On April 11, Buzzfeed released a video titled “27 Questions Black People Have For Black People.” The short film has received much controversy on various social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter. While some of the claims made in the video were fairly humorous, some of them were quite questionable. An assumption was even made that the predominantly White Buzzfeed staff had an influence on the actors in the video. The feedback showed that a whopping 195 people even took the time to rate the video a “Fail” on the “Buzzfeed Reaction Scale.”
Now, that number is 196. Topics in the short film ranged from “CPT (Colored People Time)” to why no one should be able to use the “n-word.” While controversial subjects excite me, responses to these subjects from the Black community should not represent such deeply rooted self-hate.
One of the questions that received more negative feedback than most was as follows, “If my ‘dab’ is on ‘fleek,’ am I ‘lit?’” For years, the Black community has encouraged that the language of Ebonics be accepted by the non-Black community. Now that we are questioning its usage, not only are we contradicting ourselves, but we are also being counterproductive due to the fact that what we want to be accepted so badly, we are now debating ourselves.
Another question was brought up as to why we, as a community, are more likely to engage in new dance trends than engage in politics or opening a business. I have two problems. Problem number one: Taking part in a certain activity is based on personal interest. Why is engaging in politics and opening business better than being the first Black ballerina to become a principal for a major dance company? Why can’t we be proud of every Black accomplishment? Problem number two: Asking this question makes the assumption that Black people are single-minded beings that have no idea how to support more than one accomplishment at a time. I’m offended.
A question was asked about the allowance of the “n-word” within the Black community and the disallowance of the “n-word” within the non-Black community. Personally, I thought that reclaiming a derogatory term and using it as a term of endearment was something that every marginalized group got the memo about. Apparently not. Due to the history of the word, it is simply disrespectful for a non-Black person to refer to a Black person as an “n-word.” The same rules do not necessarily apply to members of the Black community being that the reclamation of the word was not put into place to degrade one another. However, if your personal use of the word as a member of the Black community makes you uncomfortable, then, by all means, leave it out of your vocabulary, but please don’t question my usage of it.
I am a huge fan of Buzzfeed and have been for years. However, as a member of the Black community, I was extremely taken back by this video. While valid points were made, they were dismissed by the self-loathing questions and assumptions made for members of the Black community by members of the Black community.
Well, I have a question, too. Were these questions Black people have for Black people or were these questions that Black people were forced to ask?