Kim Kardashian has some thoughts about race. And surprisingly enough, I’m not going to slam her for her thoughts. Kim posted a short little essay on her blog about how motherhood changed the way she thought about race, which… I mean, okay, Kim was in her 30s when she became a mom. It’s a little bit strange that Kim had never really considered/examined the racial dimension of her life, her surroundings, or the fact that she almost exclusively dated/married black or mixed race men. Anyway, here’s Kim’s essay:
I never knew how much being a mom would change me. It’s amazing how one little person and the love I have for her has brought new meaning to every moment. What once seemed so important, now feels insignificant. It’s like I get to see the world for the first time again, but through someone else’s eyes. It’s a beautiful thing to feel and experience so much more, but with that beauty comes a flip side – seeing through my daughter’s eyes the side of life that isn’t always so pretty.
To be honest, before I had North, I never really gave racism or discrimination a lot of thought. It is obviously a topic that Kanye is passionate about, but I guess it was easier for me to believe that it was someone else’s battle. But recently, I’ve read and personally experienced some incidents that have sickened me and made me take notice. I realize that racism and discrimination are still alive, and just as hateful and deadly as they ever have been.
I feel a responsibility as a mother, a public figure, a human being, to do what I can to make sure that not only my child, but all children, don’t have to grow up in a world where they are judged by the color of their skin, or their gender, or their sexual orientation. I want my daughter growing up in a world where love for one another is the most important thing.
So the first step I’m taking is to stop pretending like this isn’t my issue or my problem, because it is, it’s everyone’s… because the California teenager who was harassed and killed by his classmates for being gay, the teenage blogger in Pakistan who was shot on her school bus for speaking out in favor of women’s rights, the boy in Florida who was wrongly accused of committing a crime and ultimately killed because of the color of his skin, they are all someone’s son and someone’s daughter and it is our responsibility to give them a voice and speak out for those who can’t and hopefully in the process, ensure that hate is something our children never have to see.
I know some will just use this as an opportunity to mock a Kardashian, but honestly, wouldn’t you prefer Kim’s slightly awkward but heartfelt admission that she struggles to understand the motivations and roots of racism and bigotry in her own backyard? As opposed to, say, a privileged white kid who is so oblivious and lacking in self-awareness that he won’t even acknowledge the systemic nature of white privilege? I’d rather have more Kim Kardashians in the world, if I have to choose one or the other.
Here are some photos of Kim last night at an event for the SHOAH Foundation. I really hate when she does her hair like that.
Photos courtesy of Getty, WENN.
I agree but they also should never see you
HOW is she gonna explain why MILLIONS of people hate her and Kanye to her kid?
Believe me, this kid will have plenty of experience with hate unfortunately.
Doesn’t that say more about the people who hate than about her?
These folks are wealthy and they can live at an altitude that “the hate-people” won’t really affect her or her also wealthy trust-fund child.
Think about it, she and her husband and child can on a dime choose to live anywhere in the world, chose to have only people they like around them, chose who their bodyguards will allow to approach them.
My point is she doesn’t have to care, so it’s admirable that she chooses to care and be and support the good people.
Well, good luck to them sheltering the kid from reading comments about her parents. Are they gonna buy the internet too?
That my point it child would choose if they wanted to read obviously demented racists comments, or go about living their rich lives with their rich friends.
Look at Will Smith children, they are not suffering from evil commenters, they are never gonna need to get a job or any from of help from those people, so, we can say anything we want about them but they don’t even know we exist. – wealth is the ultimate cocoon.
@aicus, it saddens me that you have the attitude that they can go about living their rich lives with their rich friends. That’s a very elitist attitude and that is partly why the world is the way it is today – not caring about others. Wealth is fleeting and let’s see how many “friends” they have if they lose it all. Just because you’re rich does not mean you can ignore everyone else that is not.
@swack – It’s called the American society. There is a world that sits at the top of Middle-class America, it has it’s own bubble and the cost of entry is being a multi-millionaire or a child of a multi-millionaire.
There are specially approved clubs for the kids and others for the adults.
There are private jets and yachts parked waiting.
There are houses bought/rented just for the kids to party
The police job is not to arrest errant behaving kids but to return them to their homes
Their futures are already provided for and they have their clique of wealthy friends and future business partners.
The kids know that no matter what happens to their parents wealth, that their trust fund is safe.
Work is something you do because you are bored with having fun, or you want to prove you are not a slacker.
Aicus, Pam Anderson lives in the rarified beach air of Malibu, yet her kids still get teased about her sex tape.
Kim and Kanye’s antics WILL have an effect on their children. You can’t go high enough to avoid that.
Wow, I am shocked. Surprisingly insightful. Good for her.
WORD.
Oh my gosh. Are all of you kidding?
1. She didn’t write this. It is from the pen of a consultant or pr person hired to enhance her likability.
2. She is a narcissist of epic proportions dwarfed only by the ego of her spouse; they don’t change. Become enlightened or look beyond their own shadow.
3. She doesn’t even interact with her child on a regular basis. What makes any of you think that she is so thoughtful regarding her daughter’s future?
Please. Take a stadium of seats.
I love a kardashian bitch but this was a refreshing post from Kim. None of us know if she did/didn’t write this, how much time she does/doesn’t spend with north. She may be narcisstic and off on a different planet but she is also a human being. And amother. Motherhood inevitably changes your concept of the world. Instead of bitching, we should applaud Kim for finally taking notice of the bigger issues.
It is insightful both on her her part and ours. I respect what she’s saying but it does highlight how truly out of touch she is with herself. This is a woman that has spent the better part of her time as a “celebrity” trying to erase her ethnicity. She doesn’t mention her heritage except when it suits her for publicity purposes and it seems she is willing to take her camera crews everywhere but her father’s homeland. While, I’m not trying to shade the piece she wrote, I really didn’t need it to tell me that Kim Kardashian is (was) not the kind of person who is conscious about race/ethnic issues. I wonder if she even realizes that there are a lot of people that see her (whether rightly or wrongly) as a WOC. Her relationship with Kanye may be making her more aware but the fact but she seems to think race politics is black and white, meaning I highly doubt she would have these same thoughts had she reproduced with a white man. I wonder, just honestly curiously, how she would classify herself.
Yes, I was wondering why she wouldn’t have thought about the Armenian Genocide, given her heritage. Why would this be the first time she’s thought about race-based hate and discrimination.
I think it’s insightful because she didn’t write it. Do you honestly believe Kim knows how to punctuate properly? And write a grammatically correct sentence?
I agree.
I will also throw out that this is most likely a plot point in an upcoming episode of her show, thought of by the writers and prepared by a team.
Yeah – this from a woman who can’t string three words together without sounding like a vapid idiot. She didn’t write this – some PR flack did. Please – it’s so glaringly obvious it’s hilarious.
It’s a great sentiment that has nothing to do with Kim or anything she does. Her heritage is not dissimilar to mine, I’m half middle eastern, half American. I have a great deal of pride in my ethnicities and my heritage, Kim has none. She has no respect for her Armenian family except when convenient, hello Spielberg! Nice sentiment Kim, keep up the excellent work focusing on the mirror and the cover of Vogue, the things you value most.
I can believe some of those thoughts are hers, but not all. People like her a narcissistic elitists living in a bubble, but i do believe Kanye may be educating her more.
Even if the thoughts are hers, I doubt the words are. I’d be surprised if any Kardashian could write so cogently.
Of course not. This was written by her PR people. I can’t believe people actually think she wrote this. Has ANYTHING about this trick ever indicated that she’s capable of thinking or writing anything beyond “WHERE ARE MY DIAMOND EARRINGS?” “HEE HEE HEE HEE” “THAT’S SO AWESOME” OR “YEAH SHE’S REALLY A CUTE BABY.”
Yes, Kartrashian is a real Martin Luther King Jr. there.
Are we supposed to believe she actually wrote this? Umm … highly doubtful.
Why couldn’t it be her?
There is a part of racism that uses preconceived notions there are people who see a black face and immediately think Ghetto, illiterate, criminal and future prison inmate, and even if that person is shown to be an Harvard/Yale graduate this changes nothing because the color is wrong.
I have no idea what schools Kim went to but I am relatively certain it was a where millionaires sent their children to, and I doubt they were mediocre schools, so sometime people are smarter than they look.
Aicus: It has NOTHING to do with skin color. Have you ever seen her show? Heard her talk? She is dumb and what she says never has much substance. There is no way she wrote those words. This is just her momager’s crafty plan to revamp Kim’s image to move beyond what Kim is known for & all she really is: a plastic famewhore.
I have not been able to sit still long enough to watch her show, but that doesn’t mean I don’t admire her for being able to gain personal wealth by giving her fans a product they are willing to pay her for.
I get the feeling that now Kim is ready to quit that show and ride off into the Parisian society sunset with Kanye, but if she quits the show dies and if there’s one admirable thing about the Kardashian clan is that family comes first.
I don’t believe she wrote this at all. I am sure it is a plot point on an upcoming episdoe of KUWTK, and that it was thought of by her writing team that needs to make storylines for the show. They probably wrote it, consulted with her PR and legal team for approval, then showed her the final draft.
Only a naive person would be gullible enough to believe the stories these grifter Kardashians try to spin, come on, we’re all over the age of twelve here. Kim is not stupid or ill educated but her focus is not on race relations or eloquent speaking; she did not write this, she did not think this, she signed off on this.
The Kardashian girls all went to a Catholic school. All three of them were caught cheating. The demon mother thought it was so funny she could hardly contain herself while chuckling through the story on some talk show. Rich kids don’t have to do their own work in school, they have the bucks to hire someone to do it for them. I don’t think Kim is well educated at all.
A nice post surprisingly. It’s true that being a mom would make you see the world differently for some or most people. With that said, did she really write the whole post by herself? I would never thought she could write like that. Someone might help her writing it, but good for her to at least post something dfferent and meaningful for once other than her usual selfie.
That had to be hard for her. To actually think about something other than yourself. Maybe she is growing as a person.
Well at least she stopped the bullshit “colorblind” “my child wont see color” argument cause unless you are wishing for a blind baby you NEED to address and teach and face the realities that a biracial baby will see and hear in her lifetime and even With her resources, in this day and age, sad as that sound. If for no other reason so that SHE knows and is secure in her sense of self and both her parents culture!
….or The Nannies can teach her, Either way…
HA! You couldn’t help yourself.
QQ THANK YOU! SH*T BE KILLIN’ ME.
Lady at work: “Are you going to call your child black?” (Husband is white)
Me: “I’ll call them by their name first and foremost but as far as their racial identification, they’ll be black.”
Lady: “How can you do that though?! They’ll be half white! It’s like you’re denying part of their heritage!”
Me: “So what is President Obama?”
Lady: “Black.”
Me: “Thank you for proving my point. He’s half white. You knew that. You didn’t care. Now who’s denying what?”
She hung her head and left the break room. Shit PISSES me off.
EXACTLY. My mom has always told me that I am half black, half white (Irish). But to the world, I will be considered black.
And it’s none of that woman’s business either–I can’t stand nosy non-family members.
Nice takedown MonicaQ. There’s too much willful ignorance in this world.
*rolling* Nicely Done MonicaQ, you sly fox
MonicaQ, you are my hero! most of my favorite comments on this site are from you!
signed, fangirl
And MonicaQ winds up and plants a swift kick to a hypocrites ass, and the CROWD GOES WILD!! LOL
Preach!
Halle Berry has said in interviews that her mom told her that although she was biracial the world would see her as just a black woman. She said that knowledge armed and equipped her to deal with her identity and saved her a lot of confusion and pain as she grew up.
Typical. Trying to make out you’re the racist one for simply responding to racism, then showing the truth because she didn’t have time to think, that she maintains the racial divide in her own head.
“….or The Nannies can teach her, Either way… ” QQ, ITA with everything you wrote.
Too right also, MonicaQ and Dame Snarkweek.
I see more children with their nannies than with their parents. I also see bigoted distant family members who have adopted children of differing ethnicity not doing right by their children and whitewashing their upbringing. Sad.
I know I should be happy that she’s talking about something important. But I can’t anymore with the media’s fascination with the Kardashians. There is absolutely nothing special about them beyond their insanely desperate need to garner attention. I think I may need to go on a Kardashian (including Kanye)-free gossip diet because I can’t even appreciate the rare moments when they’re not thinking only about themselves.
I’m with you. And it bugs me to no end that she’s at this Shoah event with the President and Steven Spielberg.
This is an event WITH Steven Spielberg (my nerd husband) and the President? Oh God–I’m about to go slap someone.
The media is an insatiable beast that must be fed, the 24 hour news cycle must be filled, that’s why Kim is a thing. We all want news, all the time, and the media fills the void with kraptrashians.
You can say many things about Kim (and I have!) but she really appears to be a fundamentally good person. She is full of it a lot of the time, all the dishonesty about the surgeries etc., but you don’t ever hear her saying nasty things about other people.
yeah right
I totally agree.
I agree, she is not malicious. I think she’s probably actually a very kind heart.
Except for the fact that every time they advertise that they’re doing something for charity, they’re only donating to her mom’s church. Not the one she attends, but the one she founded and is paid by. Kk may not be ‘malicious’ but she is incredibly greedy and shallow. I don’t know that I could call that a kind heart.
I am sorry, but there is NO WAY you can tell what the fundamental quality of her character is.
Even her “reality” show is written by a TEAM of writers. The only things we do know is that she is consistently dishonest.
No, sorry but no. Not wanting to be quoting saying something negative is not the same as being a good person. When I was young and naive I watched her show and she is an awful person. The show is written and edited to reflect well on her, but it comes through anyway, she is petty and selfish and mean. No amount of gloss can hide it.
She’s also a chronic liar. Even her family has complained about it. She lies about little things, big things, and everything in between. She says whatever she thinks the other person wants to hear, whatever will make it easier for her to do what she wants, regardless of how it hurts anyone else. That pretty much puts her out of the category of fundamentally good person for me. She’s not evil incarnate, but she is not trustworthy and I would not want her as a friend.
No shade from me today. I like that she’s actually taking the time to think about these issues. Too many people don’t care at all.
Kim and the word ‘think’ don’t really belong together.
I’d love to believe that this is really her, but sadly my cynicism gets the better of me and I think it’s her PR/marketing people.
I knew someone at some point would inevitably raise the “PR/marketing” issue and I wanted to shut it down fast and here’s why:
She really honestly has no reason to post this considering that most people who want to hate her will do anyways (just look at some of the other comments on this post). secondly, i think she’s been hated way more at different points in time (her elaborate wedding to Kris, the divorce, subsequent fall-out, the divorce) and I’ve honestly never seen this kind of “oh let me show some self-awareness” campaign from those who do her PR. She’s fine in how she comes off to the public for the most part.
While I think someone helped fine-tune this sentiment–i do believe it’s her thoughts and I can’t give her PR people more credit than her own bi-racial daughter
But didn’t they try to rebrand her a couple of Thanksgivings ago, having her serve Tday dinner, to show that she was all charitable and stuff?
I’d love it if these were really were her thoughts and someone else just wrote them so they’re more coherent. That’s she’s ‘growing’ as a person.
But …
@cr
That was after her 72 day marriage–they also went to Haiti for a few days. Notice they haven’t done any other charitable works…beyond donating to their cult.
“She really honestly has no reason to post this”
Yes she does. They are always looking for storylines for her reality show. They have a team of writers, and they think of things for them to do/say etc. to make it into an episode for their show.
Oh my God, of course this is a deliberate attempt at shoring up Kartrashian’s still-crappy image! She should have just written “I believe that children are our future, teach them all and let them lead the way, show them all the beauty they possess INSIIIIIIIIDDDDE….!” Jesus H. Christ, anyone who buys this PR drivel is just the person she’s looking to “convince” of her goodness and humanity!
So the “charities” which funnel money to her family, the “escort” jobs for German Eurotrash, her circus of a second marriage which lasted 3 months, the “horrible racist attack” in Beverly Hills which no one saw and was not photographed (by people who have EVERYTHING photographed!), and of course the way she first made her fame, in a sex video – all of this means nothing in the face of these saintly, ghost-written sentiments! Yep, PT Barnum and PMK are right: there are suckers born every minute and they’ll believe anything, if you can get a Vogue cover and start pontificating about racism.
Agree w/ @Tiffany27 – no shade here either. Good on Kim.
No, I wouldn’t rather have more Kardashians using every, and any, platform for the advancement and promotion of ‘self’. Sometimes, the greatest lessons and motivations for change actually come from the public backlash on bigots, FWIW and as sad as it is. That’s when protests, legislation and change occurs. I don’t doubt that she has felt the sting of racism, but I’m sorry, she doesn’t seem to care about anyone but herself, and tomorrow we’ll be back to butt selfies.
Yeah, nice sentiment but I tend to agree with you.
Agree, and would also add that I find it very odd that she’s only now considering this.
I really think she might be trying to re-brand herself.
I think the Vogue cover backlash got to her, you’re right blue marie.
I find all the timing of this very odd. She’s hung out with a
racially diverse crowd forever and just now discovers
racism in her midst??? It seems convenient, yet again,
to mention her daughter just after being slammed for
the Vogue cover, her lack of interest in motherhood
and the ongoing inability to dress herself properly etc.
Why wasn’t this brought out when the “racism incident”
from 3 months ago came out? I know, because everyone
thought it was staged for publicity. I would love to
see her grow-up a little but this seems very contrived!
She is in her thirties, dated every black guy in Hollywood and never cared for racism and NOW she gave birth to a biracial child, she thinks about it. So selfish, vain, dumb, uneducated…
@birdie- while all these things are true for her, they are also true for a lot of women that are dating men of color but aren’t a minority themselves. And I wouldn’t conflate education with awareness. I’m in law school at a prestigious school and you wouldn’t believe how many “educated” and intelligent people seem to think that race is an issue of days past without acknowledging what a big role race plays in the lives of millions of Americans today. Everytime I hear that, my heart breaks a little.
And that’s why, I’d take a Kim K reaction that may have come a little late in life (30 years in, dating several black guys etc.) than people who are smart, educated, intelligent and tend to think that we live in a post-racial society. Atleast in the Kim way, there’s room to find a solution for racism because it’s acknowledged; the latter that I have encountered, denies racism is even an issue.
Very well said Almondey. I couldn’t agree more.
ESPECIALLY if you live somewhere isolated from it. Took my very white friend from Catskill, NY to the store down here in rural North Florida. She was horrified that I was being followed around the store and actually started crying. “I’ve never seen that before, how do you live with it?” I told her there’s no NOT living with it. It’s everywhere.
well put.
i also want to cry at people’s ignorance when they talk about race “no longer being an issue” and all of us living in some kind of a magical “post-racial” society. funny that you never hear non-whites saying that. only whites have the luxury of such denial.
I find it hard to believe that as a woman of color herself who lives in the United States, she never really thought about race very seriously before.
Armenians are considered white/caucasian, so she’s not a person of color.
+ 1. Armenians are considered white for most census/school admission kinds of purposes.
There are not in Europe. Most Europeans categorise them as strictly part of Asia and thus not “European White” but I know many Armenians that consider themselves as white so it depends on the individual what box they tick on a form, like what Honeycomb said about Kim K. which I agree.
I don’t think Kim is a WOC.
She is what might be called racially ambiguous. Some people consider her white while others say more Middle Eastern. There is quite a lot of discussion about this online, along with some frankly quite racist comments about her, which I can’t believe she is unaware of. To me this looks like a sly attempt to make sure she is seen as white, by insisting racism is something which has never affected her personally, at least until she had a child.
I have to agree, I can’t believe she’s never thought of it before. But then again.. She’s so into herself…. I believe she wrote part if that. But baby or not I don’t believe she’s that insightful and wrote the entire thing herself .
I too think she had a ghost writer.Some of it sounds like her because amazing was in there and that is one of her favorite words.I just don’t think she could write something like this.
To be fair, the only “box” they have for us to check is white. If you check other, and I have, they throw a fit. I’m bi-racial but there’s no box for it.
Well at least she’s now thinking about it. But on the flip side of that, she’s been friends with Kanye for years and I don’t think he’s only brought up the topic recently, so is she saying she was oblivious to her friends’ views and what was going in their lives?
To think racism is always someone else’s battle for me is a little like saying rape is a woman’s issue.
Kaiser I get what you’re saying about KK vs that white privilege tosser but honestly I wouldn’t want to see more KKs because they’re as bad as each other in their own way.
Yawn!! So sick of her trying to play the race to gain sympathy or to sound profound. Whatever, this family has made millions using black people. Some of them will never grace Vogue or be invited to the Met Gala.
“Whatever, this family has made millions using black people.”
I don’t know whether to laugh at this comment or be somewhat confused by it. All black people that get mixed in with the Kardashians at this point in time know what they are getting into… so…
I think CC may be referring to the lovely sex tape
So she got her assistant to write this for some PR? It’s meaningful they always pull crap like when they’re getting some sort of backlash, so what she isn’t bigoted she’s still a klutz.
Kim needs to realize people are tired of her. The Kardashians are such attention s l0res that they have 0 credibility. About the only thing they can do to make this world a better place is to disappear. She has been dealing with racism all her life because all she dates are bl@ck men. Im sure she knew having a biracial child was not going to change that.
Ugh–someone (white) on my FB posted that ‘Check My Privilege’ article–she’s a few years older than me, and goes to that creepy Pensecola Christian College down in Florida…..so the article had been put up on a conservative site.
I read it, and all I said (basically) was that white privilege was not about apologizing or complaining about the fact that people said that you got into Princeton because you’re white. It’s about realizing that there are certain advantages to being white–and empathizing and acknowledging that minorities will sometimes not have the same advantages, or have to put up with a lot more crap–especially if they have an ‘ethnic’ name, etc.
Not surprisingly, she hasn’t responded. Now, I don’t think she’s racist, but she is totally ignorant–as is the rest of her family (and one of her brothers is married to a black woman and they have a kid–I hope he didn’t like that stupid article).
I had the same thing! So yesterday I posted the response written in Ebony by a Black woman who also attends Princeton. I then also linked to the “White Privilege Checklist” since so many White folks don’t believe it exists.
That article was completely infuriating to me, because not once did he address what White privilege really is – only how his family had struggled in the past. Not how he is completely able to walk into a store and not be followed or to be treated fairly by authorities – any of the things that actually ARE White privilege.
This silly, stupid boy has clearly never heard of the Indian Land Grab, Dawes Act, slavery, Jim Crow laws, sharecropping, Compromise of 1877, Homestead Act, Labor Union Movement, Plessy v. Furgusson, Farmers Home Administration, Unemployment Insurance, National Recovery Act, Veterans Administration Mortgages, Federal Housing Administration, G.I. Veterans Bill & Job Placement or Social Security.
Oops. Someone got ahead of himself, huh?
Is it too P.C. to bring up fact? Newsflash: P.C. is a phrase that people bubbling over with prejudice say to reinforce those attitudes as the norm because showing basic respect for the lived experiences of other people who aren’t exactly like them, which is to say, aren’t marginalised, is such a huge chore and ultimately against nature. Always playing the reality card, they are. So thanks, Rush.
So young man, tell us how it is that your missed opportunity of a sound kicking in the ass hasn’t been a recipient of ‘affirmative action’ in light of all of that legislation listed above. This is legislation enacted specifically and intentionally to harm certain groups, it just was. And more than living with the effects of it there is now an almost electric need in the halls of power to officially backslide into it, there just is. But if you don’t acknowledge it it doesn’t exist, I know.
This doesn’t mean that you have never experienced hard times in your life and history (I don’t know who said you didn’t because that would be beyond stupid, inaccurate and disrespectful, kind of like what you’re doing now) and it doesn’t mean that you walk the Earth deserving nothing more than the life of an indigent or that you’re lazy. Actually, that’s what you think of others and it’s just darling. Listen (you won’t), it isn’t as if you studied for midterms, which is super hard and that is why you deserve your prizes and earn said prizes more legitimately– because it isn’t as though it has ever occurred to anyone else to, what is the word…work? No, it is not because it’s marrow-chillingly wrong and incomprehensibly (and expected from kids whose ‘brains’ operate in a fashion similar to yours) shitty world view. Hear the words of the incomparable Pam Poovey: don’t be shitty.
Oh yeah, I was totally going to systematically dismantle the structure of white supremacist institutional oppression, but it doesn’t exist so–toga party! Wait, why can’t I hold this ‘post-‘ party at the country club?
I can’t believe Time Magazine was so profoundly stupid as to validate this idiot child’s dumbass view by publishing this trash, but…whatever. Kids like this don’t ‘see’ colour until it gets uppity enough to ‘steal’ what they think is rightfully theirs down to the cellular level. Then it’s a crusade about ‘my needs and excellence are being negated to make the shiftless feel about about their failing nature’ and they hold press conferences, appear on morning chat shows and write articles about how Ye Olde Affirmative Action robbed them of this, that and the other– because how else could success be explained? No, it just so happens that whites just are better than everyone at everything, so it’s not that you have privilege or are making whiny assumptions, you are just inherently better, always have been, it’s not your fault. That’s when these kinds of kids who like to pretend that they’re ‘allies’ reveal themselves to be shallow poseurs who want to look good, not do good unfailingly pull out the race card–when it’s time for introspection– then they see full, pulsing colour because ‘These cookies are mine!’
Scratch that, I completely believe they would publish it because bloviating about how white people are the only ones it’s okay to oppress emphatically show that they blind to privilege and get to invoking ‘reverse racism’ which as we know is the new black. Wait, that’s not the sentence I envisioned, but on the topic of sentencing…
YES! I’m in law school and I totally have this experience. I’m not white–I’m a minority but I happen to be a minority that hasn’t suffered state-sanctioned discrimination aka I’m indian. And I am constantly taken aback at how many people deny the effects of white privilege and like @Gigi said–esp. in the intangibles, in being given the benefit of the doubt.
Yeah, this is a white backlash marketing movement promoted by the right upper class. The Supreme Court banned affirmative action because we are in a post-racial country… yeah, right. What it speaks to is the real trickle down effect. No, not economically, but blame wise. The official narrative is that the middle class isn’t being killed by the upper echelon, sucking all the resources upward. No, it’s about the lowest caste of society taking away from their positioning on the ladder. So the poor and outsiders (see immigrants, different races, gender) just want a hand-out, are lazy, are poor of their own doing, aren’t worthy or smart enough and are just gaming the system to kill the middle. It seems to have picked up steam and is quite effective. It’s a ‘wagging the dog’ as well as a ‘kick the dog’ tactic. In other words, “don’t look at me, look over there”, and also, “you can’t hurt me or those above you, so go home and take your frustrations out on the dog, kick him, he’s powerless”.
Virgilia you are the best! I always read your comments.
Can you say hi at KromBoomEm on Twitter?
I’ll follow you, but I don’t ever go on it….if you want, I can add you on FB (I need more friends anyway–people I actually talk to)
For some stupid reason, people think white privilege implies that white people cannot be poor or struggle in life. I wish more people would educate themselves as to what that phrase means.
Eh, I’ll wait to see what she does before giving her credit.
She’s old enough to know better, and like many others, she opted to ignore issues such as these because they didn’t really affect her in any tangible way-that she hung out with racists (Paris Hilton to name one) makes me side eye her.
While I’m sure being a mom has changed her perception of the world, it’s a shame that it took having a child by a black man to make her acknowledge the various prejudices PoC face, especially given her ethnic background.
It’s a start, I’ll give her that much, but I want to see the action behind her ghost writer’s words.
Completely agree.
Sorry but I don’t want to hear anything she says because it’s always a PR stunt and I’m sure this is a vain attempt to make Kim more than just a Barbie doll to Kanye.
Plus she can’t put two words together and i don’t believe those are her words.
The message has good intentions but the deliverer cheapens it out.
Same here,
there’s no way she wrote that herself. Kudos to her assist or PR person for writing it but its nothing more than a publicity stunt. This chick couldnt form a coherent sentence to save her life and I doubt she cares to much about what Nori sees since she’s probably being raised by a team of nannies.
Lol. Like any of this actually came from her mind.
Yeah, I hate to be cynical but…..
Someone on twitter said it perfectly… “If Kim wrote this than every other word would be “like”.
Also didn”the kimmy just post a comment on her accessories at the MET Ball and how it took her hours to decide what belt to wear? And let us see her actually donate her time and money to these racial awareness causes rather than donate her money to her mom’s fake church tax scam.
Oh please like she wrote that. She can’t put together a thought without using the words like every other word. Like if she wrote this well like I am now the first female like pope! And come on she acts like she is the first person to have a biracial child. I don’t buy it for one minute that this is just not another ploy to try and up her status from sex tape reality person. Please don’t insult me like that. She and KanYe caused more issues for that poor child by giving her a direction for a name than anything else. If she is really so concerned perhaps she could start doing charity work with the boys and girls clubs across America and donating money as well. Oh yeah that will be the day. This woman will do anything for press accept donate her time and money.
Who did she pay to write that?
It’s a really great essay but coming from the same woman who photoshopped her baby’s unibrow away? I dunno, that’s a pretty damaging mindset to have and it’s sending the wrong message to North and to the other millions of young girls and guys who look up to Kim. Anyways, like others have said upthread, I’ll wait and see what she does before I give her any credit.
LOL millions look up to her? I don’t think so.
You haven’t seen her instagram, honey. Celebitchy doesn’t like her but a LOT of people do. And a lot of people praise her as some sort of feminist icon because she was able to build an empire through that one sex tape. I don’t look up to her but a lot of people definitely do.
@Dani2
I think the only people that look up to her are young teens with low self-esteem who want to get a boy’s attention. Kim is showing these girls that all you need to get yourself a man is to show off your body. Who needs a brain right?
sex tape?? what sex tape.. because i’m not american I had never heard of KK before starting reading gossip sites (thank god) .. so I know nothing about it…
*blushes ashamed of sounding ignorant*
Nighty, Google is your friend. There now, hold your head up.
Followers on Instagram does not equal “millions look up to her.” People may follow her every fart, er tweet, but that does not equal respect in any way shape or form.
I see that Kim has hired Beyonce’s essay writer. (I mean, c’mon – there’s NO way she wrote that last paragraph.)
Poor Bey. I bet it’s super awkward that her good friend’s fiancé is trying to copy her every move.
Seriously. She is Single White Femaling (is that a word?) Beyonce.
Definitely!
Right, she totally wrote that. *coughcough* And today she’ll be back to doing what’s most important to her – taking butt selfies.
If this woman can talk about this then she should realize that she should also talk about what she stands for and what she symbolises to young/grown women out here.She hasnt experienced adverse racism(and am not saying its a strict requirement in order for her to talk about it) but it adds no value to the matter especially if its her discussing this.alot of us will not take her seriously not because she is not talking about a serious issue but because she is not a person to be taken seriously.she should discuss the impact the culture of objectification and/or superficiality she promotes & the impact it has on women;thats when she will be taken seriously.
“she should discuss the impact the culture of objectification and/or superficiality she promotes & the impact it has on women;thats when she will be taken seriously.”
BOOM.
“the impact the culture of objectification and/or superficiality she promotes & the impact it has on women”
YOU GET IT! **** !!!! <3
Your comment is just the glimmer of hope for my not totally feeling alienated by humanity this morning. 🙂
Agree and love what you’re saying…
Thank you!
Excellent post, @PART_RIOT.
Yes, thank you. I try to be open minded (I like Kanye), but I just can’t get on board with Kim.
There is no way she wrote those pearls of wisdom without help from a pro.
“I realize that racism and discrimination are still alive, and just as hateful and deadly as they ever have been.” i mean, good for her to have that realization, i guess, but wtf, has she been living under a rock? is she really THAT far removed from the world, the news, and so unaware of the lives of the peasantry? wtf.
And what no one else is speaking to is the fact that she married a biracial man and apparently learned nothing from him or his family on this subject. And again, she and KanYe were certainly not worrying about harming her by giving her a name that is a direction and nothing more. Women on the whole are still earning less money then men when doing the same job, maybe Kimmode could to speak to that little nugget next month if she really cares about what her little direction will be facing in coming years.
Not living under a rock, more like I don`t give a f……k attitude. Her first husband is black, the second one mixed ethnity, one black brother- in- law from a very poor background, numerous black lovers, black friends, but someone elses`s struggle. I am also wary of her friends being with such an indifferent person.
this woman just seriously has sh*t for brains, as do her friends (and significant others) for wanting to hang out with her. or she just totally lacks empathy.
From Dlisted, which is always great for a good laugh:
“No, Kim didn’t write this, because there’s too many big words (examples: teenager, school, boy) and she can’t string two sentences together without throwing in the word “like” at least 50 times. It would also take her approximately 867 days to write this, because every time she’d catch a glimpse of herself in the monitor while typing, she’d either have to take a selfie to capture her “beauty” or she’d have to get her in-house plastic surgeon to stretch her face some more since she spotted a tiny wrinkle. But you know, I’ll give Kim some kredit. She usually just posts fashion shit and pictures of herself on her blog, so she’s really showing us that she’s an intellectual deep down by getting her ghost writer to write about deep stuff she doesn’t really care about. I’m sure tomorrow she’ll return to her regularly scheduled programming by writing about how she loves Botoxing her anus because it takes out the wrinkles and makes it less droopy.”
I read that this morning.Laughed out loud,but it is all true.No one takes her seriously and they never will.
that’s awesome!
She just found out racism still exist? Good for her….It’s a nice letter I guess.
Not going to hate on her because despite the narcissism and constant self-promotion, I think she’s basically harmless and I like what she had to say here.
Oh really? Didn’t she and Kanye West set up a fake racial attack because both of their careers are down In the toilets? Isn’t this a woman who uses men for fame and money?
She just wants attention because nobody paid attention to them at the MET so much this year and her Vogue cover flopped badly. This nobody and her man are just loser famewhores and bullies. I would not put it past Kanye West to have maybe abused Anna Wintour or blackmailed her into giving them that undeserved Vogue. For all we know he could have hit the old woman knowing his ways. I do not even think she wrote this essay herself.
This is cute, Kanye is so passionate about racism or discrimination and dates a woman who believes that his passion is someone else`s battle, meaning his woman does not give a s..t about racism or discrimination.
This was the first draft of Kim’s post:
I never knew how much being a mom would change my body. Like it’s amazing how one little person and the like I have for her has brought new meaning to like every moment like. What once seemed so important, now feels like I have to share with someone else, and like walk in and out of more Paris boutiques and New York hotels like so so much so there are always like more pictures of me on the internet than like there could ever be of that little person.
It’s like I get to see the world for the first time again, but through more papparazzi’s eyes! It’s a beautiful thing to feel like. Experiencing this is like so much more work than I like ever dreamed of.
But with that beauty comes a flip side – seeing through my daughter’s eyes the side of life that isn’t always so pretty, especially like when there is a blanket covering her up so like no one can see her and people can only see me. Like I will always be more beautiful than that little person but she wants to show off just like I do all the time and she gets fussy when I hog all the attention.
To be honest, before I had North, I never really gave anything but myself a lot of thought. It is obviously a topic that Kanye is passionate about, but I guess it was easier for me to believe that it was someone else’s battle. Recently, I’ve been in the headlines less because mean people who don’t understand my beauty are getting attention instead. I have seen photos of and like personally experienced some incidents like that have sickened me and made me like take notice.
I have heard that racism and discrimination are like still alive and making headlines more than I am. I feel a responsibility as a mother, a public figure, a human being, to do what I can to make sure that not only my child, but all children, don’t have to grow up in a world where they are judged by the color of their skin, or their gender, or like their sexual orientation but instead are judged by the clothes they wear. And the accessories.
I want my daughter growing up in a world where love for one another and for me is the most important thing. So the first step I’m taking is to stop pretending like this isn’t my issue or my problem, because it is. I am good at pretending but like I am going to pretend that I am aware of other people.
I am going to have my assistant and my paid friends look at the like news and blog for me because I have lots of like followers. Now that I have proven my importance to the fashion world I will end racism with my thoughts. And selfies. Everyone wins…because like.
Brilliant !
like, i like.
Like I love this totes
I don’t like her, but I’m not going to hate on her for communicating a message whose overall position I agree with it. You never think about something until you have a stake in it- at least she is honest about this. It’s not a bad thing she did here.
@annaloo- i totally agree with this. LOTS of people and i suspect some people on this site as well don’t think about something until they have a stake in it. for ex, i’m not a mother yet and i’m not thinking about property taxes and schools and the number of classes offered at the public school vs. private. When I have a stake in it, i’ll care but not right now I don’t.
That makes sense, public vs private schools.
No need to worry and get engaged about depleted uranium until you are personally and immediately exposed, for example? Or discrimination, I am not affected, I mean, not really my problem, so what?
but we DO have the capacity to think about things that don’t directly affect us (since we live in a society, everything affects us indirectly as well) – people who are aware of things can ponder them and think about their consequences because they have empathy. it’s all about taking your head out of your a$$ (which i doubt kim ever does), noticing the world and the people around you, and trying to, to a tiny extent, put yourself in their shoes, to empathize with them. even if you don’t have kids, aren’t the target of racist bullsh*t, whatever. before i had a kid, i also never considered what kind of school district we live in, because it didn’t affect me directly, but, i was aware that people with kids have to think about that, and that it’s an issue since funding for education is sadly limited, etc. unlike kim and her ilk, normal people have to think about stuff like that – there is a social contract and are all somehow tied together. 🙂
“there is a social contract and are all somehow tied together” Beautiful!
Ag, you are so right with your entire post, and I feel sorry for folks who are too shallow and willfully ignorant to grasp this reality.
so you guys think she never experienced racism with any of her previous black lovers? this is the first time she’s experienced it and now has a stake in it? apparently she didn’t give two craps about racism before, it’s just now when she’s trying to rebrand herself.
Kim didn’t write that. She can’t string four words together without adding the word “like” in there are least once, and her vernacular reads more like a picture book than an SAT study guide.
Who wrote all that for her? Maybe she should tell her Baby Daddy to quit using the N word constantly, that would be a start
Sorry, I don’t think she wrote this or thinks much outside her bubble of privilege. It’s a nice, thoughtful statement, which just convinces me she had nothing to do with it. No mention of the boy who supposedly spewed racial hate at her? How does that incident escape her commentary?
I’m guessing she didn’t mention it because that bs was staged, to gain sympathy yet again.
Didn’t she say her family was really close with OJ Simpson and his wife Nicole? They were an interracial couple with bi-racial kids. Kim also went to school with Nicole Ritchie (also bi-racial). She dated mostly African American men. She has spoken about the Armenian Genocide and is at least aware of it. But yeah, she never gave racism “a thought” before having her own bi-racial child. Ok. I’m guessing she never watches the news? It’s also interesting she left out what she plans on doing about all the racism she now sees in the world. I guess taking selfies of her fake a$$ is her gift to the bigots.
Yeah right she didn’t write this , ive watched their show a lot. Nice try, Kim’s publicist. Kim is as deep as jello. Just a ploy to make people feel sorry for her. I’m sure she’s experienced racism, but let’s get real ., her deepest thought is what to wear.
The reason she wrote this is simple – She now has skin in the game, she has someone she loves more than life itself, someone who is bonded to her biologically through birth and DNA.
Some Paparazzi probably made/shouted some racial remarks to her about her child and it sparked something in her.
Are you talking about Kim…Kim Kardashian ???
Also, I don’t know of ANYONE who has traveled to South Africa unaware of racism. How is that even possible? What did she even do there if not learn about it’s history ???
Are you saying that Kim doesn’t love her baby???
Are you say there is no biological bond between a mother and her baby/child?
For those who might wonder why I chose to defend Kim.
I really admire smarts, and to me smart is being able to use limited talent to build wealth not only for you but for your whole family – Dumb doesn’t do that.
Also, if you then decide to begin advocating for a better world, then you have gained not only my admiration but my respect and love.
I agree and it was NOT Kim who did that but rather her mother. Kim just made the tape and Kris took over from there. Let’s give credit where credit is due.
I don’t think anyone on this site really cares why you like her. This is Celebitchy after all lol. You have the right to your opinion and I respect that. But I disagree with you on so many levels. I won’t bother typing up an essay about it because I’m just too lazy today 🙂
Maybe her first step should be convincing Kanye to stop throwing the n-word around.
Racial animosity and bigotry is so much bigger than an entertainer using the N-word, though I would like that to end, that’s an issue for the black community to ban it.
Did you know that most philanthropists and non minority anti discrimination supporters come to their cause very late in life, if this is something that Kim wants to pursue now in her 30s then that is unusual but good.
I will never bash a person for trying to be a better person, no matter why.
That’s total crap. There are so many young people working for great causes, who actively work every day to end discrimination. I have no idea where you got that bunk idea that most people get into philanthropy later in life.
And any person who sells items as a “charity auction” and only donates 10 percent of proceeds (fine print folks!) to her mom’s “church” has no idea what philanthropy really is beyond a text shelter. Shame.
“I will never bash a person for trying to be a better person, no matter why. ”
Having someone ghost write something about racism for your blog doesn’t mean she’s trying to be a better person.
As already mentioned several times by other commenters, let’s see if she backs up those words with actual, and sustained, deeds.
Girl bye…
I don’t even hate Kim the way the rest of the world does but I refuse to believe that this woman who has sandblasted all of the ethnicity off her face is unaware of racism. This same woman that’s the fantasy of every self-hating black man out there was unaware of racism ? Like what ?
She’s spent her whole life dating one of the most systematically oppressed groups in America and now she’s finding out that racism isn’t a thing of the past ?
I have nothing nice to say so let me just leave…
I don’t buy that she wrote this and came up with this all on her own. She is not normally such a good writer or good with words/grammar/spelling. I also don’t think she thinks too much about anything other than her hair, her weight, her makeup, her clothes, shopping, her glam squad, her nails, Botox, her skin, whether or not she should go blonde again, her cars, her money, her house, and most importantly what selfie she should take of herself next.
She and her sisters talk about the Armenian genocide every year on its anniversary how has she never thought about racism and discrimination?
@Virgilia Coriolanus – this is simply another bid for the Kartrashian for respectability. TMZ has the pictures. She was not at the president’s table (thank God); that honor went to Steven Speilberg. Conan O’Brien, Bruce Springsteen, and Liam Neeson. KK’s table is #49; and she was not smiling. She was not photographed sitting with other people. She did get a picture with Rita Wilson. (I’ll chalk that up to Wilson wanting to be on her best, civil behavior with POTUS there.) It’s probably why she did the blurb – she wants to show she’s deep and she deserves to be invited to events like this. But the snap of KK at table 49 shows what Hollywood thinks of her – you may get in but you’re still not good enough to to be close to or meet 44.
I think most of the ppl in Hollywood do not want to be associated with her. Kanye West can huff and puff all he likes but no real respectable A lister would eve be caught dead with her. I even heard they tried to hand out wedding invites at the MET so all those A listers would come for their lame wedding. How desperate can you can get?
I highly doubt that she wrote that. In fact I would bet on it that she didn’t. KK is not articulate or intelligent and that essay was pretty well written.
Umm, “the teenage blogger in Pakistan who was shot on her school bus for speaking out in favor of women’s rights, the boy in Florida who was wrongly accused of committing a crime and ultimately killed because of the color of his skin” – you mean Malala Yousafzai and Trayvon Martin? Those were incredibly high profile cases (seriously, Malala was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize) and she couldn’t even use their names? What is she, living under the biggest rock ever?
Virgilia, Bingo.
“@cr
That was after her 72 day marriage–they also went to Haiti for a few days. Notice they haven’t done any other charitable works…beyond donating to their cult. ”
After her popularity bottomed out after that fiasco of a marriage, she set up photo-ops going to church and she and her mom rushed down to Haiti at its worst. Nada ever again.
She is so self-serving and me, me, me, that when she did that online auction for her used clothes, she only donated ten percent to charity, and that ten percent was to her mother’s church she founded, which I’m sure is a suspect church anyway if Kris was involved in setting that church up. The girl is wealthy and marrying a mega-wealthy star and she can’t part with the full net proceeds off of used clothing, probably half of which she never paid for, gifts from designers and clothing lines? She didn’t even have to donate out of her pocket, just sell some clothes, and still she took the lion’s share. That tells me everything I need to know about her. Ten percent? And she’s not even embarrassed.
this woman has only dated black men for as long as I can remember, and this is the first she has to say about racism? bish please. this is the continuation of the whitewashing of her image. she dated several black men and is just now aware of the racism in the world, after the birth of her daughter, double bish please. you’re not fooling anyone, kim’s pr team. it amazes
How deep!
I say this was written by a ghost writer. There’s no way her teeny tiny brain could have formulated these thoughts and put them into words.
If you believe Kim actually wrote this – I have a nice little bridge for sale just a ten minute walk from my house.
judging by some of these comments, there are a lot of people to whom you could sell it.
It’s refreshing to hear someone other than a privileged middle class white person denounce racism for a change.
Like a uber-wealthy white person? And I believe there are a lot of rich, white Hollywood types that do speak out against racism. KK is not the first.
I don’t understand why so many people think that ethnic Armenians are not white. Armenians are one of the subraces of Caucasian race.
Who ever wrote this should have added some “like”‘s and “you know”‘s into it, then MAYBE I would believe she wrote this. Lol 😉