"To be perfectly frank Amber Rose.."
I’m over it.
About three weeks ago, Kim Kardashian posted a “nude” photo. This type of photo should not have been a shock coming from her however, the people responding to the backlash this photo received were surprising to me. I was taken aback by the amount of Black women, including Amber Rose, who defended this Kardashian. I am not saying that this Kardashian deserves to be slut-shamed. Yet and still, I cannot get over the fact that this Kardashian would completely ignore us if the shoe were on the other foot.
I do not recall her apologizing for the “Break the Internet” cover. I do not recall an Instagram post or Tweet of solidarity with Mimi Faust and Nikko when they released a sex-tape. Also, I am not recalling her paying homage to the Black women who created these hairstyles that she is, now, making a “trend” out of. She will not come to a Black woman’s defense, but a Black woman who has been publicly bashed by this Kardashian’s husband and sister will come to her rescue every time.
Eventually, Amber Rose publicly defends her and Kim’s honor by stating this:
“We all love Beyoncé, but she’s on stage half-naked and twerking all the time, yet people say, oh, she has talent so she is able to do that. We don’t have the talent that Beyoncé has, so we get criticized as former sex workers, but at the end of the day we’re just women-we’re all just women-and we should all embrace each other.”
Something does not sit right with me as I read this statement over and over. Even though many Black public figures believe that racism disappears once they cash a million-dollar check, I am here to say that classism and racism are not mutually exclusive. Rose is completely wrong that Beyoncé does not receive slander. She is, also, completely wrong about both her and this Kardashian being seen as former sex workers. Rose, honey, men are making songs about how disposable YOU are; while they sing praises to white queens like Kim. I was really confused. However, her defense made sense when I found out that she “absolutely [does] not” identify as a Black woman during an interview with Hot 97.
There is nothing wrong with wanting to embrace all parts of you, but Ebro said something really insightful in this interview. Ebro whom is White, Black, and Jewish identifies as Black. He says “that [he] identifies as Black because of the way people respond to [him].” Blackness is an essence, and a shared experience amongst people of African descent. Therefore, Ebro identifies as Black because of his experience, while he simultaneously embraces all parts of him. Amber Rose seemed reluctant to identify with this Blackness Ebro speaks of.
Again, there is nothing wrong with that. Yet, when she says things like “absolutely not” it makes me believe that she agrees that Black Americans are unworthy just like the “old-heads” she talked about of her Afro-Portuguese side. It is a slap in the face to Black women who continuously defend her. Black women defend you, Amber Rose. Black women defended you when Kanye said he had to take thirty showers prior to his relationship with Kim, when you and Khloe Kardashian slut shamed each other after you talked about Tyga and Kylie Jenner’s age difference, and Black women still defended you as Kanye said he owned your child and called you a slut again on Twitter.
What Ebro said may have completely gone over your head. You, also, may not have seen the negative responses Beyoncé received for performing such a pro-Black song at the Superbowl. The point is this: Audiences do not respond to you, Rose, the same way they respond to this Kardashian. They will honor her, and scold YOU for being a woman. You did not seize the opportunity to drastically shift feminist conversations that constantly revolve around the white woman’s experience. However, I have come to realize that you would never think to defend your own because you do not identify with your own.
Though I agree that women should embrace each other, YOU and I are not the ones that should be doing the embracing. If this Kardashian is defending in private or even at all, then YOU and I should defend in private or not at all too.
