It seems that the fashion industry just cannot get it right whether its the most minimal use of dark-skinned models or insane trends such as Vogue Italia's "slave" earrings or Michael Kors' foolish safari suits. Even the most talented and intellectual designers always mess it up when it comes to Africa. Alexander McQueen's primitivization of Africa or Christian Dior's utterly idiotic fetish of Pharaohs. However, it is much more disconcerting when celebrities who have probably encountered a lot of resistance to their own skin color while climbing the ladder of success refuse to say NO to most absurd manipulations of their own images.
Just a few months ago, Beyonce allowed herself to be photographed in blackface. Somehow because she was in France, she was convinced it was edgy to be painted into an ebony colored "African queen." Some critics and bloggers said that since she is an African-American, it was hardly a big deal, completely ignoring the fact this is an insidious historical legacy and simply must not be touted as hip or normal. At the obverse end of same debate, behold Rihanna who has appeared on the cover of Vogue UK with her skin clearly whitened. Rampant racism, c'est toujours trendy?!
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