But, au contraire, I would actually like to express my deepest of gratitude to you for how you have handled this entire situation. I took the liberty of checking out your Instagram and Twitter to see if you were one of “those” public figures; the ones who do too little with their privilege but expect the world to invest in their businesses and brands. And you passed the test! Not one stance. You’ve taken not one stance on the matter that has all of the Black Internet in an uproar. So, thank you for reiterating to us that if you stand for nothing, you will fall for anything. And oh boy have you fallen! You’ve fallen for the white trap of thinking that doing nothing is actually doing something. You’ve fallen to the temptation of letting issues in Black culture be some other niggas problem. You’ve fell into the black hole of, as Charlamagne so eloquently wrote, “meaningless, stereotypical NBA news.” You’ve fallen for the stereotype of playing the white man’s game to make the white man’s money, loving the white man’s daughter just to leave your black identity behind. And you did it all while pretending that it was not your job to clarify to America whether Black beauty matters to you. Now, I’m not one who thinks that Black issues are every black man’s problem. I also don’t judge love, no matter its color or sexuality. I’m not grateful to you because you have gracefully fallen into either of those categories. Actually, I’m thankful because when Black issues gave you an opportunity to use your voice, you murmured and acted like we weren’t there. Who is this “we” who was at your door you ask. We, black chicks, the wodies, the queens who have been told time and time again that our beauty was secondary and that our lives were sacrificial. Thank you for continuing these ideals in your silence. Thank you for posting a picture with four men and two women with the caption “All different shades.” Thank you for thinking that an ambiguous picture would clear the air around whether or not you actually find black women attractive. Really, you have done us all a favor. But, I do have questions now. If your response to all of us, this picture, was the answer to questions about your preference; Are you hinting that you could be gay? Could “different shades” be a metaphor for different genders? Or was that just a smoke screen for your inability to actually face your truth? Was that supposed to show us that you surround yourself with all different shades? Was that your proof to Black America that you have black friends; that you like blackness; that you aren’t limited even though you only want women donning any skin but black skin?
The picture kind of felt like the protest of a white man called racist. You know the phrase. “I can’t be racist, I have black friends.” It felt like you were saying, “I can’t think that Black women aren’t beautiful, I know black women.” I guess it works out that you haven’t taken a stance. This way, your daughter, who is mixed race, won’t have to know that part of her is the part you care too little about to open your mouth. Thank you, Mr. Irving. You’ve reminded me that every day I open my eyes, I better open my mouth, because ain’t no man gone do it for me.
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