Last Saturday, while searching for music to add to my Relationships & Bullsh*t podcast, I went on YouTube and ended up watching a really interesting music video. When I pulled it up, I absolutely loved every single second of the concept the artist was going for. Right from the beginning I could tell that the video was going to be satirical in nature, and it was going to focus on the over-sexualization of women in music videos. Right from the start there were many scantily-clad Black women dancing in the background, dropping it like it was hot, twerking and making it clap. The over-the-top and sometimes hilarious dancing was a clue that the video was simply trying to mock what we see far too often on TV everyday.
The use of Black women as props, the overt commodification of our women’s sexuality and how the industry degrades women were ALL important themes in this video.
The name of this video is “What They Do” and the song is by The Roots (arguably one of the greatest hip-hop groups of all-time).
After watching that video, I came across an article claiming that Lily Allen had made a racist video that violently attacked Black women and debased them down to their core.
Honestly, it was just pure and simple curiosity that led me to watching that video (see below), because I’m NOT a pop music or Lily Allen fan, so I figured the people who WERE would handle her offensive-ass behavior without my input being necessary at all. But after watching her video literally hours after watching The Root’s video, I sat there trying to comprehend the difference between what The Roots and Lily Allen were going for, and I just couldn’t find it. Not only that, but this blatant racism that everyone was talking about was simply not blatant to me at all.
Then I found myself extremely confused. If this is such an obviously racist video, what the HELL am I missing? What I saw was a thick, white, British woman lashing out at an industry that only praises the body types of women who are either slim enough to walk down a Victoria’s Secret runway, or bangin’ enough to be on the cover of Black Men’s Magazine. The obvious jab at the music industry’s sexism was apparently not obvious enough, therefore alluding to questions of whether or not Lily is a racist who wanted to fully participate in degrading Black women down to wet booty’s and p-poppin’.
Now if I did believe that, which would include me having to make a leap in logic that includes ignoring the FACT that NOT all of the dancers are Black, I would probably come to the same conclusion that I would in my RIGHT mind:
So what?
Seriously Black people, so fucking what?
If Lily Allen has Black women twerking in her videos, how does that make her any different than the many rappers, R&B singers and pop artists who do it everyday? But the more important question is: When are Black people going to CEASE to be COWARDS on the issue of race and start to attack the real problems that plague our community?
It is cowardly to lampoon Lily Allen over a music video, as if she is the lone thing contributing to the degradation of our race.
It is cowardly to act as if we aren’t well aware of the fact that major media corporations have a large financial (and even political) interest in showing Blacks in limited images. That is the very same point that many Black folks have been bringing up in the wake of all these slave movies like Django, The Butler and 12 Years A Slave. That is the very same point many Black folks made when USA today ignorantly labelled ‘Best Man Holiday’ a “race-themed” movie. We KNOW major corporate interests lies in the disrespect of our race, yet we side-step them to attack artists who couldn’t squeeze a nickel out of their label without high-level clearances.
If you are serious about addressing the issue of how Black women are being displayed in the media, you CAN’T stop with Lily Allen and a music video. You must address these scripted, fake-ass reality TV shows that constantly have Black women tearing each other down. You must address the lack of positive Black women in media, from daytime talk shows to news anchors. The point is, you can’t cowardly attack the FRINGE of the issue, you must directly address the main source of this prejudice: The multi-billion dollar media organizations.
I like to view racism as a huge, old tree. As high as we can see that tree grow (everyday prejudice), the roots are much deeper than any of us can really know (generations of deeply-ingrained racist ideology). If you want to remove that tree COMPLETELY, you can’t just cut off some branches, you need to UPROOT it. Being mad at Lily Allen and going hard to get her video banned for showing Black women in a position that many videos ALREADY show Black women in FREQUENTLY, is like Dr. Martin Luther King finding out Rosa Parks was arrested – and then launching a protest against General Motors for making that transit bus. Are we ever going to attempt to UPROOT the tree to END the cycle, or are we going to prune the leaves and pat ourselves on the back like we really achieved some actual semblance of social change?
But alas, the cowardice is understandable for TWO reasons. First, like 50 Cent once said “it’s easier to attack an individual, than a corporation” and it appears Black folks today have neither the inclination or the will power to address the TRUE purveyors of negative Black imagery in our society. But the second reason is the most depressing one of all: Many of us like being casual activists, because many of us like the same things we act like we want to protest. We did a damn good job of making sure Shawty Lo didn’t get his ratchet-ass reality TV show and we heartily celebrated our collective victory – while WE watched Love & Hip-Hop Atlanta, Love & Hip-Hop New York, Real Housewives of Atlanta, and any other stereotypical show that gets GREAT ratings from the Black community.
Truthfully, I don’t think Lily Allen is racist and I have no problem with how she used satire in her music video. The inconvenient truth about Lily Allen’s “racist” music video is that it’s NOT racist at all – and scapegoating her for the images in the video is not only dull-witted, it’s LAZY activism. At some point, those of us who claim to be committed to overcoming racism must realize one simple truism about the fight against prejudice: Every gain the Black community has made in this western society has come at the hands of aggressively addressing our MAIN oppressors, whether it’s boycotting the public transit system of a major city who heavily relied on our money, right down to choosing to march to the White House.
It’s in ALL of us to be brave.
LAB
Lincoln Anthony Blades blogs daily on his site ThisIsYourConscience.com, he’s an author of the book “You’re Not A Victim, You’re A Volunteer” and a weekly contributor for UPTOWN Magazine. He can be reached via Twitter @lincolnablades and on Facebook at This Is Your Conscience.