Blackfishing

Blackfishing is the act of appearing black by using makeup or tanning to manipulate facial features in order to have general Black features. This action became more known in 2018 where Instagram models and influencers began to capitalize off Black culture by appearing to be Black. Some would go as far as getting Black hairstyles such as Box braids, faux locs, and coily hair, further pushing the "look Black" narrative.

Culture appropriation and Blackfishing goes hand in hand. Culture appropriation is the unacknowledged or inappropriate adoption of the customs, practices, ideas, etc. of one people or society by members of another and typically more dominant people or society (although there are times where culture appropriation does happen between two groups of people where one is not necessarily more dominant than the other, for example Black people appropriating East Asian culture). Danielle Bainbridge, a post-doctoral fellow in African-American studies, said "Cultural appropriation is at the heart of this [Blackfishing] because it isn't solely about culture, it's about power. It's about having the relative privilege and access to selectively engage with parts of a culture that you find interesting or appealing, without having to think or engage with the broader experiences of people from that culture". When there is access to engage with parts of a culture, it becomes exploitation, the action or fact of treating someone unfairly in order to benefit from their work. This "someone" is black people, specifically black women, as a whole and the "work" is being Black and creating Black culture.

But this is the thing ... we speak of Black culture when it comes to hairstyles, when it comes to music, and when it comes to fashion. We know what is Black culture when we see it with our eyes but if you were to ask someone what exactly is Black culture, you will most likely be met with blank faces. We mention Black culture a lot, but there is not a clear definition of what it is. If I was to search "Nigerian culture" or "Mexican culture" into Google, results will pop out that would make clear distinctions between the two. However Black culture, specifically Black AMERICAN culture, is a broad culture that is made up of music, fashion, and experience. We have box braids and cornrows, we have our "hood aesthetic", gold hoops and long acrylic nails, and we have hip-hop, rap, and rock-and-roll. Our culture is the contributions that we have made to American culture. In addition to all of that, we have our life experiences that entails of the struggles as living as a Black person.

Unfortunately being that Black culture is a broad culture, our culture also includes assumptions made about Black identity. This is what the Blackfishers are doing: making assumptions on how a black woman should act, look, and just be.

Blackfishing is problematic and plain disrespectful. While these non-Black women can easily wipe off their dark foundation, have their tan wear off, and have their hair go back to its original state of loose curls and straight hair, black women cannot. Where only 37% of Black women feel comfortable wearing an Afro or their dreads to a professional event, 100% of these non-Black women feel comfortable taking on a black hairstyle. There are no consequences for them because to them it is just hair. They get to go on about their day receiving compliments on how great they look, while there are consequences for Black women wearing their OWN cultural and natural hairstyles. Black girls get sent home from school for wearing box braids, get punished by having their braids cut off by their teacher, and black women get fired for wearing their natural Afro hair at work. One of my favorite writers ShiShi Rose once tweeted, "If Black women cannot wear our cultural hairstyles without facing further oppression when we already have so little left of our culture after colonization, then no one else should get to sample it either.

While we see such an appreciation for black women in their natural hair that we have not seen in the previous years, this is not an excuse to make it a trend. Black women are still oppressed for being Black and for being a woman. So for non-Black women to take "being Black" as a trend and as a look is not only offensive but convinces other non-Black people that being Black is simply looking the part.