Gordon Gartrelle says: Why we (dis)like it: Lightskinnededgirl

The likes and dislikes links to the right aren’t consensus picks. In fact, each of us can add to the likes and dislikes independently of the others. Last week, I proposed an idea for a regular feature: Why we (dis)like it. This feature will consist of one of the respectable negroes objecting to the like or dislike selection of another, and this second negro then defending the selection. The third might chime in as well. Why we (dis)like it will serve not only to highlight more of our disagreements, but also to spark broader argument about the value of the people, things, and sites on our lists.

I was going to wait until next week to write the first Why we (dis)like it entry, and lightskinnededgirl was one of the two subjects I was considering. But when I saw that she made a blog post yesterday bemoaning her addition to our dislikes list, she made the choice for me.

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It might seem strange that I’m defending lightskinnededgirl, given that:

1.) I’m an admitted hater.

2.) I share my colleagues’ distaste for tragic mulatta narratives--they’re tired, they are often based on the desire to be distinguished from “regular blacks,” and they perpetuate essentialist racial and cultural binaries.

and 3.) I wouldn’t say that I’m a fan of her blog.

I do, however, respect her right to define herself without being castigated. The type of “mixed up” identity that can come as a result of having a black and a white parent seems more justified than, for instance, the pathetic “I got Indian in my family” bullshit that internalized hatred has kept alive among black folks.

Race screws up everybody; lightskinnededgirl is just screwed up in a different way than are those who identify as white or black.

There are bigger fish to fry, negroes. I say we toss this one back.