Wonderful topic. People don't seem to understand that blackness is really more of a lived experience than a genetic composition. To be black is to experience racism, bigotry, micro-aggressions, stereotypes, assumptions, implicit and explicit biases, disadvantages and so much more solely based on our phenotypic traits (our appearance). Kehlani is not black. Period. The black experience is not her experience, and the same goes for all racially ambiguous people who possess black genetics but lack the visible indicators of blackness. I can't understand why people who don't experience blackness are so determined to claim it. It is perfectly acceptable for them to own and discuss their experiences as mixed, passing, or ambiguous people.
In the case of someone like Logic who may have grown up in an environment where everyone knew he was the child of a black and he experienced bullying because of that.....does that make his experience a black one? I would say it was a biracial one but who am I to say? It also is generational. Like the one drop and brown paper bag thing was a thing. I'd say even back then Kehlani or Jheine Aiko or Logic would have likely been in the community. But looking back, some Black people who could pass chose not to. And they had real lived Black experiences. And finally, I'd like to gass the eye look. Sis is giving!! It's popping and we love to see it.
I believe that this way of thinking: "To be black is to experience racism, bigotry, micro-aggressions, stereotypes, assumptions, implicit and explicit biases, disadvantages and so much more solely based on our phenotypic traits (our appearance).", can be a dangerous mindset to live in. It makes us believe that our existence, our identity, means pain and suffering. I believe we need to shift that narrative. Yes, call out injustice when we see it, but don't make it our identity. I'd rather blackness mean highly melanated, springy hair that is full of life and tightly coiled defying gravity, lush full facial features and at least 70% of African negroid blood in your DNA. That description is a step towards taking our mindset out of a place of pain and suffering and into a place that is still just definitive to us but at a higher vibration.
wh ite people can also experience rac*sm, bigotry, micro-aggressions, stereotypes, assumptions, implicit and explicit biases, disadvantages. Happens all the time. LookUPChannon Christian and Christopher Newsom AND LookUP Angelique Simpson-Marcus in Prince George's County Maryland. 2cases that prove it.
I don’t know that this is true. I think the black femme community is more fractured because light skin womens representation comes at the cost of full/ deep black womens representation. But the same isn’t true for men. We stuggled to come up w an answer for mixed men we feel don’t belong in the space because the norm is that they’re accepted along their dark skin counterparts. The drakes, j cole, and obamas of the world never have to answer for their non black side the way say a zendaya has to, they’re mixedness is a footnote as best. Edit: sorry this is in response to the first comment, not op
Societal standards of beauty and attractiveness is the reason for this. Dark skin is associated with masculinity and light skin is associated with femininity. Almost all over the world lighter skin women are who people prefer to have represent them.
@@BeautyWithinKakra yeah but not true, in fact I always see black women with these particular issue, IE this video, And many other internet UA-cam content creators of the dark complexion persuasion. You'll see black women making videos after video on UA-cam talking about mixed-race heritage dark complexion etc etc.
My sister and I had a funny conversation that ended in “if someone wouldn’t look at you and call you the n word to hurt you, don’t use it in any context” and I think it’s a great “rule of thumb”
Is it truly a shock to most black folks that mixed kids would actually hear this regularly? We often have a whole other side that see us only as n words…
Thank you. It makes sense, but folks think it’s a “term of endearment.” Do not get me wrong, I thought the same thing until I hit the 5th grade. Then, I got tired of saying “Do not call me that” until my 11-12th grade year in high school. Folks (usually non-black Latinos) slip it here and there towards me. I get really offended. Real life and online, I do not like being called that word by non-black folks😒🫠!
“Kehlani saying the n-word is more acceptable for you than me being upset about that.” This!! I live in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. and when I first moved here I heard non-Black Hispanic people saying the n word AROUND Black people. I was the only one in awe and even disgust tbh. I also realized I was really in a one sided cultural exchange. Many of the non-Black Hispanic boys had Black girlfriends, dressed how Black people do, spoke how Black people do, etc and not one Black person besides me was visibly upset at how they had all the “benefits” of being Black and not having one Black experience. I just remember feeling so powerless and the saddest part is how desensitized I find myself unless I see anti-Blackness in its most extreme forms. We, as a COMMUNITY, have to stop allowing non-Black people to be our representation.
@@TJ-jk4ut I heard the same about Georgia and NY/NJ. I guess the best we can do for now is try to hold them accountable. Educate them maybe? I really don’t know.
I'm in NYC, and here we have become so desensitized to hearing non-blk Latinos & others say it, nobody bats an eyelash. We hear it from when we are little until adulthood growing up around them in the hood, so it's become normalized here. I'm not defending it, I'm just saying the northeast is a different world, so that's why people from other regions are flabbergasted, and yes these people pretty much adopted our culture to the point where everyone mimics us here. They also call each other that though. Like you will hear Arabs call other Arabs the N word, everyone wanna be down until real 💩 happens.
@@nycsweetnessniijiamarukhan7918 It always seemed to me like they were trying to create a new idea around the term where it corresponds to not a racial identity, but an environment where they think they have the same experiences as Black people. Like growing up in poverty or having Black friends and such was their right to say it. But, you know what they say… They want our rhythm but not our blues.
Same goes for TAKASHI 69, & Cardi B ... She uses the N word more than anything and neither of her parents are BLACK, look black, nor have black names smh 😔 but every song she spit she gotta say "ni99a something "
Cardi knows bw kiss her butt. She's cosplayin. She needed all that surgery to look like a bw. They stay tryna put her ratchet uneducated image off on us. Her roach hive are 🤡
@@daniellachewetel6773 And that’s a problem I have with Offset/his family. This is why I do not take Black people like him in interracial relationships allowing these n-word passes and other self-hating things🤷🏾♂️💯
Beauty/pretty privilege tends to overshadow/cloud people's judgment all the damn time. It's why some will accept shitty behavior from a conventionally attractive person versus someone not so much.
The only people who believe in pretty privilege are superficial overprivileged people with sexual insecurity issues. As soon as a "pretty" person talks about how hot they are or about the "advantages" they have, people tell them they're ugly and not all that. The mental gymnastics that people have to do to push that stupid concept is hilarious. Also can't prove that someone is factually beautiful and plenty if beautiful people have shitty lives because quality of life varies. Why don't people like you get on people show favoritism based on looks? Instead of whining about mythical privilege, call shitty people for being rude and unfair to people who they don't find attractive. Oh but that would actually mean holding terrible accountable and people are allergic to do that these days.
“She’s not dated anyone darker than a banana” This sent me 😂😂😂 I love your look Mayowa and really enjoy your videos. Your intro brightens my day every time 😍
It’s BAFFLING to me how so many people are purposely missing the whole point just ‘cause they want to be perceived as Black. It’s the cognitive dissonance and unchecked privilege for me!
@@bobagucci502 Those lost souls don’t speak for all of us. There are still people who believe that by recruiting enough Black people it’ll make us look good. But most of us know better. So if you see that happening and you see SOME Black women saying that, just know that there’s a whole wave of Black women also watching but just minding our business.
As a multiracial person who is automatically read as black, I also find it weird when people like Doja Cat or Kehlani are called black women because they're not only black. There's an "and _" missing for a lot of these people or they just are something else to begin with (Cardi B for example).
One of the reasons why I disagree with you, it's because being black is subjective in terms of identity. Black American is an ethnic group. Black/ African, is a race. You can be mixed race and be black. Because it is about who you are not what you are, what you are is mix race, who you are is black, the father of the Black American community is a mixed-race man, Frederick Douglass.. Most of black America's greatest leaders were of mixed heritage, Adam Clayton Powell, Booker t Washington, WEB dubois. Exedra... And the reason why people like doja cat and khalani are called black. That is what they ethnically identify as.
@@bobbyschannel349 There are no sub groups of people that share common cultures to black people in America enough for black to be considered an ethnicity. It’s heavily enveloped in race, much like all of black history in america. Being black will never be considered an ethnic group bc blackness and it’s struggles in America were all created off the basis of race (phenotype)
Because the “and” doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things they’re still treated like black woman…they’ll have colorism privileges for sure most of it being enforced by problematic black people treating them better, but white people don’t make that distinction they see them as black period, a more palatable version of blackness but still black and would they would never be able to claim whiteness unless they were very white passing and hid their ancestry
And don’t say it’s a Bay Area thing. As a black girl from the Bay Area, I have never been okay w/ non black peoples claiming blackness, wear AA culture as a costume, or saying the n world. Always has gotten a side eye from me
EXACTLY. Yes there’s dumbass people (usually black men 💀) who go for the okie doke bc they are attracted to mixed race women and don’t care but i am constantly calling out this type of bullshit. People like kehlani exploit the mixed-ness of the Bay Area & use their proximity to blackness to make coin. Oakland rapper kamaiyah called kehlani a colorist and literally don’t even fuck with her anymore but no one cares about that apparently
@@mayowasworldoh yes definitely. In the bay white latin@s will say it, asian people will say it, etc. nonblack people LOVE to exploit black culture in the bay and use it as a costume. It’s embarrassing and ugly
It’s a Los Angeles thing. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and the n word was used willy nilly by h!ispanic boys all.the.time. On the daily. It was very unsettling but like Mayowa said, nobody did anything about it.
@@-_Somebody_ eh, I grew up in L.A. and one side of my family has been here since pre 1900. The other came post WW2. The N-word wasn't thrown around in my Black and Mexican circles, as you'd get your ass kicked. I think it's thrown around more nowadays because you can't get away with whooping people’s asses like you used to 😂
I'm a white dude, but I always found the topic interesting. Growing up, when the media showed us "the ideal black woman," it was always a biracial woman, and the broader public just accepted it without question. You're not a gatekeeper for saying this. You're speaking the truth.
I noticed in early 2000s movies the gorgeous black women is always light skinned and straight hair while the black women they use for racist jokes was always fat, darker, hair with braids and loud compared to the others
As someone who loves Kehlani this really made me stop and check myself. I never looked at her as a black woman honestly and when I heard that song I had already fell in love with her music prior to it so I let it slide without even thinking. I need to be fair because I talk about Cardi B all the time and how she had infiltrated black spaces without being black. I was literally letting it slide with Kehlani cause I favor her more. 😩 Thank you for this video. ❤
Speaking of Cardi B… She was performing live in NYC with SZA yesterday and they performed their song “I Do.” Tell me why Belcalis is screaming out the n-word with no problem? I know it’s the entertainment industry and SZA cannot say much (or know about Cardi B’s background)… At least not to allow her to say that word on your show. Damn😒💯
I’ve been saying this forever! Other black women even started arguing with me bc i said it don’t feel right how she uses the n word and don’t even got one full black parent. Another prominent Oakland rapper Kamaiyah even stopped fucking with her and called her colorist. She claims kehlani called her “black” and “ghetto”. I’m sick of these mixed race women profiting off of their loose ass proximity to blackness just bc they are considered “desirable”. If kehlani can say the n word does that mean Halsey can too??? They both have about the same amount of blackness. But no one wants to have this conversation bc then kehlani would have to answer for her use of the n word. It’s disrespectful af.
I love how Halsey owns the fact that she is mixed but white-passing. She doesn’t try to co-opt Black culture even if she is part-Black herself and say the n-word and I am so proud of her for that!
@@cakebops Right?! It shouldn't be that hard. I think it's because Kehlani at least looks poc while Halsey just looks white, people will let any poc call themselves Black and say nigga but call out a white person because they think all poc can just replace Black women just like that. 😭
@@imthebossmermaid3648 that’s a good ass point. It really feels like the rest of the world is so ready to use mixed women to replace black women. I wonder if they really think that a mixed woman’s experience is the same experience of a black woman who’s actually visually perceived as black
I feel a sense of anger towards black ppl who intentionally gaslight other black ppl into believing that someone like kehlani is black or “looks” black 🤨. I also dislike biracials being the representative of light skin black ppl who have two black parents . I love your videos . Just found your content and it’s gold💛
Yesss!! Especially that last part. Since I’m not the darkest black person anyone has ever seen they immediately assume that I’m mixed and proceed to ask me “so…what are you mixed with?” And i comically respond with black, black, and MORE BLACK 😅
Same! I see it with make up brands too. I'm glad many have added inclusive dark shades, but for the lighter shades it's biracial & white models. Like you couldn't find light skin Black models with wide noses &/or 4c hair, or with albinism🤔 I'm scared to say it🤦🏽♀️but it's something I noticed even with Black owned brands. I was just getting into this one Black brand but they discontinued the 2 shades that fit me & recommended the lightest, which would've been a good shade for a white person. 🤷🏽♀️
Honestly i dont even think its a perception thing either. Cause zendaya has color to her but shes not black to me . Black folks need to start gatekeeping blackness . If you have two black parents ya black . If you have a black parent and a white parent ya mixed no matter if u look blk or not . I agree with your message nonetheless. I always feel like blk women like to live vicariously through biracial women and will crucify a fully blk woman for saying something about gatekeeping
I fully agree with you and I got a child who's biracial. You can't always go on perception. My son skin tone looks nothing like either myself who's darkskinned or his dad who's white so sometimes you need to look at the parents and acknowledge them.
I'm a white woman from Barcelona. I just found your channel and can't stop scrolling and watching your videos. I think you are so polite when talking about this experiences and sociopolitical issues and really appreciate the work you are doing to spread consciousness! Keep going, thankyou! PS: love the creativity in your makeup :)
I been saying this about her specifically like…she has two biracial parents and doesn’t really say anything about her black side. She herself has said that she’s not black
If you are MIXED, please claim MIXED. It is a Beautiful thing AND if you want to define, DEFINE, it is up to you. Mayowa You are a Arteast with your makeup.
Thiiiiiiis!!!! Every TikTok space I go in, it’s biracial (Americans) complaining about not being considered black… Then I pop in like “we aren’t, we’re half yt” When I Teeeeeellll You the amount of hate I get and gaslighting that takes place cuz they can’t overcome the cognitive dissonance.
But mixed doesn't define your ethnic combination and the irony of it is an African phenotype exists outside the continent nor is dark skin exclusive to African people.
I agree! but what about dark skin mixed people??? Cause most African Americans will make fun of a mixed dark skin person for saying they are mixed... AA just say dark mixed people don't claim their blackness just for saying they are mixed.
I’m black. I don’t use the n-word. I consider it an insult no matter the context or whose mouth it comes out of. I just wish that we would get away from this idea that just because someone is black that they are cool with this.
And it's so weird that we are using a word that was used to degrade us. We are now degrading ourselves. "Reclaiming it", why should we reclaim something that is harmful and that was made by whites??
I am lighter skinned black girl and I've experienced lots of racism such as being bullied for my hair texture 4b , being called the n word, being fetishized because I'm black and being called other hurtful slurs. I have always felt some way about mixed people being called black because a majority of the ones represented in media now are more white passing and I'd hate to raise my children with these ideals of what black beauty is "supposed" to look like.
We live in a world that disrespects black women so much that they feel the need to erase who black women are. No one in the black community actually sees this woman as a black woman. Many people don’t see biracial women as black women but they will say they are black women and biracial women will say that they are black women. People are really out here globally saying that they don’t know the difference between a biracial woman and a fully black woman. So we are dealing with a society even within our own group who is ok with the erasure of fully black women and accepting of anyone with a drop of black blood as a full on black woman. Black women are gaslighted by our own community, the white community, and any other community that does not want to accept mixed raced people as mixed when they have a black parent. They are just considered black. So this is how the kehlani’s are created. All they need is a little bit of black blood and they feel they are a representation of black womanhood and society allows this. Society encourages this behavior,and not only do they do this, they gaslight biracial people into accepting being nothing other than black no matter how other they may look. That is how Rachel Dolezal a white woman was able to pass as a black woman because the erasure is so strong that if you tell a biracial or multiracial woman that they are not black like you. Society will say that you are wrong, these women are black and you have to shut up and accept these women representing you, when they don’t. They will also tell Meghan Markle a white passing biracial woman how much of a black woman she is when that has never been her lived experience. It’s a perpetual cycle of gaslighting actual black women into accepting their own erasure. Every woman no matter the race can pretend to be a black woman and the world is ok with it, as long as it’s not an actual black woman. It’s crazy out here.
No one should be speaking on blk but us. It’s a simple fix! Even for the coins that r hellbent on calling biracials blk! We the majority have the final say and majority don’t see them as blk! It’s coons in the media that have the biggest push on agendas
when I first saw Kehlani pop out dating YG…I knew it said a lot about her. she clearly likes being labeled as “black” so she can profit off of the culture and cater to black men. i also feel like she used those pictures with sza to pander to black women. thanks Mayowa for being bold enough to speak out on this because it IS problematic.
Yess they were literally talking about this on Twitter. She post pics w/ black women for clout & to get the black girlies excited then pops out w/ ppl that look identical to her. Not saying you can’t have a preference but it’s like she purposely uses bw.
I’m just so annoyed bc now she has a biracial black baby and lord knows what this shit will teach her. It’s so funny how her baby is blacker than her and all her recent partners but she thinks she can say the n word
Black is cool, and it’s emulated worldwide(what do Koreans.. got swag🤣). Really being an entertainer that’ has that black stamp of approval/or is black adjacent helps build careers🤣😂
She literally snapped at Nicki Minaj saying she was black. But she’s mixed like me and I’m from the Bay like her. Doesn’t mean I’m black. And love your eyeliner by the way 🔥
Also I’ve noticed that anyone can claim to be black if they have a percentage of black in them but if I as a black woman had 25% white in me the same percentage as logic and so many more . I can’t be white which I don’t ever get
you ain’t lie sis. i’ll never forget when i was watching one of her videos with my friend, and she said “ni**a”. they instantly were like “ is she even black?” 😂😂
Always saw her as a mixed woman w/ more indigenous heritage than anything. Maybe a quarter black if anything but nowhere near the level of being labeled as black. Sad to see the black woman erasure continue to go on in the media
As a light skinned mixed woman I’M tired of seeing SO many light skinned / biracial people as the sole representation of blackness on TV. Would love to center more dark skinned folks in the stories I consume and would LOVE to see you make a video highlighting the creators YOU follow ❤
Love the make up! Black folks always shine when adorned in yellow! 😍 And I totally agree with your analysis: people are definitely fine not digging too deep if someone is conventionally attractive and crosses a line.
I'm in NYC, and here we have become so desensitized to hearing non-blk Latinos & others say it, nobody bats an eyelash. We hear it from when we are little until adulthood growing up around them in the hood, so it's become normalized here. I'm not defending it, I'm just saying the northeast is a different world, so that's why people from other regions are flabbergasted, and yes these people pretty much adopted our culture to the point where everyone mimics us here. They also call each other that though. Like you will hear Arabs call other Arabs the N word, everyone wanna be down until real 💩 happens.
It’s comical when people say that black women are “jealous.” What is there to be jealous of? Jealous that you have show a 23 and Me test to prove that you can use a racial slur??? 🤣
I love seeing this shyt. I’m biracial, & I love to see black women being their own genre. Same as seeing biracial as our own genre. It’s actually so different and I’m glad to see people putting more attention towards this. The “one drop” rules doesn’t exist
You are very pretty. Love your eye make up. You got me experimenting with different colors around my eyes😀 great commentary. I don’t think a lot of black folks are ready as they choose to live vicariously through their mixed friends and family. 🤣🤣🤣
You were the first person who I heard say that race is about perception and I've adopted this understanding since because it makes so much sense. Race is a made-up construct so its always been about perception. Also, as a dark-skinned black woman, its exhausting to be placed into the same category with racially ambiguous women as it pertains to beauty. They don't represent the majority og black women, but get the most exposure. I totally agree with you. I think your African heritage allows you to have a different perspective about this because this "one drop and you're black" rule is exclusively an American construct. ❤❤❤
Wow, I like how you explained that.. Race IS DEFINITLEY a social construct (made up) so it IS about perception. That makes a lot of sense to me.....thank you
These talking points come directly from the afro American community and u can find many creators from 2020 and prior explaining all of this plus more. It is great that more ppl speak on the matter these days but don’t discredit what afro Americans have observed and put into words for all of our prosperity.
@@whatsonhermindblog123 She said "I think your African heritage allows you to have a different perspective about this" The talking points come directly from Afro Americans tho. SO YES, comprehension matters make sure you apply it this time
@@citizencoy4393 Again, that commenter NEVER discredited anybody. That commenter simply said she believed that Mayowa's african heritage (like you typed) "allowed her to have a different perspective...." How is pointing that out discrediting others who already have had that perspective (as you so ardently proclaim) So yeah, again, reading comprehension..... I look forward to your rebuttal
"A villain and a superhero at the same time" woo a word! Idk how much of this is our fault because we don't guard our spaces, gatekeep and we try to claim everybody as Black. The Kehlani's and Doja Cats are like squatters in our house that we can't get rid of 🤦🏾♀️
… but everybody was black? No one’s squatting, the lease switched up while we were already in, and because of that, the ground rules need to be amended. The one drop rule only stopped applying recently when other cultures realized they could fully capitalize off of blackness. I’ve never had brown skin, only dark tan but with obvious black features. As a kid I was always ‘black and what?’ But always black foremost. Now people see me and ask if I’m ‘afro Latina?’ I’m obviously not but the meaning of that word has shifted as well. I think we forget that race is a social construct and the society around it is what dictates it’s classifications. That’s why only recently are mixed women not seen as black, but simultaneously mixed men are.
Please look up the meaning of a social construct. There are some very real observable data between people groups. After all scientists can dig up ancient ( and skinless) remains and tell if the remains belong to either a black woman or white male. The construct is how these differences are used/misused.
I think the perfect person to talk about in this topic is zendaya!!! The amount of black women & men swear she is black swear she is underprivileged when she literally fits every beauty standard possible the black community only claim her cause she is deemed as attractive the way they live through her is scary they will never be able to experience life like the mixed person she is & that’s not to discredit her success or talent.
YEP. Someone once termed one aspect/reason we see so many supported or overhyped young biracial actresses in Hollywood is the Zendaya effect. That's why Black actresses are down bad bc even our own Black community will support biracial women over black all the time
I think a lot of people default to calling biracial women Black, because the question becomes “What is biracial culture or society? Or “what is mixed-race culture?” It all goes back to the “one-drop rule” that people refuse to discard. But I understand 1000% that being Black versus biracial operates differently. There is a privilege behind being “exotic.” Exoticism is real. It’s the reason why so many little girls grew up saying “I’m mixed with Indian” even when their features were unambiguously Black. And when it comes to anything, Black women are not allowed to be angry. As soon as we are, we’re called bitter or a hater. But most times, we aren’t even angry. We just present facts and challenge brainwashed thinking.
It’s funny bc these same people be complaining about there not being enough biracial representation or space for their stories, but don’t realize they would get this if they would embrace being BIRACIAL instead of only focusing on being part black. Most black people cannot relate to them anyway. Black people do not know what it’s like to be biracial, but other biracials do! so why do they expect to see themselves in us and vice versa?
@Trinity M Whew. This comment is deep. “Do White people have a culture?” has always been the million-dollar question. And yea, the first (and maybe only thing) that comes to my mind is food (e.g. Italian food). Sometimes I think about Russian dances lol. But I often ponder if Whiteness is a monolith. There is Black American culture, indigenous African culture (and with there being so many countries/tribes that’s a lot to unpack), Jamaican culture, Haitian culture, etc…Blackness is understood as connected yet disparate. But it’s hard to think about White people having culture when they have learned so much and stolen so much from other cultures. But as far as the biracial conversation, I think that biracial women such as Tia Mowry or Tracee Ellis Ross make Blackness look more palatable or softer because of their likeness to Whiteness. I see ads for Black natural haircare lines, only to see a woman who’s partially European as the face of it. I become annoyed, but then I see Zendaya saying she will only cast Black women if she had her own production company. Then, I think about Angela Davis, one of the most powerful activists of all time who has Whiteness in her. So yes, it’s a fine balance, I agree. Yes, acknowledgement, self-awareness, and understanding privileges, and how you operate in a space matters. Black folks have a habit of embracing biracial people with open arms, while accepting erasure. I also had to realize that just because someone has a particular privilege doesn’t mean it always equates to a high-quality of life. For example, with pretty privilege, stunning women get access to a higher quantity of men, but that doesn’t always mean these men of high quality. While I see all the attention and desirability that comes with being mixed, I imagine that these women are still approached by creeps, are probably fetishized beyond belief, and maybe people assume they’re stuck up. The struggle of “Blackness” doesn’t compare in my opinion, but I think we’ll all heal by having honest and sympathetic conversations with each other and about our struggles.
I alway say this. Black ppl have embraced biracial ppl so much for desirability that they now believe full black ppl look like that. Biracial ppl should always say they are biracial but also black ppl need to stop getting upset when they do.
I used to live in Brooklyn and people of all races used the “N” word. I was on the train once and these boys were talking. One was black, one was Indian, and the other one was Latino. They were recounting something that happened and one guy was like, “The Chinese n*gga said this and the Indian n*gga did that…” Puerto Ricans use the word often, no matter if they’re white, black, or tan.
That word is everywhere now. It has gotten so out of control that many people from other races use it. I am not used to that. it has become such part of American cultural strada, it has literally become unstoppable
I'm 💯 with you on this. I'm having a difficult time accepting some folks as black even though society considers them as such. The 1 drop rule ended over 50 years ago. Besides, we don't even know how these folks identify on paper. For me, to be black you have to have mon, dad, and at least 2 black grandparents.
As a black woman If u have mixed race children raised by you ? Then what are they. I feel like if you’re a black moma biracial you’re black because u understand the culture more and came from a black woman
@@ebonymay7906 I'm a black woman. If I grew up in China, and related to Chinese culture more, that wouldn't make Chinese. I would still be black. Biracials relating to black culture more... Still makes them biracial. Relating to a culture more doesn't change your biology.
To me if I can’t walk around claiming I’m native, Asian or white bc of the little percentage of my family history why do they hold on to the little percentages of being African. Then every black person that have other percentages of different background should be able to walk around and claim those other races as well without ppl looking at them crazy 🤷🏾♀️
I came across your channel yesterday and have been watching a handful of your videos, and I LOVE that you show off your makeup and look at the end of each video!! Your natural beauty plus skill and aesthetic are unparalleled!!
Lmao Kehlani is part black at all? I had no idea. She’s a Latina woman to me. I am half white half middle eastern and while my father is not white, I pass as white rather easily, so I call myself white. I was recently talking about this with my biracial (half black, half white) boyfriend because we saw a video of a white girl saying she’s not white because she is half black. Yet if she hadn’t said she was part black, nobody realized she was. She said she was half, but she is actually a celebrity. I looked her up. She’s actually only a quarter. And I’ve seen this with a few people on social media. They cling to blackness when they do not possess it. I’m from the south and have been raised predominantly around black people. Black people have been my only friends. And it honestly upsets me for black people to see it. It almost offends me. My boyfriend agreed with me too. I said that your race is whatever you are perceived as. I’m not interested in you pulling up pictures of your parents, or your hair without a flat iron, or DNA tests to prove that you’re black. In my opinion if you don’t look it, you aren’t. It doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate what you come from on the black side as well as the other, but to call yourself black I feel is disrespectful to actually black people. I think there’s a difference between someone asking you your race and someone asking you what your full heritage is. I think if you are perceived as white then you are white. And if someone asks you what you are further than that then that is your opportunity to talk about being part black. But don’t claim it as your race. It’s disingenuous to people that are undeniably black. So I agree with you. This video is amazing as usual and I love your gentle approach to things. You’re beautiful and I hope you’re having a beautiful day. I always love your makeup. It looks so good today! I’d also like to mention my boyfriend that is part black looks black. But he also looks half white. He doesn’t say he is black. Because clearly he is light skinned and is clearly not BIEC (great acronym btw). So he says he is mixed. And I think more people need to be doing that instead of calling themselves black men or women when they’re just not. Kehlani isn’t EVEN a mixed woman I didn’t think. She does not appear mixed. I don’t listen to her music or follow her so I had no idea this was going on. But yea I agree, this is messed up. I do see a lot of people especially women doing this and I always look at them sideways. Cardi B is always a great example. That woman isn’t black. It’s so disrespectful and you shouldn’t have to feel bad for not allowing these people under the same label you are forced under.
Being “Latina” doesn’t mean you can’t be Black. Most Black people outside Africa are Latin American; Black in every country, every context. Just wanted to continue to educate.
@@gayhomosexuallll I fully understand that. And you’re not really educating me, I already know this. Although I’m not offended and I’m not saying this out of offense, only pointing out that I’m well aware of this fact. But we are talking racially and I’m unsure of what other category to put her under. Hope that makes sense. Because indigenous may be correct but from what I understand she doesn’t label herself as indigenous/native to the Americas. She seems not to be black and merely mixed race. So Latina is the best that I and many other people are going to muster for a race category to put Kehlani under. Hope this makes sense to you. What would you label her as if not just mixed race?
Why? I think it shows that although not apart of the community even they get it. Background for WHO is even trying to understand what’s really going on. Not even sure how a comment so spot on can have so many bad replies. Hate to say it but this person gets it more than some blk ppl based on response alone.
I totally agree with you. I’m a mixed Brazilian woman with strong black features (my daddy is black), but given the climate of today I just can’t bring myself of identity as a black woman because I know my native Brazilian and white heritage influence how I look. I hold my blackness dear to my heart, but I don’t want to take the space that should be for suited for someone else that truly cannot ‘escape’ being perceived as black. Great topic
This is just a few of them thinking this way. I'm Caribbean and blacks 99% of the time want me to say I'm black and cannot claim anything else. They are very confused bc this same creator, in another video, wants everyone to say they're black. They can't make up their minds. Btw, you're correct. I'll never say I'm black either.
Thank you so much for posting this video. I agree with your points about Kehlani and nothing you said was aggressive, in fact I think you were rather measured in your assessment. Similarly to Kehlani, I am mixed race (white/black) but pretty fair-skinned, big curls, and can pass for Middle Eastern, Italian, Hispanic, etc. I have always been very, very intentional about NOT labeling myself as a "black woman" because I do not look like one. My family and some of my friends don't like this and tell me it's wrong to say I'm not a black woman, but I say the same thing-- that claiming to be one contributes to erasure of visibly black women. I would find calling myself a black woman to be so unethical when I have a lot of privilege in the black community, and I also benefit from white/racially ambiguous privilege in many contexts. Many colorist black men don't denigrate women like me, they treat me like a "preference" (eye roll), while at the same time saying sickening things about "black in every context" women. I can't think of a single time I've experienced misogynoir from any race or group of people. So it would be wrong on so many levels for me to say that I am living the experience of a black woman. I don't, but I believe in listening to you and joining you in your causes. Also I wasn't gonna comment this until you said you are comfortable with compliments... you're absolutely radiant!!
I appreciate people like you so much who understand. I would hug you! I heavily dislike when people pushed mixed race people into blackness as if they're black or nothing! Much love ❤ 🥰
I really like conversations like this. People need to understand that there is a difference between being black and being biracial. Just like there's a difference between being white and being biracial.
Ngl I literally added that song to a playlist last night 😭 this video really clocked me, I was obsessed with that specific album and music back in middle school. I never saw her as black but again the pretty privilege had me with rose tinted glasses. Thank you for brining this subject to light cause it’s definitely important to have these convos. Also you’re stunning & the makeup/ face card is givingg💓
It's crazy how I've always felt pressured to accept mixed people as black out of the social fear (fear of rejection and abandonment) of being seen as bitter and or jealous. I can definitely say my younger self (mostly elementary and high school) was envious of the lack of attention and automatic discard that I would get as these types of cultural gates were opened for mixed women based off of my immediate and unambiguous identity. It was interesting how as an East African dark skinned woman I felt bothered so quickly yet pressured to accept and be accepted by the very people who are rejecting me. WILD. I also have to be completely honest with myself as a dark-skinned black woman and look at the way that I was so quick to want to claim people like her as black because there was a part of me that wanted access to that desirability and that social acceptance. Desirability in this society whether we want to admit it or not creates opportunities. I thought, especially when I was in middle school and high school, that I would gain some desirability via association and through some sort of distorted social osmosis?? I'm not even sure I'm using osmosis in the best way lol, but yeah. In a way when you look at your wounds and trauma and see how you've downloaded societal messaging and exhibited them through these actions, it's scary and fascinating! Thank you for this analysis!
I appreciate that Kehlani did take accountability for her ignorance surrounding her saying the n-word casually & in songs while not actually being black (enough). She actually doesn’t even use the word anymore as opposed to others like cardi
I’m a mixed race guy from NorCal and I would never use the n word myself because I don’t feel that I fully experience blackness to claim ownership of it. I also generally dislike mixed people from using it even when we aren’t “passing” just because it helps draw the line for calling out white and other POC using it
Hiii I’m mixed race, black mom white hispanic dad. I identify as biracial because I don’t and can’t identify or assimilate into either groups. I understand why a lot of mixed race people don’t claim “mixed race/biracial” identity because often times you can be shamed like “oh are you ashamed to be black”, my own mother said that to me when I told her I can’t physically identify as black. But it’s truly a shame for the erasure of black women in media as well as mixed people in a way erasing some part of there racial makeup.
Your right 4c hair should be a thing I also feel the same exact experiences. I have the same exact plights. I really hope you keep giving content and yeah your right though. We need more women with 4c hair throughout the qfrican and African American community. ❤️❤️❤️
What you said was valid! Kehlani definitely has a type even the woman she is seeing now is light skin I would be surprised if she stepped outside of that preference 🤷🏾🤷🏾
Love this and have been deeply thinking about it for the past few years. Cardi B I think is what really got me to thinking. We can go as far as Kamala Harris and as recently as Ice Spice. Mixed race people who take up black spaces and say the n-word. It’s frustrating because most people take it as being divisive but it’s something that needs to be discussed. I also see this reaching black men in the coming years seeing as though we just had “2” black quarterbacks in the superbowl.
"It's not my job as a black person to see everyone as black..." - YES, yes, and yes... Also, I love when you said that a lot of black people have 30% white in them genetically speaking but are still perceived as black. I have read that the majority of african americans (ADOS) have at least 20-30% white in them genetically speaking....but that doesn't mean your'e perceived that way.....very interesting
“Aggressive” “hostile” all the words coded that I too have heard as a dark skinned woman. I’m also autistic, so I’m very direct; you can imagine how that added to me being a dark black woman, is seen. All my life I’ve had people literally yelling in my face, while calling ME aggressive. Makes no sense. I’m extremely calm. I never yell at people or call them names. I don’t even call people stupid. Nothing. Yet somehow because I disagreed or I set a boundary…I’m hostile. 😒
Okay, finished the video, gotta comment again. I really like your term BIEC - Black In Every Country. Honestly, I think that should be the new standard of when someone is considered black. Because maybe then we'll be able to stop this "race ambiguity = black" shit. Anyway, I 100% agree with everything you said. I love your videos, I love your looks. I'm so glad that you create UA-cam videos. And imma subscribe with my other account too.
Mayowa, you really are leading the forefront of opening conversations about restructuring what it means to be Black. Listening to your perspectives, I do think it's time we leave the "one drop" rule behind and reclaim our own identity under our own terms. "Biracial" or "Multi-racial" needs to enter everyone's common vernacular when it comes to identifying people based on their appearance. I don't have an opinion on this specific woman because I've never heard of her, and she's just one of many, many racially ambiguous women who benefit from being considered Black. I'm 100% over it, and I'm fully on board with only identifying people with OUR complexion, our phenotypes, our hair, and our features in ways that are fully unambiguous as Black people.
Thank you for doing this video … i’m a little older than your target audience, but in my teens it was often common for mixed children to be labelled black. I now see that this can become problematic, because like you say whereever we go are in the world. If you’re black, you’re black, no questions asked. Ambiguous you can literally be anywhere and people won’t know what your culture or your background is until you tell them. I do feel that society has allowed this to happen ( black men)and it needs to change , My memory is of Jay-Z being interviewed by Oprah years ago explaining why using this word was a good idea. And nothing to worry About . I totally disagree with anyone using it ..the N word to me means pain and less than.. I hate that word. (I think Jayz idea was that if you used it enough, it wouldn’t hurt. Well that plan failed).
I honestly think it worked. The n word, the b word, the f word, has allowed us to become very desensitized from the word to where even if someone says it with vitriol, I don’t think it packs the same emotional punch as it did 70 years ago. And unlike the last century where lawlessness was a way of life and they literally killed people for whistling at white women, the social landscape as changed drastically. A lot of people have to dog whistle their racism now. They can’t just call people names bc the internet, especially, will absolutely make sure there are consequences felt. Which is why there is this reverse racism movement occurring. Now that the language has been co-opted by so many that like to wear certain aspects of black culture as a costume, I wonder if there will be an evolution in language with the future generations where people use it less and less so that those who aren’t black or fully black feel too awkward to comfortable say it. They are only following what unambiguous black people do anyways. Like it will be the cultural equivalency of saying “nincompoop” Our culture is already reflecting a very subtle shift in this. I think Kehlani, Cardi B, Doja Cat came out at the right time to capitalize. I foresee Doja eventually dropping the word due to her mainstream appeal, Kehlani fighting for relevancy, and Cardi B being forced to evolve as her fan demographic gets older (unless she pursues the Drake strategy but I think Cardi cares more about performing > music).
@@ariesmry ….. like I say it may mean nothing in some area ‘s ( rap music) but to a lot of people especially in my world the N word is a big fat no no. I would never encourage others to use the word. Thank you for a bit of history though.
The most we said in the day was lighter/fair but you were still black and you were reminded of that. I will never embrace it the same way I disown the B for women
Nah, he knew what he was doing. BM enjoy being degraded by the collective. Hence why they even encourage such talk in the bedroom. Here's looking at you Donald Glover...
Another great video. I've lived in NYC for 20 years, but I'm originally from the midwest, and it irks me when I hear non-black people use the n-word. It's still weird to me. But the minute you talk to many of those same folks about their black ancestry, they'll be the first to tell you they're not black. Black people don't protect/gate keep blackness as well in spaces where there's a lot of non-black people of color for some reason. Also, people hate monoracial black women, and what we represent, including many other black women. I'm in my 40's, and we were having these conversations in the 90's, and sadly nothing has changed. I wish we could've done more to prevent your generation of black women from dealing with this.
I laughed out loud when you said "BIEC Black" as it reminded of Trevor Noah's comedy skit where he was excited to "finally be black" when he moved to the USA because in South Africa, the moment you're mixed with anything😅🇿🇦... Whether your great grandfather on your mother's side is other than black, then you're not black. You're colored - in spite of your dark skinned color
Interesting…thanks for sharing that tidbit. Historically in America, it was the other way around. If anybody in your lineage up to like 4 generations removed was Black, then due to the 1 drop rule, you were considered Black regardless of appearance.
@@-_Somebody_ yeah... And to be honest, I think it's problematic. For the longest time I've always believed that "black Americans" were Halle Berry and Felicia Rashad types and the dark-skinned blacks were recent immigrants because that is what the media portrayed to us. It was literally until the boom of social media where I learned that actually, black is black all over the world. The one drop rule contributes to the erasure of black people in the United States
@@Docmatema But no one is 100% black. If you're going by that rule, then practically the entire diaspora is excluded from being black. I'm guessing you were just pointing out how other countries qualify blackness? Let me know if I am understanding you correctly.
I'm lighter skinned and I've never been mistaken for anything but black in the US(granted I live in a rural place that's kind of a nightmare of racism sometimes) but when I went to europe and was wearing a wig with straight hair some people thought I might be Portuguese who also can have brown skin. I got high once and some asked me if I wa Asian. I don't think they were asking in a mean way. Is it crazy that I wear my natural hair because I don't want to be mistaken for anything than what I am?
GURLLLL are you ever wrong!???. I honestly wish people open their eyes and their minds cuz my Lord do humans have a talent of brushing things under the rug to suit their narrative it's tiring. BTW ur are goals babe you gotta tell me how you get ur locks so big 💜👐🏾
You didn’t sound offensive to me. The truth is the truth. People like her treat the Black experience like an accessory or fragrance. Let me put on some Blackness today. It’s always cool to “be Black” until you actually face what we face. And like you said, those experiences are very unique too. You being able bodied versus a Black person who is not. Love the yellow, btw.
i just want to say there’s something ultra nostalgic & undoubtably blackity-black about the sound of your accessories clanking, which i love, & you voiced this so eloquently; *i agree several times over* ❤
Your grasp of colorism and social issues never fails to teach me something new, even with all the work I've done to understand. It always reminds me to never think 'I get it', especially as someone who does benefit from lightskin privilege
I like that you touched on this topic. Why do people that aren’t us get to be like us but without the feeling of being racially profiled or turned down from a job opportunity because of the degree of black we are? I’m tired of it, but it’s never going to change IMO. And yes your makeup be on point as always 💁🏾♀️
That’s what I do, I say that I’m mixed because I am and I also experience being perceived as many different ethnicities and I rarely get perceived as black if at all. So, I definitely think it would be an injustice to solely identify as a black person when that has never been my experience in society. I still don’t get why mixed race people that are mixed with black and are racially ambiguous only identify as black like it’s illegal to identify as mixed 🤦🏽♂️ but then again I know it’s to benefit and be included in black spaces
What if some strangers identify you as black and others don’t? How can you gate keep someone’s experience when you literally have not lived their lives? No one can tell me all that I have experienced as a black person. I get you can have your opinion about someone’s looks but it comes off shallow to go by what’s on the surface.
New subbie, I love your videos; been a silent watcher for a while. I notice in the media how it seems to be easy for them to find unambiguous BM for roles but the women have to look mixed.
Loved this topic, I can listen to people speak about this all day long. I really hate when I have to fight people on social media when I simply point out that certain celebrities or individuals are mixed and not black as that contributes to the erasure of fully black women like myself. Thank goodness this is less of an issue over here in the UK, mixed people are usually just called mixed and not black, otherwise I would be fighting people all day long 😭. Side note: you are beautiful 😍😍 not the boring conventional, superficial type of beauty we see everywhere these days but a true authentic, ethereal type of beauty, I was thinking this as soon as I clicked on this video ♥️
I think some of us grew up scared calling ourselves mixed because in the community it seems like you are separating yourself. So for me as a mixed raced Caribbean woman I always called myself black. I was not taught anything else. I used to be so offended when girls would tell me I was not black. Now that I am older and wiser man it is very damaging to all of us that we think one drop qualifies our blackness. I shouldn’t have the right to claim anything else
❤ thank you for sharing! i was also not wanting to self exotify but I’m grateful for mayowas content and other Black folks who gatekeep and say what’s facts!
Kehlank doesnt identify as black anymore she identifies as mixed. 2. Lets talk about how our elders encouraged calling their mixed race grandchildren black. They grow up strongly identifying w/ what their parents tell them while benefiting off their ambiguity. I think this conversation is more nuanced than mixed race “one drop” black folks just not identifying as black when this rejection of the onedrop rule is lowk a newer concept. To clarify i am not saying that they should be coddled or overly empathized w/ i just think it should be part of the conversation bc it is a societal problem within the commmunity.
Hey mayowa happy Sunday it’s so wonderful to see you just a breath of fresh air and oh my your locs have grown you’re so beautiful love ❤️ and light 🌞 my daughter one ☝🏿 love ❤️!!
Wonderful topic. People don't seem to understand that blackness is really more of a lived experience than a genetic composition. To be black is to experience racism, bigotry, micro-aggressions, stereotypes, assumptions, implicit and explicit biases, disadvantages and so much more solely based on our phenotypic traits (our appearance). Kehlani is not black. Period. The black experience is not her experience, and the same goes for all racially ambiguous people who possess black genetics but lack the visible indicators of blackness. I can't understand why people who don't experience blackness are so determined to claim it. It is perfectly acceptable for them to own and discuss their experiences as mixed, passing, or ambiguous people.
You expressed this perfectly. Yes it’s a social construct so it’s how you are physically perceived. And the one drop rule is rooted in race science
In the case of someone like Logic who may have grown up in an environment where everyone knew he was the child of a black and he experienced bullying because of that.....does that make his experience a black one? I would say it was a biracial one but who am I to say?
It also is generational. Like the one drop and brown paper bag thing was a thing.
I'd say even back then Kehlani or Jheine Aiko or Logic would have likely been in the community. But looking back, some Black people who could pass chose not to. And they had real lived Black experiences.
And finally, I'd like to gass the eye look. Sis is giving!! It's popping and we love to see it.
I believe that this way of thinking: "To be black is to experience racism, bigotry, micro-aggressions, stereotypes, assumptions, implicit and explicit biases, disadvantages and so much more solely based on our phenotypic traits (our appearance).", can be a dangerous mindset to live in. It makes us believe that our existence, our identity, means pain and suffering. I believe we need to shift that narrative. Yes, call out injustice when we see it, but don't make it our identity. I'd rather blackness mean highly melanated, springy hair that is full of life and tightly coiled defying gravity, lush full facial features and at least 70% of African negroid blood in your DNA. That description is a step towards taking our mindset out of a place of pain and suffering and into a place that is still just definitive to us but at a higher vibration.
wh ite people can also experience rac*sm, bigotry, micro-aggressions, stereotypes, assumptions, implicit and explicit biases, disadvantages.
Happens all the time.
LookUPChannon Christian and Christopher Newsom AND LookUP Angelique Simpson-Marcus in Prince George's County Maryland.
2cases that prove it.
@@LovingWarmth "negroid"? This is not what we call ourselves in 2023.
We should ask ourselves why blackness is a spectrum only when it comes to women, but not men.
It’s really mind blowing bc blk men gets soo defensive when mixed men claim blk yet ..
@@BeautyWithinKakra That point exactly... is very exhausting!
I don’t know that this is true. I think the black femme community is more fractured because light skin womens representation comes at the cost of full/ deep black womens representation. But the same isn’t true for men. We stuggled to come up w an answer for mixed men we feel don’t belong in the space because the norm is that they’re accepted along their dark skin counterparts. The drakes, j cole, and obamas of the world never have to answer for their non black side the way say a zendaya has to, they’re mixedness is a footnote as best.
Edit: sorry this is in response to the first comment, not op
Societal standards of beauty and attractiveness is the reason for this. Dark skin is associated with masculinity and light skin is associated with femininity. Almost all over the world lighter skin women are who people prefer to have represent them.
@@BeautyWithinKakra yeah but not true,
in fact I always see black women with these particular issue,
IE this video,
And many other internet UA-cam content creators of the dark complexion persuasion.
You'll see black women making videos after video on UA-cam talking about mixed-race heritage dark complexion etc etc.
This is how Rita Ora was being perceived as black like how...have we forgotten what black people look like
👏🏾 ain’t that the truth! Everyone tried to label her as black artist with no question 🤣
Right, I searched up Rita Ora’s ethnicity and she is not Black at all. She is literally an Albanian woman from Yugoslavia
It’s called erasure!!
Black isn't a race it's a caste system
People thought she was mixed with black. This was back in the early 2010s. I also thought she was mixed with black back then.
As a light skinned black woman with two black parents,I agree. The level of gaslighting about BW erasure is ridiculous. We all have eyes.
Lets say i use their parents white idenity in a bad form ?
Preach 😮💨
Samesies
YES!!!
Keep in mind…two parents can be mixed. Why do people forget that mixed race people can marry other mixed race people? It can happen for generations
My sister and I had a funny conversation that ended in “if someone wouldn’t look at you and call you the n word to hurt you, don’t use it in any context” and I think it’s a great “rule of thumb”
Is it truly a shock to most black folks that mixed kids would actually hear this regularly? We often have a whole other side that see us only as n words…
@@cucat4753 ikr like I’m brown skinned but people in my little hometown still called me the n word from their car windows lol
I'm very light and it's happened to me.
@@CreolePolyglot it's a derogatory word for blacks. If you're not black then it wouldn't affect you.
Thank you. It makes sense, but folks think it’s a “term of endearment.” Do not get me wrong, I thought the same thing until I hit the 5th grade. Then, I got tired of saying “Do not call me that” until my 11-12th grade year in high school. Folks (usually non-black Latinos) slip it here and there towards me. I get really offended. Real life and online, I do not like being called that word by non-black folks😒🫠!
Black in every country and black in every context. Yes. Also stunning, beautiful and fierce.
exactly, had to remind em.
Nobody should be allowed to say the n word
@@braxton-z4x 🍪🍪
You better say it!!!!
@@mayowasworld yes girl, yes :)
“Kehlani saying the n-word is more acceptable for you than me being upset about that.”
This!! I live in northern Virginia, just outside of Washington D.C. and when I first moved here I heard non-Black Hispanic people saying the n word AROUND Black people.
I was the only one in awe and even disgust tbh. I also realized I was really in a one sided cultural exchange. Many of the non-Black Hispanic boys had Black girlfriends, dressed how Black people do, spoke how Black people do, etc and not one Black person besides me was visibly upset at how they had all the “benefits” of being Black and not having one Black experience.
I just remember feeling so powerless and the saddest part is how desensitized I find myself unless I see anti-Blackness in its most extreme forms.
We, as a COMMUNITY, have to stop allowing non-Black people to be our representation.
It's bad in Central/South Florida and seeing black people not say anything is very disappointing... 😞
@@TJ-jk4ut I heard the same about Georgia and NY/NJ. I guess the best we can do for now is try to hold them accountable. Educate them maybe? I really don’t know.
I'm in NYC, and here we have become so desensitized to hearing non-blk Latinos & others say it, nobody bats an eyelash. We hear it from when we are little until adulthood growing up around them in the hood, so it's become normalized here.
I'm not defending it, I'm just saying the northeast is a different world, so that's why people from other regions are flabbergasted, and yes these people pretty much adopted our culture to the point where everyone mimics us here.
They also call each other that though. Like you will hear Arabs call other Arabs the N word, everyone wanna be down until real 💩 happens.
@@nycsweetnessniijiamarukhan7918 It always seemed to me like they were trying to create a new idea around the term where it corresponds to not a racial identity, but an environment where they think they have the same experiences as Black people. Like growing up in poverty or having Black friends and such was their right to say it.
But, you know what they say… They want our rhythm but not our blues.
Ha! A whole word.
Same goes for TAKASHI 69, & Cardi B ... She uses the N word more than anything and neither of her parents are BLACK, look black, nor have black names smh 😔 but every song she spit she gotta say "ni99a something "
very true, I 1005 agree- but I dont think people are even remotely ready for that convo lol!
Cardi knows bw kiss her butt. She's cosplayin. She needed all that surgery to look like a bw. They stay tryna put her ratchet uneducated image off on us. Her roach hive are 🤡
Cardi isn't black?????
Have you seen offset being upset about that?
@@daniellachewetel6773 And that’s a problem I have with Offset/his family. This is why I do not take Black people like him in interracial relationships allowing these n-word passes and other self-hating things🤷🏾♂️💯
Beauty/pretty privilege tends to overshadow/cloud people's judgment all the damn time. It's why some will accept shitty behavior from a conventionally attractive person versus someone not so much.
It’s called the halo effect
Unfortunately I did this with an ex
*coughs …. Chrisean Rock.. *cough*
The only people who believe in pretty privilege are superficial overprivileged people with sexual insecurity issues.
As soon as a "pretty" person talks about how hot they are or about the "advantages" they have, people tell them they're ugly and not all that. The mental gymnastics that people have to do to push that stupid concept is hilarious. Also can't prove that someone is factually beautiful and plenty if beautiful people have shitty lives because quality of life varies.
Why don't people like you get on people show favoritism based on looks? Instead of whining about mythical privilege, call shitty people for being rude and unfair to people who they don't find attractive. Oh but that would actually mean holding terrible accountable and people are allergic to do that these days.
“She’s not dated anyone darker than a banana” This sent me 😂😂😂 I love your look Mayowa and really enjoy your videos. Your intro brightens my day every time 😍
This is when I fell out😂
It’s BAFFLING to me how so many people are purposely missing the whole point just ‘cause they want to be perceived as Black. It’s the cognitive dissonance and unchecked privilege for me!
lol yup they do it every time
“*and mixed with black does not mean black.” THIS
But if a mixed person said they didn't want to be black you would probably be mad
@unknown person yes you would I seen it too many times for you to lie to me
@@bobagucci502 Those lost souls don’t speak for all of us. There are still people who believe that by recruiting enough Black people it’ll make us look good. But most of us know better.
So if you see that happening and you see SOME Black women saying that, just know that there’s a whole wave of Black women also watching but just minding our business.
@@LoveAndSnapple we are 13% of the population in America and that number is trending down we have to recruit somebody.
@@bobagucci502 That’s not how that works, lol. 😅 Especially if the people that are being recruited, specifically say “I’m not black“.
As a multiracial person who is automatically read as black, I also find it weird when people like Doja Cat or Kehlani are called black women because they're not only black. There's an "and _" missing for a lot of these people or they just are something else to begin with (Cardi B for example).
THANK YOUUU !!
Black approval/Black adjacent in an entertainer=Black “swag” and $$$
One of the reasons why I disagree with you, it's because being black is subjective in terms of identity. Black American is an ethnic group.
Black/ African, is a race.
You can be mixed race and be black.
Because it is about who you are not what you are,
what you are is mix race,
who you are is black,
the father of the Black American community is a mixed-race man, Frederick Douglass..
Most of black America's greatest leaders were of mixed heritage, Adam Clayton Powell, Booker t Washington, WEB dubois.
Exedra... And the reason why people like doja cat and khalani are called black.
That is what they ethnically identify as.
@@bobbyschannel349
There are no sub groups of people that share common cultures to black people in America enough for black to be considered an ethnicity. It’s heavily enveloped in race, much like all of black history in america. Being black will never be considered an ethnic group bc blackness and it’s struggles in America were all created off the basis of race (phenotype)
Because the “and” doesn’t matter in the grand scheme of things they’re still treated like black woman…they’ll have colorism privileges for sure most of it being enforced by problematic black people treating them better, but white people don’t make that distinction they see them as black period, a more palatable version of blackness but still black and would they would never be able to claim whiteness unless they were very white passing and hid their ancestry
And don’t say it’s a Bay Area thing. As a black girl from the Bay Area, I have never been okay w/ non black peoples claiming blackness, wear AA culture as a costume, or saying the n world. Always has gotten a side eye from me
I kno its not a bay area thing, cause a lot of black people dont play but I wonder if the frequency of people feeling comfortable to say it is higher.
EXACTLY. Yes there’s dumbass people (usually black men 💀) who go for the okie doke bc they are attracted to mixed race women and don’t care but i am constantly calling out this type of bullshit. People like kehlani exploit the mixed-ness of the Bay Area & use their proximity to blackness to make coin. Oakland rapper kamaiyah called kehlani a colorist and literally don’t even fuck with her anymore but no one cares about that apparently
@@mayowasworldoh yes definitely. In the bay white latin@s will say it, asian people will say it, etc. nonblack people LOVE to exploit black culture in the bay and use it as a costume. It’s embarrassing and ugly
It’s a Los Angeles thing. I grew up in the 80s and 90s and the n word was used willy nilly by h!ispanic boys all.the.time. On the daily. It was very unsettling but like Mayowa said, nobody did anything about it.
@@-_Somebody_ eh, I grew up in L.A. and one side of my family has been here since pre 1900. The other came post WW2. The N-word wasn't thrown around in my Black and Mexican circles, as you'd get your ass kicked. I think it's thrown around more nowadays because you can't get away with whooping people’s asses like you used to 😂
I'm a white dude, but I always found the topic interesting. Growing up, when the media showed us "the ideal black woman," it was always a biracial woman, and the broader public just accepted it without question. You're not a gatekeeper for saying this. You're speaking the truth.
This
I noticed in early 2000s movies the gorgeous black women is always light skinned and straight hair while the black women they use for racist jokes was always fat, darker, hair with braids and loud compared to the others
Like who? Where was this shown? What hard facts do you have to support this claim other than saying "as a white dude"?
Oh look a simp for black women. Cringe asf
@@candycane1744...They still do this!! When has this ever changed.
As someone who loves Kehlani this really made me stop and check myself. I never looked at her as a black woman honestly and when I heard that song I had already fell in love with her music prior to it so I let it slide without even thinking. I need to be fair because I talk about Cardi B all the time and how she had infiltrated black spaces without being black. I was literally letting it slide with Kehlani cause I favor her more. 😩 Thank you for this video. ❤
thanks for being able to be open and receive it!
Same, I hate to admit it. I need to check myself as well.
Speaking of Cardi B… She was performing live in NYC with SZA yesterday and they performed their song “I Do.” Tell me why Belcalis is screaming out the n-word with no problem? I know it’s the entertainment industry and SZA cannot say much (or know about Cardi B’s background)… At least not to allow her to say that word on your show. Damn😒💯
@@JulianSteve lmaoo Belcalis🤭
@@fae3821 You already know😭
I’ve been saying this forever! Other black women even started arguing with me bc i said it don’t feel right how she uses the n word and don’t even got one full black parent. Another prominent Oakland rapper Kamaiyah even stopped fucking with her and called her colorist. She claims kehlani called her “black” and “ghetto”. I’m sick of these mixed race women profiting off of their loose ass proximity to blackness just bc they are considered “desirable”. If kehlani can say the n word does that mean Halsey can too??? They both have about the same amount of blackness. But no one wants to have this conversation bc then kehlani would have to answer for her use of the n word. It’s disrespectful af.
I love how Halsey owns the fact that she is mixed but white-passing. She doesn’t try to co-opt Black culture even if she is part-Black herself and say the n-word and I am so proud of her for that!
@@imthebossmermaid3648 exactly! They’re literally about the same amount of black too
@@cakebops Right?! It shouldn't be that hard. I think it's because Kehlani at least looks poc while Halsey just looks white, people will let any poc call themselves Black and say nigga but call out a white person because they think all poc can just replace Black women just like that. 😭
@@imthebossmermaid3648 that’s a good ass point. It really feels like the rest of the world is so ready to use mixed women to replace black women. I wonder if they really think that a mixed woman’s experience is the same experience of a black woman who’s actually visually perceived as black
@@cakebops Sadly it seems like they do.
I feel a sense of anger towards black ppl who intentionally gaslight other black ppl into believing that someone like kehlani is black or “looks” black 🤨. I also dislike biracials being the representative of light skin black ppl who have two black parents . I love your videos . Just found your content and it’s gold💛
Yesss!! Especially that last part. Since I’m not the darkest black person anyone has ever seen they immediately assume that I’m mixed and proceed to ask me “so…what are you mixed with?” And i comically respond with black, black, and MORE BLACK 😅
Those black people that do that a weak minded and feel inferior they will accept anything from a non black ppl
Same! I see it with make up brands too. I'm glad many have added inclusive dark shades, but for the lighter shades it's biracial & white models. Like you couldn't find light skin Black models with wide noses &/or 4c hair, or with albinism🤔 I'm scared to say it🤦🏽♀️but it's something I noticed even with Black owned brands. I was just getting into this one Black brand but they discontinued the 2 shades that fit me & recommended the lightest, which would've been a good shade for a white person. 🤷🏽♀️
Thank you. I couldn't have said it better.
U may be talking about where u live cause in France if u have a lil bit of blackness u are considered a nigga
Glad I could assist you in that Twitter war ☠️ people are so purposefully content with behaving dense it’s honestly eerie
lol you was with me fighting!! thanks for being in the trenches with me
Twitter is a lost space lol
We’re being erased 🤦🏿♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏽♀️🤦🏼♀️
See even the white women in distress 🤦🏼♀️
That’s exactly what the goal is.
Honestly i dont even think its a perception thing either. Cause zendaya has color to her but shes not black to me . Black folks need to start gatekeeping blackness . If you have two black parents ya black . If you have a black parent and a white parent ya mixed no matter if u look blk or not . I agree with your message nonetheless. I always feel like blk women like to live vicariously through biracial women and will crucify a fully blk woman for saying something about gatekeeping
Totally agree!
I fully agree with you and I got a child who's biracial. You can't always go on perception. My son skin tone looks nothing like either myself who's darkskinned or his dad who's white so sometimes you need to look at the parents and acknowledge them.
What about two biracial parents? What is their child? 😂
@@OCR461 Biracial...just like Zoe Kravitz. She refers herself as Biracial which she is.
@@cygnetlake8017 yh I guess logically that's what it is
I'm a white woman from Barcelona. I just found your channel and can't stop scrolling and watching your videos. I think you are so polite when talking about this experiences and sociopolitical issues and really appreciate the work you are doing to spread consciousness!
Keep going, thankyou!
PS: love the creativity in your makeup :)
I love this comment. It’s nice to know others support this ❤
i feel the same too ❤❤ she makes it feel like a group conversation
The same can also be said for Jhené Aiko, people that don’t read phenotypically black but however are lumped up with blackness
I been saying this about her specifically like…she has two biracial parents and doesn’t really say anything about her black side. She herself has said that she’s not black
Jhene Aiko hasn’t used the n-word in her songs since 2016 so I don’t think she applies here.
@@ayadhyistthe fact that she felt OK ever doing it with no blk parent is the problem, not the timeline
@@KangwithoutaKangdomshe has used the n-word i asked ??
If you are MIXED, please claim MIXED. It is a Beautiful thing AND if you want to define, DEFINE, it is up to you. Mayowa You are a Arteast with your makeup.
Thiiiiiiis!!!! Every TikTok space I go in, it’s biracial (Americans) complaining about not being considered black…
Then I pop in like “we aren’t, we’re half yt”
When I Teeeeeellll You the amount of hate I get and gaslighting that takes place cuz they can’t overcome the cognitive dissonance.
But mixed doesn't define your ethnic combination and the irony of it is an African phenotype exists outside the continent nor is dark skin exclusive to African people.
@@pietrycranberry6621 You can define if you want to, it is ok. You don't have to say the word MIXED.
I agree! but what about dark skin mixed people??? Cause most African Americans will make fun of a mixed dark skin person for saying they are mixed... AA just say dark mixed people don't claim their blackness just for saying they are mixed.
So crazy bc kehlani claims mixed race and STILL THINKS SHE CAN SAY THE N WORD 💀💀💀💀
“Sometimes it don’t make no sense”🎵 Exactly how I feel about Kehlani and her antics.
LMAOOOO
What song is that?
@@CarmenSD mayowa's channel theme song!!
@@CarmenSD the theme song summed up my feelings as soon as the video started lol.
I’m black. I don’t use the n-word. I consider it an insult no matter the context or whose mouth it comes out of. I just wish that we would get away from this idea that just because someone is black that they are cool with this.
I don't understand why we don't just let this word dye, once and for all
And it's so weird that we are using a word that was used to degrade us. We are now degrading ourselves. "Reclaiming it", why should we reclaim something that is harmful and that was made by whites??
I heard California men especially black men are very colorist.
I am lighter skinned black girl and I've experienced lots of racism such as being bullied for my hair texture 4b , being called the n word, being fetishized because I'm black and being called other hurtful slurs. I have always felt some way about mixed people being called black because a majority of the ones represented in media now are more white passing and I'd hate to raise my children with these ideals of what black beauty is "supposed" to look like.
I felt this same . Smh
Yes, I'm an unambiguous black girl the lack of black girls ruined my self image
We live in a world that disrespects black women so much that they feel the need to erase who black women are. No one in the black community actually sees this woman as a black woman. Many people don’t see biracial women as black women but they will say they are black women and biracial women will say that they are black women. People are really out here globally saying that they don’t know the difference between a biracial woman and a fully black woman. So we are dealing with a society even within our own group who is ok with the erasure of fully black women and accepting of anyone with a drop of black blood as a full on black woman. Black women are gaslighted by our own community, the white community, and any other community that does not want to accept mixed raced people as mixed when they have a black parent. They are just considered black. So this is how the kehlani’s are created. All they need is a little bit of black blood and they feel they are a representation of black womanhood and society allows this. Society encourages this behavior,and not only do they do this, they gaslight biracial people into accepting being nothing other than black no matter how other they may look. That is how Rachel Dolezal a white woman was able to pass as a black woman because the erasure is so strong that if you tell a biracial or multiracial woman that they are not black like you. Society will say that you are wrong, these women are black and you have to shut up and accept these women representing you, when they don’t. They will also tell Meghan Markle a white passing biracial woman how much of a black woman she is when that has never been her lived experience. It’s a perpetual cycle of gaslighting actual black women into accepting their own erasure. Every woman no matter the race can pretend to be a black woman and the world is ok with it, as long as it’s not an actual black woman. It’s crazy out here.
No one should be speaking on blk but us. It’s a simple fix! Even for the coins that r hellbent on calling biracials blk! We the majority have the final say and majority don’t see them as blk! It’s coons in the media that have the biggest push on agendas
Yesss! Exactly what I came here to say!
You said whole bunch of everything and left no crumbs 🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾🙌🏾 it pisses me off really . Thank you !
Very true
Perfectly said
when I first saw Kehlani pop out dating YG…I knew it said a lot about her. she clearly likes being labeled as “black” so she can profit off of the culture and cater to black men. i also feel like she used those pictures with sza to pander to black women. thanks Mayowa for being bold enough to speak out on this because it IS problematic.
I been said this about her and sza. notice how she's never dated a black women.
Yess they were literally talking about this on Twitter. She post pics w/ black women for clout & to get the black girlies excited then pops out w/ ppl that look identical to her. Not saying you can’t have a preference but it’s like she purposely uses bw.
I’m just so annoyed bc now she has a biracial black baby and lord knows what this shit will teach her. It’s so funny how her baby is blacker than her and all her recent partners but she thinks she can say the n word
Black is cool, and it’s emulated worldwide(what do Koreans.. got swag🤣). Really being an entertainer that’ has that black stamp of approval/or is black adjacent helps build careers🤣😂
@@justwatching4404 exactly and once the career is built our community is usually left on the back burner
She literally snapped at Nicki Minaj saying she was black. But she’s mixed like me and I’m from the Bay like her. Doesn’t mean I’m black. And love your eyeliner by the way 🔥
Exactly. Nicki Minaj is mixed.
Also I’ve noticed that anyone can claim to be black if they have a percentage of black in them but if I as a black woman had 25% white in me the same percentage as logic and so many more . I can’t be white which I don’t ever get
you ain’t lie sis. i’ll never forget when i was watching one of her videos with my friend, and she said “ni**a”. they instantly were like “ is she even black?” 😂😂
She's usedta talkin like that bein in the bm face, these type wm say and do anything .she knows she's protected unlike a bw who isn't.
@@justme2272 It’s all about protection and access. 😢
@@justme2272 i believe it lol, she was too comfortable sayin it
Always saw her as a mixed woman w/ more indigenous heritage than anything. Maybe a quarter black if anything but nowhere near the level of being labeled as black. Sad to see the black woman erasure continue to go on in the media
As a light skinned mixed woman I’M tired of seeing SO many light skinned / biracial people as the sole representation of blackness on TV. Would love to center more dark skinned folks in the stories I consume and would LOVE to see you make a video highlighting the creators YOU follow ❤
Love the make up! Black folks always shine when adorned in yellow! 😍 And I totally agree with your analysis: people are definitely fine not digging too deep if someone is conventionally attractive and crosses a line.
I really like your advocacy and perspectives on blackness.
Thank you!
Mayowa's intro just lights up my day😂❤️ "Hi,welcome to Mayowa's world"
thank you boo!
I'm in NYC, and here we have become so desensitized to hearing non-blk Latinos & others say it, nobody bats an eyelash. We hear it from when we are little until adulthood growing up around them in the hood, so it's become normalized here.
I'm not defending it, I'm just saying the northeast is a different world, so that's why people from other regions are flabbergasted, and yes these people pretty much adopted our culture to the point where everyone mimics us here.
They also call each other that though. Like you will hear Arabs call other Arabs the N word, everyone wanna be down until real 💩 happens.
Right? 🤣
👏👏👏👏👏 A WORD!! I'm Tired of the gaslighting black women have to deal with and I'm happy more of us are standing up for ourselves.
Hair and makeup are always on point 🥰
Always💯
It’s comical when people say that black women are “jealous.” What is there to be jealous of? Jealous that you have show a 23 and Me test to prove that you can use a racial slur??? 🤣
lmao not 23 & me😭😭
we need to do a part 2 but with Logic.
lolllll maybe ill get into with him cause he's WILD.
Yesss and Drake and Doja Cat.
But I've yet to hear a Logic song where he uses the n word.
@Mayowa's World pleeeeeaaaasssssseeee! I'd love to see that video
@@nikolnolastname4473 ua-cam.com/video/mfqsEpjEtrw/v-deo.html
I love seeing this shyt. I’m biracial, & I love to see black women being their own genre. Same as seeing biracial as our own genre.
It’s actually so different and I’m glad to see people putting more attention towards this.
The “one drop” rules doesn’t exist
Your eyebrows look amazing lady👸🏽
Regarding your discussion, this is just gaslighting 101, but mad props to you for calling out this foolery👏🏽
You are very pretty. Love your eye make up. You got me experimenting with different colors around my eyes😀 great commentary. I don’t think a lot of black folks are ready as they choose to live vicariously through their mixed friends and family. 🤣🤣🤣
Oop!! Now that’s a READ!!! No lies told
You were the first person who I heard say that race is about perception and I've adopted this understanding since because it makes so much sense. Race is a made-up construct so its always been about perception. Also, as a dark-skinned black woman, its exhausting to be placed into the same category with racially ambiguous women as it pertains to beauty. They don't represent the majority og black women, but get the most exposure. I totally agree with you. I think your African heritage allows you to have a different perspective about this because this "one drop and you're black" rule is exclusively an American construct. ❤❤❤
Wow, I like how you explained that.. Race IS DEFINITLEY a social construct (made up) so it IS about perception. That makes a lot of sense to me.....thank you
These talking points come directly from the afro American community and u can find many creators from 2020 and prior explaining all of this plus more. It is great that more ppl speak on the matter these days but don’t discredit what afro Americans have observed and put into words for all of our prosperity.
@@citizencoy4393 WHO did she discredit? Lol - all she said was that we HER EXPERIENCE
reading comprehension is key
@@whatsonhermindblog123 She said "I think your African heritage allows you to have a different perspective about this" The talking points come directly from Afro Americans tho. SO YES, comprehension matters make sure you apply it this time
@@citizencoy4393
Again, that commenter NEVER discredited anybody. That commenter simply said she believed that Mayowa's african heritage (like you typed) "allowed her to have a different perspective...."
How is pointing that out discrediting others who already have had that perspective (as you so ardently proclaim)
So yeah, again, reading comprehension.....
I look forward to your rebuttal
"A villain and a superhero at the same time" woo a word! Idk how much of this is our fault because we don't guard our spaces, gatekeep and we try to claim everybody as Black. The Kehlani's and Doja Cats are like squatters in our house that we can't get rid of 🤦🏾♀️
im screaming 🤣
… but everybody was black? No one’s squatting, the lease switched up while we were already in, and because of that, the ground rules need to be amended. The one drop rule only stopped applying recently when other cultures realized they could fully capitalize off of blackness. I’ve never had brown skin, only dark tan but with obvious black features. As a kid I was always ‘black and what?’ But always black foremost. Now people see me and ask if I’m ‘afro Latina?’ I’m obviously not but the meaning of that word has shifted as well. I think we forget that race is a social construct and the society around it is what dictates it’s classifications. That’s why only recently are mixed women not seen as black, but simultaneously mixed men are.
Please look up the meaning of a social construct. There are some very real observable data between people groups. After all scientists can dig up ancient ( and skinless) remains and tell if the remains belong to either a black woman or white male. The construct is how these differences are used/misused.
I think the perfect person to talk about in this topic is zendaya!!! The amount of black women & men swear she is black swear she is underprivileged when she literally fits every beauty standard possible the black community only claim her cause she is deemed as attractive the way they live through her is scary they will never be able to experience life like the mixed person she is & that’s not to discredit her success or talent.
YEP. Someone once termed one aspect/reason we see so many supported or overhyped young biracial actresses in Hollywood is the Zendaya effect. That's why Black actresses are down bad bc even our own Black community will support biracial women over black all the time
I think a lot of people default to calling biracial women Black, because the question becomes “What is biracial culture or society? Or “what is mixed-race culture?” It all goes back to the “one-drop rule” that people refuse to discard. But I understand 1000% that being Black versus biracial operates differently. There is a privilege behind being “exotic.” Exoticism is real. It’s the reason why so many little girls grew up saying “I’m mixed with Indian” even when their features were unambiguously Black. And when it comes to anything, Black women are not allowed to be angry. As soon as we are, we’re called bitter or a hater. But most times, we aren’t even angry. We just present facts and challenge brainwashed thinking.
@Shyla Barfield, some people just call that fetishization.
This is it!
It’s funny bc these same people be complaining about there not being enough biracial representation or space for their stories, but don’t realize they would get this if they would embrace being BIRACIAL instead of only focusing on being part black. Most black people cannot relate to them anyway. Black people do not know what it’s like to be biracial, but other biracials do! so why do they expect to see themselves in us and vice versa?
Yeah but Black men were still able to protect their image unlike us who didn't. And yes I'm aware of the many reasons why that happened
@Trinity M Whew. This comment is deep. “Do White people have a culture?” has always been the million-dollar question. And yea, the first (and maybe only thing) that comes to my mind is food (e.g. Italian food). Sometimes I think about Russian dances lol. But I often ponder if Whiteness is a monolith. There is Black American culture, indigenous African culture (and with there being so many countries/tribes that’s a lot to unpack), Jamaican culture, Haitian culture, etc…Blackness is understood as connected yet disparate. But it’s hard to think about White people having culture when they have learned so much and stolen so much from other cultures. But as far as the biracial conversation, I think that biracial women such as Tia Mowry or Tracee Ellis Ross make Blackness look more palatable or softer because of their likeness to Whiteness. I see ads for Black natural haircare lines, only to see a woman who’s partially European as the face of it. I become annoyed, but then I see Zendaya saying she will only cast Black women if she had her own production company. Then, I think about Angela Davis, one of the most powerful activists of all time who has Whiteness in her. So yes, it’s a fine balance, I agree. Yes, acknowledgement, self-awareness, and understanding privileges, and how you operate in a space matters. Black folks have a habit of embracing biracial people with open arms, while accepting erasure. I also had to realize that just because someone has a particular privilege doesn’t mean it always equates to a high-quality of life. For example, with pretty privilege, stunning women get access to a higher quantity of men, but that doesn’t always mean these men of high quality. While I see all the attention and desirability that comes with being mixed, I imagine that these women are still approached by creeps, are probably fetishized beyond belief, and maybe people assume they’re stuck up. The struggle of “Blackness” doesn’t compare in my opinion, but I think we’ll all heal by having honest and sympathetic conversations with each other and about our struggles.
I alway say this. Black ppl have embraced biracial ppl so much for desirability that they now believe full black ppl look like that. Biracial ppl should always say they are biracial but also black ppl need to stop getting upset when they do.
I used to live in Brooklyn and people of all races used the “N” word. I was on the train once and these boys were talking. One was black, one was Indian, and the other one was Latino. They were recounting something that happened and one guy was like, “The Chinese n*gga said this and the Indian n*gga did that…” Puerto Ricans use the word often, no matter if they’re white, black, or tan.
Lol they really do all the latins in Miami use it
y’all say this like it’s shock value… almost every race says the n word in la in new york everywhere 🤷🏻♀️
@@yeameow Well, for the people who don’t live in L.A. or NYC, how would they know that? This is why Mayowa asked about it. 🤷🏽♀️
@@yeameow Yeah but it doesn't make it right.
That word is everywhere now. It has gotten so out of control that many people from other races use it. I am not used to that.
it has become such part of American cultural strada, it has literally become unstoppable
Kehlani herself kind of changed her narrative of her blackness (or lack thereof) but once you’ve said it once no one hears the correction.
Bump
I see no lies and have had this conversation with ppl
I'm 💯 with you on this. I'm having a difficult time accepting some folks as black even though society considers them as such. The 1 drop rule ended over 50 years ago. Besides, we don't even know how these folks identify on paper. For me, to be black you have to have mon, dad, and at least 2 black grandparents.
Are we really still using the word folk's is it not 2023 ?
As a black woman If u have mixed race children raised by you ? Then what are they. I feel like if you’re a black moma biracial you’re black because u understand the culture more and came from a black woman
@@ebonymay7906 I'm a black woman. If I grew up in China, and related to Chinese culture more, that wouldn't make Chinese. I would still be black. Biracials relating to black culture more... Still makes them biracial. Relating to a culture more doesn't change your biology.
@@bobagucci502 i still say folks. And if you’re living in some cities you say folx
@@-_Somebody_ you clearly didn't have my parents using language like that = belt in my house 🤣
Love you girl & appreciate you for using your voice unabashedly 💕
Also you look so pretty as per 😍🔥 definitely a badd B****
When we call out the colorism, they want to make black women the bad guy which is sad. Have a lovely weekend!
To me if I can’t walk around claiming I’m native, Asian or white bc of the little percentage of my family history why do they hold on to the little percentages of being African. Then every black person that have other percentages of different background should be able to walk around and claim those other races as well without ppl looking at them crazy 🤷🏾♀️
I came across your channel yesterday and have been watching a handful of your videos, and I LOVE that you show off your makeup and look at the end of each video!! Your natural beauty plus skill and aesthetic are unparalleled!!
Lmao Kehlani is part black at all? I had no idea. She’s a Latina woman to me. I am half white half middle eastern and while my father is not white, I pass as white rather easily, so I call myself white. I was recently talking about this with my biracial (half black, half white) boyfriend because we saw a video of a white girl saying she’s not white because she is half black. Yet if she hadn’t said she was part black, nobody realized she was. She said she was half, but she is actually a celebrity. I looked her up. She’s actually only a quarter. And I’ve seen this with a few people on social media. They cling to blackness when they do not possess it. I’m from the south and have been raised predominantly around black people. Black people have been my only friends. And it honestly upsets me for black people to see it. It almost offends me. My boyfriend agreed with me too. I said that your race is whatever you are perceived as. I’m not interested in you pulling up pictures of your parents, or your hair without a flat iron, or DNA tests to prove that you’re black. In my opinion if you don’t look it, you aren’t. It doesn’t mean you can’t celebrate what you come from on the black side as well as the other, but to call yourself black I feel is disrespectful to actually black people. I think there’s a difference between someone asking you your race and someone asking you what your full heritage is. I think if you are perceived as white then you are white. And if someone asks you what you are further than that then that is your opportunity to talk about being part black. But don’t claim it as your race. It’s disingenuous to people that are undeniably black. So I agree with you. This video is amazing as usual and I love your gentle approach to things. You’re beautiful and I hope you’re having a beautiful day. I always love your makeup. It looks so good today!
I’d also like to mention my boyfriend that is part black looks black. But he also looks half white. He doesn’t say he is black. Because clearly he is light skinned and is clearly not BIEC (great acronym btw). So he says he is mixed. And I think more people need to be doing that instead of calling themselves black men or women when they’re just not. Kehlani isn’t EVEN a mixed woman I didn’t think. She does not appear mixed. I don’t listen to her music or follow her so I had no idea this was going on. But yea I agree, this is messed up. I do see a lot of people especially women doing this and I always look at them sideways. Cardi B is always a great example. That woman isn’t black. It’s so disrespectful and you shouldn’t have to feel bad for not allowing these people under the same label you are forced under.
Being “Latina” doesn’t mean you can’t be Black. Most Black people outside Africa are Latin American; Black in every country, every context. Just wanted to continue to educate.
@@gayhomosexuallll I fully understand that. And you’re not really educating me, I already know this. Although I’m not offended and I’m not saying this out of offense, only pointing out that I’m well aware of this fact. But we are talking racially and I’m unsure of what other category to put her under. Hope that makes sense. Because indigenous may be correct but from what I understand she doesn’t label herself as indigenous/native to the Americas. She seems not to be black and merely mixed race. So Latina is the best that I and many other people are going to muster for a race category to put Kehlani under. Hope this makes sense to you. What would you label her as if not just mixed race?
Yikes. When people keep mentioning their black (friend/bf/coworker/whoever) like in this comment, I can't help but cringe. So unnecessary.
Stated perfectly!
Why? I think it shows that although not apart of the community even they get it. Background for WHO is even trying to understand what’s really going on. Not even sure how a comment so spot on can have so many bad replies. Hate to say it but this person gets it more than some blk ppl based on response alone.
This discourse baddie is the main reason I come to UA-cam
Me too!
Your hair looks so pretty today friend 😍😍
I totally agree with you. I’m a mixed Brazilian woman with strong black features (my daddy is black), but given the climate of today I just can’t bring myself of identity as a black woman because I know my native Brazilian and white heritage influence how I look. I hold my blackness dear to my heart, but I don’t want to take the space that should be for suited for someone else that truly cannot ‘escape’ being perceived as black. Great topic
This is just a few of them thinking this way. I'm Caribbean and blacks 99% of the time want me to say I'm black and cannot claim anything else. They are very confused bc this same creator, in another video, wants everyone to say they're black. They can't make up their minds. Btw, you're correct. I'll never say I'm black either.
I love this woman…she is speaking TRUTH. Mixed race people are mixed race…not debatable
Thank you so much for posting this video. I agree with your points about Kehlani and nothing you said was aggressive, in fact I think you were rather measured in your assessment. Similarly to Kehlani, I am mixed race (white/black) but pretty fair-skinned, big curls, and can pass for Middle Eastern, Italian, Hispanic, etc. I have always been very, very intentional about NOT labeling myself as a "black woman" because I do not look like one.
My family and some of my friends don't like this and tell me it's wrong to say I'm not a black woman, but I say the same thing-- that claiming to be one contributes to erasure of visibly black women. I would find calling myself a black woman to be so unethical when I have a lot of privilege in the black community, and I also benefit from white/racially ambiguous privilege in many contexts. Many colorist black men don't denigrate women like me, they treat me like a "preference" (eye roll), while at the same time saying sickening things about "black in every context" women. I can't think of a single time I've experienced misogynoir from any race or group of people.
So it would be wrong on so many levels for me to say that I am living the experience of a black woman. I don't, but I believe in listening to you and joining you in your causes. Also I wasn't gonna comment this until you said you are comfortable with compliments... you're absolutely radiant!!
Thank you! And thanks for acknowledging that
I appreciate people like you so much who understand. I would hug you! I heavily dislike when people pushed mixed race people into blackness as if they're black or nothing! Much love ❤ 🥰
I really like conversations like this. People need to understand that there is a difference between being black and being biracial. Just like there's a difference between being white and being biracial.
Ngl I literally added that song to a playlist last night 😭 this video really clocked me, I was obsessed with that specific album and music back in middle school.
I never saw her as black but again the pretty privilege had me with rose tinted glasses. Thank you for brining this subject to light cause it’s definitely important to have these convos. Also you’re stunning & the makeup/ face card is givingg💓
Also good on you for being able to recognize that and thank you for the compliment!
It's crazy how I've always felt pressured to accept mixed people as black out of the social fear (fear of rejection and abandonment) of being seen as bitter and or jealous. I can definitely say my younger self (mostly elementary and high school) was envious of the lack of attention and automatic discard that I would get as these types of cultural gates were opened for mixed women based off of my immediate and unambiguous identity. It was interesting how as an East African dark skinned woman I felt bothered so quickly yet pressured to accept and be accepted by the very people who are rejecting me. WILD.
I also have to be completely honest with myself as a dark-skinned black woman and look at the way that I was so quick to want to claim people like her as black because there was a part of me that wanted access to that desirability and that social acceptance. Desirability in this society whether we want to admit it or not creates opportunities. I thought, especially when I was in middle school and high school, that I would gain some desirability via association and through some sort of distorted social osmosis?? I'm not even sure I'm using osmosis in the best way lol, but yeah.
In a way when you look at your wounds and trauma and see how you've downloaded societal messaging and exhibited them through these actions, it's scary and fascinating!
Thank you for this analysis!
I appreciate that Kehlani did take accountability for her ignorance surrounding her saying the n-word casually & in songs while not actually being black (enough). She actually doesn’t even use the word anymore as opposed to others like cardi
The green inner eye situation is mesmerizing!
I’m a mixed race guy from NorCal and I would never use the n word myself because I don’t feel that I fully experience blackness to claim ownership of it. I also generally dislike mixed people from using it even when we aren’t “passing” just because it helps draw the line for calling out white and other POC using it
trust me if blks are ignorant enough to use it u are blk as well and it isn't no more a crime for u to use it than them
Loooooove these earrings!! They go so well with the shells in your hair
Hiii I’m mixed race, black mom white hispanic dad. I identify as biracial because I don’t and can’t identify or assimilate into either groups. I understand why a lot of mixed race people don’t claim “mixed race/biracial” identity because often times you can be shamed like “oh are you ashamed to be black”, my own mother said that to me when I told her I can’t physically identify as black. But it’s truly a shame for the erasure of black women in media as well as mixed people in a way erasing some part of there racial makeup.
Your right 4c hair should be a thing I also feel the same exact experiences. I have the same exact plights. I really hope you keep giving content and yeah your right though. We need more women with 4c hair throughout the qfrican and African American community. ❤️❤️❤️
What you said was valid! Kehlani definitely has a type even the woman she is seeing now is light skin I would be surprised if she stepped outside of that preference 🤷🏾🤷🏾
LUV the look sis! 💘
thank u!!
Love this and have been deeply thinking about it for the past few years. Cardi B I think is what really got me to thinking. We can go as far as Kamala Harris and as recently as Ice Spice. Mixed race people who take up black spaces and say the n-word. It’s frustrating because most people take it as being divisive but it’s something that needs to be discussed. I also see this reaching black men in the coming years seeing as though we just had “2” black quarterbacks in the superbowl.
"It's not my job as a black person to see everyone as black..." - YES, yes, and yes... Also, I love when you said that a lot of black people have 30% white in them genetically speaking but are still perceived as black. I have read that the majority of african americans (ADOS) have at least 20-30% white in them genetically speaking....but that doesn't mean your'e perceived that way.....very interesting
“Aggressive” “hostile” all the words coded that I too have heard as a dark skinned woman. I’m also autistic, so I’m very direct; you can imagine how that added to me being a dark black woman, is seen. All my life I’ve had people literally yelling in my face, while calling ME aggressive. Makes no sense. I’m extremely calm. I never yell at people or call them names. I don’t even call people stupid. Nothing. Yet somehow because I disagreed or I set a boundary…I’m hostile. 😒
Same, and honestly I've learned to stop caring about their opinions and stop dealing with people in general 🥱
Okay, finished the video, gotta comment again. I really like your term BIEC - Black In Every Country.
Honestly, I think that should be the new standard of when someone is considered black. Because maybe then we'll be able to stop this "race ambiguity = black" shit.
Anyway, I 100% agree with everything you said. I love your videos, I love your looks. I'm so glad that you create UA-cam videos. And imma subscribe with my other account too.
Mayowa, you really are leading the forefront of opening conversations about restructuring what it means to be Black. Listening to your perspectives, I do think it's time we leave the "one drop" rule behind and reclaim our own identity under our own terms. "Biracial" or "Multi-racial" needs to enter everyone's common vernacular when it comes to identifying people based on their appearance. I don't have an opinion on this specific woman because I've never heard of her, and she's just one of many, many racially ambiguous women who benefit from being considered Black. I'm 100% over it, and I'm fully on board with only identifying people with OUR complexion, our phenotypes, our hair, and our features in ways that are fully unambiguous as Black people.
Thank you for doing this video … i’m a little older than your target audience, but in my teens it was often common for mixed children to be labelled black. I now see that this can become problematic, because like you say whereever we go are in the world. If you’re black, you’re black, no questions asked. Ambiguous you can literally be anywhere and people won’t know what your culture or your background is until you tell them. I do feel that society has allowed this to happen ( black men)and it needs to change , My memory is of Jay-Z being interviewed by Oprah years ago explaining why using this word was a good idea. And nothing to worry About . I totally disagree with anyone using it ..the N word to me means pain and less than.. I hate that word. (I think Jayz idea was that if you used it enough, it wouldn’t hurt. Well that plan failed).
I honestly think it worked. The n word, the b word, the f word, has allowed us to become very desensitized from the word to where even if someone says it with vitriol, I don’t think it packs the same emotional punch as it did 70 years ago.
And unlike the last century where lawlessness was a way of life and they literally killed people for whistling at white women, the social landscape as changed drastically. A lot of people have to dog whistle their racism now. They can’t just call people names bc the internet, especially, will absolutely make sure there are consequences felt. Which is why there is this reverse racism movement occurring.
Now that the language has been co-opted by so many that like to wear certain aspects of black culture as a costume, I wonder if there will be an evolution in language with the future generations where people use it less and less so that those who aren’t black or fully black feel too awkward to comfortable say it. They are only following what unambiguous black people do anyways. Like it will be the cultural equivalency of saying “nincompoop”
Our culture is already reflecting a very subtle shift in this.
I think Kehlani, Cardi B, Doja Cat came out at the right time to capitalize. I foresee Doja eventually dropping the word due to her mainstream appeal, Kehlani fighting for relevancy, and Cardi B being forced to evolve as her fan demographic gets older (unless she pursues the Drake strategy but I think Cardi cares more about performing > music).
@@ariesmry ….. like I say it may mean nothing in some area ‘s ( rap music) but to a lot of people especially in my world the N word is a big fat no no. I would never encourage others to use the word. Thank you for a bit of history though.
The most we said in the day was lighter/fair but you were still black and you were reminded of that. I will never embrace it the same way I disown the B for women
Nah, he knew what he was doing. BM enjoy being degraded by the collective. Hence why they even encourage such talk in the bedroom. Here's looking at you Donald Glover...
Another great video. I've lived in NYC for 20 years, but I'm originally from the midwest, and it irks me when I hear non-black people use the n-word. It's still weird to me. But the minute you talk to many of those same folks about their black ancestry, they'll be the first to tell you they're not black. Black people don't protect/gate keep blackness as well in spaces where there's a lot of non-black people of color for some reason. Also, people hate monoracial black women, and what we represent, including many other black women. I'm in my 40's, and we were having these conversations in the 90's, and sadly nothing has changed. I wish we could've done more to prevent your generation of black women from dealing with this.
I laughed out loud when you said "BIEC Black" as it reminded of Trevor Noah's comedy skit where he was excited to "finally be black" when he moved to the USA because in South Africa, the moment you're mixed with anything😅🇿🇦... Whether your great grandfather on your mother's side is other than black, then you're not black. You're colored - in spite of your dark skinned color
Interesting…thanks for sharing that tidbit. Historically in America, it was the other way around. If anybody in your lineage up to like 4 generations removed was Black, then due to the 1 drop rule, you were considered Black regardless of appearance.
I'm confused by your last two sentences. Is that not just the one drop rule in reverse? Am I misunderstanding something?
@@hope3290 there's a "drop rule" in South Africa where if you're not 100% black, then you're not black. Even if your phenotype is black
@@-_Somebody_ yeah... And to be honest, I think it's problematic. For the longest time I've always believed that "black Americans" were Halle Berry and Felicia Rashad types and the dark-skinned blacks were recent immigrants because that is what the media portrayed to us. It was literally until the boom of social media where I learned that actually, black is black all over the world.
The one drop rule contributes to the erasure of black people in the United States
@@Docmatema But no one is 100% black. If you're going by that rule, then practically the entire diaspora is excluded from being black. I'm guessing you were just pointing out how other countries qualify blackness? Let me know if I am understanding you correctly.
I'm lighter skinned and I've never been mistaken for anything but black in the US(granted I live in a rural place that's kind of a nightmare of racism sometimes) but when I went to europe and was wearing a wig with straight hair some people thought I might be Portuguese who also can have brown skin. I got high once and some asked me if I wa Asian. I don't think they were asking in a mean way. Is it crazy that I wear my natural hair because I don't want to be mistaken for anything than what I am?
GURLLLL are you ever wrong!???. I honestly wish people open their eyes and their minds cuz my Lord do humans have a talent of brushing things under the rug to suit their narrative it's tiring. BTW ur are goals babe you gotta tell me how you get ur locks so big 💜👐🏾
You didn’t sound offensive to me. The truth is the truth. People like her treat the Black experience like an accessory or fragrance. Let me put on some Blackness today.
It’s always cool to “be Black” until you actually face what we face. And like you said, those experiences are very unique too. You being able bodied versus a Black person who is not.
Love the yellow, btw.
i just want to say there’s something ultra nostalgic & undoubtably blackity-black about the sound of your accessories clanking, which i love, & you voiced this so eloquently; *i agree several times over* ❤
What Can I Say I'm The Light Skinned Black Woman Thank U Ma'am.
Girl thank you for saying what I could never put into words
Your grasp of colorism and social issues never fails to teach me something new, even with all the work I've done to understand. It always reminds me to never think 'I get it', especially as someone who does benefit from lightskin privilege
I like that you touched on this topic. Why do people that aren’t us get to be like us but without the feeling of being racially profiled or turned down from a job opportunity because of the degree of black we are? I’m tired of it, but it’s never going to change IMO. And yes your makeup be on point as always 💁🏾♀️
That’s what I do, I say that I’m mixed because I am and I also experience being perceived as many different ethnicities and I rarely get perceived as black if at all. So, I definitely think it would be an injustice to solely identify as a black person when that has never been my experience in society. I still don’t get why mixed race people that are mixed with black and are racially ambiguous only identify as black like it’s illegal to identify as mixed 🤦🏽♂️ but then again I know it’s to benefit and be included in black spaces
That part! It’s the access that a lot of them want! Thanks for sharing
@@mayowasworld you’re absolutely welcome!! I love your content, please continue to make more and being your natural self, mucho love 🤎
Love the tied back hair and the sound of the earrings and shells in the mic😍❤
I totally agree. If you're not perceived as black by strangers, then don't try to speak for the black experience
What if some strangers identify you as black and others don’t? How can you gate keep someone’s experience when you literally have not lived their lives? No one can tell me all that I have experienced as a black person. I get you can have your opinion about someone’s looks but it comes off shallow to go by what’s on the surface.
New subbie, I love your videos; been a silent watcher for a while. I notice in the media how it seems to be easy for them to find unambiguous BM for roles but the women have to look mixed.
Loved this topic, I can listen to people speak about this all day long. I really hate when I have to fight people on social media when I simply point out that certain celebrities or individuals are mixed and not black as that contributes to the erasure of fully black women like myself. Thank goodness this is less of an issue over here in the UK, mixed people are usually just called mixed and not black, otherwise I would be fighting people all day long 😭. Side note: you are beautiful 😍😍 not the boring conventional, superficial type of beauty we see everywhere these days but a true authentic, ethereal type of beauty, I was thinking this as soon as I clicked on this video ♥️
Aww thank you love!! I really appreciate this compliment omg
I think some of us grew up scared calling ourselves mixed because in the community it seems like you are separating yourself. So for me as a mixed raced Caribbean woman I always called myself black. I was not taught anything else. I used to be so offended when girls would tell me I was not black. Now that I am older and wiser man it is very damaging to all of us that we think one drop qualifies our blackness. I shouldn’t have the right to claim anything else
❤ thank you for sharing! i was also not wanting to self exotify but I’m grateful for mayowas content and other Black folks who gatekeep and say what’s facts!
Kehlank doesnt identify as black anymore she identifies as mixed.
2. Lets talk about how our elders encouraged calling their mixed race grandchildren black. They grow up strongly identifying w/ what their parents tell them while benefiting off their ambiguity.
I think this conversation is more nuanced than mixed race “one drop” black folks just not identifying as black when this rejection of the onedrop rule is lowk a newer concept.
To clarify i am not saying that they should be coddled or overly empathized w/ i just think it should be part of the conversation bc it is a societal problem within the commmunity.
It *is* lowkey new. I personally didnt hear of this until 2017-2019 ish but now its hitting more mainstreamed media
There was also a time where ppl were vilified for calling themselves mixed cause it was seen as rejecting their blackness.
Bingo
Hey mayowa happy Sunday it’s so wonderful to see you just a breath of fresh air and oh my your locs have grown you’re so beautiful love ❤️ and light 🌞 my daughter one ☝🏿 love ❤️!!