#especially if you aren’t ambiguous/ mixed looking and lightskinned

[tariah23]

Isn’t there like a new movie or show out featuring a white samurai or some bullshit

[strwberriicakeu]

respect black women.

Daily reminder that black women/girls aren’t just beautiful when we have lightskin, or makeup, or curly hair, or light eyes, or ‘’exotic’’ features. we are also beautiful and valid even when we aren’t extra ordinary. 

we’re not just valid when we look mixed or racially ambiguous. we’re not just valid when we can be paraded around as a ‘black queen’ or when we have ‘black girl magic’ 

and even if you are considered any of the above, that’s fine, you’re still valid, but i am saying this to highlight the fact that many of us only recognize and appreciate black women only when they go above and beyond, whether it be through success, or when we fit a eurocentric beauty standard.

people only seem to respect black women when they have certain features that, in their minds, aren’t typically afro-centric ones. for eg, people will shame a black woman for her wide/big nose, or say that ‘’shes pretty, but her nose messes her face up’’. 

society doesn’t respect black women who are just ordinary women living their lives like everyone else. we aren’t allowed to be bare-faced and basic and feel comfortable, especially if we’re darkskinned, or disabled, or trans, or fat. 

we’re only given the same amount of respect thats given to other women as a default, if we can be fetishized or exoticized. not to mention the fact that society is so determined to strip black feminine presenting people of their femininity.

the way you’d see people appreciate a skinny white woman for being bare-faced and all natural in sweats just relaxing being average, thats not what we get. as a black woman/girl you have to work twice as hard to get half as much as anyone else. hell, even in our own communities we face this. everyday we see other black people, especially black men, be prejudice against their own people to appeal to white supremicists.

so pls stop. respect black women. respect black girls. respect black disabled and neurodivergent women. respect black queer and trans women. respect attractive black women, respect unattractive and average black women. 

we aren’t only valid when we can be fetishized, bc believe it or not we are valid and normal human beings even if we aren’t fuckable. 

no matter what features we have, or whether or not our features are typically afro-centric [even though, they are. there’s no ‘’right’ or ‘’wrong’’ way to be black. if that feature is on a black person, it is a black feature], our beauty is not our redeeming factor that prevents us from being less valid, even if its treated as such.

we are not beautiful in spite of our blackness, we are beautiful because of it.

[palmett-hoes]

this was originally meant to be a response/follow-up to @i-did 's post about race in the aftg fandom (that you should read). i ran it by him first and asked permission to add, but then we decided it was too long so i should make it its own post

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i want to talk about fandom's take on the twins' race because it's rather glaring in the fandom that andrew (and then aaron by necessity) are often portrayed as the only white characters on the team and i have to question why?

there's nothing in the backstories that would mean writing them as POC would fling them headlong into offensive stereotypes that the fandom hasn't bypassed over to make another fox a POC.

they have a history of addiction? but it's okay for matt and seth to be addicts and be brown.

they're violent? but it's okay for renee to be non-white and a former gang member.

they're blond and 'pale'¹? but allison can be a WOC and bleach her hair without saying it explicitly? renee can have white rainbow hair no matter the AU? neil can be a blue-eyed redhead and still be drawn darker skinned half the time?

'pale' in and of itself is a very vague word that's only brought up in the context of comparison to notably dark skinned nicky. it's completely relative, and multi-racial families where people look wildly different from each other exist (pretty commonly). or if you're prescriptivist how about the multiple ways a POC can still be a natural blond including but not limited to pigmentation conditions or being mixed race? similarly, i think less than a quarter of the FCs i've seen for andrew over the years have been natural blonds themselves.

so if our holdups aren't about racial stereotyping and they aren't about the incredibly vague character descriptions, then why are the twins always white when it's approached as a good thing that no one else is? when i've seen multiple different posts lauding the fandom for adding diversity where nora didn't write it, except for here?

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to be completely, bluntly honest, it's because we as a majority-white fandom are uncomfortable when we are not the central characters. or maybe we are uncomfortable when people of color ARE the central characters. i don't think there's much of a difference.

we are comfortable writing and drawing nicky, the upperclassmen, then kevin (in that order) as poc because, simply, we use them as background characters. they are rarely the main characters of fics, or have their own storylines in them; it all revolves around andreil.

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additionally, while i've used neil up to now as an example of the fandom being OKAY with writing POC, let's also admit that it's an,, imperfect representation, as he will often be racially ambiguous with no explicit ethnicity, he will be the lightest skinned of the foxes of color, and he will still have eurocentric features. also it's genuinely a toss up as to whether he's drawn brown or not, there are still plenty of white neils, much more than there are white dans and matts and renees (not an attack on anyone who draws white neils, simply a statement) and FCs and edits of him still tend to be white people.

he's a bit of a schrödinger's person of color, not really any one thing or another, very few people being willing to take a hard stance on him and do the work of taking that decision under consideration when writing and drawing him.

(quick shout-out here to @hi-raethia for making content about an explicitly chinese interpretation of neil).

(additionally, to be as clear about my intended message as possible, this isn't a statement on the politics of passing or undermining the ethnicities of lightskinned poc, this is about a lack of detail being put into making a character a character of color in any thoughtful, meaningful, or significant way)

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so when i talk about the centralization of white people in fandom, neil gets to be included, perhaps with a footnote indicating that this is somewhat of a more complicated statement than it is with lily-white andrew minyard.

nevertheless, i feel comfortable saying that 75% of fandom content revolves around andrew and neil, major exceptions only being jerejean which are often stand-alone from the foxes, and the rising branch of kevaaron shippers. however both of those ships are actually subject to this exact same criticism, as ships between a a flat-out white character and a dubiously "non-white" character who can also be white sometimes. it varies.

conspicuously, content about the UPPERCLASSMEN tends to revolve around andrew and neil.

fics where the upperclassmen are the pov character are often outside-perspective fics on andreil.

HC posts about the upperclassmen, especially matt, will devote major portions to his time spent helping, hanging with, and thinking about andrew and/or neil.

secondary ships like danmatt or renison tend to be just that, secondary ships moving in the background of andreil-focused works. they get more of a,,, scenic shout-out than a storyline

it is only comfortable for us to write these characters as characters of color if they revolve entirely around white characters

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so after all that? what should we do, as a white-majority fandom? what should YOU, specifically, as a white person, do?

i hate to talk about a problem without also talking about solutions, and i try not to carp on something i don't want to be an active part of fixing. public criticism without an action plan only leads to hurt feelings and guilt, and that's never my intention when bringing this up. my goal is to address a general problem, not anyone specific's personal failings.

in all honesty leaning completely into all of the foxes being people of color, though i think neat and i certainly support, is not the best solution, and would be more of a hollow action than anything else without addressing the underlying problems that lead to the development of this dynamic.

i think the best thing to do would be to 1. do some research on writing poc, usually by following some writing-specific blogs like @writingwithcolor or @pocinmymedia . look up the 'black best friend' trope and really spend some time tjinking about it. spend an hour seeking out a random assortment of blogs that interest you that are also run by people of color. checking through tags like drawingwhileblack or blacktober may be good kickoff points.

tumblr is great because with an hour of active work to find these blogs, you can then go months passively seeing content from them. try not to interact, actually, simply watch and listen and become familiar with general trends and concerns in different communities. remember that every blog is run by an individual person, not an elected representative of their race, and always keep this in mind.

you are teaching YOURSELF that people of color are individuals, they have interests and inner lives that don't revolve around whiteness, that don't revolve around YOU

at the same time, 2. challenge yourself as a creator to make more content about the upperclassmen, specifically. make art about them doing stuff as a group separate from neil and andrew's group. find a compilation of 'draw the squad' memes and draw/tag the upperclassmen only. make jokes where they talk to each other. write some meta about their character motivations. write a fic where andreil isn't even mentioned, it can be super short, you can even use a prompt generator.

as a reader, reread their backstories in the extra content. reread son nefes. use ao3's filtering system to read some fics about JUST the upperclassmen, few and far apart though they may be.

if we've decided that the upperclassmen are people of color then lean into that, and learn to CARE about them on their own merit, because they are the most underutilized characters in the fandom. we need to make content centralized around them to combat the fact that fandom centralizes whiteness

[thehighpriestofreverseracism]

What about dr. Bailey and dr. Warren on Greys Anatomy? They are a black couple that has a storyline that spans over many seasons. Chandra wilson is kinda light tho

y’all keeping using examples of black people from ensemble casts, relationships that are abusive or shows from decades ago..

the question still stands: How many Black relationships in mainstream tv/film where neither of them are mixed/lightskinned/racially ambiguous and the relationship is functional and healthy, and their characters are central to the narrative IN THE LAST 5 years.

(Characters that are based on real life people don’t count)

(irrespective of sexual orientation)

if you see a heterosexual Black male character, he is damn near always paired up with a non-black woman and when paired with Black women, the Black women are more often than not significantly lighter than the Black men or have other features that (aren’t exclusive to) but is in harmony with european beauty standards (I’m not saying it’s any Black person’s fault for looking the way they do…I’m just calling out the machine)

as for queer Black, 98% paired with someone who isn’t Black.

beyond Black lightning, Black panther and Moonlight (and the thing with moonlight is the ending could’ve really been more assertive with their fate, rather than having that loose open ended artsy finish, leaving you asking yourself “did they end up together?”, especially considering how much emphasis was placed on depicting how Kevin was directly involved in throwing Chiron under the bus which ultimately led to becoming who he ultimately grew up to be…it was a cop out that there wasn’t equal emphasis on the reconciliation (atleast imo)…I always find the ending is bittersweet for all the wrong reasons)

….I can’t think of any that qualify

[mixedfeelingsproject]

Jayana

Where are you from? Chicago

How would you describe your race/ethnicity? Multiracial/Mixed

Do you identify with one particular aspect of your ethnicity more than another? Have you ever felt pressure to choose between parts of your identity? I tend to identify with Black (socially), as a way to avoid conflict or isolation.

Did your parents encounter any difficulties from being in an interracial relationship? No. One looks full Black (although he is mixed) and the other one looks like a lightskin, biracial woman so no one paid them any attention (they're both seen as Black).

How has your mixed background impacted your sense of identity and belonging? I never felt like I truly fit in. I've had mixed experiences with Blacks. Some love my lightskin and sandy hair, while some are very hateful and obvious in their envy. My parents and grandparents take my mixed identity seriously, but it's hard to say whether other people do. I get weird looks a lot and I feel invisible most days. A lot of Blacks have disregarded me, my struggle, and felt obligated to "remind" me of my Blackness as if I'm ignoring it by identifying as mixed race. I make jokes about being mixed and someone always, and I mean always, tells me that I'm mixed with "black and black" or something along those lines. Well, my treatment from both Black and non-Black says otherwise whether they like it or not. It also upsets me that family and associates can make lightskin, mixed, "white girl" jokes all day, but as soon as I acknowledge my non-Black relatives (who aren't THAT far "down the line"), it's a problem. So you can make me out to be the black sheep of the group (always talking about how light I am, although calling me the "Spanish" girl, and so on) but I can't acknowledge the reason that I look the way that I do? Or be proud of EVERY aspect of my background? What sense does that make? I do have Black friends, but I have been bullied throughout most of my childhood for my appearance and I don't think they understand the depth or how much damage has been done. I tend to just accept that no one will ever respect my identity the way that I want them to, so I just ignore my own comfort zone to avoid backlash.

Have you been asked questions like "What are you?" or "Where are you from?" by strangers? If so, how do you typically respond? Yes. I said "West Side Chicago", or "the U.S." if I'm traveling out of the country.

Have you experienced people making comments about you based on your appearance? Frequently. Good and bad. Some people tell me that I'm weird looking or "ugly for a mixed breed", which is dehumanizing as I associate "breed" with dog. People also don't pay me much mind or make rude comments because I don't have green or gray eyes, which is what people tend to associate with mixed girls. I have heard Blacks whisper about whether I'm "really" Black. Some people refer to me as a "mulatto", which I'm not fond of but I'm not surprised when people use it as many are ignorant to the origins of the term. Some people immediately knew that I was part Irish because I had freckles and sandy-ginger hair with blonde and sandy streaks. It's especially acknowledged during the warm season when the sun makes my hair more noticeable. People have told me that I have good hair as it is long and healthy. I believe that all hair is good hair, but I know they say this because of the stereotype that Black girls only have pretty hair if they're mixed with something. My friends have told me that I could pass for fully Puerto Rican as well. It happens when I wear dark colored curly or straight extensions/weave. I am Puerto Rican as well, so that's where it gets confusing. I am Creole, Irish, and Puerto Rican, and that's where pinpointing my race becomes a puzzle for most people.

Have you ever been mistaken for another ethnicity? Yes. The most absurd is "Mexican". I do not believe I look like any of the Mexican girls I grew up around or went to school with.

Have you ever felt the need to change your behavior due to how you believe others will perceive you? In what way? Yes. I avoid racial identity conversations unless they're dedicated to multiracial identity issues. I do not want to be looked at as a self-hating individual, but that's almost always the case when anyone who has Black in them identifies with anything non-Black. I try to bring up my issues, but lots of Black people think I'm silencing dark skin girls, and that's not my intent. I know how colorism works, which is part of the reason I was silenced, but I just stay quiet and try to ignore my mental strain. I don't ever want people to think that I'm taking attention away from dark-skinned WOC who have it worse, so I just brush my sorrows off and keep it moving. I participate in groups and events celebrating Blackness, but I feel out of place most days. I was raised by my mother and my mother's adoptive mother, who is Black and Indian, but she grew up in the South and is more familiar with Black culture. I feel like I should be at ease in most Black spaces, but that fear I had when I was being bullied still lingers. I don't want to feel awkward but I do. I'm not ashamed of my Blackness or any features I have that might be considered Black, but I feel like an outsider and it's awful.

What positive benefits have you experienced by being mixed? I get treated a lot better than dark, non-mixed, or non-racially ambiguous women of color. I have not experienced any micro-aggressions or verbal/physical racism like most people I know have. People have given me free stuff or discounts for being "pretty". I have never felt insulted or degraded by Black men like most Black girls do. I am Black, but not the type of Black that they shame or look down upon. When some of them insult Black women, I defend Black women as if I'm defending another race because in most cases, when I confront Black men about this, they say "oh, not you". It can be implied that my appearance makes a difference.

Have you changed the way you identify yourself over the years? Yes. I am more assertive in my multiracial identity, but I have bad days where I wish I wasn't mixed.

Are you proud to be mixed? Yes