Earlier this week a video surfaced the internet of a male beauty blogger transforming himself from "White to Dark" Initially I saw a screenshot of this on Lawrenxoxo & friends. I was a little disturbed by it and shared my thoughts but I didn't fully investigate. I didn't get to watch the full video. I was way to distracted by "She's got to have it" on Netflix" Last night Kayla brings it to my attention that this would call for a good "Group Chat" I click the link she sends and I'm brought back to this same video. I was disturbed watching the video without sound. Then I notice my phone had no volume. I watched the video with sound, This is the part that actually made me a little more upset. So you transform yourself from White to "Dark" but your background is trap music and you have a grill in your mouth rapping "Yo Gotti Rake it Up " This was your way of showing appreciation for all colors as you mentioned in one of your post. NICE TRY! There are so many other ways you can show appreciation for other ethnicities without changing your complexion and mocking the music. We have to do better in the beauty industry this is NOT OKAY! . People do things to get a reaction and he definitely got my reaction unfortunately. There is nothing about this that makes me feel like he is showing appreciation for POC. As influencers we have a voice. Why use that voice to contribute to the stupidity for likes ? You were actually able to transform yourself this shows that you are talented artistically there is no need to dumb your talent down for likes!
This is one of those things that when you see it, you look up from your phone hoping to find someone who is as mad as you feel.
POC tolerate so much abuse every. single. day. The only way to create change is by not scrolling past blatant racism anymore. When we see accounts like this, we have to act. Block them. Report them. And if you're feeling up to it: Engage them. Oh right, but this coward, @notcatart, disabled his comments.
It's a double-edged sword. To react to this type of behavior gives people like this guy validity. But so does ignoring them. If POC were to allow every moment of the racism they encounter affect their mood, we'd have a stress-induced communal ulcer by lunch. Often ignoring this behavior is an act of self-preservation. When we do draw attention to an act of discrimination, we are accused of making everything about race. So it's a double-edged sword trapped between a rock and a hard place. Either way, POC bear the burden of racism; though, we are the ones who suffer from it.
What's INFURIATING is that his actions will give him the attention he wanted. Last I checked, he's gained 300 followers overnight. He even shared his account insights to show how much more attention he received since posting the video. He did it for the views and we gave them to him. Now we should all be paying attention to what brands continue or begin to support him after this post. While his post is up and blooming, an alternative body positive blogger, @hantisedeloubli, had a photo taken down as an act of bullying. She had captioned the original picture with her thoughts on being fat and black, like show often does, and Instagram took down her post. How many people will have to report a video of a man in blackface before Instagram takes it down?
I first came across this video via @khloedosh instagram page she had reposted the video and expressed that the page should be reported. I wanted to give this guy the benefit of the doubt, maybe he was going to present some amazing transformation, he DID NOT. Makeup is an art form that I love and enjoy and to see someone mock the craft as well as a race is beyond disheartening. Maria Malone-Guerbaa is a Caucasian make up artist that gives me chills with her transformations, she has become everything from an owl to Nelson Mandela, her transformation pays respect and homage to various people of color and history. This man in the video claimed to do the "tutorial" to show "appreciation" for all colors but he failed miserably and then became arrogant and indignant when it was taken down. This is not an issue of being over sensitive this is an issue of choosing to be ignorant and exploitation. I feel sorry for someone who has to resort to such tactics to gain attention.
This video makes me super uncomfortable, upset and also sad. How can someone with such a large following have the audacity to do blackface, which is incredibly demeaning, and think it’s okay? There’s a huge difference between celebrating and being disrespectful. If your friends and/or followers, especially those whom are POC, have a problem with this then why would you keep it up? That’s not celebrating. The fact that this video was re-uploaded to his Instagram shows that he legitimately does not care. This is so foul. Gross. Selling your soul for something as small as likes and “insta fame” is pathetic. He was fucking trolling.
Deanna Say's ...
I just watched an Instagram video on a new product by Mac cosmetics that changes skin from white to black.
Although interesting to watch, I can see this being very controversial & offensive to a lot of people. I disapprove of the product as I don’t think anything like this should be promoted by a popular brand. I do believe there will be a social media lynching of MAC. It makes me think of the expression ...Love the skin your in! Great advice for anyone intending to buy the product & a clear reminder to refrain.