It’s crazy how quickly things can change! The idea of wanting to be anything close to African American seems to be almost like a sin to white bigots in the U.S. Blacks are mistreated, underpaid, overlooked, killed by police officers and given no justice but this is the identity you’d wish to impersonate. You would think being black is the last thing anybody would want to be but no, we have another. First it was Rachel Dolezal and now Jessica Krug, yet another white woman going beyond cultural misappropriation to something seriously unheard of aside from in the United States of America. They black face as an attempt, not to mock black people/blackface, but integrate and misappropriate. Lets not forget the Hispanic culture misappropriation happening here as well. While these beautiful people are being mistreated, separated from their family members, denied citizenship to the United States and kicked from an economy that grows on their support, Ms. Krug feel’s it’s okay to take her own piece of it. Stealing from a culture that is rich, beautiful and so far from being your own, just sad.
In a country where unarmed black people are being gunned down in the streets you’d think these women would indulge in their white privilege to stay out of harms way. The justification for their actions are almost astonishing. “To an escalating degree over my adult life,” Ms. Krug states, “I have eschewed my lived experience as a white Jewish child in suburban Kansas City under various assumed identities within a Blackness that I had no right to claim: first North African Blackness, then US rooted Blackness, then Caribbean rooted Bronx Blackness.” This is beyond bewildering! How could any sane minded individual think this is appropriate or acceptable. She continues to later state what will become her most recognized phrase,
“I am not a culture vulture. I am a culture leech.”
I don’t think I even know where to begin with such a statement. These women have formed some seriously outlandish statements and I don’t think we can begin to break down how inappropriate and unacceptable this is. They may have thought they were mentally and emotionally African American but as a young child and for most of your early adult life you were of Caucasian decent. They had access to privilege and opportunities that most blacks didn’t and were not persecuted against for their beliefs and traditions.Ms. Dolezal stated,
“As long as I can remember, I saw myself as black”
and describes her childhood stating how she’s always felt of black descent but was somehow reincarnated to be the child of white family. These sorts of fantasies and ability to act upon such a unspeakable action to force an external change demonstrates the extent of their white privilege. Black people have been persecuted against for centuries and don’t have the slightest option to take advantage of white privilege or impersonate a white man or woman to exploit the resources and educate their people.
Yet somehow these women feel comfortable exploiting black culture and resources to fit their desires. This act is rooted in hate, mockery and shame of the all black people but as a white women they felt entitled to use it to their advantage. They elevated themselves using false information so that they could educate black people on a culture and background of which they have no experience or first-hand knowledge. This is beyond unnerving. Do know what blackface is? Do you know why it’s so offensive to black and brown people alike? Do you know of the detrimental effect this has had on our communities?
It’s beyond me how much time will tell. Black people have and are still shamed for our music, fashion, food, hair, business decisions, mannerisms and so much more but yet people imitate us so often. They hate us but want to be us? I don’t understand. Lets go down the list of 5 things white people do to attempt to attempt to appear cultured.
- Rap music
- “Big Hair”
- Tanning
- Dancing/twerking
- Ebonics
I’m not against one wanting to learn about the culture and the people but when you go to the extent of changing your physical appearance to misappropriate the culture it becomes a problem. We appreciate the support, love and care given to the movement for our lives but you can do that being you. People must become comfortable with being themselves and learn to love themselves for who they are. I understand, we don’t all wake up looking and feeling the way we imagined in our dreams but we have to learn to live with the person that was brought into this world. Life doesn’t always give us what we want but it’s up to us to do good with that we’ve got.
So with that being said, we need this to stop!
Stop the Karens, the Buckhead Betty’s and the Leeches!
Free Black Lives. Free Black Culture. Free Black Music. Free Black Creativity. Free Blackness.
The Life Journal 