Okay but can we talk for a moment about the layers of complexity regarding race that are unfolding in this scene right here?
You have:
- Two black women discussing very real issues of privilege and passing regarding dark and light skin tones in society.
- In which topics of identity and feelings of belonging and kinship are discussed and dissected explicitly, because one is the bi-racial child of the other, at one point actually pointing out how she didn’t feel like she didn’t belong to either group.
- Which is further complicated by the fact that Lena is a lesbian, so her comments about belonging (or rather not belonging) to the minority or majority take on another layer of unspoken but very present and implied exclusion/inclusion.
- All of which is sparked from Lena’s mom calling Lena out on the fact that throwing a kickass Quinceanera (without really fully understanding the ins and outs and nuances of the culture) is not the same as making sure Mariana is part of her Latina culture, and actually in fact very finely skirts the line of cultural appropriation if it’s all about you projecting your feelings of cultural isolation.
This is what happens when you make women, women of color, and lesbians the main characters of your show. We can have conversations like this on TV, and regardless on whose side of the discussion you fall on, the fact that we’re even SEEING this conversation is, in itself, revolutionary. It has been a long time since I have seen a scene like this tackle the topics of race so head on, and on a family show at that.
Major props to everyone involved in bringing this scene to life, because the writing and the acting make it so neither woman is fully in the wrong, and I am so happy to see this bring brought up, because scene like this spark dialogue about topics that are rarely addressed so openly in our own lives.
EVERYONE THIS IS WHAT I’M TALKING ABOUT WHEN I’M TALKING ABOUT FOSTERS OKAY?????
I think I did a spittake when I found out this airs on ABC Family. I haven’t done a “happy/impressed spittake” in awhile.
Which show is this?
The Fosters; go watch it!! :D
Wow, just… ow. There’s so much truth in this though. And the sad part is this applies for discrimination from the majority AND for the minority group. In a way, it applies more towards racism within the group. There’s so much inner discrimination that it’s crazy. Dark skinned, light skinned, bi-racial, fuck, hair… HAIR! Hair standards are a thing, too! I remember in college people thinking my hair was fine (I went to Iowa State, a predominantly white campus) but when I went back home to Chicago? Oh my fuck! I was like, “I’ve been going to class and writing papers and being busy who has times for hair?!” Nope. Didn’t fucking matter. "You need a touch up, like, now.“ "You walked around like that?” "Is there no one in Iowa who can do hair?“ Even now, to this day, if I’m going back home part of me has this moment of, "Shit I need to do something to my hair because they are going to give me so much shit.” I really try not to, but I can’t help myself. It’s ingrained in my brain.
And god, please, don’t get me started on the way I talk. I apparently “sound white” or “why are you trying to sound white?” Like I got this back in Chicago a lot. Shut. The. Fuck. Up! I’m just talking, damn, black does not mean that I sound hard and tough and ghetto. If a black person sounds geeky, or intelligent, or doesn’t drop their letters, they are NOT TRYING TO SOUND WHITE! There is no white sound, there is no black sound, it’s just dialogue. I’ve actually had people call the store when I worked at GameStop and look SURPRISED when they walked in and saw me, like… shit, o.k., that whole hard slang thing is not something we all do! It’s slang, ANYONE CAN DO IT! I’ve seen the most trifling, ghetto people walk into the store who were white, o.k.? IT’S NOT A RACIAL THING!
Black people tear each other to shreds over really silly things. This gif set is so painfully accurate. She’s right, dark skinned people do face more discrimination, but at the same time the other girl is right too! She’s light skinned so she may be hated on for “not being black,” but at the same time the dark skinned lady may be seen as not pretty because her skin is so dark, and just… it’s so crazy! I remember in high school being jealous of light skinned girls because everyone thought they were so pretty, but at the same time there was this idea of “passing for white,” and just… oh god, it’s just… so bizarre. Just… stop hating on one another for trivial things, you want people to look beyond skin color but you can’t do it yourself.
