It's Easy To Disregard It When It's Not Your Problem
Now, I've talked about Cultural Appropriation and I've talked about the problem with the phrase "I'm colorblind". Well now you're getting a two for one special and it's not something I enjoy gifting to you but it's important so we have to deal with it.
There's a certain kind of person who partakes in these acts. They think they're innocent, they say that they're not racist and that they would never do anything to hurt anyone. I don't doubt that they aren't doing it on purpose but they are doing it. It's a casual kind of racism. It's something that went unnoticed for a long time until recently and it needs to be called out and brought to people's attention.
It's disregarding things that are racist because it's not your problem. It's easy to see things in a black and white way (no pun intended) when it's not your issue and you don't have to deal with it.
Marc Jacobs put on a fashion show for New York Fashion Week in which he featured mostly non black models, with the exception of a few, wearing dreads or locs. When asked why he didn't just feature all black models to feature a style that was created to protect the thick texture of black and Caribbean hair he proclaimed that the "Social justice police" were once again overreacting and that he "doesn't see color". Basically, he doesn't care about the oppression and discrimination that black POC have to face when we wear our natural hair in this style and that he can use it as a fashion statement on non black people and not give credit where credit is due.
Things like this reinforce the message that once again when black people create something for ourselves we're put down for it and it's "unprofessional" or "ghetto" but when a non black person does it, it's "fashionable" or "coachella chic".
It's easy for Marc Jacobs to say those things when Marc Jacobs is not the one who constantly has to fight to be able to showcase who he is in his everyday life. He already has that. But for us we're in this constant war, always fighting against these anti black thoughts that are hard coded into us from years of aggressive racism against us.
So yeah, if we get mad seeing a bunch of white models wearing a style that was created by us for us, just listen instead of getting defensive. Because if it were you, you'd be pretty upset as well. Would you not?
There's a certain kind of person who partakes in these acts. They think they're innocent, they say that they're not racist and that they would never do anything to hurt anyone. I don't doubt that they aren't doing it on purpose but they are doing it. It's a casual kind of racism. It's something that went unnoticed for a long time until recently and it needs to be called out and brought to people's attention.
It's disregarding things that are racist because it's not your problem. It's easy to see things in a black and white way (no pun intended) when it's not your issue and you don't have to deal with it.
Marc Jacobs put on a fashion show for New York Fashion Week in which he featured mostly non black models, with the exception of a few, wearing dreads or locs. When asked why he didn't just feature all black models to feature a style that was created to protect the thick texture of black and Caribbean hair he proclaimed that the "Social justice police" were once again overreacting and that he "doesn't see color". Basically, he doesn't care about the oppression and discrimination that black POC have to face when we wear our natural hair in this style and that he can use it as a fashion statement on non black people and not give credit where credit is due.
Things like this reinforce the message that once again when black people create something for ourselves we're put down for it and it's "unprofessional" or "ghetto" but when a non black person does it, it's "fashionable" or "coachella chic".
It's easy for Marc Jacobs to say those things when Marc Jacobs is not the one who constantly has to fight to be able to showcase who he is in his everyday life. He already has that. But for us we're in this constant war, always fighting against these anti black thoughts that are hard coded into us from years of aggressive racism against us.
So yeah, if we get mad seeing a bunch of white models wearing a style that was created by us for us, just listen instead of getting defensive. Because if it were you, you'd be pretty upset as well. Would you not?
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