(ThyBlackMan.com) The latest controversy in Beyoncé Knowles news may be her breast-feeding Blue Ivy in public, but I’m still shaking my head about the recent fuss over her True Match commercial for L’Oréal, which highlights the singer’s mixed-race heritage. In the ad the star says, “There’s a story behind my skin. It’s a mosaic of all the faces before it.” Apparently this is controversial to some, who suggest that the singer is trying to distance herself from African Americans. Come again?
News flash: As revealed by Harvard professor Henry Louis Gates Jr. (who is also The Root’s editor-in-chief), the majority of blacks in this country are of mixed-race heritage, as are many throughout the Diaspora. I find it interesting when critics try to erase history in an attempt to promote the idea that we’re 100 percent black. The truth is that the history of African Americans is a history of mixed-race ancestry — some of it by choice, and much of it by force. Many blacks in America and throughout the Diaspora are no more 100 percent black than those who identify as white people are 100 percent white. Just because you say it doesn’t make it so.
Mixed-race blacks have existed long before we were allowed to check more than one racial category on U.S. census forms, so this outrage over the singer’s identification of her racial heritage because it’s some form of self-loathing is misplaced.
Finish story over at; TheRoot – Beyonce Black or Not, etc.
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The whole point, was publicly announcing it on such a level relevant to the ad? I know it has to do with cosmetic (skin), but was it relevant…steups!!! Why do black people always try to distance themselves from their blackness. Anyone would know that she’s not 100% black. My father’s father was Dutch and black, and he had blue eyes. My father’s mother was an Arawak. My mother’s side is of African ancestry. I don’t go around announcing I am Dutch, Arawak, and African. I am black! I understand that she is aware of her ancestrial lineage and owns it, but realistically….take a good look at the ad… self loathe one way or the other… Yeah I’m a hater! Tsk tsk
the critics are mostly black. black Americans are so ignorant about their ancestry. We have white men last names, yet we’re 100% blacks? Umm no! This is no secret!! Blacks and whites love to claim “native american ancestry” when in reality only a few of us have it!! 1/3 of whites Americans have black ancestors, however how often do we hear about this? NEVER! only DNA testing would prove this!
58 percent of African Americans have at least 12.5 percent European ancestry (equivalent of one great-grandparent);
19.6 percent of African Americans have at least 25 percent European ancestry (equivalent of one grandparent);
1 percent of African Americans have at least 50 percent European ancestry (equivalent of one parent); and
5 percent of African Americans have at least 12.5 percent Native American ancestry (equivalent to one great-grandparent).[
Great article, she is a bad Girl! Do yo THANG B-baby! Much love 2 ya, cause u a TRIPLE THREAT soul sista!!!!!
Thanks for an intelligent article on this subject! I am a typical Black person from the Carolinas,which means I have African,Native American and White ancestry all from Slavery times! Black Americans are mixed race,period! I call myself Black proudly and do not emphasize the other components,cause for sure,no matter what the mixture, I get treated like snyone not identified as White by White folks,just like Beyonce! When you see Beyonce lose Grammys to the likes of Amy Winehouse and Taylor Swift,neither of them an iota as good as she as a singer or entertainer,then you can see Beyonce is being treated just like any darker person would be–the light skin does not stop the discrimination in the least!
That ad is fine….nothing wrong with it. Beyonce DOES have that background,like a ton of other Black women in America….people need to stop criticizing Beyonce–she has opened many a door for other Black women in entertainment if people are honest!
Beyonce, Halle and Latifah are all the top saleswomen for their brands of makeup,proving Black women CAN sell to every woman and cause the products they endorse sell hugely,other cosmetic companies have followed suit and hired other Black actresses and singers cause of their example. Gabby Union,Angela Basset and Thandie Newton would NOT be on TV now hawking for other companies if Halle, Beyonce and Latifah had not paved the way for the other white companies to realize that Black women are beauty icons for ALL women. People need to give credit to Beyonce and the others for making these companies see the truth and thus made it possible other Black women get these lucrative ads!
Having Black women represent these global brands is a good thing,and as long as they do not lighten the ads etc, it is much more diverse than when all you saw was a Blonde white woman with blue eyes on every ad on TV… now people see that Halle,Beyonce,Latifah, Gabby, Thandie and Angela and Jessica White surely are not white women but are just as beautiful if not more so–that can only be good for Black women and girls to see.
Lastly…Beyonce has a Black husband,has a Black team almost exclusively, a rarity among Black stars,and she has identified herself as Black in interviews….she IS Black. Folks need to leave her alone…she is Black and does not get near enough credit for what she is doing cause of that,she would be the 9th wonder of the world if she was White with that talent. Yall know that. Let Bee be…
I am Black and have Indian and White in my family history. I love Beyonce!!! She has done nothing wrong. Some Black women are simply jealous of her. I support her 100%.
I don’t really care what people say bout bey. I love her for her music. She’s amazing.
As a young Creole myself, i relate to Beyonce’s racial makeup because i myself am mixed race and is proud of it!!!!! Alot of blacks feel that the world owes them everything when the fact of the matter is that they have to earn their way just like the rest of us do!!! God is not a God of favortisim so alot of black people need to stop hating on Beyonce just because of her light skin tone!!!! and blacks wonder why, people dont like them smdh!!!!!
I think this article is stupid and worthless! If she isn’t “Just Black” then she has the right to say what she is! I’m Black and I’m sick and tired of Bkacks writing articles because they feel since someone doesnt say that they are just black and not what they truly are!
Beyonce can walk out of her door and be hit with a barrage of criticism over everything from the to of her head to the soles of her feet. To quote a question from her song Upgrade You… “not a shoulder with a chip or an ego, but what you think they all mad at me for?”
Beyonce bring that mixed ancestry you call you over this way and find out what I think of it. What’s up.
Beyonce I think everything your made of has served its purpose well. You keep my eyes glued to you. Stay beautiful Ms. Knowles.