UPDATE: Sept. 30, 2015
I initially wrote this post yesterday, but I’ve read on a few other sites where commenters are blaming these unambiguously black women for this club discriminating against them since they allowed their pics to be taken.
SMH–Folks always find a way to blame bw!
The fact is that we live in a time in the West where many people of all groups have slackened standards or none at all. Security is also an issue.
As a result, photos are required in more businesses and workplaces. Let’s not get confused. The problem was NOT that the photos were taken; the problem was the PURPOSE of the photos. They were used to discriminate against those ‘unambiguously black women.’ For those who don’t know the term: An ‘unambiguously black woman’ is a woman whose complexion and/or facial features,
and/or hair texture clearly or unambiguously indicate that she only, mainly, or largely descends from what is commonly thought of as Black (Sub-Saharan) African lineage. Oprah is considered an unambiguously bw; Vanessa Williams (2 black parents) and Alicia Keys (biracial) are not. We don’t know for sure whether a woman with the phenotype of Beyonce or Janet Jackson could have passed the inspection to enter the club.
But this situation could be looked at another way since there are always various ways to look at any situation. I would have allowed them to take my picture. Why? Well, here are my views.
There used to be a time where people knew how to dress and conduct themselves when they went into various social arenas. All too often, that is NOT the case anymore. Some people go to church services in short shorts and flip flops these days or go out to restaurants in their pajamas or barefoot and shirtless. Many women (and men) these days think nothing of exposing more and more of their flesh or private parts or as much as the legal limits allow. We’ve all seen where establishments have signs up telling adults to wear shoes and shirts inside. LOL! Males sagging pants showing their dingy underwear is common and visually pollutes many parts of the country these days. And even worse. So, I would have thought they were taking the pics to prevent those who were inappropriately dressed, behaving oddly, etc. from entering the club.
As a crafter, I always have to submit photos of my work in advance to a ‘jury’ in order to get into quality crafting events to sell my items these days. I didn’t used to have to do that. It’s done these days to prevent folks with no standards and sloppy junk from dragging in inferior items that will bring down the quality of the entire event. Therefore, I am happy to supply photos of my work–in advance.
And for security sake, getting photos of patrons will become a common practice in the future in movie theaters, restaurants, clubs and probably even libraries. My point is that getting a patron’s photo in advance is not the evil that was done in this situation. It’s what they did with the photos.
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Sept. 29, 2015
Since I write on the topic of colorism sometimes, someone just sent me this ARTICLE and I have to say I am enraged! Having fits and spasms here!
http://www.voice-online.co.uk/article/women-refused-club-entry-being-too-dark-and-too-fa
I actually find this virtually unbelievable. Not much shocks me these days, but I was rendered speechless about this–though it happened in the UK. Same difference. Or I should say, I’m speechless about what is NOT happening in the aftermath of it.
The first part that is shocking to me is that this hasn’t broken the internet.
And secondly, where are all the supporters and demonstrators who rage in the streets and everywhere else against human rights violations? Where are they now? These days, it seems that there are hordes of people who go ballistic about someone getting a splinter from sitting on a park bench, yet here we have a putrid display of in-your-face Jim Crow racism shown towards these young UNAMBIGUOUSLY black women.
This is literally JIM CROW RACISM, but in this case, it’s “no unambiguously black women allowed.” And before I go further, NONE of this is directed toward any bw who is light enough to be allowed into that club because you can’t help that you were dealt the light-enough card. That being said, if I had been a light-enough bw in that situation, I would have protested that policy if I’d known about it or walked out. You light-enough and/or white women and men can still protest that policy and get it abolished. That would be the decent thing to do.
However, how can any black-labeled person (man, woman, or child) claim to be against white racism, yet go along with black-on-black racism? I say that because there were black men in that club who had to directly or indirectly co-sign this.
Again: this is Jim Crow. The only difference now is that it’s not just racist whites depriving blacks of their rights; it’s also racist blacks depriving blacks. Make no mistake about it. This is misogynoir at its worst. For those unfamiliar with the term, it means racism and sexism perpetrated against unambiguously black women ONLY and usually by racist, sexist blacks.
After all, I’m sure that darker skinned or unambiguously black MEN, who were nicely dressed and properly behaved as these young women apparently were, were able to get into that club.
And the internet is still not broken????????? Why hasn’t the National Guard been called? I’m serious.
Any unambiguously bw who has ever participated in any kind of public protest about anything in any kind of way or to any extent to save ‘alla our people’ should be deeply outraged about the silence among blacks surrounding this episode of JIM CROW racism against these UNAMBIGUOUSLY black women, although this happened in the UK–because we know this same colorist bias is here. To me, this IS personal because if I had been one of those women, it would have also happened to me. When my granddaughter grows up, it can happen to her.
Black women must declare ZERO tolerance against COLORISM, which is a nasty little secret among blacks that is devouring us from the inside out. It’s gutting AAs. In my lifetime, I’ve seen racism diminishing greatly in various ways, but colorism has gotten much worse. Who could have ever predicted that as racism went down, colorism would go up? One reason for that is that it is now OPENLY expressed by many black MEN, in particular, who actually receive points from other black men for their colorist, racist choices in women. Historically speaking, Black men have always been by far the worst perpetrators of colorism, but they didn’t begin flagrantly expressing it until relatively recently, out of fear of angering the masses of black women (who used to be more united) and for some black men, maybe they had a sense of shame that they preferred women who had the attributes of their ancestral enslavers/oppressors. To my knowledge, I was never victimized personally/socially by colorism, or never felt it, whereas these days, an increasing number of young bw with my skin shade are being openly discriminated against daily by males and men in their own group, their own communities, inside their own households. And the shunning of these women is silently co-signed by the majority of other black men. If not, it couldn’t continue.
No -ism continues unless it’s supported by enough people.
I have to ask some of you younger bw this question: Why do y’all allow so many black males these days to spew their colorist droppings all over y’all without fear of retribution? Why do y’all keep supporting them and protecting them? Why don’t these males fear y’all anymore? After all, fear is a great way to control many ugly impulses and destructive behaviors. And it has been used for that for a very long time.
You do NOT need to raise your voice or fight anyone you’re feeding and protecting to curtail their ugly behavior. All you have to do is withdraw their food supply and let them know that the food will continue to disappear until they catch a clue. And we certainly know that there is all kinds of food that many of these same colorist men who are victimizing bw are getting from bw.
Bw, this is a blatant show of NON-RECIPROCATION. Some of you bw should feel utterly ashamed that you were foolish enough to participate in helping to get the boot up off someone else’s neck without getting their signature on the line that they were going to be there for you when you needed them.
This is going to continue to happen and it will get worse unless bw draw that line in the sand NOW.
I am an unambiguously black woman and my granddaughter will one day be also. I wasn’t aware of the various ways that disease-brained black others thought there was anything undesirable or less-than about my appearance as a bw. That is, until I started blogging and hearing and reading how so many bw believed the lies about their being less-than, as told to them by black men and their typical lapdog female supporters and co-signed by the silent majority of other disease-brained and/or cowardly blacks. If bm were to put black women’s beauty and desirability on a pedestal as all other men do the women in their group, other men would not argue with them about that and would have tons more respect for bm. It’s the way of the world that men who don’t support their own women are really not worthy of respect and are not treated as such by other men. That’s normal male behavior. But so many typical black men will, without any shame (smh), openly blame white men for the black male’s tendency to put non-bw’s attributes on a pedestal, denigrate bw, and then claim “de wm made me do it.” I actually hang my head in shame for these conquered males.
I have lived through some very turbulent, ugly times in this country, but what is going on in 2015 among black women–in the West, where we supposedly have rights and tons of education–is way beyond the pale. And what is really most revolting to me is that so many black women will get out in the street running around screeching, de-feminizing themselves on TV and before the world, getting beaten down and even killed, fighting for black males, or to protect the interests of everyone else but themselves. And without any on-par reciprocation.
WHERE are those males, those people that y’all have been fighting for–in YOUR time of need? This is not a case of white racists against black women. Some of the same black men that y’all fight the police to protect might have been (and were said to have been) sitting in that club co-signing/saying with their behavior, “No, we don’t want those UNAMBIGUOUSLY black women in here.”
Here’s something that is going to really hurt some bw because I know some of y’all are still going to try to find a way to excuse this type of rotten behavior of black males. I’m sorry, but I have to break this all the way down here. The fact is even if the owners of the club were racists, IF the wealthier or influential black males–the ones with money who go to that club–had let it be known that they wanted and expected unambiguously black women to come into the club, the business owners (whether white or other) would have not only allowed them in, but would have welcomed those women in. Businesses are in business to make money, which means satisfying the customers who are spending gobs of money. Any white male (racist or otherwise) reading this, please write and tell me if I’m wrong.
Likewise for you bw lapdog defenders of bm: pls prove me wrong? After all, wasn’t there an episode in this country a few years ago where a black MALE club had a “paper bag test” policy for keeping out unambiguously black women?
Some of y’all bw are so busy hunting and pecking for racism from whites until you’re not seeing the shape of your worst enemies.
Anyway, this is just a piece of that WALL that some of the BWE and Common Sense writers have been warning bw about. You thought that the wall would be erected only by racist/intolerant whites. Think again. This wall is going up around some of you unambiguously black girls and women to prevent your presence from polluting the visual environment of certain black men. Yep, you know who they are. Face it, for once. Keep in mind that colorist black men only want you in their environment when you’re supporting their projects, businesses, defending and protecting them, helping them out. Another thing you MUST face is that that MOST of them are like that: the majority, not the minority, as they will claim.
The time has come for bw to get really real about this. If you can’t do that, then do NOT bring any more unambiguously black female children into the world to be doubly victimized–not just by white racists, but also by black racists. Oh, I can already hear the howls of outrage from hypocritical blacks about me saying that. I know some blacks who’ll be praying for their divinity to deliver them from this or that, but the God I believe in has given us the free will and the wherewithal to deliver ourselves from these types of silly issues. It takes COURAGE. It takes COURAGE to put a black racist/colorist on “notice,” or out of your presence, and I know it can get really ugly. But I’ve done it because I was not going to tolerate that kind of retrograde, poisonous behavior around me and mine.
Let me be clear about this though. If any person is doing something they shouldn’t be doing that encroaches on the rights of others, there should be a wall around that person. But from what I read in this article, these young women were not being loud, coarse, or physically bothering anyone. They weren’t breaking any law. Being unambiguously black is not a crime . They simply got prettied up and wanted to enter the club to socialize just like everyone else. They had and have a RIGHT to enter that club (in the United States, for sure) BECAUSE their (or their family’s) tax dollars help to support that club’s ability to provide amenities to its clientele and, in general, do business. In a sense, those young women are shareholders in that club and must be able to go in there as long as they’re not breaking the law or infringing on anyone’s rights. I’m not a lawyer but I do know that in the U.S., unless that is a private club that doesn’t depend on tax dollars for anything in any kind of way, it has violated the rights of those women. Not saying the women should ever go in there after this, but they have the right to go in there.
If this ever were to happen to my granddaughter in this country, I would be there. That is when y’all would see every part of me. LOL I’m not big and bad. I’m just a woman who lives on a farm, but I’m not going to willingly go along with anyone trampling on me and mine, especially those I’ve fed or those who are using my tax dollars and not reciprocating. As a U.S. citizen who does have rights afforded me by my ancestors’ struggles, I and my offspring must be able to go anywhere in this country that any other citizen has the right to go IF we’re interested in going there. That’s what I believe. That’s the rock I stand on. Sometimes, you have to take a stand and never look back. That’s why YOU need to save YOUR energy.
Bw, have to stand up and mean it. You don’t even need to make much noise. Speak softly. Just take a stand for ZERO tolerance against COLORISM and STOP this from happening! Break the back of colorism. Just tell people you’re not going to allow for any sort of colorist language or behavior around you–anymore. AND MEAN IT. Don’t say it if you don’t mean it because others will test you. Don’t discuss it with them. If they persist in trying to talk about it, turn your back, walk away–FAST. If they try to do it in your house or car, open the door for them and never let them enter again unless they apologize and at least pretend to mean it. If on the phone, hang up on them. Remember that MOST black women in the UK and U.S. are UNAMBIGUOUSLY black. We already have the victory! We have the POWER! You might just need to give the colorists a reminder of that.
If not, then these folks are actually saying to you: “Yeah, we’re going to continue to USE your time, energy, money, intellect, and anything else we can get from you, in order to provide privileges for ourselves and others and mess on you.
SMH!
As I said, I don’t know about how tax dollars are used in the UK, but if it’s anything like the way tax dollars are used here, then those unambiguously black women MUST go into that club–no matter what–IF they want! Their tax dollars along with the tax dollars and contributions of all their relatives (past and present), friends, associates, and anyone else who cares a whit about them have gone towards helping that country pay its public servants (police, firemen, sanitation workers, etc.) to maintain and safeguard the public environment around that club and paved the way for the various amenities offered by that club.
SO–this is not a case of ‘just take your money someplace else,’ as some might advise these women, though that’s one of their options. If all the racist/colorists have to do is refuse you entrance and you leave or don’t go there, they will continue to deny others like you entrance but STILL use YOUR tax dollars to extend privileges to the light-enoughs and males. If you leave them alone and go elsewhere, that would make them very happy.
Here’s the bottom line question: If unambiguously black WOMEN can be legally denied entrances into spaces that lighter skinned women, black men, and other men can enter, then WHY are we all taxed at the SAME rate? Shouldn’t some of us get a discounted or reduced tax rate, so that we can build our own spaces or maybe build an oasis somewhere.
Bw, THIS issue needs to be put on and kept on the front burner to be discussed honestly and resolved by BLACKS among blacks, FIRST, not just wring out an apology from that club because COLORISM is an intense unrelenting pain experienced by millions of bw these days that is mostly perpetrated by other blacks. It goes without saying that kind of pain retards black group progress.
And there is NO amount of money that can adequately compensate these women for their maltreatment, though I hope they can shatter that club into oblivion with the damages they can get. They have been so violated, traumatized, and will more than likely be re-living this pain for the rest of their lives.