A few days ago, I shared the following post onto my timeline on Facebook:
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The picture was posted by Explore Talent, an acting and modeling talent resource, with the caption “Oh my goodness, this is the sweetest thing I've seen all day!” *insert smiley, and kissing emoji here* The post went viral with nearly 500K shares, 15K comments, and over 1.2 million likes. People loved reading about the sweet blonde haired toddler that gave a muffin to her poor garbage-man on his birthday. I’ll admit-- I did too.
If you scroll through the thousands of comments on the post you will see that people are in awe of sweet little Brooklyn Andracke for her innocence and “color blindness.” They adore her ability to love and care for others despite the color of their skin—the way that we all should.
What if I told you that this wasn’t the real story though? What if I told you that Explore Talent took an even better story, flipped it around, and was exploiting it at Delvar Dopson’s, (the garbage man’s) expense?
Because, that is exactly what happened.
The real story? It was Brooklyn’s birthday and she wanted to share one of her birthday cupcakes with the garbage man that she waved to every Thursday morning.
“Thursdays are by far her favorite day... garbage day. For about a year now, she has anxiously awaited the garbage truck's arrival at our house,” explained Brooklyn’s mom.
On the original submission to the city of Bloomington’s Facebook page, the mother explained that they waited outside for Delvar and his garbage truck the way they do every Thursday. When he drove by, she motioned for him to come over to her and her daughter so they could present him with the sweet treat. She described Brooklyn as “speechless” after giving Delvar his cupcake -- something that was unusual for her friendly daughter.
“He explained that he looks forward to seeing us every Thursday as well. He said that he has a meeting every Thursday morning and always tries to get out of there in a hurry so that he can make sure to see us every week. He said he doesn't have any kids of his own, but he mentors several children and just loves them,” said Brooklyn’s mom.
The story doesn’t end there though. The following week, Delvar Dopson came by Brooklyn’s home and surprised her with belated birthday gifts!
So, no, it was not Delvar Dopson’s birthday. It was sweet Brooklyn’s—and no, the trash man didn’t receive his only birthday gift from her. He instead presented "Frozen" toys to her. Yes, the smiles on both of their faces were priceless—because he made her day just as special, if not more, than she made his.
So why did Explore Talent change the story? Was it simply because they got their information from the wrong place? Or is there a more twisted and shadier reason? I wanted to find out.
I searched for a comment from Explore Talent on the post to see if they had made a disclaimer of any kind stating the mix up. I found none.
Next, I searched the internet for any articles that told the same version of Explore Talent’s story. I found none.
My curiosity was now getting the best of me, so I clicked on the official page for Explore Talent. To my surprise, the Brooklyn and Delvar story was the first post on their page. This was no coincidence though—they had pinned it to the top of their page. The page was benefitting and receiving millions of views for their "mixed up" story! It was at this moment that it hit me-- What post would’ve gotten more likes or shares on Facebook?
The post about an innocent white girl with blonde hair that gave a poor black trash-man his only birthday present?
Or—the post about a selfless and caring black man who made a little white girl’s birthday special and is having a positive impact on his community?
Now to clear things up, race shouldn’t even be a part of the discussion behind this story. In a perfect world where racism was obsolete it wouldn’t be--but we don’t live in a perfect world. If it were up to me, the only thing we would be discussing today is a local hero and his impact on Brooklyn and her family.
This isn’t how the world works unfortunately. When Explore Talent saw this story, along with thousands of others, all they saw was race. So the story was changed and white people (mostly) proceeded to share and comment on the post in masses as if their celebration of Brooklyn showed the world that they were not really racist.
If you do not believe me, look at the original submission by Brooklyn's mother on Facebook-- it received just over 6k shares, and 28k likes. Those are wonderful numbers, but do they compare to Explore Talent's version? Not at all.
I refuse to sit by and let Delvar Dobson lose all of his credit and honorability. I refuse for this hard working black man, who is mentoring children and positively impacting his community, to be exploited and reduced to the story Explore Talent created for him.
So, thank you Delvar Dobson for being a man that children in your community can look up to. Thank you for taking the time to make Brooklyn’s day special and caring for the children of your city. Thank you for your hard work and dedication to your job and your society. You are recognized by the Andracke family, the City of Bloomington, and by people like me all over the country for all that you do. Thank you for inspiring me and many others to pay it forward and being a role model that all of us should look up to. Thank you for being Brooklyn’s hero!
Find Brooklyn and her Mother’s original submission here: https://www.facebook.com/cityblm/posts/1687520794831899
Find Explore Talent’s post here: https://www.facebook.com/ExploreTalent/photos/a.73970478944.69033.22156858944/10154209564443945/?type=3&theater
*Disclaimer: I reached out to Explore Talent for a statement and did not receive a response.
