BLACK HAIR, WHITE MODELS, PAPERBAGS, AND DOPE,

The latest but hardly greatest race controversy involves Teen Vogue Magazine putting black styles on white models.

Personally, I don't actually have a problem with white women wearing black hairstyles. In general, I would file this  under"cultural exchange." But putting black hairstyles on a bunch of white models sans any black models in a magazine known for it's absence of black models is called "cultural appropriation."

So let's put some arbitrary numbers on the "cultural exchange" thing for future reference.

When you decide to go the "cultural exchange" route for a magazine spread, make sure the borrow-ees out number the borrow-ers by 2 to 1.



However, the writer of the article captioned above. needs to look again. All models aren't white. Half of the models are white while the other half are pale enough to be mistaken for white.

That makes this a whole different kettle of colorism fish.

I see 7 models on this page. At least three of them are not white. 

This is the kind of thing that happens when black people are as skittish about talking about colorism as white people are about racism. Paler than pale people "mixed race" people are taken as representative of black women -- by someone who claims to be black.

Welteroth, the writer of the article, took to her social sites in attempt to defend the magazine model.

“How do you define black?” she writes in response to one poster. “Just curious. Is it about skin color? Eye color? Hair texture? I ask because this mixed race model is as black as I am.  Also, how do you define cultural appropriation? I ask only because I want to better understand your point of view.”

Well I got news for Welteroth. Race is more about sociology and maybe a dash of phenotype. It has very little to do with biology. Racism, however, is often based on the belief that race is hardcore biology.

That's why nobody asked Welteroth about the white looking model's mommy and daddy. People, directly or indirectly were asking about a bunch of white looking models in black hairstyles.

 * * * * * * * *  * *
Let's learn a little sociology of blackness by example:

Barack Obama

He is "African American" or "Black" just like I am because he identifies his life experiences as that of an "African American" or "Black" person. And he has identified HIMSELF as "African American" or "Black."

Whether he was racially mixed 50 some odd years ago when he was concevied or racially mixed 150 years ago as I was by my  great great grandparents (via rape of an ancestor by massa) he knows whether or not he should identify as "black" or "African American" He knows how he got to be WHO he is and with whom he identifies.


Halle Berry

She is "African American"  just like I am because she identifies her life experiences as that of an "African American" or "Black" person. And she has identified HERSELF as "African American" or "Black."

Whether she was racially mixed 40 some odd years ago when he was concevied or racially mixed 150 years ago as I was by my  great great grandparents (via rape of an ancestor by massa) he knows whether or not he should identify as "black" or "African American" She knows how she got to be WHO she is and with whom she identifies  


Rachel Dolezal

She is NOT "African American" or "Black"  She did not have any life experiences from birth to the age she is now as an African American or Black Female. She did not have parents who have given her oral histories of her black people since birth. She did not grow up experiencing the joys and horrors of being a little black girl in the U.S.

Changing her hair texture, getting a spray tan, and getting braids a whole ten years ago did not make up for her lack of life experience as a black girl growing into a black womanhood.
 
And, I can't tell for sure, but did Welteroth hint at identifying as "Mixed Race" rather than straight "African American" or "Black?" 

Tyra Banks /Lupita Nyongo

Whether she did or didn't, let me say this: African American and/or Black Women do not pull this kind of garbage -- whether the woman herself is darker than Lupita Nyongo or lighter than Tyra Banks.


And Tyra Banks, who can pass that mental paper bag test that some of us are still carrying around, was absolutely devoted to making sure black models who look black were on her America's Top Model. Not only that, she made sure there weren't long flowing weaves on them every single time these dark skinned women were photographed. God love her, Banks was hyper-conscious of the potential effect she was having on little black girls of all complexions.

So what's wrong with Black-as-i-am Welteroth?

Oooh! Wait! Hang on! Where is Clarence Thomas's daughter working these days? Didn't she get married? Is her last name Welteroth now?

Just kidding.

Race is not an easy or clear cut subject. The only thing that is certain in the United States is that you cannot claim whiteness unless your hair is straight and your skin tone extremely pale. But if you are slightly darker than a sheet a paper you can claim blackness --some running to welcome you inside and some jealous of your arrival. But you can be black without too many questions (Just ask Becky D)

But when a person decides that they do not want to observe the one-drop rule (regardless of its ugly origin), that they do not want to identify as "African American" or "Black," then they should have to live with that decision. 

Let us remember that somewhere between 80% and damn near all African Americans are "mixed race," biologically speaking, thanks to the multitude of rapist masters in our recent collective pasts. The people calling themselves "mixed race" nowadays are only recently-mixed, making reference to two parents that are each of a different race/ethnicity.

This should make it even clearer why race is not about biology. This should also make clear why trotting out pictures of a model's mommy and daddy is not relevant and kind of insulting when somebody asks you where the black women are in a story about black hair styles. 
My culture, my family's history, generations worth of history, have been poured into me, making me a "black" or "African American" woman. So, my socialization didn't leave me much of a choice. I was pretty much born with a destiny to identify as black.

But those that do have a choice who choose not to be "African American" or "Black" but "mixed race" instead, that's fine.  Speaking for myself, I'll welcome you as a close ally. But you don't get to represent us, the "African Americans" or the "Blacks," once you've decided you are NOT "Black" or "African American" but "Mixed"instead - -not without our approval.

Being an ally instead of *one of us* is great. But don't get it twisted. Choosing "mixed race" for identity is an actual choice with actual consequences. 

I'm  guessing, but I think an example of a consequence can be seen in Zendaya's  getting screamed out, kicked out of the Aaliyah movie (lucky her) while nobody said "boo" about Halle Berry playing Dorthy Dandridge.  

Regardless of the excuses made later, Zendaya being paler and whiter-featured than Aaliyah--quite a trick in itself--was the primary reason a lot of black women were angry about Lifetime Channel's choosing her to play Aaliyah. But the thing that got me was that I couldn't find one word about Zendaya identifying as "Black" or "African American" until after she lost the role of "Aaliyah."  Did her love of hair styles come afterward too?
Halle Berry, in comparison, has identified herself as African American for decades. And you wouldn't be confused if you saw her playing a black person because she's recognizable by phenotype as black.

This is not me inflicting my opinion on others. There are ugly consequences that affect me and mine when mixed race people do not make a choice.

Those who prefer to identify as "mixed race" can be assumed to be saying that there were not socialized as "black" - not entirely. Yet they are routinely mistaken for "black," and get credibility for being "black" then following up by making the mistakes a white person would make such as:


-Zendaya being completely unconscious about looking as appropriate as Britney Spears for the role of Aaliyah.  Note, I did not say she disagreed. I said she appears to be lacking consciousness as to the basis of the objections.

-Zoe Saldana putting on a fake nose, black face, and a fat suit to play Nina Simone because your features aren't right and your skin is too light.  Much of Nina Simone's identity was wrapped in her strongly black features. Yet it seems to have taken Zoe Saldana a full three years to understand why this was despicable to black women who know and understand Nina Simone in a visceral way, know that they are black and identify as "black" because they were raised as black.

Zoe in Black Face and Fake Nose,
lips poked out to look fuller?

And I know black people raised by white mothers who were raised as black. They made sure their children were socialized into blackness and how they will be received by the world. They recently-mixed sisters do not make these kinds of mistakes either. Even children strongly raised as "mixed -race" can seem well grounded. It's those that are raised "mixed race" with the "there's no such thing as racial identity" that seem weak, defenseless and offensive.

Conscious or unconscious about race, there are consequences to choosing to be the "mixed race" identity. 

Like Tiger Woods, you don't get to tell the inside jokes such as  "black men have big dicks" once you've decided it bothers you to be called "African American" or "Black." That's as racist coming from those who identify as "mixed race" as it is coming from a dark-skinned or light-skinned Sammy Sosa. An outsider is an outsider, close ally or not.  

You also don't get to use the n-word as a term of endearment if you have decided you are outside of "blackness" and inside of "mixed-raceness" I may not like n-word usage at all, but somebody who has decided to be outside of "black" or outside of "African American" should be treated just like a white, latino, or asian person using the n-word, close ally or not.

This is difficult for some to follow because white supremacy is so weaved into all of us, even into black consciousness.

That's why there was an actual debate in the black community as to whether or not what Rachel Dolezal did was "a big deal." But I am going to suggest that even the highly desirable, palest of mixed race women doesn't get to say "I'm in...No wait, I'm out...No wait, I'm in...okay now I'm out" again depending on whether or not it benefits her to be black in certain situations.

White supremacy is so weaved into black consciousness that it seems too painful to discuss colorism openly. But there are consequences for failing at that as well.

For example: 

Because the white editors at Vogue are so in the dark about the depth of colorism,  when someone like Clarencetta Thomas can come along and lead them down the garden path of white supremacy and put light supremacy on the pages of Teen Vogue. They won't know or understand why black women are outraged until it's too late.

White Sundance Film reviewers of movies like "Dope" don't realize that the African American someone they're trusting to make an African American comedy has reproduced white/light supremacy on film by ensuring that every actress in that movie can pass the paper bag test in the dark. (This movie had multiple problems - entertaining or not, comedy or not. I was almost glad no instantly recognizable black women were in it.)

Don't misunderstand me. In my opinion, blackness doesn't need to be as exclusive as whiteness. In fact, I'm proud that blackness is not exclusive. Anybody who has the history and socialization can choose to be one of us.

But a choice should be demanded by those of us who are black.  People who are not us, who think their knowledge of race is superior are trying to represent us.

So decide.

In or out.
 
A person is black or they are not. Most of us are biologically mixed race--even white people if you go back far enough. That's not that special. The socialization is what is in question here. And if you decide you are in,  then you damn well better get the imagery right when you showcase black women's hair styles.

And if you are already in, be prepared to clown the Welteroths like a good black woman should. Real black women do not play when it comes to e-race-sure or hair. 

P.S.

Dear Outsiders: When you ask an "African American" person if they are "African American" they say,

1) "Yes"
or

2)"I prefer 'black' "
or

3) "Who the hell are you walking up on me and asking me about...." (Black people, especially RECENTLY-MIXED and PALE black people get tired of that question from strangers. Some are a little touchy. By the way, don't reach up and touch a black person's hair. Ever.)

But black people, in response to the question "Are you African American?" do not say:

1) "I'm confused. What do you mean?
      (We'll just call this Dolezaling)

2) "Well I'm..." this, that and the other.

In short, black people know that they are black people. And they are proud of it. Black people, if they feel communicative, will tell you what they might be mixed with when the subject is ancestry.