Tuesday, February 24, 2015

You knew it was coming...time for a RANT!

Okay so let's just talk about some things that have been pissing me off lately. I recently shared some posts, and wrote some statuses on my Facebook highlighting some articles that revealed Iggy Azalea's blatant cultural appropriation in her music and persona. Of course, people had issues with this. That's fine. You're entitled to your opinion. My main concern here though is that people are ignorant to the fact that white people and coloured people (in this case black people) are treated very differently in this world. I'm not saying [in the case of Iggy], you're white so you're not allowed to be a rapper. No. You can be whatever you want Iggy. But realize the context of what you're doing in the world we live in. Think a little.

Why is it okay for a white girl to dress the way that you dress, but when a black girl does it she's trashy and ghetto? Why is it okay for you to put on a fake Southern accent and rap, and it's cool, but when a black girl does it she sounds uneducated and ignorant? If we lived in a world where white people and black people were treated equally..no one would have an issue with these things. But we don't, and this is why people of different races take issue with cultural appropriation. And if you are a coloured person that doesn't take offence to it, that's fine - again you're entitled to your own opinions.

You want another example of this? WELL GOOD, HERE IT IS. The Oscars were just a couple nights ago. A beautiful young actor named Zendaya came wearing a gorgeous white gown, and had her hair in stunning dreadlocks. Giuliana Rancic, one of the co-hosts on Fashion Police, commented on her outfit stating "I feel like she smells of patchouli oil, or maybe weed". Hmmm...'cause that's not offensive.

Zendaya eloquently replied:


It's like she took the words right outta my mouth. (Granted, I wouldn't have said it so nicely). And this is the shit I can't stand. How could you ever think it was okay to say this? Kylie Jenner had dreads not too long ago..was anyone openly hating there? No, of course not, 'cause that was so avant-garde of her, she was pushing the envelope of edgy style BLAH BLAH BLAH. And don't get me wrong, I think Kylie has awesome style. But it just highlights the ignorance of these people. They don't even understand that they're offending people. They can't understand how it's offensive. They don't understand that they're offending an entire community, by wearing something for which this community gets condemned. And, they don't understand that insensitive comments always come within a context; societal context, racial context, etc.

Giuliana responded with this:


"..and others" - tread lightly there G. You were referring to Bohemian chic look. Right, so Bohemian people look and smell of oil and weed? If you don't like a boho look that's cool, that's your opinion, but again THERE'S CONTEXT TO WHAT YOU'RE SAYING, BOHEMIAN PEOPLE ACTUALLY EXIST. DUH.  

Also, "had NOTHING to do with race and NEVER would". Right, again, do your research..CONTEXT GIULIANA. Arrests for possession of marijuana are ridiculously biased in the United States. Example, in fact (and I say fact because IT IS ONE) in certain states black people are are roughly 8 times MORE LIKELY than white people to be arrested for possession of marijuana. 8 TIMES. We don't need to go over the statistics of black people being searched more, harassed more, questioned more, incarcerated more..do we? Yeah, I didn't think so. Miss me with that "it's not a race thing" bullshit. IT IS A RACE THING - whether you realize it or not, there is context to the things you say. 

My point is, this shit is still happening. People are still thinking it's okay to "act black" and sell records, and no one's going to say anything. People are still thinking they can wear bindis to a music festival or in their music video and no one's going to get offended. People are still thinking they can make crass comments, give a half-assed apology (that still offends ANOTHER group) and it's all hunky-fucking-dory. Well it's not. If everyone was treated equally in this world, there would be nothing to be upset about. But we aren't, and that's not my opinion, that's a FACT.  So people are still gonna get pissed until you stop. Just stop.

Twitter: @liveshiv
Instagram: liveshiv

No comments:

Post a Comment