Michael Arceneaux, EBONY.com contributor and Master of Shade, calls out five of his biggest gripes from the past week. Rejoice and be read. Follow Michael @youngsinick.
1. White On Time: When it comes Morning Joe co-hosts Mika Brzezinski and Joe Scarborough once again saying something incredibly stupid about racism, I’m torn. On one end, these two along with their guests getting it wrong is as frequent as a blue sky, which makes it tiring to continue reacting to the same thing. Then again, I’m all about people with platforms being called out if they’re misusing it. To that end, when it comes to them trying to place the onus of members from the University of Oklahoma chapter of Sigma Alpha Epsilon being caught on camera singing a racist song on rappers over the use of “nigga,” I’d be remiss if I didn’t take time to say the following: To hell with these two.
Waka Flocka Flame using “nigga” has nothing to do with those racist pricks being caught on camera. White people like Mika and Joe love to get caught up in the “n-word” and hip hop lyrics as if one, Black people invented the slur, and two, whether or not we can “reclaim the term” has anything to do with an organization with a history of ties to the Confederacy requiring assistance on how to use it. That song of theirs was not by a rapper, but by some white supremacist with ties to their organization. Even after criticism, Mika and Joe continued to conflate rap lyrics with white supremacy. This proves how both boneheaded they are and how neither should be in the position of hosting a show on a news network. Well, not one owned by NewsCorp anyway.
2. Greedy Gayes: I’m quite curious to see whether or not the more than $7 million Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams were ordered to pay the family of the late Marvin Gaye over “Blurred Lines” will survive an appeal, but in the meantime, I’d like to say Marvin’s kids need to really get a grip. In a new interview with Entertainment Tonight, those kids are now claiming that “Happy” sounds like “Ain’t That Pecuilar.” It is Pharrell and Robin’s own fault for filing a suit first instead of just giving them a little something-something to shut them up, but now those Gaye kids just seem greedy. Those are not the same songs. Gon’ somewhere, Gayes.
3. I Think Not, Iman: Cleveland Cavailers star Iman Shumpert says that Empire is ripping off his relationship with Teyana Taylor. Let him tell it, those two are the basis for Hakeem and his ex-girlfriend, Tiana.
According to Iman: “They’re using my girl’s character, her style, her look and she’s not getting anything for it. They didn’t even change her name. They could have at least let my girl audition for the part instead of stealing her character completely, And come on man, they’re really using a guy with a flat top like me. Come on. That’s ridiculous. They never called us. We were blindsided. We found out by our family and fans when the show aired.”
God Bless Iman and Teyana, but a show that references 2Pac that much couldn’t possibly who either of them are. Tiana is a fake Rihanna, and Hakeem gives Roscoe Dash, flea market Kid Ink, and Tyga sprinkles. As for the flattop, uh, the 1990s happened and since that cut has made a comeback, there are a bunch of kids walking around here with flattops. Yet, you don’t hear me saying y’all out here copying my old curly flattop. Settle down, Shumpert.
4. Oppression Olympics: Noted historian, gender studies professor, and racial scholar Madonna joined fellow intersectional is icky sentiment sharing celebrity Patricia Arquette in pitting minority groups against each other. In an interview with Out magazine, Madonna said, “Women are still the most marginalized group. They’re still the group that people won’t let change.”
Then she lodged her foot far too deep down her mouth by adding: “Gay rights are way more advanced than women’s rights. People are a lot more open-minded to the gay community than they are to women, period. It’s moved along for the gay community, for the African-American community, but women are still just trading on their ass. To me, the last great frontier is women.”
A. There are gay women, there are Black women, and there are Black women who are gay.
B. I could easily go step outside right now and be shot in the head by a law enforcement officer, only to have a conservative media complex go out of its way to vilify me as some not so closeted racist prosecutor decides to treat my killer with kid gloves. Or you know, a jury of someone else’s peers lets him off the hook.
C. While marriage equality may become the rule of law nationwide this year, there are GOP-controlled legislatures in various states across the country passing or introducing laws that would allow anti-gay discrimination to be legal based on notion of religious freedom. By the way, it wasn’t THAT long ago that the Supreme Court said sodomy was not illegal – though you’d have to remind several states that who continue to have the law on the books despite this ruling.
In sum, stop being divisive, be a bit more inclusive in your thought, and if you’re unable, be quiet.
5. Quit Whining Wiz: While I certainly don’t want to tell anyone how to feel, I would like to invite Wiz Khalifa to stop pretending he didn’t know who Amber Rose was when he met her. Don’t shame for her being an ex-stripper. Don’t talk about her ass because you sure did love it when it was promoting your music on Instagram. Don’t talk about hoes when you’re the one who was out here cheating. In fact, stop copying Marvin Gaye’s Here, My Dear before Nona and them sue you, too.
