History Main / TokenWhite

In some cases, the token white will be part of a non-racial minority group, such as being disabled, LGBT, or Jewish. Being ginger could count as well if the show is set in Europe. Whatever the case, the token white's whiteness might still make them an Acceptable Target, but their own minority status will not, and might give the others something to learn about tolerance.

-->-- ''[=McSweeney’s=]'', "[[https://www.mcsweeneys.net/articles/tips-for-black-men-trying-to-withdraw-money-from-their-own-bank-accounts Tips for Black Men Trying to Withdraw Money from Their Own Bank Accounts]]"

* Sandi (played by Jessica Stroup), Claude's secret wife in ''This Christmas''.

* In the UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi vs. UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'', the combatants are played by Series/KeyAndPeele rather than the channel creators and usual stars WebVideo/NicePeter and WebVideo/EpicLloyd, who are both white. They do each make a cameo as part of Gandhi or King's crowd supporters, who are otherwise Indian[=/=]black respectively. TruthInTelevision as there were some Brits who were in favour of decolonization and white Americans who supported the UsefulNotes/CivilRightsMovement.

* ''Series/KungFu'': Evan is the only White person in the main cast. The rest are East Asian (specifically Chinese or Chinese-American).

* In ''Film/{{Blackbird}}'', all the main characters are African Americans with the exception of Randy's white love interest Marshall.

* ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'': Trevor Slattery (''Creator/BenKingsley'') is the only named white actor in the main body of the film. [[note]] Bruce Banner (''Creator/MarkRuffalo'') and Carol Danvers (''Creator/BrieLarson'') appear in the post-credit scenes. [[/note]]

* ''Manga/Squid Girl'': Cindy, a researcher from America, is the sole white person in an all-Japanese cast.

** Whites tended to fare poorly on ''Family Matters'', whether they were racist or not (and they usually weren't). Even ''Urkel'' looked down on them.

* ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' has Officer "Hoppy" Hopkins, the only regularly recurring white character. He could best be described as being mildly retarded.

* A newspaper comic example is the character of Gunk from ''ComicStrip/{{Curtis}}''. Gunk is the only white member of the cast, period, and is the white equivalent of the "magical negro" character type, displaying utterly bizarre and nonsensical abilities due to being from the backwards Flyspeck Island. Gunk isn't just clueless and out-of-touch... he's the uber-ascendant {{Cloudcuckoolander}} given shape, voice, and wall-eyes.

* In ''WesternAnimation/LiloAndStitch'', most of the human characters are Hawaiian and Cobra Bubbles is black. The only semi-prominent white character is Mertle, the bully who picks on Lilo.

In some cases the token white will be part of a non-racial minority group, such as being disabled, LGBT, or Jewish. Being ginger could count as well if the show is set in Europe. Whatever the case, the token white's whiteness might still make them an Acceptable Target, but their own minority status will not, and might give the others something to learn about tolerance.

* In Earth-23 of Franchise/TheDCU, Batman is this for the Justice League, which is otherwise predominantly Black. There is actually a reason for this; aside from that world's Black Superman, all the other Black Leaguers have actually existed before in other comics. Batman has had no such version however, so he's still Bruce Wayne.

* In ''Film/ComingToAmerica'': Eddie Murphy as "Saul" the old Jewish guy in the barbershop. Best line -- when the king arrives draped in a lion skin -- "What is that? Velvet?" Later on there's the restaurant worker Maurice.

--->'''Conspiracy Brother''': What the fuck? Chief! I've never seen this bitch in my agent classes! I'm still paying the loans off, man! I sleep on a pissy mattress! I ain't got good food to eat! I borrow money for my weed! I quit! That's it. Y'all ain't got Conspiracy Brother Jones to kick around no more! Give me a pillow case... I'm joining the Klan!

* ''Literature/TheHateUGive'' focuses on Starr, a Black teenage girl, her family, and the other people living in Garden Heights, a mostly-Black low income neighborhood. The only major white characters are Hailey, Starr's [[WithFriendsLikeThese "friend"]] from school, and Chris, Starr's boyfriend. [[spoiler:By the end, Chris has become this for Starr's group of friends, who have all warmed up to him, and he's accompanied by Maya, who's Asian, and thus a minority herself.]]

** The show had this. Generally the only white guy on the cast was Carl's boss Lieutenant Lieu Murtaugh, and was shown to be, again, completely out of touch... with reality. There was also the occasional goofy white friend of the kids, who was often a "wannabe", trying desperately to [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy assimilate into Black culture]], with everyone else practically straining their retinas rolling their eyes. And then there was the one episode with two cops who pulled Eddie over for being in a white neighborhood (though only one of them was actually racist, the other was just dragged along).

* ''Series/ARBernard'', a blaxploitation-flavored religious talk show airing on FamilyNet, will occaisionally include a white guest.

* Stevie from ''Series/TheParkers''. On this show she's also a TwoferTokenMinority by also being the only slim woman.

* In the Sky 1 series ''{{Series/Sinbad}}'', the cast is made up of various ethnicities, including a pair of white women pretending to be Arabic/Asian. There is however, one Northern European bloke who is often referenced as the 'Northman' and fills this trope, without the ButtMonkey aspect.

* ''{{Series/Vida}}'': Nearly all of the cast are Latin American, with only a few whites appearing on the show. Lyn's boyfriend in the first season and a store owner (whose property Marisol vandalizes) are probably the only ones who appear in more than a couple scenes, have multiple lines or aren't in the background.

* ''Series/AllRise'': Mark and Lisa are the only White people in the main cast. The rest are Black, Latino or East Asian (rather unusually in a mainstream series).

** He was the one white guy in the rap group D12. We might think of him as leader of the group nowadays, but in their underground days he was just another member before making it big. He was also the Token White artist on Music/DrDre's Aftermath label.

** Matt Fink spent 1978-1980 as one, until Lisa Coleman joined the band. Fink's tenure with Prince lasted in 1990, and that final year, he was the single white member of the band as well.

* Thuggin and Buggin Enterprises was central to a race baiting angle in WWE where [[Wrestling/TeddyLong Theodore Long]] would challenge white wrestlers to take on his clients such as Wrestling/DLoBrown, Rodney Mack and Wrestling/MarkHenry. When Wrestling/ChristopherNowinski said his Harvard education allowed him to identify with the Black man's plight though, Long decided to give a white boy a chance.

* Of the four central members of ''LetsPlay/MarioPartyTV'', Steeler is the Token White-Holms, Mr. Doom, and Clel are Black.

* Chuck, among the male leads,[[note]]If we exclude Julie and assume she's white[[/note]] in ''{{WesternAnimation/Motorcity}}''. Jacob would also count, but he's not as "on the field" as often as the rest. It's not as noticable, as some of the races are confirmed by WordOfGod (Mike is mixed race, Texas is Filipino, etc.).

* Invoked an episode in ''WesternAnimation/KingOfTheHill,'' where an all-Asian country club attempts to recruit Hank just to convince the PGA that they're not racist. Hank refuses to go along with it when he figures it out.

* ''Series/TheFreshPrinceOfBelAir'' did this occasionally with Will's goofy white classmates/friends, but even these eventually disappeared and were replaced with Black WesternAnimation/BeavisAndButthead style sidekicks, only one of which had any staying power. For the first half or so of the series, there was also the hopelessly out-of-touch white teacher. Later, one of his aunts became involved with a white man... who eventually became so accepted by the family that he could make jokes about ''Carlton'' being white.

[[folder:Anime and Manga]]

[[folder:Film -- Animation]]

[[folder:Film -- Live Action]]

* Everett K. Ross (Creator/MartinFreeman) in ''Film/{{Black Panther|2018}}''. He's the only named white guy to fight on the good guys' side in the movie. Amusingly, Ulysses Klaue (Creator/AndySerkis) is the only white guy on the bad guys' side, which has led to the "Tolkien White Guys" joke.[[note]]Both appeared in a J.R.R. Tolkien movie adaptation, ''Film/TheHobbit''[[/note]]

* In ''Film/ComingToAmerica'': Eddie Murphy as "Saul" the old Jewish guy in the barbershop. Best line - when the king arrives draped in a lion skin - "What is that? Velvet?"
** Later on there's the restaurant worker Maurice.

[[folder:Let's Play]]
* Of the four central members of LetsPlay/MarioPartyTV, Steeler is the Token White-Holms, Mr. Doom, and Clel are Black.
[[/folder]]

* Sean "Diddy" Combs's label Bad Boy Records focuses primarily on Hip Hop and R&B acts, and as such, their roster is primarily Black artists. This made the white pop quartet [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dream_%28American_group%29 Dream]] stand out like this.
** In a touch of irony/TokenMinorityCouple, the remix to their second single "This is Me" [[AWildRapperAppears featured]] Kain, the lone white rapper in the Bad Boy stable.

* Music/{{Eminem}} was the one white guy in the rap group D12. We might think of him as leader of the group nowadays, but in their underground days he was just another member before making it big. He was also the Token White artist on Music/DrDre's Aftermath label.

* From Music/SirMixALot's "Posse On Broadway":

[[folder:Newspaper Comics]]
* A newspaper comic example is the character of Gunk from ''ComicStrip/{{Curtis}}''. Gunk is the only white member of the cast, period, and is the white equivalent of the "magical negro" character type, displaying utterly bizarre and nonsensical abilities due to being from the backwards Flyspeck Island. Gunk isn't just clueless and out-of-touch... he's the uber-ascendant {{Cloudcuckoolander}} given shape, voice, and wall-eyes.
[[/folder]]

[[folder:Professional Wrestling]]

[[folder:Stand-Up Comedy]]
* One of Creator/DaveChappelle's jokes is that all groups of Black friends should have at least one Token White in their group:
-->The one thing I'm seeing, you'll be walking down the street and you'll see a group of Black dudes walking, not just any old Black dudes, we're talking, you know, "thugs". There'd be some thugs, and in the group, they got one or two, sometimes as many as three white guys will be with them, did ya ever see that shit? Well, let me tell you something about those white guys. Those white guys are the most dangerous motherfuckers in them groups. (applause) Well, it's true, it's true, man. Ain't no tellin' what they've done to get them Black dude's respect. But, them Black dudes have seen them do some wild shit, I'll tell you that. I been trying to tell brothers that. Every group of brothers should have at least one white guy in it. I'm serious, for safety. 'Cause when the shit goes down, and shit WILL go down, somebody's gonna need to talk to the police. (laughter) That's when that white friend comes in handy. "Uh-oh, Ernie, wanna get this one?"
* Standup comedy shows with almost entirely Black comics tend to still have one white comic who minces no words lampshading this trope. On Creator/{{BET}}'s former comedy showcase ''Comicview'', two white comics, White Chocolate and Gary Owen, were popular enough to ''host'' the show after their respective seasons (the most popular comics in a season get to host the next). Gary Owen in particular has gone on to base his standup around being the Token White; he almost exclusively dated Black women before marrying one, and he often jokes about being the only white guy wherever he's at.

[[folder:Theater]]
* The casting in ''Theatre/{{Hamilton}}'' enforces this trope (and RaceLift) by calling for King George III to be played by a white man and nonwhite actors play all the other principals (who were historically white founding fathers, revolutionaries, etc.). Further reinforced by the music; George's song, "You'll Be Back," is done in an old school Broadway/British Invasion style, to clash with the musical's other hip-hop/R&B/jazz numbers, enforcing the idea that the colonies and the Old World have grown very different. It's interesting to point out that George's two originating actors, Jonathan Groff and Andrew Rannells, are both gay, meaning even he was still represented by minorities in the beginning. [[TheQuisling Samuel Seabury]] is also played by a white man, albeit one of the chorus members, and there's at least one documented instance of a white man appearing in the dual role of John Laurens and Phillip Hamilton--coincidentally, the actor had also performed both Seabury and King George in other shows.
[[/folder]]

* ''[[VideoGame/MenOfWar Men Of War: Vietnam]]'' have two [[UsefulNotes/RedsWithRockets Russian Spetsnaz]] advisors Fyodor Kazakov & Mikhail Morozov in the Vietcong campaign. Justified since the Russians did provide significant aid to North Vietnam, although making sure they remained confined to the sidelines.

[[folder:Web Original]]

--> '''Eagle:''' Happy Thanksgiving!
--> '''Zario and Sunji:''' Happy Thanksgiving!
--> '''Alexander:''' I'm thankful for everything except this white man's holiday.
--> '''Eagle:''' Uh, yeah.

* Benny from ''Anime/BlackLagoon'' is the only white member of the Lagoon Trading Company, though it's been brought up once or twice that he's Jewish. Such as when Dutch asks what he thinks of the whole White Power neo-nazi philosophy, only for Benny to point out that as a Jew. "Fuck the Nazis" is basically a family creed.

** He became this directly in the Super Bowl LVI lineup. He was the only white guy in the lineup, as the rest of the lineup were all black recording artists. The rest of them were Music/DrDre, Music/KendrickLamar, Music/{{Eminem}}, Music/SnoopDogg, and a surprise appearance by Music/FiftyCent.