MadameNoire
Source: Craig Sjodin / Getty
Another man has been exposed for making derogatory comments towards Black women. The Bachelorette contestant Justin Glaze recently came forward to apologize after his homophobic and racist tweets were unearthed.
In one of his tweets he wrote, “#cantdateagirl with crusty a** feet,, hot a** breath like baby s***, body big enough to be an avatar n s*** or if she’s dark as @FlavorFlav.” He had also posted another tweet that read, ” they always show a well spoken caucasian cashier. They need to have a rude black b**** as a cashier once”– so true.”
Glaze was a teenager when he posted these tweets and said what he wrote were his desperate attempts to fit in.
In his apology, which he issued through the “Bachelor Happy Hour” podcast, he said:
As I reflect on everything I just went through with this whole journey, oftentimes people ask me what I took from it. And one of the biggest takeaways for me was just my personal growth, and one of those things is being able to hold myself accountable, which is something that historically I wasn’t able to do. So, I have no issue with owning up and apologizing from the bottom of my heart for the really hurtful words that I used.
The last thing that I want to do is run from it. That’s not who I am. I just want to speak from the heart, and hopefully, people will get an understanding of where I was then versus where I am now. When I look back at 14-year-old Justin, I was in high school and quite frankly I was the type of person who for whatever reason felt the need to fit in and say funny things and keep up with what my peers were doing and saying. The folks I had associated with would throw around really hurtful slurs that, at the time, I didn’t really think anything of. Though decades have come and gone what I said was ignorant and hurtful then [and ] it’s ignorant and hurtful now.”
Even though he was a teenager when he shared these posts, it is disheartening to know that this misogyny and colorism was being shown at such a young age. Comments this distasteful are targeted at Black women way too much and they often reinforce stereotypes and stigmas that we work hard to dispel.
This surely isn’t the first time there have been comments made about Black women regarding their complexion or stereotyped demeanor. Black men in the entertainment industry often make colorist comments towards Black women without apology. Rapper ASAP Rocky once said that only fair-skinned women could wear red lipstick.
“But for real, for me, I feel like with the red lipstick thing it all depends on the pair of complexion,” he told The Coveteur. “I’m just being for real. You have to be fair skinned to get away with that.”
50 Cent, who is known for putting his foot in his mouth, has spoken poorly of Black women as well. During a conversation with Lil’ Wayne, he spoke of women in general like they were objects, but said he prefers women that don’t look like what he grew up seeing his neighborhood.
“They get mad. They get angry,” 50 said about the response from Black women when he chooses to date “exotic” women. “You see a lot of sisters go ‘you *** with this kind of girl and that kind of girl?’ That s*** is exotic! That s*** look a lot different than the s*** you see in the neighborhood all of the time. That s*** look like it came off a boat.”
Chris Brown, whose has famously been accused of violence towards women, has also made colorist comments towards Black women.
On a track called “Need A Stack” he rapped: “Diggin’ it, then I’m lickin’ all on that p****, put it right there/ Only wanna f*** the black b****** with the nice hair.” He has also been accused by reality star Tokyo Vanity of only allowing lighter skinned women in his section.
The backlash that Black women face for simply being Black is unique. No other group of women experience this type and amount of criticism from men in their same racial group. Misogynoir is so deeply embedded that people don’t realize that they are engaging in it most times. Not only is it embedded, but it is normalized. With Glaze being a child when he posted those tweets, it shows that not only are stereotypes continuing to be perpetuated and instilled in children, but that when people see our Blackness, they don’t empathize with us and we are automatically met with judgment and told our Black isn’t beautiful.
