Blacks have been stereotyped for centuries. Despite considerable progress, some people are still holding onto archaic beliefs about black people.
Case in point? Recently, a writer for French Elle wrote a blog post that suggested that black people, dressing well is a brand-new concept. This, just a month after a Dutch fashion magazine’s editor-in-chief had to resign after using a racial slur to describe pop star Rihanna’s style.
The blog post by Nathalie Dolivo, which was titled, “Black Fashion Power,“ implied that the only reason black people have stopped wearing unflattering clothing is because of the example set for them by America’s president and first lady.
The article states that the “black-geoisie” have “integrated all the white codes” of style and dressing. “In this America led for the first time [by] a black president, the chic has become a plausible option for a community so far pegged to its codes [of] street wear. … But if in 2012 the “black-geoisie” has integrated all the white codes, it does not [do so] literally. [There] is always a classic twist, with a bourgeois ethnic reference (a batik-printed turban/robe, a shell necklace, a ‘créole de rappeur’) that recalls the roots.”
I guess some white folks will always stereotype blacks. The article has since been removed and a written apology was made by the magazine’s editor-in-chief.
–torrance stephens, ph.d.
