X Factor “star” complains about racism.
Singer Alexandra Burke has spoken out about her experiences of racism in the music industry, revealing she was asked to bleach her skin “to look whiter”.
After winning X Factor, Burke said she was told she would “have to work 10 times harder than a white artist, because of the colour of your skin”.
Okay, bear in mind this is anecdote with no actual reference, but let’s take it at face value for a moment. Apparently someone in the industry thinks like this. However, plenty of black artists have made a name for themselves without bleaching their skin or changing their hair and white people bought their records and went to their gigs. Roberta Flack, Ella Fitzgerald, Aretha Franklin, Donna Summer, Whitney Houston… I could go on.
I’m not saying that in the early days, black artists didn’t encounter racism or that it doesn’t occur today, but they didn’t need to change themselves to get their music appreciated as their music spoke for itself. The short answer here was to be frank with anyone making such a demand.
Another anecdote. This time from my own experience of being pale and male. I was repeatedly told during my career that I needed to wear a tie and cut my hair in order to conform, to appear “professional”. I say repeatedly, because I refused to comply. I managed, despite the claims that I wouldn’t unless I conformed, to do pretty well in my chosen field.
Prejudice and attempts to impose conformity come in all forms. There are control freaks everywhere and they love nothing more than to impose their will on others – we are seeing this with the far left rampaging through our streets and using social media and the tech giants to batter opposition voices into silence. It’s the same thing – control. It isn’t just about race, it’s about how people expect us to appear and behave in order to fit their desired prejudices. The response is to be robust in one’s refusal to comply. If this person’s work is good enough, it will prevail and people will buy it, including white people.
Jumping on a bandwagon gives lots of publicity: just sayin’…
I remember in one passage in Wild Swans by Jung Chang, she talks about how during the Cultural Revolution people very quickly cottoned on to the fact that they could use the roiling maelstrom of madness as a cloak to settle all sorts of personal scores, down to the incredibly petty. “Mmm, that person has two more chickens than I do. I never liked them. What if I denounce them as a capitalist roader..?”
This is something of exactly the same order. Didn’t do well at an audition? Blame it on racism! Been a throughly objectionable diva to the point where others don’t want to work with you? Blame it on racism! Career not taken off quite as you were hoping? Etc etc ad nauseam.
And of course it’s the perfect route back to loving acceptance for those previously found on the wrong side of the Oppression Olympics. Been attacked previously as transphobic for comments about your young nephew? Here’s the perfect opportunity to make up some ground. Stand up Lewis Hamilton!
Simple observation tells me that pale people do not do well in theatre, film, television or any visual medium.
They have to acquire a skin colour of any shade of brown, orange or beige from natural sun rays, artificial sun rays, to spray painting.
Is this paleism?
Also people who sing flat, sharp, out of time or just croak do not do well in gaining places as performers.
More discrimination.
Was Michael Jackson more successful after he got whiter?
Would be interesting to know the demographic of the person who supposedly told her she needed to be whiter.
“Bourke whose Instagram post got lots of interest and sympathy…” what she was after.
I’m such a racist that the evening before sitting my Eonomics ‘0’ level I saw Chuck Berry at the Rainbow Finsbury Park (brilliant set, got the required Pass) and, as previously mentioned, the second LP I bought was a Trojan Reggae compilation; not my fault all the artists were male, reggae seems to be a bit unwoke in that area.
As also previously mentioned, when arriving in London aged 9 and a bit my new best friend was coffee coloured Andy (Jamaican/English half-cast as we said then with 5 older brothers who took care not to be scary).
Looking back, the reason is because I spent my first 9 years oop north in very close contact with other kids just like him and I still find that colour sexually attractive (took a while to work that one out though).
So you can stuff your accusations of racism where it hurts ms Bourke.
Forgot to mention, I bought most of your mums Soul ll Soul records which paid to put the shoes on your feet young lady.