I'm not an expert on what hair means to race around the world and I suspect it's complex. I support anyone who wants to play with her or his hair for fun. The focus of this essay was fairly precise: if you saw young (and less well-off) Neymar, you'd probably have described him as black-ish, and if you saw (famous,…

But if you're going rob your next door neighbours (without masks and leave witnesses) you must be on some death by cop criminal run.

seriously? because he was black. blacks never get the same degree of latitude as other groups. that's why they were so happy back when OJ got aquitted. it's not that they didn't believe he actually did it; they knew he did it but he got off. which was basically unheard of for them.

I'm also willing to bet that they didn't have snipers when they went to arrest the actual white robbers.

Wrong. Arab people, despite white folk wanting to disown them after 9/11 are and were considered white, or of the caucasian race (look it up Stephen Hawking). Brown skin doesn't equal non-white in the racial sense of the word, and many 'Middle Easterners' aren't 'brown,' anyway - they have the same skin tone as most…

I'm confused at how plastic surgery would have anything even remotely to do with this song for her to use it there. So I don't really buy that.

No, you're just uneducated and choosing to ignore what's in front of you. Enjoy that privilege, it must be deeeeelightful.

Considering the giant ass, tits, and lips has been an unfortunate caricature of black women for years, that is what came to mind for me when I saw the image. The big ole earrings just added to it since I lived through the doorknocker earring trend of the 80s/90s. I don't think (at least I like to hope) that that…

The ancient Egyptians (the one who built the largest, original pyramids) were Black, as they were actually from Africa. They were conquered by Greeks and Arabs. They were never white. That's only on tv.

Yeah, but in this case, it's MULTIPLE stereotypes - the thick red lips, the oversized breasts, the obnoxiously large buttocks, the big gold hoop earrings, all rolled into one neat package.

Yes, that was my point. I'm telling you that by dismissing this as a case of unfounded white outrage, you are willfully ignoring the POC who have already spoken up about this, the exact same POC that you claim it's your duty to support and listen to. This isn't just Callie's invented cause célèbre.

Hey, keep being dismissive all you want. The fact that you don't want it to be about race, or that Katy Perry didn't intend it to be about race doesn't mean that it transcends its cultural context.

Um, you are aware where Egypt is located, right??? Are you starting to understand how some people might make the connection between the mummies and black women's bodies???

I don't see get a real "black people" vibe from this, either. I do see a stereotyped, oversexualized version of black women, though. I'm rather surprised that no other commenters seem to be able to see it, but perhaps I have more exposure to stereotypes than you do.

Her name was Sarah "Saartjie" Baartman, and her story is a sad one. I was thinking about her too when I read this story. Whether you interpret this Perry stuff as connected or not, people should educate themselves about the different ways body shapes have historically been exploited and the links to institutionalized…