"Not I", Said The Fly: I Don't Create Online Petitions

This will be brief...


Dear Armond White,

I know that being an incendiary contrarian of sorts is your thing, but I wasn't the person at the helm of circulating the petition opposing the upcoming film starring actress Zoe Saldana. I did express some valid thoughts on what I found problematic about the casting and mentioned some things about Colorism and the marginalization of a specific segment of Black women, as often perpetrated by the film industry and media. Dismissing a very relevant issue amongst women and young girls in my community as a case of jealousy and "crabs-in-the-barrel" mentality is a bit myopic, non? Particularly since in the same breath, you offered a critique suggesting that Tyler Perry's films simply aren't "good enough".

Anyway, a quick Google search- (and perhaps a thorough perusal of the post I wrote in August for context)- would've provided the name of the woman who actually created and circulated the petition for that upcoming movie. I did link it in my post to provide a source but once again, I didn't start or circulate any petitions demanding the dismissal of Black actresses from film projects.

In the grand scheme of things it's a minor flub, but it's very important to me since it was called-out on a very public platform.

Best,

Tiff J, Coffee Rhetoric

Check out episode 126 of BET late-night talk show, Don't Sleep, to see what provoked this open-letter. 






2 comments

sleepyccs said...

I no longer expect honesty from black men on the issue of colorism. I'm not surprised that Singleton and White don't understand why phenotype bias is a form of white supremacy/racism. The light skinned black woman seated between them doesn't care because she is privileged by colorism. Black male misogynist use colorism as a weapon against black women.

TiffJ said...

@sleepyccs: It's so easy for people, especially within the arts, to dismiss or tune out valid criticism by condescendingly using an argument as short-sighted as "it's just jealousy" when their favorite artists/actresses are being reproached; particularly when the issue doesn't affect them.

As you pointed out, Black men aren't as vested in the issue of colorism and patriarchy, especially since they benefit from it and help perpetuate it, and the lighter-skinned Black woman sitting in-between them gets to choose not to have a stake in the issue, because she has skin-privilege, so it was easy for her to shrug it off.

Either way, Armond White seems to relish being the crotchety contrarian... not much critical thought required in having that distinction/infamy. I just wish he would've had his facts straight before touting the "crabs-in-the-barrel" argument he himself, indulged in, in the very same breath.