It wasn’t long ago when Gucci made another embarrassing racist goof that ignited anger in the black community. The luxury fashion brand had to recall its $890 balaclava as it resembled blackface, an offensive practice of mocking black people by making the skin look black and exaggerating features that stem from nearly 200 years ago.
Many employees and customers have called out some of the biggest fashion houses for being steeped in racism and unapologetically exercising white privilege.
With the recent pressure on U.S. race relations bubbling over in 2020, you would think that all black people would be done with supporting anything and anyone that doesn’t support them. Or, at least would be able to understand their power and use it as a way to manipulate the system to be in their best interest.
Well, rapper Boosie found out differently while perusing at a mall. On video, Boosie captured black people patiently lined up outside of the Gucci store. His response was very direct.
“Gucci don’t like black people, I don’t know why y’all in that line,” he told the anxious consumers. “Y’all stupid as a m*therf*cker.”
Is it that serious? Still, after the wrongful death of black people at the hands of racist monsters. Still, as systemic racism has been exposed over and over again. Will black people forever be slaves to the consumerist mindset, supporting the very bigoted and pompous people who dismiss your dollars and your community?
The harsh realities of being black in America has severe consequences for the community. Progress has been met with continuous resistance in some form or another. Decade after decade, some black people have tried ways to increase their perceived worth in the U.S., from obtaining higher education at the cost of mounting debt to even attempting to climb the top ranks of white owned corporations only to hit a glass ceiling.
Yet, other members of the black community continue to buy their self esteem and not actually pursue real upward mobility that creates legacy. While the public’s perception of someone being able to afford and wear Gucci might be a short term solution for making people feel worthy or even helping people to believe that the Gucci wearer is an idea of success, the truth is that black people as a group are on their way to having a negative net worth with the median wealth of black people dropping to an alarming zero in the next 25 years.
To add insult to injury, when customers buy clothes, they are buying items that lose value the moment they wear them. Instead of owning more purchases that decline in value over time, this might be the year to consider moving smarter.
That means that the black community will need to exert their capabilities with intelligence, wisdom, leadership and keen business acumen. The community’s energy needs to be channeled to ownership in all regards, including housing, real estate, business and investments.
Even more, the community needs to think about leveraging their “cool culture” to force the breakdown of systemic racism, while simultaneously demanding change that will include black people on the frontlines of representation in the boardroom and beyond.
In essence, black people are teaching others how to treat them. The more they entertain nonsense or racists, the more racists abuse their power and take advantage of black people. So, at the end of the day, Boosie is right. It’s peculiar to fight for social justice, equality and equity the moment a racist video goes viral, but to hop in a line to buy the latest items from your favorite racist the very next week. We have to do better.
P.S. — Several rappers have let the black community down recently. A lot of them have been exposed for selling out to fame and money as they try to tame the black community to bend to their agendas. While hip hop is embedded in the hearts of so many, we have to be honest that some rappers do a disservice to their own when they represent capitalism without any recourse for the poor black communities that initially supported them.
With that said, while some rappers, not all, continue to be foolish by overdressing in designer brands, many of them were struggling during the lockdowns because they couldn’t tour. Many of them are a paycheck away from being back in the hood again. This shows that these rappers are not doing their due diligence to ensure that when the rap career is over they have something to sustain them and continue a legacy beyond just their individual existence. It also shows that they are not the best spokespeople for the black community.
Therefore, it would be moronic to continue to follow their lead when it comes to decisions that lead to consequences for the black community, such as wearing Gucci despite the racism that stems throughout that organization.
The idolization of idiots has to come to an end because its ruining us.
