This a real humdinger , for real .
ICYMI: Earlier this month,Amber Roseand Joseline Hernandez got into a heated altercation surrounding the topic of race and identity, during one of the most recent episodes ofCollege Hill: Celebrity Edition.
Amber Rose vs. Joseline Hernandez 🔥 # CollegeHillCelebrityEditionpic.twitter.com/oW9ASUq6th
For those who don’t know, Amber is a model and activist with a biracial mother (half Black Cape Verdean, half Scottish) and a white father (Italian and Irish).
And Joseline Hernandez, also known as the “Puerto Rican Princess,” is a reality TV personality and rapper from VH1’sLove & Hip Hop: Atlanta. She is Afro-Latina.
People all over the internet had A LOT to say about their fight:
Some were Team Joseline:
It ’s screwball how right joseline is 😭 😭 amber get up eats up have black feature but deff would rather be a fully snowy womenhttps://t.co/48VsSF9MaL
I hate to say it but I trust Joseline win . Amber spent 75 % of her calling selling a “ I ’m black ” fantasy and now she desire to be reserve on the topic.https://t.co/GW4gqx2thi
While others were team Amber:
amber is a mixed woman , even her mum is mixed lol why y’ all forcing blackness on her 😂 https://t.co/lhmJWQghGe
I do n’t even like gold and I ’m with gold on this one . If she ’s proud of both sides of where she comes from why ca n’t she fend up for both?They could have agreed to disagree but nah Roseline telling gold to deny who she is and accept that she ’s just dim . Just mind ur ownpic.twitter.com/IzYZF8WHGb
Some were Team Neither:
Fuck the combat . S / o to New York for the new meme . Too unserious ! ! 😂 😂 https://t.co/bO6HMfhELXpic.twitter.com/fEYIG3W9Gw
But here are my thoughts: First, I noticed people claiming that Joseline is not Black. I would like to issue a reminder about the African diaspora. Africans were not only bought and sold in what we now call the United States, but ALL OVER the world. This means there are Black people ALL ACROSS the Americas, which includes Puerto Rico. Puerto Rico was colonized by the Spanish, and this is why we have Afro-Latinos such as Joseline.
I am a biracial person who identifies as Black. I have a Black mother (not biracial) and a white father.
The argument between Joseline and Amber infuriated me, and I’ll tell you why. Amber, and any other person, is allowed to identify however they please. BUT Amber has built her entire career off of support and praise by the Black community. I mean,College Hillis literally on BET.
I also took issue with Amber saying, “I don’t fit in white spaces, and I don’t fit in Black spaces either. If I were to say something that is not appealing to a Black person, I would then be white in that moment.” She also said that this situation also occurs in the reverse.
joselines right . gold saying she does n’t fit in bleak space feel disingenuous because her entire career was build in black spaces and off the rear of fatal peoplehttps://t.co/Xzhs7SAZkA
THAT, in my opinion, is what Amber should’ve been called out for. Instead, Joseline took it upon herself to decide Amber’s identity when Amber was repeatedly asking her not to. Also, for her to say, “I don’t give a fuck about how you feel” when it comes to someone else’s identity is just incredibly disrespectful. This is what I take issue with when it comes to Joseline.
At the end of the day, mixed people come in various shades and backgrounds. The experience is not monolithic, because each lived experience is different.
Was Joseline ’s delivery untimely : YESWas Joseline ’s message wrong : NODoes Amber have the right field to identify how she was : YESDo I think Amber wants to be disastrous : NOWhy Amber continue to focus her white while being a scholarly person at a HBCU ? : Idk#CollegeHillCelebrityEditionhttps://t.co/95mwUTRAO8
And I think the teacher who spoke at the end of the class summed it up best: “We are not here to attack any student, especially a student’s identity. And I want you all to understand that race is a made-up category. It’s a made-up thing that has been used to manipulate and control people of all races.”
So remember, how people choose to identify is THEIR business. Period! However, Amber needs to recognize the fact that she has, for many years, profited off of being in Black spaces. For her to be in an HBCU on a Black television network, and center the conversation around her struggles of being 3/4 white isn’t the flex she thinks it is.
Conversations like these deserve to be handled with care, an open mind, and, ultimately, respect.
