Harry and Meghan #286 Haznohope and Sparrowlegs - that's all

[LuluBanks]

Is it really okay that she talks about being treated ’like a black woman’ with such distaste?

Check out this quote: “Certain people don’t look at me and see me as a Black woman or a biracial woman. They treat me different, differently I think then they would if they knew what I was mixed with. And I think that is ― I don’t know ― it can be a struggle as much as it can be a good thing depending on the people that you’re dealing with,”

It can be a ‘good thing‘ that people treat her differently because they don’t know she‘s black - is that honestly an okay statement to make? Or ‘If they knew what I was mixed with’…?

Maybe I’ve got this all wrong and I don’t know what the fuck I’m talking about but I just find it all hugely problematic. She just uses it when it suits her, like everything and everyone.

I see that quote as pointing out something problematic in society - not her saying anything negative about being biracial. She’s saying people treated her better until they realized she was half black. When she says it worked out for her - it could have been acting jobs she got because she wasn’t type cast or pigeonholed. It could have been about safety. I admire her for saying this. She’s vocalizing both racism and colorism. There is a huge color issue within the black community.

In the documentary she’s direct in opening up about her own identity journey. I find that admirable and freeing. I’m not biracial so I can’t speak to that but I do know that it’s a common issue to struggle against ideas of “authentic” blackness and to be comfortable being yourself amidst perceptions of black womanhood both by other black people and by the broader society. And I want to be clear that I’m not thinking about racism when I talk about broader society.

 

[LuluBanks]

Just because this is your/your family’s experience, doesn’t mean it’s hers. To me, the events around her sudden ‘awareness’ of blackness as well as her previous behaviours and her general character as a whole point to a very different motive. And she’s still leaking clues everywhere - what about the ‘blue, blue, blue’ eyes comment. Yikes. She‘s not dumb, she knows the narratives to spout to strike a chord. But does the rest of her behaviour add up?

JMO but I find her hugely problematic on this issue (and all other issues )

She didn’t suddenly become aware that she’s mixed race. That isn’t what she said in the documentary.