From the Deep Chocolate to the High Yellow; Sean Combs Should Apologize to All Black Women
By Robert N. Taylor
Roughly two weeks ago, a story broke which did not receive nearly as much media or civil rights organization attention as it should have. In case you missed it, Hip Hop music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs issued a casting call for women to appear with him in a CIROC vodka commercial.
In issuing the call, Combs specifically said that only “White, Hispanic and Light-skinned African American women” need apply. This culturally insensitive and idiotic statement came out of the mouth of a Black man, not a white man. And it came in 2009, not 1959.
I generally hesitate to criticize those in the entertainment industry. One of my basic social beliefs is that artists and entertainers should be allowed maximum freedom of expression and should not be straight jacked by rules of expression which may apply in polite social and business environments. This is one reason I never joined the campaign to ban the n-word in songs by Rap music stars.
Further, I understand that in entertainment there are times when specific physical types are required. There are movies, for example, where the most appropriate physical type for a particular role could indeed be a light-complexioned Black woman or a dark-complexioned Black woman or even a fat Black woman. Thus, you have to be careful about applying ironclad rules to entertainers.
Nevertheless, I cannot think of any reason under the sun that a vodka commercial would require that dark-skinned Black women be banned from participation. Instead, what Sean Combs did was an Uncle-Tomish, Sambo-type throwback to a period of Black self-hatred which I thought we as a people had overcome - but, apparently not.
As a lesson to all self-haters, Combs should not be allowed to get away with what he did by simply issuing a very weak back-tracking statement. Until Combs issues a formal, heart-felt apology, ALL Black women - be you deep chocolate, tantalizingly tan or high yellow - should refuse to buy any Sean Combs product. From CDs to movies to products he endorses, Sean Combs should be boycotted. And Black men should join in the boycott.
The rules of life in capitalist America are simple: If you cannot appeal to a person’s sense of social justice and racial pride, hit him in his wallet. By buying the often idiotic Rap songs emerging from his company, Black women have made Combs a millionaire. And they deserve far more respect that Combs is giving them.
[Robert Taylor welcomes responses to his commentaries. Email yours to TaylorMediaPrime@yahoo.com. Please include your name and city.]
Roughly two weeks ago, a story broke which did not receive nearly as much media or civil rights organization attention as it should have. In case you missed it, Hip Hop music mogul Sean “Diddy” Combs issued a casting call for women to appear with him in a CIROC vodka commercial.
In issuing the call, Combs specifically said that only “White, Hispanic and Light-skinned African American women” need apply. This culturally insensitive and idiotic statement came out of the mouth of a Black man, not a white man. And it came in 2009, not 1959.
I generally hesitate to criticize those in the entertainment industry. One of my basic social beliefs is that artists and entertainers should be allowed maximum freedom of expression and should not be straight jacked by rules of expression which may apply in polite social and business environments. This is one reason I never joined the campaign to ban the n-word in songs by Rap music stars.
Further, I understand that in entertainment there are times when specific physical types are required. There are movies, for example, where the most appropriate physical type for a particular role could indeed be a light-complexioned Black woman or a dark-complexioned Black woman or even a fat Black woman. Thus, you have to be careful about applying ironclad rules to entertainers.
Nevertheless, I cannot think of any reason under the sun that a vodka commercial would require that dark-skinned Black women be banned from participation. Instead, what Sean Combs did was an Uncle-Tomish, Sambo-type throwback to a period of Black self-hatred which I thought we as a people had overcome - but, apparently not.
As a lesson to all self-haters, Combs should not be allowed to get away with what he did by simply issuing a very weak back-tracking statement. Until Combs issues a formal, heart-felt apology, ALL Black women - be you deep chocolate, tantalizingly tan or high yellow - should refuse to buy any Sean Combs product. From CDs to movies to products he endorses, Sean Combs should be boycotted. And Black men should join in the boycott.
The rules of life in capitalist America are simple: If you cannot appeal to a person’s sense of social justice and racial pride, hit him in his wallet. By buying the often idiotic Rap songs emerging from his company, Black women have made Combs a millionaire. And they deserve far more respect that Combs is giving them.
[Robert Taylor welcomes responses to his commentaries. Email yours to TaylorMediaPrime@yahoo.com. Please include your name and city.]
It's not just Sean. Checkout Blacks in the Obama Administration at www.akaziaj.blogspot.com