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“ Our Brother Has Arrived”: A Victory That Can Become a Trap
A sense of community belonging can naturally foster pride.
Flashmag! Issue 176 September 2026
A Black child who sees, for the first time, a doctor, a teacher, a business leader, or a scientist who looks like him or her may suddenly envision a possibility he or she had never imagined. This role model can have very concrete effects. In rural Ethiopia, an experiment in which low-income families were shown documentaries featuring local people who had improved their circumstances led to higher educational aspirations, as well as increased enrollment, time spent in school, and spending on education. In the United States, a study also found that Black students who had at least one Black teacher during their early school years were subsequently more likely to graduate from high school and enroll in higher education. The authors consider the role model effect to be one of the possible mechanisms.
In other words, seeing someone who looks like us succeed can be extremely helpful. But only if the message received is:“ So this path exists. How can I follow it?” The danger begins when the message becomes:“ Someone who looks like us has succeeded. So their success is, in a way, already our success.” Because the symbol can provide the psychological satisfaction of progress before any actual material progress has taken place.
The Celebrity Trap
The phenomenon becomes particularly striking in certain Black communities in the West. An athlete signs a $ 100 million contract. A singer becomes a billionaire. An actor wins a prestigious award. An entrepreneur joins the ranks of the ultra-wealthy.
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