Thread by @bouncecreatives

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https://twitter.com/JonesySaid/status/1032247484272312320

And if you've been following my Twitter for years you know I have so many mixed feelings about this topic.

On one hand, it is clear that black *descendants* are trending to be America's "bottom". No, we're not there quite yet because Latinx are slightly behind, but catching fast

Notice my emphasis on black *descendants*, not first generation immigrants from Africa or the Caribbean.

Being a black *descendant* will be associated with being the "bottom", financially, educational attainment, dual income households for upper middle class #UPRMC presence.

That being said, we are losing ground because we hold the belief that "black is black" without taking into account the complexity of culture and path to the USA.

Whites prefer immigrant blacks over descendants because they don't have the history of enslavement over them.

It absolves whites of atoning for the work left undone to redistribute wealth stolen & denied (redlining, GIBill, Social Security exclusion, school segregation...could go on forever)

To them, African immigrant equals = we don't have that dynamic or history, Europe colonized you.

On the other hand, black America or rather, African-Americans are an ethnic group still in progress.

Due to #Colorism and opportunities extended to lighter and biracials since before and immediately after the Civil War, skin color is stubbornly tied to wealth and poverty.

So what is my point?

Well-educated, high-achieving African immigrants, often, but not always darker-skinned-- break that link.

I don't think the link between *skin color and wealth* in America will happen as quickly (or ever) without them.

So I simultaneously cheer them on.

Because to be perfectly honest, sometimes I truly don't give a fck.

I want the link between darker skin and poverty to be broken by any means necessary.

Even if it means they aren't *descendants*.

I would prefer that, but I don't see it happening. :-(

Africans still have ethnic ties and loyalties.

But black Americans/ African Americans for the past 200 years have failed at not being colorist towards our own. #paperbagtest

So....

#Colorism

(Don't even question it. You know I'm the "receipt whisperer" on this batch) 😁

So those are my honest feelings.

This is where I am right now.

As much as I love being an African-American/ black American, I am under no illusions that we "win".

This moment is a SNAPSHOT in thousands of years of recorded human history of people being fully conquered. :-/

Aside from the *OBVIOUS*, the "one drop rule" is among the worst things that have happened to us.

#onedroprule
#Colorism

The moment "white-passing people" could be held up as the standard and representation of "black", receiving the lion's share of benefits from our modest gains over the past 2 centuries, we were screwed.

Issa wrap.

:-/

#onedroprule
#Colorism

I'm just going to leave this link here.

I respect her for her honesty.
Her mom is white and her dad is biracial. She estimates that she's 25% African.

When she applied to Harvard, she checked "black". Her photo was attached.

No. Not uncommon at all.

So there are countless people walking around who look like her at Ivy League colleges in America, who are counted as "black"--- to meet their obvious unchanging quota.

#onedroprule
#Colorism