Scary factor: Sasha Obama and black boys with locks
Scary factor: Sasha Obama and black boys with locks
Internalizing the intimidation factor hurts dark-skinned black men forever
The first time I ever heard someone describe dreadlocks as “disgusting” and “dirty” was from a biracial man of Jamaican ancestry. I was dumbfounded and wondered how many of his relatives he’d just shot a verbal machine gun at all at once. I thought about that while scrolling through Twitter yesterday after an attractive photo and TikTok video of Sasha Obama popped up online.
I knew conservatives were going to say painfully idiotic statements about her photo and the video of Sasha Obama using the word “bitch” almost as much as they came for the “WAP” video. That’s to be expected from those who claim they aren’t racist but always find a way to be irritated by any black woman showing off her biceps (i.e. First Lady Michelle Obama), her stomach (i.e. Sasha Obama) or her shape (any black woman with a body-ody-ody-ody-ody) — all while smooth ignoring that Melania Trump is the only First Lady ever who has posed nude for the public on multiple occasions.
But before I could step one foot onto my soapbox to tell folks to let Sasha Obama bring out her inner Aaliyah — who is fully covering up her T&A and only has her stomach out, as is seen by any human being during summer months or one who has visited a beach in his/her entire life — I kept seeing insults describing the dark-skinned, young, black man in the background. And that is wearing me out more because it’s coming from black and white people.
He’s been described as “scary,” a “zombie” and “sketchy AF” for simply existing in the background of a photo. And all I can do is shake my head. First off, there is a reason that digital cameras (remember those) and smartphone cameras have a red eye filter on them. It happens to humans — and definitely happens to pets. I cannot even count the number of photos I’ve had to delete of my dogs specifically, who are constantly victims of red eye at night.