Let me just start out by saying this: I’m not a racist! I totally understand that racism exists and there are issues in this country that are exclusively faced by people of color, especially women of color. But let’s be honest: discrimination is a problem for white people too, one that I am constantly faced with. And the worst way I experience it is in having to look at all the black women in my age bracket who unfairly look much, much younger than I do.
What I’m saying is, black women not aging at the same rate as me is reverse racism.
Maybe that seems controversial. But look: even though white women make more money, receive better medical care, and are generally more socially protected and valued than black women, that does not change the fact that black women appear younger and more vibrant for longer than white women do. That is racial exclusivity and that is the definition of reverse racism. I just call it like it is.
Nia Long, Jada Pinkett Smith, Taraji P. Henson: these women are all black, all in their forties, and all somehow sporting the taut, dewy skin of a 21-year-old who has never seen the sun. I, on the other hand, have strongly considered getting botox, as have all my white girlfriends. And we’re only in our late twenties! It’s a hard pill to swallow, but it’s undeniable: I’ve had to face the trials of aging earlier and more rapidly than any black woman, and that is bigotry against me!
Sure, darker skin has more melanin in it, and melanin has been proven to help prevent the skin from losing elasticity and vitality as it ages. But me being born with less melanin in my skin was not my choice, just like it wasn’t a gay person’s choice to be born gay or a latin person’s choice to be born with darker skin. Wait, as a matter of fact, that means that Latina women also age more gracefully than I do! Ugh!! This is such obvious prejudice!!!
Crow’s feet, smile lines, sun damage: These are all tools of oppression against me. It’s reverse racism, plain and simple. Black women are afforded this privilege that I, a white woman, am not. So it’s time to even the playing field when it comes to aging. Who’s with me?
