Hi, Max. Hi, D.A.
As I see two musical white guys choosing to jig in the hellfire of America’s race obsession, I’d love to believe you. In fact, I kinda do. As a black man with a passion for hip-hop and all the soft-serve of issues it presents, I was first keen to defend the release of the “Black Girls” single as somewhat witty or satirical. Showcasing the intimacy between a black and white lesbian couple isn’t exactly mainstream-flavored. In fact, a dark-skinned black woman in any sort of mainstream media is seldom-seen or acknowledged in the fragmented reality of America’s picture-perfect “beautiful” archetype. But all I’ll say is, be prepared.
The lyrics on paper are hilarious to my morbid sense of humor: “Ain’t objectifying no one/I reject your deconstruction of my taste.” It just reads hilarity to me. In fact, it reads that tasty typical Andy Samberg SNL skit-type of hilarity buried in the confines of after-dark idiot box content. In fact, your admittance of sampling “different flavors” even reads more stand-up comic than typical misogynist. And no, this is not 1954. And yes, ignorant people still invest in the façade of purity by separating race from love.
This is where I raise the defense: obviously you wanted to gather the giggles of the intellectual no matter how shocking or line crossing. As Harvard students, I expect that; in fact, I encourage it. After hearing the 20th song in my iTunes about the passion behind the taboo of a black man sleeping with a white woman—which probably follows another tally mark for the “redbone” or the light-skinned model chick—I welcome this change with open and somewhat hipsterish arms. It’s funny, unflinching, and has a debatable degree of progression.
But still, be prepared.
I’m no race pundit frantically scrolling through every piece of art to take offense to something. I take offense to the fact that the pundits who analyze this video will probably do so for the sake of finding something wrong with it when the blind eye and selective ear are consistently turned to the rest of the culture. More specifically, the mainstream-trained black listener may simply dismiss this as offensive as soon as the melody rings in. (Two white guys harmonizing about loving black girls? This is ridiculous and uncalled for!) But this is the simple unfairness that is delivered with any double standard served in an art form that openly accepts one avenue in a two-way street with no regret or regard for intentions.
Yet, and still, you both need to be prepared.
I honestly don’t think this is perfect. One of the main imperfections of the visual is the fact you chose to capitalize on the male-macho fantasy of lesbianism by adding a little dash of interracial harmony. The taboo of the black woman’s body, especially the dark-skinned black woman’s body, seems more exploited in the airy hope of making a point than analyzed to where the work can truly speak for itself. The shock value works; it is an alternative to another George Washington-infused thunderstorm accompanied by dread-shaking and Ciroc staining the club’s VIP carpentry. But just because the alternative has somewhat good intentions doesn’t mean it is executed in the best of ways. And you two are not exempt.
Straight up: why do you love black women? Is it truly because of the Europeans? Is it an acquired taste? Another flavor you sampled at a Pinkberry outlet? You guys didn’t really say why—which leaves you both open to the argument that you treat black women as a fetish or something to be accomplished despite how well you speak of them or believe in their beauty. You even said you liked different flavors of women, right? Is this not left open to degrading interpretation? This tightrope-walking string of taboos is found everywhere from office buildings to coffeehouses to college campuses like the one I attend where only 3 percent of a body of over 30,000 are black.
But yet, and still, I want to believe you mean the best. So be prepared to defend all of this. You can like black girls. You have that right, and it is preposterous to claim otherwise. That would merely uphold a standard I hate seeing perpetuated. Love should be colorblind.
But is this enough?
Signed,
A Black Guy Who Loves Black Girls Too.
