Blackfishing
Erica N. McCurdy
From hair to music to fashion to linguistics, American black culture is appropriated in a multitude of ways on both a national and global scale. The issue is that “…influences all around the world being taken up by people who have no idea of the regional and cultural and historical and political context of being black in America” (“From” 7). Non-black cultures, specifically white cultures, utilize the lifestyle and attributes of black people, without accepting the burdens and struggles that accompany being black. A large issue that comes with this merely appropriating is that white cultures capitalize and profit off of a culture that they have deemed as “ghetto.” In an NPR podcast, Lauren Michelle Jackson commented that “black culture is perceived as being super profitable as long as it’s out of the hands of black people” (“From” 7). Every day, a new story arises about someone attempting to consume the identity of black people, when they are in fact not black.
Rachel Dolezal, a white American woman, gained national attention attempted to claim that she was black, even claiming that her biological father was a black man and then claimed she “identifies” as a black woman. Martina Big, a German model, has gained much attention for attempt to, for lack of a better word, become a black woman. Through injections and skin changing operations, she is still is convinced that she will birth a black child. These are women are just a few examples of women who have convinced themselves that they are black women. The world handed them a platform for relevancy when Dolezal was featured on the Today show and Big on the Maury show.
While those women are very loud in their contrived race, a new term has emerged in the most 21st century way, through social media, to identified those who attempt to be less transparent about their appropriation. Blackfising can be defined as “the relatively recent online phenomenon, particularly on Instagram, where influencers and other online personalities are using fashion and tans and other physical features to present themselves as possibly black or biracial or racially ambiguous when they are, in fact, white” (“From” 5). This can be done by darkening their skin, attempting to make their lips look fuller with injections and other techniques, going through surgeries to gain the natural shape that black women possess. One of the big influencers that was called out for their blackfishing is Emma Hallberg (eemmahalberg on Instagram). A tweet of Emma at a younger age with straight hair and light skin was compared to a more recent photo of her with curly hair and darkened skin. This sparked an international discussion about blackfishing and the use of it online. Emma herself has stated that “I cannot change the way I was born because the things I’ve been accused of and the things people are mad about are things that are natural on me like my hair, my lips, my nose, my face” (Ghebremedhin).
A Ph.D. student out of the University of Chicago, Lauren Jackson responded to Emma’s comments by saying “If a large group of people are telling you that something you’re doing is taking advantage of what is ultimately part of a racist legacy in worldwide and American history, then she should listen to that” (Ghebremedhin). Her comments also comes after numerous Instagram accounts and Twitter threads have been created, tagging and calling the influencers out on their societal infractions. Their handles have been tagged and many others have spoken out, also attempting to rectify and salvage their brand and reputation, with most of them being successful, having lost no followers. Some even gained more followers after the controversy, for example Emma Halberg, who at one point possessed “nearly 250,000 followers” (Ghebremedhin). According to Instagram, she currently has 282,000 followers.
Another Instagram model, Aga Brzostowska, admitted that she was guilty of making herself look darker, through the use of cosmetics. But, her response lacked the regret you might expect of someone accused of stealing another races culture for profitable gain. She stated “I don’t feel like I need to stop doing something because… why would I stop doing something that’s benefiting me or that I enjoy doing” (Petter 2)? Her lack of empathy for the people she is effecting is similar to the lack of real education there is about blackfishing and cultural appropriation in general. It is obviously worrisome when someone wears a big afro wig or wears a fake Native American headdress to a tacky Halloween party. But, what are the consequences for those that exploit black culture in order to, as Brzostowska said, benefit themselves? Let it be known that social media is not the only place where we get to see this kind of appropriation on display and being nicely compensated for. The entertainment business produces some of the most exploitative individuals of our time.
One of the most recent infractions by an entertainer to be committed has been by singer Ariana Grande. Her music video for her hit song “7 Rings” was met with criticism for her obviously darkened skin, use of black fashion and her adopted “blaccent,” which can be described as “using AAVE (African American Vernacular English)” (Shadijanova). She was claimed have used “…a traditionally “hood” setting” (Shadijanova), speaking of the Trap House setting Grande used as a backdrop to her controversial video. Her infractions go far beyond faking her appearances. But she is not the only woman in entertainment that is significantly profiting and gaining attention for blackfishing. The Kardashian’s and Jenner’s have been known to push the envelope, in terms of their hair. They especially enjoy cornrowing, a traditional braiding technique in the black community, their hair. They have received negative attention for it, even judgment about their relationship with black men and their biracial children but not enough to cease their exploitative behavior. Their actions were not met with their six-digit social media promotional deals being ended or a public apology demanded from an organized group. There were no repercussion to their actions, which in turn perpetuates similar activity, on smaller scales. When perpetuating this activity, we give them what we think is a free pass to be or seem woke or cool but in actuality we allow them to utilize with knowledge of the history behind being black. Between the Kardashian’s parade of black hair trends and Ariana Grande’s skin darkening and the many other violations that occur, the entertainment business is no stranger to profiting off of black culture and its idiosyncrasies.
We know minstrel shows and we know blackface. We see it in our history textbooks. We see it as a thing of the past, because no one would be blatantly racist in the social climate of 2019, right? Wrong. Maybe not as blatant, but just as relevant. We have evolved, not in our ignorance, but in our cleverness. Finding clever ways to utilize and hijack black culture. Stephanie Yeboah, a writer for The Independent, even went on say that she “describes blackfishing as a “type of blackface”” (Petter 2). Instagram models make themselves look like black women in order to gain followers and/or sponsorships on social media. Their endeavors to profit have been met with backlash and social media tyrant messages. Many of the influencers and even entertainers have been met with death threats and direct messages of unpleasant nature about the women’s “fake” appearances (Santi). Blackfishing, being a very recent term, has been used to help ostracize individuals who are wrongfully maximize their reach to in turn gain followers and endorsements. One Twitter user even shared that “Taking deals made for black girls and posing as black to manipulate and boost followers is a big deal” (Ghebremedhin). It has given people an opportunity to avoid a real conversations about them “dipping their foot into the pond without fully getting themselves wet” (Petter 2).
Works Cited
From Blackface to Blackfishing. NPR, Washington, 2019.
Ghebremedhin, Sabina. “Instagram Influencer Denies Allegations of so-Called ‘Blackfishing’.” Good Morning America, 28 Nov. 2018, www.goodmorningamerica.com/style/story/instagram-influencer-accused-called-blackfishing-denies-claims-pretended-59465635.
Petter, Olivia. What is Blackfishing? the Influencers Accused of using Makeup to ‘Pretend’ to be Black. Independent Digital News & Media, London, 2018. ProQuest, http://proxy195.nclive.org/login?url=https://search.proquest.com/docview/2186745786?accountid=14968.
Santi, Christina. “Woman Who Dons Blackface Says She’s Not ‘White, White’.” EBONY, 5 Dec. 2018, www.ebony.com/news/woman-dons-blackface-not-white-white/.
Shadijanova, Diyora. “Ariana Grande Is a Blackfish and These Are the Receipts.” The Tab, UK, 12 Feb. 2019, thetab.com/uk/2019/02/08/ariana-grande-is-a-blackfish-and-these-are-the-receipts-91714.
