So common is the process, it has its own term and Twitter hashtag: Columbising — when, like Christopher Columbus, white people think they have discovered something that was already in existence. This past summer, after she caught wind of the backlash over the cheeky cover art for her single "Anaconda," Nicki flipped her wig over the double standard. Sara "Saartjie" Baartman had no control. Loading comments… Trouble loading? So the attributes that black women have so long been shamed for have finally been given the Anna Wintour seal of approval due to a new Aryan aesthetic? The New York Times then jumped on board the bum bandwagon with a feature on Jen Selter, a white Instagram star credited for pioneering what black women have always had.
The disturbing message in this hyper-sexualization was clear and its been passed down for generations: Black women's bodies are inherently vulgar and, yes, unacceptable, in mainstream culture. It was an in-joke; funny, because in a world where white is right, that was most definitely the wrong answer. Why does it take Kim Kardashian's bare backside to elevate what's characteristic for scores of black women? Sara "Saartjie" Baartman had no control. I won't even delve into the space that black women occupy in hip-hop, which is as complicated for a die-hard fan like me as the day is long. Young Money While Kim Kardashian was busy balancing stemware on her surgically inflated rear -- a feat that basically reduced online traffic to rubbernecking -- I was busy trying to figure out how we got here. Take, for example, the Twitter trend ThingsBlackGirlsHaveRuined, which saw the values of Michael Kors watches, Timberland boots, Louboutin heels and most bafflingly, red velvet cake plummet simply for being popular among an undesirable demographic.
