I stopped using “blackness is diverse” when I realized how much it’s used to reify racist 1 drop rule rhetoric. Globally, blackness is indeed diverse but still quintessentially AFRICAN or “negroid” (for lack of a better term). Our phenotype is our primary & most common identifier

And this includes black people with albinism. We come with different skin complexions (dark, brown, light) but majority of black people are darker skinned. We also have different hair textures but again the majority of black people have ‘kinky’ or 4C hair. Never forget this.

Does it mean that black people who don’t fit into the majority those with features I just mentioned above are ‘less black’? Absolutely not. Let’s not dwell in semantics & dishonesty. And know that exceptions don’t make the rule nor can they be used to debunk COMMONALITY.

And all this despite the fact that race is a social construct. Social constructs (not just race) aren’t absolved from real world implications & material consequences. And we’ve extracted utility in several social constructs to help us examine power & social dynamics.

And the fact of the matter is, most black people navigate this world in a unique way, are racialized, and treated harshly primarily due to the common AFRICAN phenotype we share. The quintessential African phenotype that caused a millennia of oppression, and not just by Europeans.

Most of the discourse (including academic) around blackness is too centered around what white supremacy arbitrarily and CONVENIENTLY defines. While forgetting that white supremacy isn’t the only global oppressive system towards black people. It’s just the most talked about.

I’ve become very mindful with my language because I realized that a lot of black people’s low-self esteem, internalized racism and subconscious desire for proximity to whiteness (phenotypically) is what fuels their staunch support of the racist one drop rule & not just history.

It’s one thing to say “we didn’t create this” but it’s another to uphold said racist creation knowing WHY it was created as well as the consequences it has today (colorism & erasure). There’s much more to unpack than just history but it has to come with accountability & honesty.

We can’t fix a problem together when essentially, we each have a different understanding of it. But this isn’t my burden to bear. I’ll just keep speaking my truth & you keep speaking yours. Let’s just make sure that we’re consistent with our philosophies & don’t reify racism.