I recently watched a new Legacy Giving ad released by UNICEF. Maybe you saw it, too.

The first half of the ad features smiling white faces – grainy footage of “the generation who had it all.” Playing with their kids. Dancing. Posing in brilliant vintage fashion.

I’ll admit, when I first started watching, I didn’t think much about these images. Maybe you didn’t either.

But then it struck me.

The first person of colour we see in this ad is Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. We see his image while the narration reassures the listener that they were a generation who had a dream.

From here, the second half of the ad is filled with images of poverty. The faces of this poverty are all brown.

And my heart sank. 

This is more than just the stock footage chosen to portray the “generation that had it all” – even though I’m certain there is plenty of footage of people of colour dancing, playing with their kids, and looking amazing in retro fashion.

It’s about philanthropy’s ongoing moral dilemma – our relationship with power and privilege.

As a marketer, I get what this advertisement is trying to do. Nostalgia, the experts tell us, is a fantastic way to connect with our donors – Civics, and increasingly Boomers. They yearn for the good old days.

But just what was the good old days? Who were they good for? And what was the cost to others, and the generations that followed?

Was Dr. King’s Dream really shared by an entire generation? As King said,

"First, I must confess that over the last few years I have been gravely disappointed with the white moderate. I have almost reached the regrettable conclusion that the Negro's great stumbling block in the stride toward freedom is not the White Citizen's Council-er or the Ku Klux Klanner, but the white moderate who is more devoted to "order" than to justice; who prefers a negative peace which is the absence of tension to a positive peace which is the presence of justice; who constantly says "I agree with you in the goal you seek, but I can't agree with your methods of direct action;" who paternalistically feels he can set the timetable for another man's freedom; who lives by the myth of time and who constantly advises the Negro to wait until a "more convenient season."

The generation who had it all was also the generation who could “agree with you in the goal you seek, but cannot agree with your methods of direct action.” And sadly, this attitude continues today.

This line hits home for me – “who paternalistically believes he can set the timetable for another man’s freedom.” Replace “paternalistic” with “philanthropic” for a moment and let that sink in.

We say we want philanthropy to be more inclusive – this ad misses the mark, and punches us in the nose. Philanthropy is not inclusive and we need to try harder.

I don’t mean to single out any one ad or organisation. All fundraisers walk a tenuous line. The world needs philanthropy, but in what ways to we perpetuate inequality, injustice, & white supremacy?

How does our nostalgia and the whites of our eyes continue to perpetuate a philanthropy of inequality?

For those who might jump to say "whoa, that sounds a little too political": you’re damn right it’s political.

Philanthropy, like politics, is about people. Caring for people, and serving people. If your philanthropy or your politics do neither, you aren’t part of the solution. You’re part of the problem.

Our world is in pain. This pain is across the world and right on our doorsteps, in our neighbourhoods, and in our communities. This pain is felt in ways that are difficult to comprehend, and yet it is our job to help cure it. We are disheartened by the hatred and fear-mongering, and we tell each other to “look for the helpers.”

My friends and colleagues, this is what we were called to do. So, let us be mindful of how we do it.

For those who want to step up and make a change, please read this call to action for white people in philanthropy by Vanessa Daniels: 

For more reading on Philanthropy’s Moral Dilemma, read Simone Joyaux’s essay: 

Sheena Greer is a freelance fundraising copywriter who has the privilege and honour of working with charities across North America from her home in Saskatoon, on Treaty 6 Territory and the Homeland of the Métis.