to stage
a fair
fight
and let
the
chips
fall
where
they
may.
Then we
will
realize
diversity
and
inclusion
in
advertising.
But, in
the end,
I wonder
if
advertising
has the
stomach
for a
fair
fight?
My guess
is no,
and
that's
the
biggest
shame of
all.
Please
prove me
wrong.
Stop and
think
harder
about
your
actions
and
thoughts.
Challenge
yourself
to
consider
if
you’re
really
fighting
fair.
Let’s
question
the
status
quo,
dare to
be
uncomfortable
and
willing
to have
a fair
fight.
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