to white mothers of black kids: acknowledge their race

Professional Prom Queen candidate Kim Kardashian issued an unnecessary apology over the weekend after paying homage to Babygirl Aaliyah with one of her Halloween costumes. While not in blackface, a complaint that has been levied against her before, it’s fair to assume the Twitterverse was annoyed by yet another Kardashian imitation of black womanhood.

In the apology for wearing the costume, Kardashian-West told fans that she hadn’t thought twice about the costume because they “don’t see color in my home.” That’s…interesting for a multi-racial family where Kardashian-West is the only non-black person. One would think that Kim’s children will eventually, if they haven’t already, noticed that their mother is white.

What’s so horrifying about the Kardashian’s proximity to blackness (and that of white women like them) is their clear fetishization of black men, black culture or as Khloe puts it: “I only like black cock”. Like Kylie and Kendall’s Tupac t-shirts—what the fuck do two white girls from Calabasas have to do with Tupac? Outside of the fact that we know they surround themselves with black men and get plastic surgery to imitate the black female form, how are any Kardashians in any way related to hip-hop culture?

Back in August, Kardashian-West issued a separate apology for defending make-up entrepreneur (MySpace star and white supremacist) Jeffree Star’s critique of her make-up line. Star, who has a history of anti-blackness and making racist comments about other femmes, can be seen on a 12-year-old tape calling a black woman a “nigger bitch”.
“I get that it’s a serious deal if you say racial things but I do believe in people changing. And people that apologize, I will give them the benefit of the doubt. I know better than anyone that I hate when people bring up my past or mistakes that I’ve made in the past, so let him live.”

I wonder what it will be like for Kim the first time someone calls her daughter a “nigger bitch”. Has she even thought about that? Is that something her and her husband, Mr. “Even In A Benz You Still A Nigga In A Coup” discuss?

“So I really wanted to apologize to you guys and my fans for defending a situation yesterday that I really didn’t know enough about,” Kim wrote. “I just feel a bit naïve, and I do want to really apologize for me feeling like I had the right to say ‘get over it’ in a situation that involves racism.” So, it’s safe to say they don’t, right?

As you can see, there are plenty of bones to pick with the Kardashian family’s handlings of race and their attitudes towards and exploitation of blackness, but what’s truly scary is the fact that their family is bringing biracial black children into an environment where white adults tell blacks to get over racial violence and where their identities are, admittedly, being ignored. Which, I suspect, is how many white moms of biracial children approach race. And doing so seems to be more about protecting white feelings and white comfort than it is about preparing biracial children for the world.

To the parents of biracial children, it must be said that interracial relationships do not suspend the nature of reality or negate racism. And the children born from these relationships are not impervious to racism and that they, in fact, face an even more complicated relationship with race and identity than some.

When parents like Kim K. say that they choose not to “see” their children or spouses race, it tells children that part of their identity is not worth seeing. And it fails to prepare them for the very real world in which color is not only seen but is used to determine how the world treats you.