great white hope

Idioms  

1. Something or someone that is expected to succeed. For example, Mark is the great white hope of the international division. This expression dates from the early 1900s, when heavyweight boxing champion Jack Johnson, who was black, seemed invincible and the term was used for any white opponent who might defeat him. It gained currency as the title of a Broadway play and later (1970) a film. By then it had been transferred to anyone of whom much was expected.

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Example Sentences

“He became the banner, the poster child for the great white hope of evangelicalism, the salvation of the church in America,” she said.

From Seattle Times

If I try really hard, I can imagine what those Trumpers must feel, as the reign of their great white hope nears its end.

From Los Angeles Times

Coleman-Mitchell, who is black, was in the spotlight again in March when former Deputy Commissioner Susan Roman resigned and alleged that she was the subject of racial discrimination, including being called “the great white hope.”

From Reuters

In the words of the great white hope of Conservative electoral strategy, Australian Lynton Crosby: “You can’t fatten the pig on market day.”

From The Guardian

Laettner was seen as the great white hope in a sport increasingly dominated by African-American men.

From The Guardian