I know it’s Force Friday, but this needs to be what we’re talking about today.
Munroe Bergdorf is a Black trans woman and activist who was awarded a contract with L’Oreal Paris earlier this week. She was set to be the first trans woman to star in a L’Oreal campaign – for True Match, a makeup line designed for women of all skin tones that features a wider selection of shades than most brands.
After the events of Charlottesville weeks ago, Munroe made a post about systemic white supremacy on her Facebook.
‘Honestly I don’t have energy to talk about the racial violence of white people any more. Yes ALL white people.
‘Because most of ya’ll don’t even realise or refuse to acknowledge that your existence, privilege and success as a race is built on the backs, blood and death of people of colour. Your entire existence is drenched in racism. From micro-aggressions to terrorism, you guys built the blueprint for this s***.
‘Come see me when you realise that racism isn’t learned, it’s inherited and consciously or unconsciously passed down through privilege.
‘Once white people begin to admit that their race is the most violent and oppressive force of nature on Earth… then we can talk.
‘Until then stay acting shocked about how the world continues to stay f***** at the hands of your ancestors and your heads that remain buried in the sand with hands over your ears.’
Last night, The Daily Mail (a tabloid rag if there ever was one) printed parts of her post, highlighting the line “ALL white people.”
This morning, L’Oreal Paris ended their partnership with her, saying her comments were “at odds” with their values.
A Black woman was fired for speaking out about racism. They pulled a “Black people who talk about racism are the REAL RACISTS.”
Munroe has not been shy about responding. In an except from a Facebook post she made a few hours ago, she says:
When I stated that “all white people are racist”, I was addressing that fact that western society as a whole, is a SYSTEM rooted in white supremacy - designed to benefit, prioritise and protect white people before anyone of any other race. Unknowingly, white people are SOCIALISED to be racist from birth onwards. It is not something genetic. No one is born racist.
We also live in a society where men are SOCIALISED to be sexist. Women are SOCIALISED to be submissive. Gay people are SOCIALISED to be ashamed of their sexuality due to heterosexual people’s homophobia. Cisgender people are SOCIALISED to be transphobic. We do not need to be this way. We are not born this way and we can learn to reject it. We are just socially conditioned to think this way from an early age. With the right education, empathy and open mindedness we can unlearn these socialisations and live a life where we don’t oppress others and see things from other people’s points of view.
So when a transgender woman of colour, who has been selected to front up a big brand campaign to combat discrimination and lack of diversity in the beauty industry, speaks on her actual lived experience of being discriminated against because of her race and identifies the root of where that discrimination lies - white supremacy and systemic racism - that big brand cannot simply state that her thoughts are not “in line with the ethics of the brand”.
Now, I know as well as anyone that L’Oreal’s stance is the popular one. Which is exactly the problem.
White people and others who benefit from white supremacy don’t listen if they can make an exception of themselves. That’s why “Yes ALL white people.” Because if you’re first thought when someone speaks out about systemic racism is “it doesn’t apply to me,” you are part of the problem.
If L’Oreal sees condemning white supremacy as at odds with their values, they’re not a company I can support, I don’t care how many makeup shades they have.
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