I was trolling for story ideas and I came across this article that immediately caught my attention. A San Diego magazine had a picture of an adorable little black girl with an Afro playing with her hair. Just when you are about to have a serious “that’s so cute” moment, you read the caption: “No one likes the black girls.”
No one likes liver mush, tax audits, root canals or prostate exams, but really, no one likes the black girls?
Not their moms, fathers, brothers, sisters, cousins, aunts, uncles, Jesus, grandparents, friends, boyfriends, teachers, coaches, ministers, bus drivers, stylists or even the mailman? You mean not one person likes the black girls?
Elizabeth Salaam is the writer and mother who shares her determination to identify diverse environments so that her children will see others of color and of their culture. The article was actually affirming, which made me even more confused about the caption.
The caption is taken out of context from an observation the author’s young son makes about the dynamics of his middle school.
The editors decided to run the following copy on the front cover, juxtaposed to the adorable black girl:
“The white girls like the black guys, and the Mexican girls like the black guys, and the Filipino girls like the black guys, and the black guys like them, too. But no one likes the black girls.”
The magazine cover was so jarring because it seemed to be part of a historical and strategic trend to undermine the beauty, talent and unique gifts of black women. What I found even more disturbing is that they are now planting the seeds of discontent among black girls.
I am the oldest sibling in my family, and I have three younger sisters, two nieces and a grand niece, and it is hurtful that there is still propaganda that would suggest that although they are all beautiful in their own way that something is intrinsically wrong with the way they look and who they are as black women.
In an era of “The Housewives of Atlanta,” “Basketball Wives” and “Love and Hip Hop,” where publications like Vibe magazine have even labeled these women as role models, it is no wonder that the image of black women and girls is under attack.
My mother made a conscious decision to fill our home with black art and did not let my sisters play with dolls that did not look like them until they were of an age that they understood that they were beautiful just the way they were. She could not control outside influences, but within our home she made sure there were consistent signifiers that affirmed that we were beautiful brown children.
This article is just another example of reinforcing mainstream concepts of beauty. It becomes one more message added to a lifetime of magazine covers, TV commercials, movie stars and video vixens that by comparison implicitly support a rigid and narrow standard of what is attractive.
So how damaging can this type of propaganda be to young girls?
We have all seen examples of what this type of message can do to a young girl’s self-esteem. We’ve also seen how these images can have a negative impact on their behavior.
Well, I say that not only do we like the black girls, we love the black girls, even when you are doing things that are not very becoming.
Do not fall for the PR machine that suggests that black girls are less worthy than any other group. There needs to be a campaign of support similar to the one used by Viola Davis in “The Help.”
I suggest that the next time you see a young black girl, even if she is some gum-smacking, eye-rolling, young Basketball Wives wannabe, you grab her and hold her face between your hands and repeat what Davis said in the film: “You is kind. You is smart. You is important.”
She will either be touched by your expression of love and support, or she will shank you. Regardless of the outcome, you have done your part to reinforce your support of the black girls….smile.
Comments