The UFC Has A White Savior Problem During Black History Month
Or, That Video Was A Terrible Idea
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The UFC didn’t have a good launch to its “month-long celebration of Black History Month.” For several days, the website greeted visitors with a mess of a launch page.
On Saturday the UFC’s handling of what it said would acknowledge, “the achievements of African American and Black UFC athletes throughout our history,” went from bad to worse.
During the UFC Vegas 19 prelims, the promotion dedicated one minute to its Black History Month coverage. During that time Drakkar Klose, Shana Dobson, Curtis Blaydes and Phil Hawes spoke in short pre-recorded sessions. The UFC gave the four fighters a total of one-minute of screen time on ESPN+. The main card feature for the UFC’s Black History Month was a two-minute story on Michael Chandler, his wife, Brie and their son, Hap Whittaker Chandler, who is Black and came to their family via adoption.
The clip would have been fine as a promotional tool for Chandler leading into a fight or as a “get to know the new(ish) UFC fighter feature,” but as an example of the UFC showcasing, “the achievements of African American and Black UFC athletes throughout our history,” the clip was out of place.
Chandler and his family are not at fault for the UFC’s choice. The former Bellator champion seems happy and proud of his family and it sounds as if Chandler wants to help Hap understand his history.
“Being the father of a Black son,” Chandler said. “I want to make sure he’s educated, he knows his roots, he knows where he came from, he knows the struggles, the hardship and the beauty of being a Black man in this country.”
Chandler should not be the brunt of any blowback on the video package, but the UFC? That’s an entirely different issue.
Unlike other major sports, the UFC has never acknowledged the Black Lives Matter movement and UFC president Dana White has been an open and vocal supporter of Donald Trump. White went as far to speak at the Republican National Convention to support Trump in 2020. During that speech, White used language that was very similar to the tropes Trump used when he was president.
For example, White said in what could be construed as a racist dog whistle, “Before the pandemic … we weren’t facing the lawless destruction that now is occurring in a few of our great cities.”
White’s support of Trump, the language he used when referring to cities in America and his treatment of some Black UFC fighters, such as Tyron Woodley, have left people like myself to wonder just where White stands on issues of race. And as we know, where White goes, the UFC goes.
I should also note that 2021 is the first time the UFC has acknowledged Black History Month since 2014.
That Chandler, a White UFC fighter, was the focus of a two-minute clip during Black History Month comes across as ignorant of the meaning behind Black History Month. To be blunt, the UFC video production makes Chandler appear as some kind of White savior, swooping in to rescue the poor Black child.
In no way do I feel that was the intention of Chandler and his wife. They had the opportunity to adopt a child six minutes after they had filed their paperwork and jumped on that opportunity.
“He was nine months old,” Chandler told MMA Fighting in 2017. “They sent us his picture, and as soon as I saw it I got this feeling inside of me, and I started tearing up. I was just like: ‘That’s my son.’
“And I thought, we’re going to move heaven and earth to make it happen.”
Not long after that, the Chandlers were on their way to Dallas to meet Hap’s mother.
“She ended up being a beautiful soul, just an amazing young girl,” the UFC lightweight said. “She’s only 17 years old.”
For the UFC to use the Chandler family story to promote Black History Month seems manipulative, it also overlooks the entire idea behind Black History Month, and the UFC’s own stated purpose for its acknowledgement of Black History Month.
The UFC has never been great at promoting outside its comfort zone. This is another reminder of that fact. The promotion could have easily focused on the story of Francis Ngannou’s youth as a salt miner before he became a heavyweight title contender. The UFC could have gone with a story on Woodley growing up in Ferguson, Missouri. There are many Black fighters the UFC could do a long produced video story on for Black History month, instead the promotion dropped the ball in featuring a White fighter. I’d like to say this is a surprise, but I can’t.
