Line #63 Main/TokenWhite


1	[[quoteright:350:[[Series/ThatsSoRaven https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/thatsoraven_chelsea_5350.jpg]]]]
2	[[caption-width-right:350:[[TwoferTokenMinority She's also the only one wearing a hat.]]]]
3	->''"Every Black entourage needs one white person. White friends are the human passports that legitimize Black existence and allow Black people to travel through the world of whiteness unencumbered. It's why they invited Music/{{Eminem}} to perform at the Super Bowl halftime show. Who else on that stage could have gotten away with kneeling in solidarity with [[UsefulNotes/BlackLivesMatterMovement Black Lives Matter]] without causing a months-long national scandal?"''
4	-->-- '''Carlos Greaves''', "[[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]]," ''[=McSweeney=]'s Internet Tendency''
5
6	The CyclicTrope side of the TokenMinority. A show might have an all-minority cast, such as focusing on a Black family or a MultinationalTeam, but the [[PhenotypeStereotype blonde-and-blue-eyed]] portion of the audience will not be left out, either.
7
8	On a {{Sitcom}}, they're often either the "uncool" one or [[TheDitz the ditz]]. This is probably because the others are viewed as less AcceptableTargets, but when you really think about the [[UnfortunateImplications implications]] of the white member of a diverse group being lame, it starts to seem like a BrokenAesop. On a BlackSitcom they're often comic relief or a CloudCuckoolander, though they can be academically smart.
9
10	A white member of a multi-ethnic team tends to stand out even more than the traditional Token and is more likely to be [[LampshadeHanging lampshaded]]. When the VerySpecialEpisode about racism comes along, it won't be about them. If the episode is about learning about and respecting someone else's culture, they'll be the one who needs to learn it most, and it's never about their own culture.
11
12	In some cases, the token white will be part of a non-racial minority group, such as being disabled or LGBT, or are otherwise part of a demographic which itself has faced discrimination, whether presently or historically, such as [[ButNotTooWhite Italians, Irish, or Ashkenazic Jews]]. 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.
13
14	Rarely the token white might actually double up as a token minority in the racial sense, if the series takes place in countries where white people aren't common. This is particularly apparent in JapaneseMedia from the mid-to-late Showa era onwards, where the presence of US air bases and increased tourism from Europe and America has increased attention in Japan towards the race. [[UsefulNotes/AnimeAndManga Anime and manga]] in particular can be prone to featuring a Token White, though due to the [[{{Mukokuseki}} art-styles more often than not taking liberties with ethnic features]], Japanese and white characters can be hard to immediately tell apart.
15
16	This trope is largely restricted to Western media, although some other countries have their own local variants.
17
18	Contrast WhiteMaleLead, in which the sole white character is the ''lead''.
19
20	[[AC:Administrivia/NoRealLifeExamplesPlease]]
21	----
22	!!Examples:
23	[[foldercontrol]]
24	[[folder:Anime & Manga]]
25	* ''Anime/PokemonTheSeries'':
26	** Tracey was designed to have an Anglo-Saxon look, making him the TokenWhite of the [[Anime/PokemonTheOriginalSeries Orange Islands]] arc (though his Japanese name being "Kenji" implies he's Japanese).
27	** Cilan was also the token white of the group for ''Anime/PokemonTheSeriesBlackAndWhite'', with Ash being Asian and Iris being AmbiguouslyBrown.
28	* ''Manga/SquidGirl'': Cindy, a researcher from America, is the sole white person in an all-Japanese cast.
29	* 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.
30	* ''Anime/{{Daimos}}'': [[TheSmartGuy Douglas Banks]], being a white [[UsefulNotes/NewZealand New Zealander]], is the only Caucasian character of the supporting cast, which is mostly Japanese or [[AngelicAliens Baamite]].
31	* ''Anime/RyuTheCaveBoy'': Ryu is the only character with pale skin in the ''entire'' show, as everyone else is dark skinned. This is enforced as pale skin is seen as a bad omen, hence pale-skinned babies being murdered at birth. Ryu was lucky enough to survive and be taken to safety, but still endures attacks from his fellow humans because of his skin.
32	[[/folder]]
33
34	[[folder:Comedy]]
35	* One of Creator/DaveChappelle's jokes is that all groups of Black friends should have at least one Token White in their group:
36	-->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?"
37	* 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.
38	[[/folder]]
39
40	[[folder:Comic Books]]
41	* Boogieman from the Milestone comic ''ComicBook/BloodSyndicate'' was a fairly odd variant. A ''closeted'' White kid (he's a [[{{Animorphism}} were-rat]]) in a band of Black, Hispanic, and Asian (ex)GangBangers that were mutated (instead of killed outright like most in the area) by radiation-tainted tear-gas used to break up a big melee. He has some elements of PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy -- unlike the rest of the team he comes from a stable, middle-class family, and he talks like he stepped out of a rap video.
42	* For a few issues of ''ComicBook/JusticeLeague'' around 2009, the team consisted of Comicbook/{{Vixen}}, Comicbook/{{Firestorm\|DCComics}} (Jason Rusch), Comicbook/GreenLantern (John Stewart), Doctor Light (Kimiyo Hoshi), and Comicbook/{{Zatanna}}, thus making Zatanna the Token White.
43	* 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.
44	* Skullfire in ''X-Men 2099''. When he joins, the team consists of Krystalin (Black), Cerebra (an ethnic Arab from India), Serpentina (white, but [[SacrificialLamb dead]] in #3), Xi'an, Metalhead, and Meanstreak (each a different East Asian ethnicity).
45	* The extended ''ComicBook/JemAndTheHologramsIDW'' cast is diverse, but Rapture is the one white member of The Stingers. The others are Riot (half-white and half-Asian), Minx (South Asian-German), and Raya (Mexican-American).
46	[[/folder]]
47
48	[[folder:Comic Strips]]
49	* 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.
50	[[/folder]]
51
52	[[folder:Fan Works]]
53	* In ''Fanfic/EmpathTheLuckiestSmurf'', Polaris Psyche is this among the Smurfs, since all Psyches have white-colored skin.
54	[[/folder]]
55
56	[[folder:Films -- Animation]]
57	* In ''WesternAnimation/TheBookOfLife'', Sasha is the only one of the Detention Kids to be white.
58	* 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. However she is BullyingADragon as Lilo's response to being insulted is to bite Mertle and pull her hair. Lilo does apologize later, but Mertle does not accept.
59	* Marnie from ''Anime/WhenMarnieWasThere'' is as being a "foreigner" and is one of the only white characters in the film. Everyone else is Japanese. [[spoiler:Anna herself is multiracial as Marnie is her grandmother]].
60	* ''WesternAnimation/TurningRed'' has exactly one white character in a major role (Miriam, one of the friends of protagonist Mei). Mei and her family are Chinese-Canadian, while the other people in her friend group are of Asian descent (Abby is Korean, Priya is Indian, and [[spoiler:Tyler is Afro-Vietnamese]]).
61	[[/folder]]
62
63	[[folder:Films -- Live-Action]]
64	* The 1980 British social realist drama ''Babylon'' has its main cast consist almost entirely of black British Jamaicans, save for the protagonist's white friend Ronnie. He also doubles as the only sympathetic white character is a story filled with the "outwardly bigoted" variety of IntimidatingWhitePresence.
65	* Isaac in ''Film/{{Barbershop}}''. Also PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy.
66	* Lynn filled this role in ''Barbershop's'' DistaffCounterpart {{spinoff}}, ''Film/BeautyShop''.
67	* 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]] [[spoiler: Eventually played straight in Everett's case once Erik kills Klaue.]]
68	* In the third film in the ''Film/BringItOn'' series, white cheerleader Britney Allen moves from her affluent community to a mostly minority working-class community, where she's initially marginalized, but eventually accepted.
69	* Sandi (played by Jessica Stroup), Claude's secret wife in ''Film/ThisChristmas''.
70	* 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.
71	* ''Film/FindingOhana'': Casper is the only white person of note to appear in the movie apart from the pirates in the flashback portions, and the only white person in the main cast.
72	* ''Film/GameraVsGuiron'': Tom and his mother are the only white Americans in an otherwise Japanese cast--added solely to give the film more appeal to the American market.
73	* In the 2010 version of ''Film/TheKarateKid'', Dre's only friend he finds in China is a blond boy.
74	* ''Film/TheLastQueen'': The cast is primarily composed of UsefulNotes/{{Algeria}}n actors and actors of Algerian descent, with the exception of the Scandinavian Astrid, played by French actress of Finnish and Polish descent Nadia Tereszkiewicz.
75	* ''Film/LetItShine'': Lyla, manager to Roxie, is the only major white character in a cast of almost-entirely Black people.
76	* The titular character of ''Film/MarcoPolo'' (unrelated to the TV series). Said film is a Creator/ShawBrothers production starring the all-Chinese Venoms Mob, while Richard Harrison plays Marco and serves as a SupportingProtagonist.
77	* Roach, a Caucasian character in the main cast of ''[[Film/{{Friday}} Next Friday]]''.
78	* ''Film/{{Posse}}'': Little J (Stephen Baldwin) is the token white guy of the eponymous posse.
79	* There is a bit of a weird variation on this in ''Film/{{Tsotsi}}''. The police officer is a token white guy, but this being a South African movie, he's also just a regular token minority. (Large minorities are still minorities.)
80	* ''{{Film/Super}}'': Frank is the only Caucasian working at the diner, though Sarah formerly worked there as well.
81	* ''Film/UndercoverBrother''
82	** Lance (Creator/NeilPatrickHarris) as the token white staffer of "The Brotherhood", an African-American spy agency. Lampshaded ''thoroughly''. ("What's a white boy doing here?" "What can I say. [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Affirmative_Action Affirmative Action]].") Starts as a classic "uncool" version, but he gains respect when he reveals that he goes a little AxeCrazy when pushed. Crazy white boys.
83	** Later [[spoiler: White She Devil]] joins as well, much to Conspiracy Brother's chagrin.
84	--->'''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 pillowcase... I'm joining the Klan!
85	* ''Film/SavingFace'': Wil's coworker Randi is the only white person in the film, which has an almost entirely East Asian cast, along with one Black person (Wil's friend Jay).
86	* ''Film/ShangChiAndTheLegendOfTheTenRings'': Razor Fist (Florian Munteanu) is the only named white actor in the main body of the film. [[note]] Bruce Banner (Mark Ruffalo) and Carol Danvers (Brie Larson) appear in the post-credit scenes. [[/note]]
87	[[/folder]]
88
89	[[folder:Literature]]
90	* In ''Literature/Blackbird1986'', all the main characters are African Americans with the exception of Randy's white love interest Marshall.
91	* ''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.]]
92	* ''Literature/MoonBaseAlpha'': The Sjobeg family of Nordic {{Jerkass}}es are the only Caucasian people on Moon Base Alpha. They're also the only entirely white people Dash has ever met in his life, as most people in the future are of mixed ancestry.
93	* ''Literature/PublicSchoolSuperhero'' has Preemie, whom Kenny says is the only white student at their school.
94	[[/folder]]
95
96	[[folder:Live-Action TV]]
97	* ''Series/TheJeffersons'': Tom Willis was the only constantly recurring white character. Also one of the first characters of this type on television.
98	* ''Series/LincolnHeights'' made sure to have at least a couple whites prominent in the story. Always as a sidekick or love interest to one of the main Black characters. Lund as the sidekick to Eddie, Charles as the boyfriend to Cassie and later Sage as a foil to Cassie.
99	* ''Series/TheSteveHarveyShow'' is notorious for this.
100	* As is ''Series/SisterSister''. (Creator/BrittanyMurphy was the first of them.)
101	* Nina Walsh from ''Series/SmartGuy''. Notably, the only white female in the series, and aside from one VerySpecialEpisode which centered around her job (following Black people around a mall to make sure they don't steal anything), her only role was to follow Yvette around. There was also a ButtMonkey white male named Mackey on the show. Usually, after being the butt of a joke, he'd comment "It's because I'm white, isn't it?"
102	* In ''Series/TheWayansBros'', the character is actually named "White Mike."
103	* And ''Series/{{Martin}}'' with Shawn and Buckwhite (parody of Buckwheat).
104	* Similarly, Greg Wulliger in ''Series/EverybodyHatesChris''. Though he's no more dorky than Chris himself.
105	* Chelsea in ''Series/ThatsSoRaven''. In the spin-off ''Series/CoryInTheHouse'', Newt plays pretty much exactly the [[SpearCounterpart same role.]]
106	* ''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 ([[TheOtherDarrin initially played]] by Creator/DiedrichBader) ... who eventually became so accepted by the family that he could make jokes about ''Carlton'' being white.
107	** Come on, everyone loves [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy Cornflake]].
108	* ''Series/FamilyMatters'':
109	** 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).
110	** There was also Mr Looney (pronounced Loon-ay) played by the late Tom Poston.
111	** In the first couple seasons Eddie had a shady white friend named Rodney. Rodney came down with a case of ChuckCunninghamSyndrome.
112	* ''Series/InLivingColor'': Creator/JimCarrey and Kelly Coffield were the original token whites in the otherwise all-black sketch comedy show, though in later seasons they were joined by Alexandra Wentworth and Jay Leggett. Carrey at least was invited to audition because he was friends with Damon Wayans after they worked together in ''Film/EarthGirlsAreEasy'', rather than an arbitrary need for a white castmember.
113	* ''Series/ADifferentWorld'' took place at a predominantly Black college - to show it was "predominantly" Black and not "all" Black they had a token white girl the first season, played by Marisa Tomei.
114	* ''Series/{{Desmonds}}'' was set in a barber's shop in London, and the cast was almost exclusively Black, except for Gloria's best friend Louise, as well as hairdresser Tony, who were white. In one episode, he referred to Black people as "we" or "us", prompting someone else to say that he'd been hanging around the rest of them for too long.
115	* Chris Potter on ''Series/KenanAndKel'', and later on Marc.
116	* ''Series/ARBernard'', a blaxploitation-flavored religious talk show airing on FamilyNet, will occasionally include a white guest.
117	* ''Series/SanfordAndSon'' has Officer "Hoppy" Hopkins, the only regularly recurring white character. He could best be described as being somewhat mentally disabled.
118	* Kim from ''TheRealHousewives of Atlanta''.
119	* [[PlayingWithATrope Played with]] on ''Series/MalcolmInTheMiddle''. While [[TwoferTokenMinority Stevie]] is the token Black of the main kids, [[BumblingDad Hal]] winds up becoming the Token White of his friends, who are all Black. Hal's also a TwoferTokenMinority since he's the only poor member of the group, and he's only bothered by his lower financial status as he completely overlooks the fact that his friends are all black.
120	* Stevie from ''Series/TheParkers''. On this show, she's also a TwoferTokenMinority by also being the only slim woman.
121	* Alex in ''Series/{{Tinsel}}''.
122	* 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.
123	* Keith and his mother are the token whites in ''Like Family''.
124	* Turtle in Series/AllOfUs
125	* In ''Series/MartialLaw'', Louise was the only white character out of the main cast in season 1.
126	* ''{{Series/The Hughleys}}'' used the "Black family in a largely ethnic neighborhood with one white neighbor" theme, but then made it interesting by having the white neighbor not be a butt monkey, easy target, or other form of comic relief. Rather, he was the friendly, supportive friend who would occasionally offer sage advice type of TV neighbor.
127	* Andre's wife Rhonda from ''Series/{{Empire}}.''
128	* Marisa from ''Series/KCUndercover''. She's also the only member of the main cast who is not part of the Cooper family.
129	* ''Series/TheDailyShowWithTrevorNoah'' has Jordan Klepper and Desi Lydic as the only white correspondents. After Klepper was spun off into his own show, he was replaced by Michael Kosta, another white guy.
130	* Asian sketch-comedy series ''Series/GoodnessGraciousMe'' had Dave Lamb in the cast to play the Token White Man, who was cast in the role-reversal situation where he represented the equivalent of an Indian or Pakistani, who is [[ButtMonkey alone among white people in an unfamiliar culture]]. [[note]]Dave is better known as the mega-sarky narrator of foodie show ''Series/ComeDineWithMe''[[/note]].
131	* Oddly enough, the title character of ''Series/MarcoPolo'' largely acts as one, with a common complaint being that he plays very little role in the story and seems to only exist because the execs were skittish about having an all-Asian cast.
132	* ''[[Theatre/TheWiz The Wiz Live!]]'' has one white dancer in its otherwise all-African-American cast.
133	* Sean from ''Series/UltramanMax'' is the only white member of DASH in the all-Japanese cast with the justification being that he was a transplanted American member. He tends to use a fair amount of GratuitousEnglish, but also serves as the team's inventor and is a good friend of protagonist Kaito and sharpshooter Koba.
134	* ''Series/{{Insecure}}'' has Issa's coworker Frieda, who is the only white character with any substantial amount of screentime. She's dropped from the show in season 3, leaving the main cast all Black for season 4. Molly's Asian love interest Andrew is then upgraded to regular in season 5, and one episode implies that Molly sees him as this because of the different racial dynamics they experience.
135	* In ''Series/KimsConvenience'', Jung's manager Shannon, who is from Cape Breton Island in Nova Scotia, is the only white member of the otherwise pre-dominantly Korean main cast. She crushes on Jung for most of Season 1 and eventually becomes his love interest.
136	* [[InvokedTrope Invoked]] by the ''[[Series/WKRPInCincinnati WKRP]]'' episode "Changes", in which a magazine's TokenWhite interviews Venus.
137	* Brady and his replacement Boz on ''Series/PairOfKings'' were always the sole white cast member of the show.
138	* ''{{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 local 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.
139	* ''Series/KeyAndPeele'' have their East/West Bowl series of skits, parodying how long and "out there" the names of football players can be. All three videos have only the final player introduced be white, with all the other players racial minorities.
140	** Their first video has a gradual escalation in the absurdity, reaching a crescendo with "Javaris Jamar Javarison-Lamar" and "The Player Formerly Known As Mousecop" before culminating in a sudden white player introducing himself as "Dan Smith".
141	** The second skit has the last player be "A. A. Ron Balakay", a CallBack to the "Substitute Teacher" skit.
142	** The third skit mixed in [[AluminumChristmasTrees real NFL players with crazy sounding names]] like [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ha_Ha_Clinton-Dix Ha Ha Clinton-Dix]], [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leger_Douzable Leger Douzable]], and [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ishmaa%27ily_Kitchen Ishmai'lly Kitchen]]; this one finished with [[https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Aaron_Rodgers "A. A. Ron Rodgers"]].
143	* In ''Series/FourSquare'', the Beat Team has only one white member while the rest are Black.
144	** Also in the second season, Chantelle is the only white member of the Four Tones.
145	* ''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).
146	* ''Series/KungFu2021'': Evan is the only White person in the main cast. The rest are East Asian (specifically Chinese or Chinese-American).
147	* ''Series/ShesGottaHaveIt'': There's a couple White characters in the otherwise all Black/biracial cast who recur on the show:
148	** Nola's friend Rachel, who occasionally appears though not nearly as often as her Black female friends.
149	** Bianca, her annoying neighbor who is a minor antagonist.
150	** Dean, a very [[PrettyFlyForAWhiteGuy Black-acting]] White guy who's unintentionally obnoxious.
151	* ''Series/{{Black Lightning\|2018}}'': Jefferson's sidekick, Gambi, is the only white main cast member in the series. Antagonist Tobias Whale is easily mistaken to be white at first glance, but he's an albino black man ([[ActorSharedBackground and played by an actual albino black man]]).
152	* A downplayed version in ''Series/CrazyExGirlfriend''. Nathaniel isn't the only white character, or the only straight character, or the only male character, but he ''is'' the only straight white male character in the main cast. Accordingly, he's an exaggerated parody of snotty, emotionally stunted privilege ([[CharacterDevelopment at first, at least]]).
153	* ''Series/{{Twenties}}'':
154	** Courtney, a somewhat annoying woman, in the only white female regular on the show.
155	** Zach, Marie's boss, is the sole white guy.
156	* In ''Series/QuePasaUSA'' (a series about a multigenerational Cuban-American family) Sharon, one of teen Carmen's friends qualifies. Speaking only English and not being of Cuban or any other Latin/Hispanic origin makes her stand out more than her race. Hanging at the Peña home also gives her plenty of opportunities for butchering the Spanish language.
157	* ''Series/{{Acapulco}}'': Chad and his mother Diane, tall white blond Americans who don't speak a lick of Spanish, are both visually and culturally distinct from the rest of the main cast, who are dark-haired and Hispanic.
158	[[/folder]]
159
160	[[folder:Music]]
161	* Heather Morris, before she played Brittany on ''Series/{{Glee}}'', was the token white among Music/{{Beyonce}}'s backup dancers, and she can be seen in many live performances of "Single Ladies". When Heather announced she was quitting to do ''Glee'', Beyonce gave her blessing but joked about losing her white girl.
162	* 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.
163	* Music/LilWayne's Young Money label features mostly Black artists like Music/{{Drake}} (who is actually half-white), Music/NickiMinaj, and MackMaine but also has Music/LimpBizkit and Creator/ParisHilton.
164	* Indie rock band Music/TVOnTheRadio is almost entirely Black, except for gutarist David Sitek, who's white.
165	* Music/LittleMix has Perrie Edwards as their sole obviously white member as Leigh-Anne Pinnock is Black and both Jade Thirwall and Jesy Nelson are of AmbiguouslyBrown ancestry and have darker complexions when compared to Perrie.
166	* Music/{{Eminem}}:
167	** 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.
168	** 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/MaryJBlige, Music/SnoopDogg, and a surprise appearance by Music/FiftyCent.
169	** While there's many excellent (and less excellent) white rappers, Eminem is sometimes regarded as the token white guy in hip-hop as a whole -- between the size of his cultural impact and his exceptional technical skill, he's the only white rapper you're likely to find on a head's Top 5 Dead Or Alive list.
170	* The album ''Standing on the Verge of Getting it On'' by [[Music/GeorgeClinton Funkadelic]] credits Ron Bykowski with "Lead and rhythm guitars, Polyester soul-powered token white devil".
171	* As part of {{Music/Prince}}'s goal to have a multi-ethnic, multi-gender band of musicians at all times, he did include at least one white member from time to time:
172	** 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.
173	** Tommy Barbarella was part of The New Power Generation from 1992-1996.
174	** Candy Dulfer also spent time in The NPG from 2002-2004.
175	** Other stages of Prince's backing bands either featured no white performers, or several (Wendy & Lisa, and later, Eric Leeds, alongside Fink; 3RDEYEGIRL's tenure.)
176	* From Music/SirMixALot's "Posse on Broadway":
177	-->"Larry is the white guy, the girlies think he's funny\
178	A real estate investor who makes a lot of money"
179	[[/folder]]
180
181	[[folder:Pro Wrestling]]
182	* Wrestling/TheNationOfDomination started out in USWA with a white majority but after moving to Wrestling/{{WWE}} the white members were all phased out. Then Wrestling/OwenHart was brought in as the only white man.
183	* 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.
184	* In 2004, four Wrestling/RingOfHonor wrestlers went rogue and invaded IWA Puerto Rico. Monsta Mack, Dan Maff, Homicide and BJ Whitmer. Whitmer was the only one who wasn't Puerto Rican and the only one 'white' by the standards of his era.
185	* Rhett Titus often comes off this way in The Rebellion. [[ShapedLikeItself The Pantheon Of Gods]] began with a slight white majority but then after Wrestling/AustinAries left Titus and Kenny King kept going on their own for a good while before hooking up with Caprice Coleman, to form "The Cabinet". Then, suddenly protesting that they ever wanted to be called "The Cabinet" they brought in Shane Taylor and became The Rebellion, getting steadily Blacker before Search And Destroy forced them to disband.
186	* [[Wrestling/MickFoley Cactus Jack]], in the "Ghetto Odds" match at ''Wrestling/{{WCW}} Clash of the Champions XXI'', November 18, 1992, since he teamed with the African-American Tony Atlas and the Tongan Wrestling/TheBarbarian in a losing effort to the African-American team of Wrestling/RonSimmons and the debuting [[Wrestling/TooColdScorpio 2 Cold Scorpio]].
187	* Wrestling/{{Christian}} for the otherwise all-African-American Team Kingston (Wrestling/KofiKingston[=/=]Wrestling/MarkHenry[=/=]Wrestling/MontelVontaviousPorter[=/=][[Wrestling/RonKillings R-Truth]]) at ''Wrestling/SurvivorSeries 2009'', who defeated the all-white Team Orton (Wrestling/RandyOrton[=/=]Wrestling/CodyRhodes[=/=]Wrestling/{{Ted DiBiase Jr}}[=/=]Wrestling/CMPunk[=/=]Wrestling/WilliamRegal). In a backstage promo, he even lampshades how awkward it is that he's [[BaitAndSwitch a Canadian from ECW]].
188	* Wrestling/NewJapanProWrestling's "[[NamesToRunAwayFromReallyFast House of Torture]]", a sub-group of Wrestling/BulletClub founded by [[Wrestling/EvilWrestler EVIL]] after he defected from Wrestling/LosIngobernablesDeJapon, was originally made up exclusively of Bullet Club's Japanese members--which is noteworthy because the faction was originally a multi-national ''gaijin'' stable.[[note]] [[Wrestling/KentaKobayashi Kenta]] and Wrestling/TaijiIshimori are the only Japanese members of Bullet Club who've (so far) declined to join House of Torture[[/note]] This remained the case until Jack Perry (son of the late Creator/LukePerry) unexpectedly joined in Spring 2024 following his FaceHeelTurn the previous year.
189	[[/folder]]
190
191	[[folder:Theatre]]
192	* 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.
193	* Stageplays by ''Creator/TylerPerry'' traditionally feature all black casts save for a single white actor or actress. This character will speak and behave in a parody of white behavior but have a powerful singing voice and a surprising knowledge of soul and r&b music.
194	[[/folder]]
195
196	[[folder:Video Games]]
197	* The only white playable character in ''VideoGame/MartialMasters'' is the ReligiousBruiser Tiger.
198	* ''[[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.
199	* ''VideoGame/Persona2'' has Lisa Silverman, one of the main characters in ''Innocent Sin'', a blonde white girl who is also 100 percent culturally Japanese due to having been raised in Japan since birth by [[ForeignCultureFetish Japanophile]] parents.
200	* ''VideoGame/Persona3'' has Bebe, an exchange student from France, who has come to study at Gekkoukan High because of his fascination with Japanese culture.
201	* ''VideoGame/Persona4'' has Teddie, a [[spoiler: Shadow]] whose human form is that of a fair-skinned blonde boy with blue eyes. Lampshaded by Junpei in ''VideoGame/Persona4Arena'' who calls him "white guy".
202	[[/folder]]
203
204	[[folder:Web Comics]]
205	* This ''Webcomic/ScandinaviaAndTheWorld'' [[http://satwcomic.com/office-pet strip]] parodies a RealLife situation in China, where apparently you can ''rent'' white (or otherwise foreign) people in China to pretend to be a foreign employee of your company or an allied CEO. It's completely this trope that this practice exists; to prove that their companies are modern and global, Chinese businesses hire white people to be their token foreign dudes.
206	* Phil in ''Cheer Up, Emo Kid'' is the only recurring white character, while the rest of the cast is Chinese-Canadian [[WriteWhatYouKnow like the creator]] and his real-life friends and family. One of his major roles is to serve as a [[AudienceSurrogate surrogate]] for white audiences and have Chinese culture and customs explained to him. However, he is also a minority as he's [[StraightGay gay]].
207	[[/folder]]
208
209	[[folder:Web Videos]]
210	* Throughout WebVideo/SkyWilliams' series, Jesse is consistently treated like this in any video he's in, even when [[LetsPlay/VideoGameDunkey Jason]] or Leah are also in that video. He goes along with it, as he tries and fails to rap and pretends to be completely unaware of NWordPrivileges.
211	* In ''WebVideo/PrettyDudes'', Alexander is this in the first season and much of the second. Interesting in a way as he's the most vocal one about racial injustices.
212	-->'''Eagle:''' Happy Thanksgiving!\
213	'''Zario and Sunji:''' Happy Thanksgiving!\
214	'''Alexander:''' I'm thankful for everything except this white man's holiday.\
215	'''Eagle:''' Uh, yeah.
216	* Of the four central members of ''LetsPlay/MarioPartyTV'', Steeler is the Token White; Holms, Mr. Doom, and Clel are Black.
217	* The Rap Battle (Parody) series usually has one or two white guys among the crowd of fans that follow Supa Hot Fire around.
218	* In the UsefulNotes/MahatmaGandhi vs. UsefulNotes/MartinLutherKingJr ''WebVideo/EpicRapBattlesOfHistory'', the combatants are played by Series/KeyAndPeele rather than the channel creators and usual stars Nice Peter and [=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.
219	[[/folder]]
220
221	[[folder:Western Animation]]
222	* Zoey from ''WesternAnimation/TheProudFamily'' is the only recurring white character in the original show and thus an inversion of the TokenBlackFriend trope. The ''Louder and Prouder'' revival adds Barry, who is notably also [[TwoferTokenMinority gay]].
223	* Richie from ''WesternAnimation/StaticShock'' was Virgil Hawkins's sidekick, and the only white member of the principal cast. Although he's still a minority, too: the character he was based off from the comic was gay, and Creator/DwayneMcDuffie had [[WordOfGay stated animated Richie was gay, too.]] They [[AnimationAgeGhetto couldn't actually show it on the show]], though. Hotstreak, one of Static's most prominent enemies, is pretty much the only other recurring white character.
224	* ''WesternAnimation/MayaAndMiguel'' has Andy, the only white member of the principal cast who is also disabled i.e. missing an arm.
225	* Invoked in an episode of ''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.
226	* Squid from ''WesternAnimation/RocketPower''. The Rockets were half-Hawaiian and Twister was Latino.
227	* In ''WesternAnimation/YoungJustice,'' the [[RagtagBunchOfMisfits Runaways]] are a FiveTokenBand who only gain a white member, [[spoiler:Arsenal]], at the end of their second appearance. He's actually a TwoferTokenMinority since he's also [[spoiler:disabled. And Native American if we're going by comic canon]].
228	* 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 noticeable, as some of the races are confirmed by WordOfGod (Mike is mixed race, Texas is Filipino, etc.).
229	* ''WesternAnimation/XavierRiddleAndTheSecretMuseum'': Brad is the only white character on the main team. He's also Jewish.
230	* ''WesternAnimation/XiaolinShowdown'': Clay from Texas is the only character in the main cast who is unambiguously white. Omi (along with other characters like Master Fung) is Chinese, Kimiko is Japanese, Raimundo is Brazilian, Jack's ethnic background is not touched upon, and Wuya is AmbiguouslyBrown.
231	* ''WesternAnimation/MollyOfDenali'': Qyah is mostly made up of Alaskan Natives (along with some African-Americans - Trini and her dad), but there are a few white people: Nina, Connie, Jake, and Mr. Rowley.
232	[[/folder]]

Context Main / TokenWhite