White Leaders

I'm a little bit weary of the woman in the photo that we learned about today. Not because she is a bad person, but because she is white. I don't get it. I dont get South Africa.  I don't get the why the black liberation movement would be led in part by a white woman. Good for her for doing this and she has a little bit more street credit because she is a woman, but what is she doing leading a black suffrage rebellion? When has a person of another race ever led a deprived race to equality? It doesn't happen in history. Of course there is T.E. Lawrence but all he really accomplished was riding around on some horses in the desert and making promises that he couldn't keep. The fact of the matter is this an unoppressed (yes I know that is not a word) person cannot truly understand what an oppressed person feels. That person can sympathize, but not empathize with that race and as a  result he cannot be a fit leader for a liberation movement. I think that this holds true for class distinctions as well. As a result the russian revolution as successful as it was, was inherently flawed due to the fact that its leader V.I. Lenin did not come from the background of the common man. He was an educated reporter. His family were radicals (his brother being killed for an attempted assasination on Czar Alexander), but I do not believe that he was what Marx and Engeles had in mind when they imagined the workers of the world uniting together to overthrow the bourgeoisie . As a result communism in Russia, began as a flawed institution. 
 So if members come from a privileged class or race what can they do to assist in revolutions and civil rights movements? The answer is they can show members of impoverished races and classes what they need to do in order to obtain that which they want. Marx and Engeles are a good example of this. Both come from privileged backgrounds. It can even be said that both come from bourgeoisie backgrounds. However, the two sympathized with the struggles of the working class and wanted to instruct others on how to make life better.
I think this is pertanent to me. My dream is to teach history in the ghetto's. I will not be leading some liberation movement. That is just what history has taught me. I won't be able to do it. I can try and I hope to try in one measure or another, but when it really comes down to it, I cannot lead a despairing people to freedom. I am the son of a rich doctor. What do I know about suffering? However, I hope to inspire those who I teach to transcend their circumstances and leave their ghettos. If they go to college they can then attempt to lead their people to a better life.