Is Mixed Chicks choosing sides in the Light Skin v. Dark Skin absurdity?
One of my favorite hair care products is the Leave-In Conditioner by the company Mixed Chicks. I use it whenever my budget allows and I constantly recommend it to other curly girls. But that may change.
As some of you may know the ridiculous Twitter hashtags “#teamlightskin” and “#teamdarkskin” have been circulating and they’ve even inspired some promoters in Ohio to throw a party that’s essentially celebrating colorism. Well, apparently, Mixed Chicks decided to choose sides and recently tweeted the following:
#teamlightskin sure hope all will try @Mixedchicks to care 4 those curls.
The assumptions behind this statement are both bad for business and just plain stupid. It not only implies that all multi-ethnic women have light skin and that all women with light skin have curly hair, but also that we “dark butts” (to quote the world’s dumbest rapper Yung Berg) have no use for their products. Why on earth would you assume that all of your customers and potential customers have light skin? Why make the assumption that darker women don’t have curly hair and alienate possibly a good chunk of your customer base?
As expected, this tweet caused an uproar from angry current customers who vowed to never use Mixed Chicks products again and even potential customers who said they’d no longer consider the brand as option for their hair care regimen.
The company did post an apology (click here to read this tweet and more). They also stated that they posted a similar message to many teams and had no intention of excluding anyone, although Black Girl With Long Hair reports that a blogger following this story couldn’t find a #teamdarkskin tweet. Bloggers like Sakita Holley, however, felt the apology was insincere and made the company look even more “clueless.”
Of course, I don’t think the managers at Mixed Chicks meant to be hurtful, but what they did was thoughtless, nonetheless. One of the things I love most about having natural hair is the sense of camaraderie and community that it can inspire. Having natural hair can be a challenge but it can also be a blast as you chat with girlfriends and even complete strangers in the middle of a shopping mall about products, styling tips and more. How sad it would be for the creators of the very products we discuss to intentionally or unintentionally divide us.
while i was at the Natural Hair Meet Up a few weekends ago. I mentioned i used Mixed Chicks before. Will almost simultaneously several of the woman asked me if i was mixed. I hate people assuming this because of my skin tone. It’s like they are saying you much not be black if you are of lighter complexion! ugh!
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There is actually no such thing as a so-called “Light-Skinned
Black” person … but rather … such individuals and groups
are actually people who are of a ‘Multi-Generational
Multiracially-Mixed’ (MGM-Mixed) Lineage that some may
have been pressured or encouraged to ignore or downplay.
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4160
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People of Mixed-Race lineage should NOT feel pressured to
‘identify’ according to any standards other than one’s own.
.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4157
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The legal -application of the racist-‘One-Drop Rule’
(ODR) was banned in the U.S. way back in 1967.
.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4162
.
http://www.facebook.com/groups/253286018082418/permalink/253341891410164
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4187
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http://www.facebook.com/groups/253286018082418/permalink/253341281410225
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Listed below are related Links of ‘the facts’ of the histories
of various Mixed-Race populations found within the U.S.:
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There is no proof that a ‘color-based slave hierarchy’
(or that ‘color-based social-networks’) ever existed
as common entities — within the continental U.S.
.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4154
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4153
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It was the ‘Rule of Matriliny (ROM) — [a.k.a. ‘The Rule of Partus’
(ROP)] — and NOT the racist-‘One-Drop Rule’ (ODR) — that was
used to ‘create more enslaved people’ on the continental U.S.
.
This is because the chattel-slavery system that was
once found on the antebellum-era, continental U.S.
was NOT “color-based” (i.e. “racial”) — but rather
— it was actually “mother-based” (i.e. ‘matrilineal’).
.
http://www.facebook.com/allpeople.gifts/posts/309460495741441
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There were many ways (and not solely the sexual assault
and sexual exploitation of the women-of-color) in which
‘white’ lineage entered the familial bloodlines of
enslaved-people found on the continental U.S.
.
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4238
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4239
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http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4240
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An ‘Ethnic’ category is NOT the
same thing as a “Race” category:
http://groups.yahoo.com/group/Generation-Mixed/message/4236
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http://www.facebook.com/allpeople.gifts/posts/300777016632181
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Other Topics:
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https://www.facebook.com/allpeople.gifts/posts/279223868853420
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https://www.facebook.com/allpeople.gifts/posts/164203590359746
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http://www.facebook.com/notes/%C2%ADallpeople-gifts/the-facts-on-m%C2%ADixed-race/321878451159708
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I’m mixed with Californian black (maybe from the Caribbean) and European like from Spain and my sister is a “light-skin” or a brownish colour and my skin well imagine a Japanese person, a person with an eggy colour. That’s me. I am yellow white as heck. My hair is whiter and in colour light brown with red in it and has bigger shinier curles. My sister has dark very frizzy black brown hair and basically no curled just frizz, and we do not look like sisters. I can put white foundation on my yellow face and have it look natural. Lots of people say oh that’s not your sister but hey I’m mixed and ya know my sister and I are smart anime loving geeks and both want to go to UCLA. Nobody thinks I’m mixed but I AM alright. I’m shy, skinny, short and mixed. And hey my sister likes Filipino men and I like German men (hence the fact I’m half euro), what’s the problem. Yeah my kids going to be blonde with blue eyes and pale skin, yeah she’ll still be 1/4 blk. My sister yeah her kid will be a curly haired Asian but, she is still 1/4 blk. I’m not BLACK and I’m not WHITE I’m mixed even though I look white!! SO STOP TELLING ME TO IDENTIFY. No, the reason I don’t hang around many blacks is because I’m not really attracted to them I’m attracted to geeky cute fanboy blonde German boys. I do hang around mixed girls though..lol. Listen I’ve seen blue eyed light, brown haired, eggy skinned, smaller plump round lips, flat butted, shy introverted mixed girls like my self (well I have brown eyes) then we have dark skinned (in my eyes but not a blacks eyes) green eyes, black haired, taller, frizzier, big lips, big butted, outgoing extroverted mixed girls (like my sister). Honestly who cares! We’re just people, Eurolacks(me),Eurasians, Blasians (my friend), Blexicans, Mulattos, Hafu, etc. Who cares because plain American white girls are ugly most of the time and plain black girls can be ugly most of the time to (not saying you guys are) and plain Asians also and so when you mix you get an Asian with curly hair, a white girl with frizy hair, an Asian girl with blue eyes, a black girl with green eyes, a Mexican girl with blonde hair etc.
Beautiful don’t you think. By the way, since I’m trying to look KAWAII DESU can anyone tell me how to crimp my hair, because I’ve got these little side/front bangs on my forehead and I want to crimp them like badly…BADLY. I’m so tired of putting my hair up in a pony tail and + I thought crimps would go good with this denim jacket I have (it’s got hearts and shitzus on it) and maybe skinny jeans and some white tennis shoes or boots. Crimp would look utterly kawaii okay! If you are an Otaku ya know what kind of crimps I’m talking about, like not those beach girl kinds. I’m talking about like the big sharp pointed cute ones. Think of erma from the witch book series I USED to read when I was 10. I am 14 btw and yes I am in 10th grade.