Does race matter when it comes to servant-leadership?

Since we are celebrating Martin Luther King, Jr.'s 77th birthday today, I wanted to share an article excerpt I came across from a recent volume of the Harvard Educational Review that deals with both race and servant-leadership.

I readily admit that I am always learning when it comes to servant-leadership. But when I read this I realized that it provides a situation that I had not even thought about: At a primarily white university in South Africa, a man who became the first black dean in over 100 years writes about his experience working as Dean in a very top-down authoritarian culture. He mentions his commitment to servant-leadership and then says:

"If I remained true to my commitments and values as a dean, servant-leadership would mean sacrificing my time, energy, and emotions for the sake of my colleagues. On the other hand, this could be risky, and could be interpreted as the Black dean 'knowing his place' and being willing to continue servitude in this White institution."

I would like to think that this would not even enter the mind of an African-American servant-leader here in the United States. Yet I cannot pretend to know this with any certainty. As we celebrate on this day, let us collectively work to ensure that no African-American feels this way here in the United States and around the world.