Walter White, head of the NAACP from 1929 to 1955, has been all but forgotten. With his blond hair and blue eyes, Walter White looked white; he described himself as "an enigma, a Black man occupying a white body." Like virtually all light-skinned African Americans of his day, White was descended from enslaved Black women and powerful white men. He was Black - by law, identity, and conviction and spent his entire life fighting for Black civil rights. American Experience | PBS Forgotten Hero: Walt