Winnie Harlow Isn’t Offended By Blackface?

Photo: Complex MagazineAccording to Winnie Harlow, there’s a very thin line between what’s flattering and offensive.

The former America’s Next Top Model contestant is the latest to share her thoughts about appropriation as it relates to race. As of late, a few–mostly white–social media users have been emulating the Canadian’s skin condition, vitiligo, through beauty shots.

Although it can be assumed that these women aren’t racists or motivated by ill intentions, many have suggested that these makeovers are just another form of blackface. Harlow, who has been vocal about not labeling herself as a “special model,” had a surprising reaction to the beauty hoopla:

“Every time someone wants fuller lips, or a bigger bum, or curly hair, or braids does Not mean our culture is being stolen. Have you ever stop to realize these things used to be ridiculed and now they’re loved and lusted over. No one wants to ‘steal’ our look here,” she wrote on Instagram.

Photo: Instagram/@winnieharlow 

“Just because a black girl wears blue contacts and long weave doesn’t mean she wants to be white and just because a white girl wears braids and gets lip injection doesn’t mean she wants to be black….In a time when so much negative is happening, please don’t accuse those who are showing love and appreciation, of being hateful.”

Point taken. However, do skin conditions fall in the same category as makeup trends like contouring and strobing? By definition, vitiligo is “a skin disorder characterized by smooth, white patches on variousparts of the body, caused by the loss of the natural pigment.” Although there isn’t a cure, phototherapy and steroids are cited as viable treatments.

Winnie has talked time and time again about the growing pains associated with vitiligo, making it a deeply personal subject. Why is it being dwindled down to something as superficial as a “celebrity look-alike” photo?

Furthermore, why must these women paint their skin darker? My mother, a white Italian-Irish woman, also lives with vitiligo and the splotches in her skin are clearly visible without makeup. There are ways to show admiration for a person or thing without actually becoming it; especially when there is a long history of racism attached to it.

Intention isn’t required to offend a group of people; sometimes it’s the result of mis-education.

SBs, what are your thoughts?

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