Maybe my brain is a bit too pessimistic but am I the only one that is sometimes troubled by how certain parts of the media embrace black culture.
I'm not talking about institutional racism. What I mean is, even when the media is RT'ing a photo of Janelle Monea or Lupita Nyongo, there's this feel of tokenism and/or objectification.
“Here's this wonderful black thing that we love. Look at how progressive we are.”
I laud that these actors are being celebrated, but...
It's like that one friend who has to tell you that they're really good friends with black people and they listen to rap.
It's certainly ok to like things. But so much of the media feels like its "performing".
Maybe I'm just exhausted and overthinking things, maybe its a result of being on bird-site too much.
@sonicbooming ...but also, like they're used as figurative gatekeepers (not that they engage in that, but are being used that way) - like "look at these women who meet acceptable standards, but are also black. if you're like them, you might one day be acceptable, too. if you force yourself into this mold, we'll let you in the club." - so, simultaneously self-congratulating, but also reinforcing the dominant narrative...
@sonicbooming except I see black people do it too, which confuses me. Like self-tokenization? Idk. For the record im white and not American so it's all quite foreign (literally?) to me