Tinashe: Racism Holds Back Black Women in Entertainment Industry
EntertainmentObservations like Tinashe’s most recent in an xoNecole profile are so categorically obvious that it’s frustrating that they must be said time and again: the entertainment industry as a whole has a racial bias against black women, which adversely affects all the black women within it.
“For me, I feel like I still have to represent the [Black] community. That has been what has been my struggle because people do feel like there is only room for one. There is a Beyoncé, there is a Rihanna, there is Zendaya, there is a Jourdan Dunn. There is a Black girl in all of these positions and we don’t need another one.
It’s just kind of ridiculous because there are like a hundred blonde, white actresses and leading ladies. There are a hundred rappers that all virtually look the same, sound the same, and dress the same and no one cares. But for some reason, when it comes to young women, they want to pit them against each other. There can’t be room [for us all]. There can’t be five Black girls winning. It’s weird.”
These quotes were in the context of colorism, as well: “If a Black girl is winning,” said Tinashe, “Whether she is lightskin, darkskin, or any type of shade in between, that should be a win for the Black community, period.”