Malcolm Gladwell and the Dangers of Light Skinned Privilege

A few years ago, in 2016, a friend recommended a podcast to me titled, Revisionist History, by a journalist and bestselling author named Malcolm Gladwell. I had never really read any of his books at the time, but my interest and curiosity had peaked nonetheless.

From there, I discovered the Afro-Canadian, Jamaican-British writer’s calm, yet direct approach to unpacking topics of importance. Initially, I had fallen for his non-confrontational style during a time of rampant Trump/right-wing politics and the impact that it had on North America and Europe. At the time, I was living in Houston (my home), so quite frankly, Gladwell’s calamity was an escape from all the noise.

After season one of the podcast, I decided to read his most famous book Outliers. I read it over and over, digesting its words like a top tier steak. Bit by bit, bite by bite, I truly studied its flavour. Outliers is one of the most unique books I have ever read (for several reasons), this is a book where Gladwell makes the dubious claim that an individual’s birth month will determine their ability to be a great professional hockey player, backing up the claim with statistics. A real Canadian dream. However, these causal narratives allow Gladwell to slip in some of his more problematic ideas.

For example, Gladwell says that Bill Gates is the successful person he is because he had access to a computer as a child. Gates put in his 10,000 hours making him the expert in computers, at a time when most people did not even know what a computer was (the 60s). While this may be true, Gladwell ignores Gates’ access to generational wealth and white privilege. Gates’ parents were professors in the 1950s, a time when most Americans or Canadians of any race did not have access to higher education.

Sadly, this is not Gladwell’s most troubling take in Outliers. Gladwell dives into tropes and stereotypes, claiming that Asians are better at math than Americans because of their cultural history cultivating rice patties. No matter what methodology gets Gladwell here, some things should just be kept in the drafts and worked out in counselling.

Outliers was published in 2008. Writers can, have, and we can only hope, grow over time. What was “acceptable” then, is often not now…