Now once in a while, I feel the need to go into a rant and this week has seen my blood, slowly bubbling away!
Last week I went to the farther regions in the Cotswolds to do the makeup for a presenter and writer. She was a lovely, articulate lady, blond and of Irish descent. She had a mixed race daughter. Now, I'm a bit of talker when I do the makeup as I am fascinated by other peoples lives (OK....yes I like to gossip too). So when she told me she used to live in London, but decided to bring her child up in the Cotswolds, even though she was aware that her daughter, more than likely, would be "the only black in the village". I felt the need to ask why.
She then went on to tell me the catalog of abuse she and her daughter had been subjected to here in London, not only by whites but mainly by black women! This lady lived most of her adult life in a section of North London that one can safely say has a high brown skinned population. She had many black friends and colleagues, so it wasn't surprising that she would one day meet one that she would have children with. Yet she has been PHYSICALLY attacked several times when out with her daughter and told to "Stop nicking our black men"! Once, an old Irish man came up to her and spat in her face and told her she was a disgrace to her race. She was carrying her toddler daughter, her daughters face on her shoulder at the time!
Now this didn't happen in the 50's this happened little over 8 years ago! I am not that naive to assume prejudices do not still happen (and to be frank, I have a few of my own). But the fact that that level of abuse still happens in one of the most diverse cities in the world really shocks and appalls me! We are not as bad as certain areas in the States (where a black post man cannot do his job in a white neighbourhood and visa versa) but clearly we still have serious problems here.
Now I have been hearing for years the old cry of why do successful black men always go out and get themselves a blond, what's wrong with getting a "sister". Well I'm sorry to have to let you in on this, but even the unsuccessful black men will dabble in that pond. It's just that its more "in your face" when that person is a celebrity. Black women love men like Obama and Denzil because their wives are neither white or mixed race but the truth is there will always be a mixing of the races. Attacking the woman as the villain of the piece is, in my opinion wrong. Whether it is going with someone from out of your race of having an affair, why is it ALWAYS the woman's fault? You only have to be out around clubland on a Saturday night to find one women trying to tear the skin off another for even daring to "look at her man"...why not belt the man for looking at the woman? We really are, our own worse enemy!
So what happened to the little girl who had such a traumatic start in life. Well as the only black in the village, she is thriving! They love her brown skin that she doesn't have to ply with fake tan. They think it's SO cool to be half Jamaican and she has become a favourite amongst her friends at school simply because she is black (I love a happy ending!)
The racists say that if we don't put a stop to all this mixing, we will soon be a country of cappuccino coloured people. A country like Brazil, where they have several words to describe the various tones of brown skin....beats pale and pasty...... BRING IT ON!
Last week I went to the farther regions in the Cotswolds to do the makeup for a presenter and writer. She was a lovely, articulate lady, blond and of Irish descent. She had a mixed race daughter. Now, I'm a bit of talker when I do the makeup as I am fascinated by other peoples lives (OK....yes I like to gossip too). So when she told me she used to live in London, but decided to bring her child up in the Cotswolds, even though she was aware that her daughter, more than likely, would be "the only black in the village". I felt the need to ask why.
She then went on to tell me the catalog of abuse she and her daughter had been subjected to here in London, not only by whites but mainly by black women! This lady lived most of her adult life in a section of North London that one can safely say has a high brown skinned population. She had many black friends and colleagues, so it wasn't surprising that she would one day meet one that she would have children with. Yet she has been PHYSICALLY attacked several times when out with her daughter and told to "Stop nicking our black men"! Once, an old Irish man came up to her and spat in her face and told her she was a disgrace to her race. She was carrying her toddler daughter, her daughters face on her shoulder at the time!
Now this didn't happen in the 50's this happened little over 8 years ago! I am not that naive to assume prejudices do not still happen (and to be frank, I have a few of my own). But the fact that that level of abuse still happens in one of the most diverse cities in the world really shocks and appalls me! We are not as bad as certain areas in the States (where a black post man cannot do his job in a white neighbourhood and visa versa) but clearly we still have serious problems here.
Now I have been hearing for years the old cry of why do successful black men always go out and get themselves a blond, what's wrong with getting a "sister". Well I'm sorry to have to let you in on this, but even the unsuccessful black men will dabble in that pond. It's just that its more "in your face" when that person is a celebrity. Black women love men like Obama and Denzil because their wives are neither white or mixed race but the truth is there will always be a mixing of the races. Attacking the woman as the villain of the piece is, in my opinion wrong. Whether it is going with someone from out of your race of having an affair, why is it ALWAYS the woman's fault? You only have to be out around clubland on a Saturday night to find one women trying to tear the skin off another for even daring to "look at her man"...why not belt the man for looking at the woman? We really are, our own worse enemy!
So what happened to the little girl who had such a traumatic start in life. Well as the only black in the village, she is thriving! They love her brown skin that she doesn't have to ply with fake tan. They think it's SO cool to be half Jamaican and she has become a favourite amongst her friends at school simply because she is black (I love a happy ending!)
The racists say that if we don't put a stop to all this mixing, we will soon be a country of cappuccino coloured people. A country like Brazil, where they have several words to describe the various tones of brown skin....beats pale and pasty...... BRING IT ON!
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