Jesy Nelson addresses blackfishing claims

[Teletubby 134,405]

In a recent interview with Vulture, she claimed that the term had never been directed towards her before her departure from the girlband.

Question: There’s been a notable shift in the way you were marketed then to the way you’re marketing yourself now, as an R&B-first pop star. In response, you’ve been accused of Blackfishing, allegations that when presented to you by The Guardian in August, you seemed surprised by. On reflection, do you understand the points being made?
The whole time I was in Little Mix I never got any of that. And then I came out of [the band] and people all of a sudden were saying it. I wasn’t on social media around that time, so I let my team [deal with it], because that was when I’d just left. But I mean, like, I love Black culture. I love Black music. That’s all I know; it’s what I grew up on.
I’m very aware that I’m a white British woman; I’ve never said that I wasn’t.

Question: Some, many of them people of color, have said that when they’ve called you out for Blackfishing in the comments of your Instagram, they’ve been blocked by your account as a result.
I don’t know about that. Maybe it was my team.

“I take all those comments made seriously. I would never intentionally do anything to make myself look racially ambiguous, so that’s why I was initially shocked that the term was directed at me.”

source

[ALGAYDO 29,945]

11 minutes ago, Teletubby said:

I would never intentionally do anything to make myself look racially ambiguous, so that’s why I was initially shocked that the term was directed at me.”

sis, really? 

[Blastertoyo 22,728]

Um

w h a t 

[StarstruckIllusion 49,551]

wow what 

she’s white??

I thought she’d at least be mixed w white and something else…

 

[Bling 31,039]

Just now, StarstruckIllusion said:

wow what 

she’s white??

I thought she’d at least be mixed w white and something else…

 

I thought the same. The problem is that it's so interspersed with culture that people don't even know they are doing it anymore 

[Economy 47,026]

16 hours ago, WheresMy911Alice said:

I thought the same. The problem is that it's so interspersed with culture that people don't even know they are doing it anymore 

Isnt that a good thing tho? If its done without being noticed it means cultures are blending and evolving into one over time so as to the point ppl are not necessairily looking at race and if u ask me thats a positive thing

 

I mean many Countries now are literally a mix of many cultures. How many generations have to pass by until ppl are just allowed to blend naturally without having to keep segregating looks by who ur ancesters were?

 

Personally i find overly modern strict rules on race actually hurts minorities ability to be influential because ur essentially saying if they make something popular its only allowed to be popular in their community and they arent allowed to influence the rest of the population. How does that help them?

 

I do think if u make physical alterations to appear a race ur not thats a problem (perhaps she did that here? Her lips maybe? I dunno)... If ur taking a very traditional way of dressing specific to a culture i also see the issue

 

But if its current hair, clothes and dress... stuff like that is constantly evolving in culture. It may sound woke to segregate who is allowed to wear what but tbh i think u actually end up over emphasizing race as if it defines what u are

[Vicixs 3,262]

35 minutes ago, ALGAYDO said:

sis, really? 

WAIT SHE’S WHITE? I don’t listen to Little Mix, so I’m genuinely SHOCKED. There’s no way she can deny these claims 

[Bling 31,039]

9 minutes ago, Economy said:

Isnt that a good thing tho? If its done wothout being noticed it means cultures are blending and evolving into one over time so as to the point ppl are becessairily looking at race and if u ask me thats a positive thing

 

I mean many Countries now are literally a mix of many cultures. How many generations have to pass by until ppl are just allowed to blend naturally without having to keep segregating looks by who ur ancesters were?

 

Personally i find overly modern strict rules on race actually hurts minorities ability to be influential because ur essentially saying if they make something popular its only allowed to be popular in their community. How does that help them?

 

I do think if u make physical alterations to appear a race ur not thats a problem (perhaps she did that here? Her lips maybe? I dunno)... If ur taking a very traditional way of dressing specific to a culture i also see the issue

 

But if its current hair, clothes and dress... stuff like that is constantly evolving in culture. It may sound woke to segregate who is allowed to wear what but tbh i think u actually end up over emphasizing race as if it defines what u are

The problem is that often times, white people are praised for being "edgy" for having braids or dreads, whereas black people have experienced loss of employment and the like for wearing their natural hairstyle. 

This is just one example.

[theahsfan 13,695]

[bionic 41,934]

51 minutes ago, Teletubby said:

The whole time I was in Little Mix I never got any of that. And then I came out of [the band] and people all of a sudden were saying it.

People have been saying this since she started doing it, and she was in the band at the time  

Here's one article from 2018 that is one of the top results for 'Jesy Nelson blackfishing'

 https://www.nme.com/news/music/little-mix-jesy-nelson-cultural-appropriation-dreadlocks-2245809

[Economy 47,026]

5 minutes ago, Grigio Guy said:

WAIT SHE’S WHITE? I don’t listen to Little Mix, so I’m genuinely SHOCKED. There’s no way she can deny these claims 

Yeah she definitely trying very hard to pass off as another race. As every single thing about her is very popular specifically in black community

 

For anyone reading my post above i was generalizing my reply about without realizing taking these influences

 

Something like this is clearly intentially to pass off as something ur not

[Bling 31,039]

2 minutes ago, theahsfan said:

You did NOT

[Cruelty 5,887]

I do think it's slightly awful of Jesy's team that they clearly haven't prepped her on how to answer a question that was inevitably gonna come up in interviews 

[NichuuB 43,788]

Oh lord, her solo career hasn't even started properly and shes already involved in every mess possible (even though this is a thing she's been doing since LM )

[bionic 41,934]

2 minutes ago, NeonSkeleton said:

I do think it's slightly awful of Jesy's team that they clearly haven't prepped her on how to answer a question that was inevitably gonna come up in interviews 

I hope she has people who ar elooking out for her