I’ve been going back and forth on covering this, I guess because I’ve been brainwashed into believing that when all is said and done, Blake Lively is sort of daftly harmless. Yes, she celebrated the Allure of Antebellum (slavery was so quaint and magical!) and yes, she thinks she has an “LA Face and an Oakland booty,” regardless of how awkward that sounds. So Blake has stepped in racialized awkwardness before. Is she doing it again? The thing is… I sort of get what’s happening here.
First off, Blake is one of the faces of L’Oreal. She’s currently promoting L’Oreal’s True Match foundation collection, which has 33 shades of foundation, hoping to be more representative of all women’s skin tones. The campaign features many women of color, mixed race women, black women and a handful of white women. The point is that every person is different, and every person has a different racial/ethnic background and every person should have a foundation that represents their skin color. In the midst of women saying “I’m 100% Kenyan” and “My background is Creole,” Blake pops up in the ad, announcing: “I’m English, Irish, German and Cherokee.” To which many people went “???”
L’Oreal also released a separate ad just for Blake to discuss her Cherokee roots, apparently.
She says: “My family’s sort of from all over. To look back far into my heritage and see where everybody came from, you know, it’s neat! It’s neat to be in this country that has such diversity and such culture.” Previously, I’ve called Blake a Total Becky and a clueless white woman about race. So does this “I’m part Cherokee!” announcement feel… awkward? As I said, I get the point of why she’s talking about it and I think L’Oreal is doing good work with this foundation line and with this campaign. But Blake Lively and her questionable Cherokee roots should probably not be the face of an ad campaign whose main mission is supposed to be inclusion and diversity… maybe?
The whitest thing about Blake Lively is that she says she's part Cherokee.
— Brian Moylan (@BrianJMoylan) January 9, 2017
@blakelively unless you have suffered with Cherokee, don't claim them now that it benefits you monetarily, but imma let them go in on you
— Inner Glow (@datbrokelife1) January 13, 2017
man, how did cover girl make the right skin tone for blake lively's part cherokee skin?
— Isaac (@broxcolli) January 12, 2017
Blake Lively just said she's part "Cherokee" in a makeup commercial. Thank you @Loreal for incorporating our Native people in your ads! 😒
— Φιλος. (@KellyLelly) January 9, 2017
Blake Lively: I'm white, white, white and part Cherokee. pic.twitter.com/gSUHMjczQc
— Ambar (@ambarella) January 9, 2017
Blake Lively irl pic.twitter.com/tPrBw8s8xe
— Courtney Enlow (@courtenlow) January 13, 2017
Photos courtesy of Fame/Flynet, WENN.
Bless her heart.
Bless it.
To be clear.
The ads are dumb and pretentious.
It’s makeup.
But they’ve been out for a couple years now. They also included Beyoncé at one time. I guess Bey passed on the tv campaign. Most likely because her listing of every other admixture (hers also claimed part Indian and creole, etc) after being ‘woke,’ in Formation – may have come across as strange. Woke black folk don’t tout groups that aren’t chomping at the bit to claim them.
I say all this to say. Bey did it too. Doesn’t make it any less stupid.
Now Blake, who very well may be part Cherokee and by “part” I mean on a Johnny Depp/Kim Basinger scale or less, is getting the taunts for this pretentious ad.
Her best move would be to hope L’Oreal drops the ad from extreme rotation, make a donation to a Native American org instead of coming out with magazines and websites celebrating antebellum culture, and most importantly recognize the disconnect when you tout some elusive .02 percent Cherokee skin tone yet you hack off your .02 percent Cherokee nose and your husband gets his seemingly Canadian indigenous epicanthic eye folds (that your kids now have) snipped.
Ryan’s epicanthic folds may not indicate an indigenous North American ancestry. My mother’s family is Eastern European, and several of my family members have epicanthic folds. Including my green-eyed nephew with curly blond hair. The Mongols got around. And genetic traits are a funky thing.
Hey @Malificent
Oh well aware that epicanthic or hooded eyes don’t necessarily mean indigenous North American lineage. I live in a state that got alot of Canadian TV, plus I have family in Ontario – and so was familiar with Ryan as a child star and before he hit big in the states, I’m pretty sure I heard that he did have indigenous lineage, maybe some teen mag from back in the day over there or something, but don’t hold me to that – just a distant recollection of his heritage being discussed.
Happily those Mongolia did get around. I love those eyes, they’re in my family as well – don’t know who’s responsible. But I’m inexplicably drawn to hooded eyes and epicanthic folds and almond eyes, asiatic eyes – whatever you want to call it…just beautiful. Which is why i get perterbed when hooded eye people get snipped. I cried when Don Johnson did it. Faye Dunaway also ruined her eyes of Laura’s Mars as well. It’s a thing with me.
Robert Pattinson better leave his peepers alone.
@almondmilk. You’d like our family reunions then! My dad’s family is Scandinavian — so they all have almond-shaped eyes too — but it’s the pre-op Rene Zellweger shape with the padding on the outside of the eye.
I don’t have an epicanthic fold, but I have very dark brown almond-shaped eyes, widish cheekbones, dark reddish brown hair, and pale olive-toned skin. I get asked pretty frequently if I’m part Asian or part Native American, and not just by other white people. I’ve been at events with (American) Indian friends and other Indians will very casually ask which tribe I’m from. And very time I go to New Mexico, somebody asks which pueblo I’m from. Which is ironic in the context of this thread, as I make absolutely no pretense at having Native American ancestry. (I’m second generation American on all sides — so not many chances for a surprise in the Western Hemisphere.)
And I discovered years ago that I can pretty much go incognito anywhere in Europe if my body language (or shoes!) don’t give me away. People always assume that I’m local. I don’t look Swedish, but I don’t look not Swedish. I don’t look Greek, but I don’t look not Greek….
Damn people really love to insert Beyoncé name even when she’s not involved. Bey did a True Match ad but it was totally different. It was even more stupid but she never claimed cherokee in it.
And Bey IS part creole it’s not some distant 1/16 bs. I don’t see what’s wrong about sharing it, and she did in Formation actually.
I know people love to find new ways to criticize Beyoncé but at least be consistent and research first.
I’m not saying she’s perfect and should not be criticized but as a fan I hate when I read something false used against her.
yooo what @almondmilk was sayign about ryan is TOTES fact…. his alanis morissette days and before he almost looked indigenous when really tan that’s how almond his eyes were, dark his complexion…. now he gets deadpool and greenlattern and he had wide anglican eyes….ugh (ugh to the sniped and clipping of the eyes)
also dont worry you guys…. the black and POC community did a collective shutup Bey when beyonce said she was creole (which btw is a community of fair skin blacks that have a tri-racial heritage of french (sometimes spanish), black mostly, and native american mixture over time), historically it was a term used to further the society caste and racial caste system and allow them one step ahead of the ‘unwanted’ black caste in 18- early 20th century america.
Co-sign. Please stop giving this dingbat a microphone.
Sounds to me like she’s getting ready to run for Senate. Maybe she and Elizabeth Warren are related!
I reject her for her use of the word “neat”.
She’s not saying she has lived a Native American experience. Her ancestry is as valid as anyone else’s and this is such a tempest in a teapot. It’s not like she’s engaging in cultural appropriation. I have Native American and African American blood and epicanthic folds and I look like a poster girl for a preppy private school. So what. All the girl did was state her ancestry.
Thank you for the sane post CTGirl! I agree with you 100%. People just love to hate on Blake for everything. It’s ridiculous.
Thank you ctgirl!
My husband also has some Cherokee ancestry. Depending on when your ancestors came to the US and where the settled, I don’t think it is all that uncommon.
Well, your government has made this an easy prove.
I don’t see anything wrong with what she said either. Why is it such a big deal that she is part Cherokee? Honestly, many Americans are mixed.
Exactly. I don’t see the problem with it so long as she is, in fact, part Cherokee. And I don’t have any reason to disbelieve her. So she’s white, okay. That doesn’t make her heritage any less legitimate than anyone else’s. I, too, am mostly European but with a Native American grandmother who I never really knew because she passed away when I was young. I wouldn’t claim to have lived the Native American experience, but it is in fact part of my ancestry. Why would I lie about it if asked, simply because I look more Swedish lol
ctgirl, that was the most intelligent thing I think I’ve ever read in any of the comments on this site.
It seems that it is usually the most ignorant, self-absorbed, entitled, narcissistic, myopic idiots who vomit their opinions here.
Just what I was thinking! My honey bunny looks like a viking with red gold hair and bright blue eyes. One grandmother was half native American and the other fully so.
If he were in the market for foundation it would be for pale with freckles though…..so maybe not that pertinent to a make up ad. Hopefully in a few more generations, we’ll all be a little more blended!
@Camille, @ctgirl, @Rose –
Well said ladies. 100% spot on.
But it’s that Lively power again. The rage oooooooh #loveit.
Good sense!
If you are American, you are usually a big mash up. My family came pre Revolutionary War on one side. Welsh and Scottish. I’m a huge Heinz 57, though. Americans are also very curious about their backgrounds. I did two study abroads in Europe, and our new friends there were always very curious why we always are very interested in foreign or domestic ancestry.
uh…what
Dude. Google the phrase “bless your heart.”
HAHAHAHAHA ^^^
“Dude”. Learn to read a comment section. And please stop trying to be someone you’re not while you’re at it.
+1 to Mieke. @almondmilk: gene123 was not responding to the “bless your heart” comment, but to the article/Blake’s Cherokee claim.
I just saw this but as someone from the south, I know the phrase “bless your heart” My comment was towards Mayo Whitebread’s claim of Cherokee heritage, a common claim by white families actually. I read an article (I think on ancestry.com actually) that says most claims of Cherokee heritage is BS.
I dont know why you immediately jumped into defensive mode but maybe double check before you do next time
Yeah? I’m more than a part of Baltic rroma (can’t say which community considering the ethnic cleansing during the 20th century). I look white. I was raised white. I’ve lived my life a a white person. I am white. And so are you, Blake.
You can claim your roots, but you can’t change your lived experience of racial privilege and how you appear to the world. Thus, L’Oreal blew it. And so did our girl here.
But if you look white but live in a racially mixed family? What can you claim then?
*raises hand*
that is an entirely different conversation and experience……….but is not the same as being white. Specifically, I’ve had people who were fine/slightly curious about me, given that I have dreadlocks that didn’t form from straight hair BUT they make faces, etc when I am out with my darker skinned mother, etc.
She is also part surgery, I think..
Including sewing her hands to her pockets?????
Shijel, I get your point. So much of racism is based on very superficial elements like skin colour, hair texture and names etc. People will discriminate based on these external factors so if you can pass for white in a white supremacist society, you will be treated better. If you have a European sounding name combined with a european white appearance, you will have better access to housing, treated respectfully by cops and authority figures etc. All of this significantly impacts quality of life with regard to good mental health and access to resources.
Maybe if Native communities weren’t so thoroughly marginalized, Blake claiming the Cherokee heritage wouldn’t be such a big deal.
‘If you have a European sounding name’
i agree with everything you say, but i need to point out that there’s no such thing as a european sounding name. you probably mean an english sounding name, and that i agree. but a european sounding name could be spanish, polish, italian, serbian, albanian etc. and that’s a massive difference.
Yes ell, I probably should have said anglo sounding. I have a friend who moved to Canada from France and she is polish, married to a French person but kept her Polish maiden name. When she applied for jobs using the polish name, zero calls. She then decided to use her husband’s name and got many call backs including from some of the same companies that initially rejected her. In Canada, we have two official languages, representing the french and english colonizers.
So point taken, though with poc, there is added difficulties with skin colour.
Sanders – the example you wrote is the reason why so many people, who at some point emigrated from “the worse parts of Europe”, such as myself, don’t know how to feel and what’s appropriate to say during the talks about race and privilage. Because on one hand – we are white, so in theory it means we are privilaged and should take a seat, because the fight for equality is not about us. But on the other hand – being Polish or Croatian or Romanian means that we are treated like subhumans by people from the “superior” countries. We have to work below our qualifications, despite (in many cases) being highly educated, because no one will dare to imagine we can be worth anything and be qualified to do anything besides cleaning toilets. We have to hear people mocking our accents, our culture, our aspirations every single day, we are forced to change our names and hide anything connecting us to our countries to survive – and in some places, like post-Brexit England, we can get killed on the street for speaking our own language (there were many such cases last year). But then again – do we even have a right to claim discrimination when our skin is white?
I have to admit I was surprised to hear her story and unaware of the discrimination faced by eastern europeans. As you described, my friend is highly educated and bilingual in Canada’s official languages, and still, not good enough to hire.
The whole idea of who is considered white and what privileges they receive hasve been fluid throughout white supremacist history, and sadly, it seems we are seeing a new shift in that definition to include eastern europeans. What is happening in the UK with the Polish community is frightening.
But if you can pass for the majority, then oftentimes you can claim that privilege or superiority. The pro-Nazi Britain First is being shown in Polish. Ethnic groups that used to be discriminated against in the US such as Italians now claim to want to “make America great again” and exclude other races from the American landscape (see DiNapoli couple http://people.com/crime/get-over-it-79-year-old-trump-supporter-arrested-for-allegedly-vandalizing-childrens-mural/).
I don’t think Blake would’ve received the criticism she did if she could actually speak the Iroquoian language, volunteered for Native American causes, or did something other than use this tidbit to make her a more interesting person– you know the type that claims his/her great great great grandmother was an Indian princess. It just rings a little hollow.
L’Oréal just represented the face of ignorance so I guess it’s now an authentic and truly inclusive campaign.
I don’t think that is really true. I helped in hiring at the law firm, and that was not factor. At all
what does that have to do with anything. she is not claiming the native American struggle, she is not claiming, minority status. she is saying, my skin, may look white but that Cherokee blood adds subtle nuances and look how L’Oreal makeup picked up on that. that’s it.
Agree
@booRadely, I agree.
In a culture that is so obsessed with white vs other, having someone say yes.. i appear to be only one ethnicity or race but I am actually more, should be refreshing.I am sure her makeup needs color adjusting because she is not a rose base but probably a yellow or olive base.
except she is marginalized and criticized which I think makes those critics a bit racist. Most Americans even white appearing americans have mixed genetics. America has been a melting pot for a long time.
Shailene Woodley, Pete Wentz and Gabrielle Reece are just a few Americans that are more ethnically diverse than they appear.
@Booradely thank you for stating how I feel about all of this.
Well, that may be how you receive Blake’s message, but I think many people will have a different take as evidenced by other comments on this thread. There is a context of cultural appropriation, picking and choosing the cool things from marginalized communities, while ignoring the ways that they experience racism. For some of us, to invoke a native identity also invokes all the shitty treatment native people have experienced and continue to. And a rich, privileged white woman invoking that identity to sell cosmetics for loreal will rub some people the wrong way.
To add to this, Blake having her wedding at a plantation with a shout out to the allure of the antebellum gives this comment additional context to her overall cluelessness.
I agree as well. I don’t see the harm in saying this if it is indeed her heritage. It used to be very scandalous to even mix between white nationalities. My Irish great grandmother was excommunicated from her family for marrying a Polish man! I’m Canadian and my heritage is very mixed with the addition of a Native great grandfather. All their blood makes me who I am regardless of the fact I have my mother’s physical features.
My husband is mixed half African and Indian BUT our two boys look extremely white. Do they now lose the ability to say they have black heritage because bloggers say if you don’t physically look it the undertones and the heritage of you bloodline are gone? Nope. They also get to say they have Native heritage.
Agreed. I’m also mostly European but my great grandmother was half cherokee and you can see similarities in a picture of her and of myself. It just is part of my genetic background. I don’t write in Native American on forms (did Elizabeth Warren really do that?) but I don’t think she is wrong here by any means.
agree so hard
@Lemanda- yep, I’m half Mexican and I look white. A lot of people don’t believe me when I tell them until I show them a picture of my mom. Does that mean that I shouldn’t be claiming Latin roots? No, I still do. The funny thing is Mexicans are usually the only ones that can tell I am Latina for some reason. Ive had many times where they will come up to me in public and ask if I speak Spanish. Then I have to hide my face in shame and say no, I mean I know the basics and I grew up calling certain things by their Spanish slang but that’s it by my mother and aunt speak it and I’m still mad she didn’t make more of an effort teaching me when I was younger.
Anyway, my husband has the opposite issue. He is 100% Dutch but his skin is darker then mine and he has dark hair. The majority of people in America associate Dutch with blonde hair, blue eyes and light skin. So a lot of people assume he is Italian or Greek. Which he probably does have from way back.
So between the two of us we have two blonde children with hazel and blue eyes and one with super white skin and two brown haired/brown eyed children with darker skin.
I’m not sure I get the uproar about this either. As others have noted she is not appropriating culture or claiming to have had the experience of someone who has a significant amount of Native American ancestry and history/culture of a tribe or something. I think the purpose of these ads are to point out that they have a line of makeup that has a broad spectrum of hues for all complexions and Lively’s just announcing what goes into her particular shade of lily white
Completely agree. Even if you consider her a “total Becky” ( a very juvenile, fairly derogatory, term, btw) it doesn’t nullify the fact that she quite possibly has some Cherokee ancestry. My closest friend is a quarter Sioux and a quarter Ashkenazi Jewish, half Dutch, and looks completely white. She never denies that, b/c of her appearance, she has white privilege, nor does she claim to suffer discrimination due to her ethnicity. But what is she supposed to do, deny an ethic heritage she legitimately has just b/c ignorant people prefer to view her as a “total Becky?” I think this whole article/piece is far more offensive than a white appearing girl speaking of her non-white heritage, however small that particular ethnicity might be.
Lmaooooooo. The tweets said everything I wanted to say, so I’m just gonna add…
Just. Fade. Away. Already.
Of course she is.
We did DNA testing and my kids showed up with sub-Saharan African (my grandfather was Sicilian so we’re assuming it’s from that area) and they are the whitest kids ever. We would never claim to be black. On my other side my grandmother was half Menominee Indian-but we’re aware of that culture, my dad was born on the reservation so we’ll claim that part of our heritage.
I want to do that!
We all come from Africa but that doesn’t mean we’re all black.
My parents did the testing. And my pasty Irish, Welsh, And Danish white father is 100% white Northerner European, but my mom’s was way more interesting, mostly European but a hefty percentage of Iranian, and South Asian. We always knew her Italian side had married into a “Moorish” family from Spain post Inquisition and we assume that’s where our Middle Eastern links come from.
What was the big shocker was no African DNA at all, since it seems everyone has a little.
Bet Africa does show up on most peoples DNA results.
I need to do this. I’m so curious especially since I’m descended from ethnicities that were separated into different countries/nations.
@happyMom
That’s interesting. Usually the Italians show North African DNA, but maybe there’s also Sub Saharan.
Or it could be from another ancestor- so many people ‘passed’ as white and hid their family/community ties that may have ID’d they were from black familes, you really wouldn’t know.
Both Bill Hader of SNL and Ty Burrell of Modern family have sub saharan black lineage as well.
Genuine question, when you say sub-Saharan, what do you mean specifically?
I ask because sub-Saharan is a term that covers all Africa below the Sahara desert and that is a region as diverse as the rest of the world in terms of ethnicity.
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sub-Saharan_Africa
Further, there has been multiple periods of intracontinental migration in Africa throughout history for various reasons not just during the slave trade, so it’s not an outlier that you should find sub-saharan markers in North African ancestors.
There are still sub-saharan tribes whose way of life involves migration from one part of Africa to another and only international borders stop then travelling further afield like they did historically eg the Fulani of West Africa.
https://www.africaguide.com/culture/tribes/fulani.htm
Also have to remember that moors was a catch all phrase for Arabs as well as black people. From Arabia as well as Africa and Southern Spain. Some moors married into European families or father children with moors so clearly there was an accepted multi-racial culture eg we know that Alessandro de Medici, who ruled Florence, Italy between 1531-1537 was mixed race ( white father, Black mother) and went by the nickname ‘il Moro’ because of his dark complexion
.https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Alessandro_de'_Medici,_Duke_of_Florence
Alessandro has descendants today.
Yes that’s what it means lak, though it’s diverse it’s all south of the Sahara
@LAK I’m not sure if you are still reading these comments but wanted to reply.
In my mom’s result we were surprised that our “Moorish” descent being from closer to Iran and South Asia, than the Northern African Moors we expected. That’s what makes these DNA tests so interesting.
My parents did that testing too, in the most selfish birthday presents my brother and I have ever bought them, and it came away that I’m 99.9% white on one side (i.e. Northern and Western European with a smattering of southern and eastern) and 100% on the other. I don’t even know how that’s possible, though if you’ve seen me dance, possibly you are less surprised.
It’s pretty cool though, I recommend it.
I’ve done the test myself and the results can be surprising (like finding out I have Jewish ancestry). But I know a number of people with Sicilian/Italian backgrounds and everyone of them had African, mostly North African, in them, some with a larger percentage than expected like 20-25%. But they’re not gonna start claiming they’re black!
North African doesn’t necessarily mean black, could be Maghreb. I’m Italian with North African ancestry from Morocco and Egypt.
Jewish isn’t a genetic trait so how was that measured? Ethiopian Jews have as much/little in common genetically with Polish Jews as non Jewish Ethiopian and Polish people do so I don’t see how it’s possible that any genetic test could tell you you had Jewish ancestry.
LaBlah: It’s the exact opposite. Because of a very long history of resistance to intermarriage, Jewish communities all over the world are measurably genetically linked – including Ethiopian and Polish Jews. Many sources available in the biblio on the wikipedia summary: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Genetic_studies_on_Jews
Where did you do the test? I’m curious to get one!
23 and Me!
But saying what your ancestors are and claiming heritage is very different.
You do know that Sicily is nowhere near sub-Saharan Africa right? As a white woman who was born in Africa (like it’s a country and not a continent) I take major exception to people assuming heritage based on skin colour. Don’t judge a book by its cover.
She’s so desperate to be relevant.
This is such a white person thing to say. (I say this as a white person.) We think it makes us more interesting to throw in that Native heritage. I’d love to see the receipts of her Cherokee relative…also, does having one Nativr great great great grandma make you Native? Because sign me up if so. I have a picture and historical records of my one Native ancestor but I don’t even claim it when asked.
i know, growing up in the South 75% of the white kids in my class would be like “my great-great grandmother was 38% Cherokee” and of course it is ALWAYS Cherokee, never mind that the Cherokee tribe was in an entirely different part of the region, and it was always a FEMALE ancestor for some reason, and I’m sure if any of them actually sat down and did their full genealogy they would find out that they were 100% inbred Scots-Irish just like every-freaking-body else in the area.
Chaine I think it’s indeed more likely that a native woman would procreate with a white man at that time than vice versa- rape was often a factor right? And the fact that more men came over from Europe than women?
@Chaine, exactly! I grew up in North Mississippi. If everyone who claimed Native ancestors actually had them then we would all be on a reservation.
lol Yep. I said the same thing below. It’s true. The South is full of folks that want to claim to be Native American (and yep almost always Cherokee lol)
From the South, was it the elusive but had thousands of children Cherokee Princess lol? Heard the princess story so many times growing up.
Agreed-we found out my family has Irish, Scottish, English and Native American ancestry but the Native American heritage is such a small amount compared to the rest, it seems ridiculous to mention it. I’m guessing she’s the same-a very small percentage that for whatever reason, she decided was a good idea to talk about. Blake Lively is just utterly clueless.
In the south here, most people in the area claim Choctaw and occasionally Blackfoot.
*facepalm*
I can’t. It’s too g*ddamn early for this.
Jaysus.
Sounds more like she’s a Nava-faux….amirite?
Zing
Oh you!!
Yes, so am I.
I have a dream catcher tattoo with the flower of life in the center, to honor that heritage and to speak to the fact that everything and everyone are connected.
But do I think that gives me the same perspective of someone who has actually lived as a Cherokee/First Nation person? Someone who’s people have been denigrated, marginalized, and otherized from the moment foreign men stepped on their home soil?
Absolutely NOT.
I am the great great great great……. granddaughter of a white man who married a Cherokee woman. I still take for granted all the privileges that come with my white middle-class-ness, as does Blake. Except she’s rich as sh!t.
And, unlike Blake, you can actually tell by looking at me, but that STILL doesnt make me any less white or privileged. So please see yourself out, m’am.
ETA: I do have records to verify this, I promise I’m not just trying to make myself sound more interesting
It’s such a gray area thing in a lot of ways. Take my inlaws as an example.
My husband is 27 years old. He only applied for his card at around 22. I’m not sure at this point whether it’s considered a Metis card or a full fledged Indian Status card because honestly, I can’t remember and there’s a lot of different stuff going on with it in Canada lately. His family honestly had no real idea about their heritage until about 5 years ago.
Why?
His grandmother was told to keep it secret as a child. Residential schools were still a very big issue when she was growing up – the one in our province ran until my father in law was 10 years old. Even in NS people discriminated against native heritage. She didn’t even tell her children because her whole life it was something that she was told to hide. His grandfather had pretty strong Scottish roots, and that’s all they’d ever heard about growing up.
My husband has dark brown, almost black hair. His skin – even in the dead of winter – is darker than mine has ever been in the summer. In summer his skin tone warms even more. People probably would never question whether or not he had native heritage. His sister however – blonde, blue eyes, and more fair skinned than him. She looks a lot like Blake’s coloring. They have the same parents, same heritage, same status.
I don’t know what Blake’s heritage is, but just because she leans very white does not mean that she’s just saying it for kicks at all. Can she (or my inlaws) understand the struggles that someone who looked much different went through? Not really. Can she still embrace that heritage, and learn about as much as she can? Sure. When you’ve grown up far removed from that culture – you did grow up with a lot more privilege than many other people, and that’s something you need to recognize. But I find it so strange for people to be like “well you’re so white, you must be exaggerating your percentages”. Encourage people to learn more about their genealogy, and culture, and the way that their family lived generations ago. I don’t think there’s anything wrong with being interested in that, or feeling pride for your family. Of COURSE you can sound ridiculous if you spout off about being so persecuted when you’ve grown up from a position of privilege, but I don’t think that’s what Blake is doing at all – and I tend to think that if anything, this was a poor move on the makeup company’s part.
Thank you for this comment, Erinn. I’m really sorry for your husband’s grandmother, being made to hide her Native status as if it was something to be ashamed of. That speaks so deeply to the aborrhent way First Nation people have been treated in this country for so long, and it’s still happening.
My whole “oh I look more Native American than Blake” thing was honestly more snark than substance, added as an afterthought as I tried to be funny. I didn’t mean to insult people with Native heritage who don’t look the way most of us think Native Americans “should” look, and I’m sorry for that.
I spoke more specifically to my true issue with Blake downthread, which is her absence when First Nation people actually need her help. I don’t doubt that she has Native roots, not all. It seems those roots are important enough to talk about on a TV commercial, and yet she didn’t say a single word regarding Standing Rock. Maybe she donated quietly, I really don’t know. But it gives the appearance that she only values her native roots when she can monetize them.
@Erinn
Well said. As always.
Now if only Kitten could also bring her genius in here!
Thanks Jegede. And who doesn’t love a comment from Kitten.
Shambles – I didn’t take it as you being snarky at all, honestly. I got what your intentions were, even if my rambling maybe didn’t sound like it. I honestly always find it kind of funny how much one kid favored a certain heritage more than the other, so I completely get what you’re saying. My rambling was more about the people that were automatically shutting her down and stating “oh you’re so white”.
And I mean – she is. In a lot of ways. She’s benefited from it too, that’s for sure. But I see it around my town too – there’s a lot of “oh but you don’t look x”. But it’s always struck me as so weird because MOST of us around here are such a mixture of culture and backgrounds. Very few people look 100% anything around here because of the huge European influx, and the Acadian’s and Mi’kmaq’s blending of culture. My husband’s heritage is the Scottish on one hand, and then his native ancestry still isn’t even Canadian – they’re from Massachusetts. Which was a bit awkward to find out, because I’ve got very strong Scottish roots from one side as well (Great Gram was a Wishart who was born in Scotland ) – who married my great grandfather who’s ancestors had come from Massachusetts to NS same as my husbands had – except on opposite ends of the privilege spectrum. I’ve honestly avoided looking into it any deeper once I found out they were actually from the same area of Mass – so there’s a decent chance that they weren’t so friendly with eachother given the timeline.
There is an interesting thing happening in Canada right now (Erinn maybe you’ve picked it up) with one of our most well known and awarded authors who writes fiction about the first nations experience and who identifies as part first nations (and has received numerous grants under those auspices) . Essentially, he has been asked to ‘show his receipts’ as they say, on his heritage claim. I guess many people in the community have been suspicious as to his actual connection, genetically and experientially. The panel of commentators on the cbc, even when they didn’t all agree about this public calling out, did recognize what they called “playing indian” as a pervasive issue which they characterized in part as adopting the heritage when the heritage hasn’t adopted you. Basically my point is, people who live as first nations (not sure if first nations is used in USA too) do take this seriously and it is not an easy issue to tackle, lots of grey area. But, given the history of residential schools, and other horrendous consequences of the Indian Act (in Canada): status issues and who can claim what ( métis in particular); mother’s lineage versus father’s; well it seems early days to wear your dubious cherokee heritage like a cool accessory. I doubt much thought went into Blake’s inclusion of cherokee, and I’m not sure vilifying her is the answer, rather the response to this hopefully signals that maybe, finally, at last, Indigenous peoples are afforded a voice in the conversation about representation that comes from them. (Apologies for my poor punctuation and run on sentence, somehow breastfeeding and typing at same time shorts my grammar brain).
Erinn thank you so much for this comment!
My son looks 100% white, like me. Irish looking. But he is HALF Puerto Rican, my husband is 100% Puerto Rican. Genes are crazy things.
Already I’ve had people laugh when I tell them that my son is half Puerto Rican.
I want him to be proud, to identify with his father’s culture (we luckily get a lot of the food, music, language etc from family and family friends, being Puerto Rican is part of our lives). He may never face the discrimination his father has becuase he looks totally white. But he shouldnt be scoffed at when he proudly says “I am Puerto Rican!” He is two years old and I’ve already taught him to say this proudly. He already knows when he hears Puerto Rican music, and he says “that’s Abuelo’s music!”.
This whole thread has made me sad so thank you for your comment.
Thank you Erinn. Perfectly expressed.
She is so eeeeextra extra, read all about it!
She’s trying to out-Goop Goopeth Paltrow, isn’t she?
Dear Blake:
Go awaaaaaaaaaaaaaaay.
Love,
Everyone
Is it me or is claiming to be whole/part/one-third/etc. Native American becoming fashionable? a trend? And if so, it needs to stop. Unless you can prove without a shadow of a doubt (i.e. back that up with actual evidence & not “oh my grandmother said” nonsense) that you have Native American blood in you, you need to stop.
As someone said earlier I think (clueless) white people are doing it to seem more interesting. Because even they have to know listing 5 different European countries sounds like a whole lot of white, so the link to something different and brown must make them feel so unique and cultured. 🙄😪
Social media has done a lot to make white people want to appear more interesting and “down”.
For some reason, people of Mediterranean/Southern European descent don’t tend to pull the “I’m part Cherokee! ” .
Teacakes, if you mean Italian I believe they came later and in urban areas and often married other Italians? Different situation than pilgrims in rural areas who obviously ended up procreating with native peoples. Lynnie speaking as a white person I would never desire to claim that to be special. Is this just something you thought up? It’s pretty condescending. Dna testing is popular now and people like sharing their results. Due to colonization and also rape, white and native people have been mixing for a few hundred years. If someone else asks why can’t a white looking person who has tested their Dna say they have some native ancestry? Why does their have to be an alterior motive to look cool? By the way I have not been tested and don’t usually ask anyone their ancestry because it’s a bit forward. But if your parents have always told you about a certain ancestor or you’ve been tested , I don’t see how it’s insensitive to state the truth.
@Fiorella That’s great and all that you as a white person never claim other ethnicities to seem cool, but that doesn’t negate that for many it’s an actual reason as evidenced by this thread, people I meet in real life, and celebrities such as Blake. To me, that’s the real condescending issue.
@Fiorella
Well said. My boyfriend’s cousin is from South Italy and very much claims Cherokee ancestry , as I’m sure others do.
It’s common in the South to claim you are part Native American. For example, my Granny always said we were part Cherokee but I did a DNA test recently and we’re not.
I think folks from outside the South would be surprised by how much many Southerners, even politically conservative Southerners, romanticize the notion of being part Native American. I wouldn’t be surprised if Blake comes from a family like that.
hahaha posted the same thing up the thread before seeing yours.
The romance of it. That’s what this is.
It’s always been fashionable. A lot more Americans believe that they are descended from Native Americans than truly are; it’s a very common family legend. And for whatever reason, these people almost always believe they’re Cherokee.
Agreed. Its just trend. Not too long ago every other white person was claiming Irish ancestry. These wannabe hip types think it makes them seem “exotic” and since its hard to verify the claim, they can get away with it. Its just a matter of time before Blake and her ilk start including themselves as WOC. Mark my words.
You’re saying its a common thing people PRETEND to have native and Irish blood? Have a source for this? By the way I don’t claim to have either, just seems odd to me that you’re sure this faking is prevalent.
@fiorella: maybe less pretend and more want to believe. But it’s definitely a thing: http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/10/cherokee_blood_why_do_so_many_americans_believe_they_have_cherokee_ancestry.html
Thank you for the link Lena. love slate. Did not know much about Cherokee and now I know more. Interesting about the southern reasoning. I guess it’s impossible to do enough blood tests to find out how many/ what portion of white and black people are mistaken about their Cherokee ancestry. For what it’s worth I find it fine for people to say they have some ancestry of anything even if it’s .5 %. I would still find that fact about them somewhat interesting, and don’t see why it’s inaccurate or harmful to mention. Obviously it’s not ok to claim any of the struggles if you don’t have the look or the background of those who experience inequality.
Why Irish?
I find that most white people continue to claim Irish heritage. If they’re not Irish, they’re Italian. Of course I grew up in the Chicago suburbs, so most people were Polish (and very proud of it). My family wasn’t Polish but I was completely immersed in Polish culture through my closest friends and neighbors, even the local media. My mom does have Cherokee heritage – her mother’s grandmother. They’re from the south, but they’re not lying. The family is very matter of fact. None have attempted to gain or even research how to get their hands on the few benefits NA’s get (they can’t). But the heritage can be seen in my mom and a few siblings. Her other siblings look very English/German with pale skin, lighter hair, and lighter eye color. I am adopted, so can’t claim anything. 🙁 Maybe I will look into testing my DNA. I’m always told I have the map of Ireland on my face, but it’s probably because my first name is Kelly, I have green eyes, and my hair is dyed red.
*As an aside, my extended family is very generically white, they haven’t inherited the culture from any of their ethnicities. I would describe them as having Southern culture. Therefore, I’ve been obsessed with claiming some sort of ethnicity my whole life. So if it turns out that I’m ten different ethnicities, you better believe I’m going to claim all ten. I will finally belong to someone’s group!
“I find that most white people continue to claim Irish heritage. If they’re not Irish, they’re Italian.”
White people from the United States very well could have Irish, Italian heritage. We are a nation of immigrants! In recent history, we have had mass immigration from some of these countries. Let’s stop with the judgement about people’s heritage. So many of the people I grew up with had living grandparents who were from another country. It isn’t necessary to have a paper trail when you have a grandparent telling you they came over on a boat with their family when they were children.
This isn’t new, it just goes in waves. When I was growing up in the 70s in the lily white suburbs of Chicago, many kids claimed some sort of Native American heritage because it was trendy at the time.
A lifetime ago, the 70’s maybe, Cher claimed NA heritage, so it’s not new. It was about the time of her Half-Breed album.
It’s been a trend for sometime now. Everybody’s Cherokee. A character in a Tony Hillerman book made a comment to that effect.
Oh girl, no (Blake and the L’Oreal people behind this).
That particular detail has been in those L’oreal ads for like 3 years. Why is everyone just now noticing? Is it that people are paying more attention to Blake herself? Or are we now in a time when we are more apt to zero in on and question a detail like that?
I laughed hard at that first tweet about how white it is to claim First nations ancestry, but it’s sad that L’Oreal really went with this. Usually it’s the corporations that know from which the wind (money) blows that change before the entire country does, but this is particular tone-deaf.
I’ve been scrolling down to see when someone would criticize L’Oreal for this! Blake is just one (ridiculous) person, L’Oreal is a huge organization with a dedicated marketing division. What in the world were they thinking?
Wow. She couldn’t be more white if she tried
http://ethnicelebs.com/blake-lively
This site has the break down. She must have a Cherokee Princess Great-Great-Great-Great Grandmother. LOL!
Ha! I just tried to post this. You beat me to it. 🙂
Wow, we share a common ancestor, Alexander McAlpin.
😂 omg and yes I totally thought of the happy endings episode.
Well – there is Elizabeth Warren, who did pretty well out of being Native American. I would not be surprised if Blake is part Cherokee; most people I’ve me who are part Native American are party Cherokee – it is one of the largest tribes.
Whaaaaaaaat????
Also, girl is dim but what were the execs and marketing team thinking at L’Oréal???
Yes! Thank-you! lol
But the whole Elizabeth Warren claiming to be Native American to use to HER benefit thing was no big deal right? This ad seems a bit thoughtless, but I’d prioritize what to get so up in arms about.
They’d never drag Warren around here.
yep – Elizabeth Warren is on the right side. So she’s exempt.
What separates me from Elizabeth Warren is I’ve never tried to claim minority status or scholarships from my heritage. People who try to receive financial benefit from a distant reltion make me sick.
But I have no problem with Blake identifying that as her heritage.
Of course not Warren, nor that idiot Sodastream idiot ScarJo.
But that Blake, err, ‘power’ never fails.
In her short history as an actress/entrepreneur, Blake has unfortunately offended more than a few people with culturally and racially insensitive comments.
She didn’t “use” anything “to her benefit.” Elizabeth Warren believed she was part Native American based on family lore, so she listed herself as part Native American in a directory. She had already by the time been hired by Harvard University. Scott Warren attempted to make this an affirmative action issue in the 2012 campaign because he knew that he couldn’t make the fact that she was a woman an affirmative action issue, but it was never a big deal to MA voters and no one ever proved that she “used” the claim “to her benefit.”
Thank you. Warren shouldn’t be dragged for making the claim. She perceived it as a point of interest that was significant to her family and never received or even claim any benefits.
Thanks. And also, I meant Scott Brown above.
Warren didn’t claim to be a Native American until her 30s and may have only listed it to score a job. At that point, she was listed under the minority section of a law teachers for-hire directory.
Harvard later promoted her Native American heritage.
I think it’s disingenuous to say she didn’t try and benefit given the facts. It was a half asses attempt…..but in her 30s for the first time . And in a “for hire ” directory ?
Cmon,
It makes sense in the context of the commercial. It is not as though she is claiming tribe status; she just gave her geneology as an illustration toward the point that our diverse backgrounds have resulted in subtle differences in skin tone, and L’Oreal is making makeup with those nuances. Can we talk about real stuff?
@Alyce, I think we can absolutely talk about “real” stuff which is why it’s tough to see a blond haired, fair the stereotype of “all American” like Blake Lively talk as if her standard of beauty has EVER been in question.
I’m gonna be real here. I’m a white woman. I’m Sicilian. I fall squarely in the “medium” shades of all make-up. Even I look at someone like Blake with her anglo features and blond hair and just think….SIT DOWN. Women who look like Blake are prioritized over literally EVERYONE else growing up. They are always seen as the ideal beauty. So while I think it might be genuinely beautiful to talk about how we all have diverse backgrounds…..it’s just hard to see a woman like her get up there and do it.
I need to watch the rest of the ad but like….are there any white women in this ad who aren’t anglo featured or fair? If they are going to feature white women talking about finding makeup to match why not show some Greek women or Sicilian women or Spanish women. Because those women are white but they at least do know what it’s like to go buy make-up and not just be able to buy the fairest one. Part of the problem here is that white women constantly have to be represented by women like Blake. I’m just not into that. I’m sorry.
Huh you do know that Spanish, Italians and Greeks are Europeans, right? And they are also white. And they also are sometimes blond with blue eyes. It’s not like everybody looks like Penelope Cruz. Who is white by the way and who has, I’m sure, no problm finding foundation. The weird way Americans discuss race (we don’t say “race” btw in Europe) has always astounded me.
@myrto: that’s like me saying the way Europeans discuss class and religion is astounding.
@myrto: that’s like me saying the way Europeans discuss class and religion is astounding.
@Myrto –
You would think the Spanish royals would be proof of that already.
@Myrto, Yeah, I do know that Spanish, Italians and Greeks are considered “white” in the United States just as I know that :::some:: of them (depending on what part of the country they are from) are whiter than others. But I’m also educated enough to know that some people from that background do have shades of skin that are darker. Race is a massive issue in Italy as the people that popular the Northern areas were influenced by the Germans/Swiss vs. the Southern part of the country which was always more rural and was more influenced by the Turks.
The point is that in the United States these beauty ads featuring white girls always exclusively feature white women like Blake Lively who are blond and fair. That’s considered the “All American” beauty here and it’s a distinct problem. And I think you’ll find that a lot of women in the USA of Greek or Italian descent relate very little to women like Blake Lively. But thanks for being so rude and ignorant as I attempt to share my own lived experienced.
Thank you Alyce. Was she supposed to turn down the loreal money because she can’t do the ancestry commercial because white people no longer can mention any native ancestry?
Or, in the alternative should she have turned down the money and the ad campaign because no matter what her heritage she. is. white.
If she has that ancestry, it’s so far removed that it really didn’t influence her skin tone (you can look up her family tree online pretty far).
Jesus, if she she is part Cherokee what is wrong with saying so? I’m the whitest looking white person on the planet and my grandma grew up on a reservation, but I guess I have to keep it a secret so I don’t annoy people. 🙄
It seems, though, that none of her ancestors grew up on a reservation nor have any Native ancestry. You can’t claim what you don’t have which is why this annoys some people. It’s the apparent falseness combined with her other well-meaning but tone-deaf statements on race in the past, I think.
This. It was ad about diversity. That’s how she’s diverse. And the makeup is for everyone. Yes, including people who are a whole lot of white and a tiny bit of something else. Am I getting desensitized? I just can’t get outraged over stuff like this anymore. There are so many more important things to discuss when it comes to diversity (or the lack thereof)…
Exactly. I feel like people are just looking for a reason to be offended. Its an ad talking about how we are all different and how we come from different backgrounds.
But, if she values her native ancestry so much, where is she when actual Native Americans need her help? She didn’t say a single word about Standing Rock. That would
lead one to believe that her native roots are only valuable to her when she can monetize them.
THIS EXACTLY.
She’s “harmless white chick” except when she wants to make herself seem more exotic than her hair dye and nose job, and guess what the short cut to being “exotic” is? Claiming mixed-race descent, of course!
Are you making a bazillion dollars off of your ancestry? She’s white, I’m white. Sorry, white is white.
White is white. Black is black…. Except that genetically it is not that simple. My very snow whites – blue eyes nieces are still part black African.
How does one decide when you loose the right to speak about your own ancestry? When do one stop being white or native American or black? I guess there still some kind of racial classification in play.
http://ethnicelebs.com/blake-lively
No documented Cherokee heritage according to this (weirdly, incredibly detailed) celeb genealogy site run by celeb genealogy enthusiasts.
Edit: Tallia posted the same info above.
And no Irish ancestry either weirdly. Scottish, but not mentioned in the ad. Maybe she thinks it all gaelic/gaeilge speaking nations are indistinguishable.
So I assume since she is utilizing her proud Cherokee heritage to make money she will also be dedicating her time and resources to Native American issues and land ri….HAHAHAHAHAHA!!! Sorry I can’t even finish that with a straight face. 🙄
I think I’m done with posts on her. She’s just not interesting or talented enough to bother with.
Sorry, I don’t care about this. She is clueless most of the time, and that is not a news flash, but I don’t see this as trying to claim a shared experience or anything other than “I’m so and so and this is my ethnic background”. Big whoop. Next.
I cant name too many female celebs I hate because female celebs just generally dont do the same magnitude of of crap guys do. But this woman. I hate her. Shes a pretentious, clueless woman who embodies genteel racism that people brush away as harmless. And because people brush it away with “I dont think shes racist, she just mispoke”, she never learns to use the teeny tiny brain that she has. There are no repercussions, so why would anyone expect better of her?
Oh and her one claim to fame (that she is stunning) is a sham; she has rodent face.
Could not agree more!!!
This. And it’s not just the continuous racially insensitive comments and documented, frequent microaggressions. It’s her defense of predators like Woody Allen, too.
If she is part Cherokee why is it a problem to claim it? (Im genuinely curious)
The problem is that a lot of people claim to have “a Cherokee princess” as an ancestor and it’s usually bullshit. http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/10/cherokee_blood_why_do_so_many_americans_believe_they_have_cherokee_ancestry.html
Read my comments at the bottom of the thread. Also if they wanted to market makeup for someone Native American they should have picked someone who is actually racially Native American. She doesn’t have any traceable lineage anyways.
EXTRA, EXTRA! READ ALL ABOUT IT!
Blake, have a seat.
I grew up in Texas and it seemed like every white kid I went to school with claimed they were part Cherokee! I was always asked what I was going up. I would answer “Cuban”, and then repeat the answer back to them. The response was alway a long list of nationalities ending with “part Cherokee”. I laughed out loud when I saw the commercial!!
Sooo many white people say they have Cherokee for some reason, Johnny Depp and Loretra Lynn are two that come to mind. I mean it’s probably unlikely but she could have a small amount.
Also, we are aware that “LA face and Oakland booty” is from “Baby Got Back” right? I mean I’m indifferent toward her at best but she was quoting a song.
I’ve always notched that about Cherokee too. Someone said somewhere here that it’s a huge tribe or was. Maybe that explains it
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/10/cherokee_blood_why_do_so_many_americans_believe_they_have_cherokee_ancestry.html
This claim to “Cherokee blood” is not something that is restricted to white people. In fact, that is the family lore of a lot of African American people, as well: http://www.theroot.com/high-cheekbones-and-straight-black-hair-1790878167
In both cases, there isn’t a lot of truth to it.
This doesn’t even have anything to do with the product or the (admittedly great) shade range! You don’t buy makeup based on your ancestry. You buy it based on your skintone and Blake Lively is the whitest woman alive when that is your criterion (and even when it’s not). Good gawd.
I love that L’Oreal is getting with the program though. Finally. Most of the big cosmetics companies just ignore anyone above an NC45. Affordable makeup for dark skin seems to be some magical potion that they just can’t make. I don’t get this. It would SELL.
they also forget about us on the other side of the spectrum, especially with cool undertones. I’m super white and most foundations are too dark for me. I have to buy artistic white foundation to tone it down and I’m always very close to having white paint on my face.
And yellow! The palest shades always have a yellow undertone which sucks.
Why makeup companies think 99% of the population is white, but tan I don’t understand.
That always seems strange to me too. I am white, but not super pale. I definitely tan easily, and I still find most foundations and powders to brown or yellow for me.
i follow pale women on youtube because they always test different brands and honestly that’s the only way for me to buy. And being in Argentina is even worse. Apparently there are no white people here lol
Hi, you are my people. I also hate how in the summer, some stores (cough target) stop stocking their super pale shades. because everyone automatically tans once it hits June
I loved the “and people went ?????” Hahahahaha.
Okay but L’Oréal has been using ads with Blake Lively’s part Cherokee roots in them for years. I’m confused as to why folks are suddenly catching onto this?
I’m all on blaming Blake for everything she’s doing here but let me side eye L’Oréal first because ya know they know exactly what they’re doing with this. They’re the ones running the ad….
I just did a full body “aint this some white nonsense” eyeroll.
On one hand, I do get that there was a time when a blonde blue-eyed white woman would never ever publicly claim her Native roots. So this in a way represents progress. On the other, so many white people want to “exoticize” themselves while comfortably maintaining their whiteness and their privilege. Idk…figure yourselves out, white people. You’re exhausting. LOL
As a non-white person, I’m gonna exercise my privilege to sit on the sidelines, smh and wonder what up with that?
There was a time, not so long ago, when light skinned black Americans tried to pass as white. I don’t see that happening much anymore. Can’t figure themselves out? There’s a lot more to it than that for both groups. But way to belittle and oversimplify.
Ummm…I REALLY think you don’t wanna go there with me. Talk about oversimplifying as well as comparing apples with oranges.
Way to oversimplify because whiteness so fragile apparently. Don’t bother to respond because I don’t wanna be that person. Considered yourself ignored.
I’m sorry, but no, Blake Lively. You’re white.
Look, I’m a south american of german, russian, celtic, spanish and italian ancestry. Also, I’m 1/4 Ashkenazi Jew. That doesn’t mean I’m jewish, or a celt, or russian. I can acknowledge those roots (and I do) but they do not represent who I am. Unless it’s Italy because I’m a citizen lol
Blake’s Cherokee ancestors are probably like my Jewish ones. i.e. apocryphal.
What is celtic ancestry? Manx? Cornish? Breton? Welsh? irish or Scottish? Your ancestry sounds every bit as vague and full of crap as Blakes.
Every time she does something like this I think about the fact that Amber Tamblyn and America Fererra are really good friends with her and it makes me wonder a lot of things about her.
I wonder about this too! Both of them seem much more intelligent and educated on political and social issues than Blake.
My friends granny only recently told the family that she grew up on a reservation. We live in Canada and living on a reservation used to have a stigma to it so she was reluctant to tell evn her family. Anyways he is pretty white looking but it doesn’t negate who he is, I’m not sure that’s the case with blake but who knows
Everyone thinks they’re part cherokee…
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/10/cherokee_blood_why_do_so_many_americans_believe_they_have_cherokee_ancestry.html
I think it depends on your perspective. My mother and my father are from two different countries but I never met my father and I was raised in my mother’s country and culture. I don’t feel comfortable saying I am half my father’s country because I feel so far from it, even if I have strong physical features from that culture.
In the other hand, my husband has the same case with his parents but he grow up sharing the two cultures and he embraces his mix.
I don’t know if its the case for Blake and I highly doubt it but maybe she or her family feels very close to her Cherokee ancestor.
@chaine…this! I almost posted “well I’m from the South and my great grandmother was Cherokee” until, good Lord in the morning, I saw your post..ugh….why do I do this? My dad and his brothers and uncles have the hair/skin/profile that supports the story we’ve been telling ourselves all these years…I just ordered the DNA ancestry test to determine who’s who and who’s what..my interest has also been piqued through being a bone marrow donor in 2016. All I know is that my recipient is from outside the US. Bone marrow matches are made based on ancestry tissue type..who knew? Am very curious to see that info as well..
I think if you did DNA tests on many white people in the South, you’d find “West Africa” in their ancestry. I’ve had relatives who passed for white so there is that.
My maternal grandfather was half native American and Mexican and was born in the Arizona area. Thing is though if you’re Mexican American you most likely have Native American ties some where in your family tree and it’s so difficult to say exactly “what” you are. I preface with that as I no doubt have Native American ancestry in my blood but I don’t go around claiming it. I’ve heard several “white” people claim it as they think it makes them seem cool/interesting…it doesn’t. Blake lively needs to once again STFU. You are mayonnaise Blake [her personality], you will always be mayonnaise…stop trying so hard to be extra. Embrace the blandness :-/
This Woody Allen’s apologist
lol just when I thought she couldn’t get any more basic.. “Cherokee”, surejan.gif
Why is it always Cherokee?
http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/history/2015/10/cherokee_blood_why_do_so_many_americans_believe_they_have_cherokee_ancestry.html
My great grandmother on my dad’s side was full Cherokee, born on a reservation. The stories passed down were interesting. My dad was a native Floridian and his family goes way, way back in Florida. My great grandmother’s husband was Cherokee, but not 100 percent. My grandmother and aunts you could really see the Native American in them. But not so much as it trickled down. We do all have strong bone structure, though. My mother’s side is Irish/Welsh.
So I got Blake beat with my Cherokee ancestry. Ha-ha. But by the time it gets to me, so many generations later, it’s not all that much, really.
I can see it in my face with my high cheekbones, but the Irish/Welsh heritage wins out with blue eyes and lighter complexion.
Since when does English, Irish and German heritage indicate being ‘from all over’? English and German heritage are virtually the same thing (Anglo-Saxons etc.) and Irish is not far off. If your background were Ghanian, Thai, Ashkenazi and Finnish…
Utter rubbish – Celtic, German and Anglo Saxon heritage is COMPLETELY different – but hey its just white people so who gives a f*ck eh?
Im Irish and do not under ant circumstances think im ‘virtually ‘ the same thing
Yes, Della
The point @thaliasghost was trying to make is that those places are geographically close together.
English, Irish, German? Those are close globally. You can’t argue about that. And it’s nothing to do with being dismissive of European heritage. I mean, I’m from Egypt and I’ve got family/ancestry from different parts of the Maghreb. They’re absolutely not the same, but they are also not “from all over” unlike, say, the example thaliasghost gave of Ghanaian/Thai/Ashkenazi/Finnish which is more spread out globally. That was their point.
You’d be surprised to read more about the latest genetic research on Celtic people in Ireland then – turns out they are much less Celtic than you think. People in these general European regions are through centuries of migration in a rather small area all genetically closely connected to each other.
English Anglo Saxons came from Germany over 1000yrs ago. They are germanic tribes that migrated to England after the Romans left.
The truly native people of England are Celts and Gaelic peoples.
Followed by Romans for 400yrs, followed by Anglo-Saxons and Vikings who arrived almost simultaneously and divided England between them, and finally the Normans in 1066 who united them all into one Kingdom called England.
So other poster is not wrong in claiming German and English are virtually the same because Anglo Saxons come from one place.
What bothers me is the word part “I’m English, Irish, German and part Cherokee”.
It should be “I’m part English, Irish, German and Cherokee”. She is none of those things as a whole, only different parts, to different degrees.
The English are not all Anglo-Saxon. The name England comes from Angle-land but the natives were not Angles and in fact the British Isles has been a melting pot of different people for centuries. There never was an English race. There are/were Celts, Picts, Vikings, Romans, Normans, Angles, pre-celtic Iberians and probably many others. If you have ‘dark welsh’ or ‘dark irish’ heritage you are probably genetically closer to the Basque people of Spain than you are to anyone else. The Basque people of Spain are related to Native Americans by virtue of them all descending from the Kets people of western Siberia.
Totally. The Anglo Saxon aspect is promoted by the far right pushing their vile racial purity agenda. The right were also keen to stress the similarity of the German and English “races” during the 1930s in an attempt to foster solidarity with the Nazis. Largely nonsense.
The English ethnic migration is thus: the earliest settlements are Celts and Gealic people , picts in Scotland.
Followed by the Romans for next 400yrs.
followed by the Vikings and the Angles and Saxons almost at the same time. England was mostly divided between these 3 tribes, the Angles and Saxons taking the south whilst the Vikings settled for the North East and the Celts/Gealics retaining the west/North West and Ireland.
Finally the Normans in 1066.
Since the fifteenth century, it’s been a melting pot of other European ethnicities and finally in the past century, Asian and African ethnicities have joined the influx of ethnicities.
Jeez, she’s not trying to game a financial aid application. She is identifying her own blend of mostly white ethnicities that reflect the shade of her skin. As someone who is mostly Irish and English heritage, I am pale and freckley but have yellow undertones to my skin that clearly reflect some admixture and make it awfully hard to find appropriate makeup (as most very pale foundation suits pink undertones better.)
So much this.
OK being facetious – but maybe that’s why she has such great hair.
Ah, the old Cherokee myth. Sorry, white Americans are not as 1/32 Native American as they wish they were. If there was we’d have a distinct mixed Amerindian/European population the way a lot of Latin American countries do and the Metis people of Canada. US policy has largely been extermination and removal for indigenous people, the Cherokee were not exempt from that; Trail of Tears anyone? Just because you live on the land that your ancestors killed the Cherokee for doesn’t make you Cherokee. Talk about stealing land and identities. Cherokee genealogy is a thing so lineage should be traceable, but they never can because they’re not. DNA tests won’t show and percents or any maternal or paternal haplogroups because they don’t have it. Hollywood and America love white Indians with no racial or cultural distinction from the European colonial state. Those pesky ones who are brown and protect their lands and beliefs get pepper sprayed, jailed and shot at.
and to add to your point, recent inmigration in Latin America also means that different native groups are now mixed. At least this is what is happening in Argentina. Only a handful of native nations keep to themselves, in order to preserve their ethnicity and heritage.
To add to my comment this is a phenomenon we discussed in my American Indian history class, the phenomenon of white Americans believing they’ve “become” the Indian but in a way that is strictly through a colonial lense; a non-native understanding of what being Indian is and in a way that only takes “good” parts of being native, such as nobility, stealth, cheekbones, exoticism, connection with nature and belonging to the land. It is also one rooted in the idea of the disappearing Indian, in which the brown savage Indian falls into the past as the natural order of things and the white settler takes their place; an idea rooted in the belief that European settlers were destined to takeover Indian land and the Indians were to recede into the past. The idea of being intangibly Native American is appealing to people because of the romanticised idea of it. Most Mexicans are part Native American yet that’s not upheld as romantic because they’re still brown and tangibly native, culturally distinct with indigenous practices (piñatas, tamales, words woven into Spanish). Nobody is out here claiming 1/32 Mexican for some Native blood because there’s no myth attached to it, just like they’re not bragging about being 1/32 Chinese or Jewish. It’s a settler fantasy.
If Americans can trace family back to the 1600, 1800, even 1500 in America your linage is basically a mixture of many races. We studied in Anthropology class in college, most people are alive because of race mixing. We are the product of thousand so years of a linage with up to 12-20 different type of nationalities. We are all mutts, even despite your skin color. I’m from a mixed face family, my grandmother labeled a mulatto until the day she died by the government. When I started doing the research and my mother tested her DNA, she had a bloodline mother 4 places in Africa. Four in Africa alone and then added on the Mediterranean and Europe. Maybe everyone should be given the opportunity to have free DNA tests, it would astound people their genetics and lineages. Maybe it would actually lead to less racism. Its not a straight line for sure because of as horrible as it is: rape, land grabbing, forced married, immigration, slavery, and people simply looked for best places to grow food, make a new living.
It’s funny that you mention if people take a DNA test they’d be surprised about the things they discover because all these people who claim Native American always seem bewildered that it doesn’t show up on their test, which is exactly one of my points. White Americans don’t have a large genetic or cultural contribution from Native Americans (they sure do have the land though!). Some might find an indigenous ancestor if they trace the generations but that’s not a huge genetic contribution and certainly doesn’t explain the phenomenon of the American Cherokee Princess. Plenty of white American’s European ancestors immigrated to the US long after removal of Native Americans had taken place. I’ve heard (although not fact checked) that a white American is more likely to have a recent African ancestor than a Native American one.
Although I’ll agree on the part that humans are mixed in the sense that the modern idea of race is just that, modern. Also cultural, our ideas of race aren’t global. And that human movement has been fluid and many national borders are recent. But anyone famiar with US history knows that white Americans never became one with the indigenous people, that it is quite the opposite. There’s a reason that approximately 60% of the US population is white while a mere 2% is Native American. And, as mentioned in my other comment, if Europeans had heavily mixed with the indigenous people that would be very much a genetic and cultural reality as it is in other places but that’s not the case here.
Yeah on my moms basically showed up as sub Saharan African, north African, south African. Its based it on regions rather than actual particular countries. She did have native America and it said north American. She was actually tested free by the government because there was a program trying to find out more about ti-racial isolate Americans and how they coexisted and integrated. Even then, it would be pretty shocking to some people to see any part of Africa of Mediterranean area on their charts. …..Oh, and some Americans did actually integrate into native populations and African communities. Not understanding why you think some didn’t? Do agree its was mostly by force but America has always had communities of chosen integration, or integration out of being pushed out of other areas, as early as the 1500s. A lot were isolated, hidden but it is a little known part of America history and heritage. The groups are labeled tri-racial isolate Americans, the gens de couleur, free people of color tribes, older people would call them black Indians. My mother grew up in one of these communities as well as my family all the way back to my great great great grandparents. Some people from these communities actually also hold tribal positions. I’m from one these groups and a lot of them are in Appalachia, the south and parts of Canada. A list of these groups, http://www.everyculture.com/North-America/American-Isolates.html
great points littlestar.
I’m gonna set up a GofundMe Page for the corrective eye surgery i’m gonna need after getting these eyerolls off on this girl.. I expect you all to chip in, The remaining proceeds are going towards buying a case of Gatorade for Blake
Lemme know, I’ll chip in.
Honestly, I couldn’t tell you any country my ancestors came from, other than my one great-grandmother who was Puerto Rican (I’m fair skinned, blonde, blue eyed, etc… so I don’t go around announcing it because that would be annoying and offensive). I always disliked “culture food” days at school, because everyone would bring in ethnic food and I couldn’t “identify” with any country of origin, so I would make something up to bring. Perhaps it’s white privilege, but claiming German, Scottish, Cherokee, etc… heritage from 8 generations ago just seems kind of silly to me. If you’re parents or grandparents were immigrants, or you grew up in a heavily ethnic area, it makes more sense.
All that is to say, I think these commercials would be better off taking about skin tones and undertones. Like, “I’m an N20, when rosy undertones, and ColorMatch looks great on me…” etc…
Those Cherokee sure did get around didn’t they and most are related to a princess. Billions of them billions!
God! I feel ashamed… she is beautiful woman, but … she opens her mouth … no … just no …no … no … Thinking and talking is not for her… Just no …
Meh. I didn’t bother to watch the ad, but I only eye-roll most people who claim Cherokee blood (since 98% of them are wrong). However, I agree with lots of you that there is a difference between saying that you have Native American heritage and claiming it as an identity. I’m African, European, and Native American (actual DNA proof :P), and say that to the countless people who are curious about my ethnicity, but would never identify as Native American (nor white either; neither aligns with my experience). I sort of believe that we all should stop with mentioning Native American heritage unless there’s more evidence or experience than family stories.
Yeah like family stories straight from the reservation or the Trail of Tears. Otherwise, no.
I studied anthropology and the joke in that department is that everyone has a great grandmother who was Cherokee. No you probably didn’t. It’s not even possible from a numbers standpoint for so many people to be descended from the Cherokee. White people need to stop treating native Americans like they’re mythical beings that dont exist anymore and that it’s cool to claim indigenous heritage. I’m not saying that there aren’t people out there that have indigenous ancestors, or that people are being consciously questionable, but a lot of people believe it because it’s just what a family member told them once at Thanksgiving. Climbing down from my soapbox now, it’s just something that grinds my gears.
I’m part Native, one eighth. I grew up right outside the res. I’ve been very involved in the culture and an activist for Native sovereignty, dignity, and respect my whole life. But when I was offered enrollment, I turned it down. Why? Because the benefits of enrollment should go to those whose daily lived experiences and those of their immediate family have suffered because of their Native identity. And I look super white. I haven’t suffered specifically because of my heritage (I have and do suffer on behalf because Native issues effect family members who don’t look white and are what I’ve worked with my whole life, but that’s different, as others have noted). Not i’m not saying that’s the right decision for everyone, but it was the right one for me. I certainly wouldn’t claim that heritage like this, in this kind of commercialized context. I mean, I get what people upthread are saying about it being about color matching foundation, but it doesn’t read that way. It reads tone deaf.
Also, should point out, Native identity politics are *very* different between Canada and the US, and among tribes in the US. Some tribes considered it very taboo to ask about what percentage a person is, and others have lots of politics around who did and didn’t live on the res (if from a reservation tribe). So would be careful not to generalize this stuff, because doing so feeds unconscious biases much like the way Asians are treated as if they are all Chinese. Also need to be careful about using “marginalized” to describe Native experiences. Oppressed? Yes. Exploited? Yes. Massacred? Absolutely. But many tribal struggles can’t be labeled in the same way one may label other civil and individual rights issues. “Marginalized” means being left out and losing out on all the social and material benefits that are included when you are “in.” Many US tribes (not all, but many), don’t want to be “in.” They want to be left alone and treated like the sovereign nations they are. Just something to ponder. But all the points about how Native people have been met with violence and can be considered a micro-minority stand.
I find it astonishing, the extent to which fans buy into and handwave her numerous gaffes – plantation wedding, antebellum, Woody Allen-defending, now this, The response is always ‘poor Blake isn’t too bright, she’s just harmless, you’re just haters, why don’t you hate on this other woman we brought up!’
She should just rename herself Flake Lively at this point, it’s so clear she has hair for brains.
Bravo!!
My great great grandmother was named Leaping Fawn and was Cherokee. I’ve been told my whole life that I’m part Cherokee. There are family records of this. When I did my ancestry DNA analysis, it showed 99% European and <1% North African. My point is that having one relative of a native ancestry generations ago can be easily erased from your DNA relatively quickly. Technically, I could claim part Cherokee, I guess. However, it might be seen as opportunistic to do so for the first time for high profile financial gain. Also, it might legitimately be viewed as inaccurate based on my DNA.
One of my old friends back in Scotland has Sioux ancestry, she has a photo of her great great great Grandmother. Its pretty cool. They don’t know a lot about her or her family as a lot of records have been lost to the winds of time.
There is a ‘story’ that there is Canadian First Nation ancestry in our family (mothers side) but i think thats just what it is, a story as so far we haven’t been able to trace any ancestral connections to Canada. Althou saying that Rhesus negative blood type DOES run in that side of the family (its my mum’s blood type – i think she’s O-), so I’m either descended from aliens or some other aboriginal group. I really should get a DNA test done.
Okay, that’s nice, Blake. What are you going to do help combat racism and stereotyping of aboriginals? Or do you only claim your heritage when you can use it as a soundbite to sell something?
But the ad isn’t about racism or stereotypes. It is a light fluffy piece on makeup for many shades of people and Blake happens to be a shade of white.
It isn’t, but why is this the only time she’s mentioning it?
Because it was the only time it was relevant? People love to do a storm in a teacup. I’d say getting a life or real life problems is much more needed than finding out their heritage. Non-story.
Also, who runs the ads is L’Oreal and their Marketing/Ad team, not Blake… So yeah, the discussion is stupid, another excuse for people to make a roar (what’s new in the world of social media where people just keep wasting their time over and over?)
@Barbara – Spot on.
I love ancestry and have spent the last 11 years, on and off working on my tree. As an American, my heritage is all over the place. Including Native American, Jewish, Northern European and a a good bit of Czech. Many many people have assumed I’m Latin American because I’m dark haired, dark eyed, and get a mean tan. My brothers are red and toe headed giants. Very few people these days look a certain way and most Americans have a mixed bag of race and cultural heritage.
Stating one’s heritage isn’t the same thing as cultural aprobation. If you’re into it’s cool because you can look at all these people from so many different cultures and countries and they all had to get together to make you.
TL;DR can I get L’Oreal to make a foundation that isn’t orange or pink based? I always look off no matter how many different brands I try.
Also, Blake is not a natural blonde. No one is after 12.
You do know that Latin Americans come in all shapes, sizes and colours, right? ANYONE can pass for a Latin American.
Silly stereotypes perpetually passed on in American culture.
Yes, I’m aware. I’m not accountable for the endless times I’ve been asked if I am Mexican, or which Latin American country I’m from.
I’m giving examples of how different people can look, how ambiguous race can be to the naked eye and make a point about how diverse Americans in general are when it comes to our ancestry.
I’m not trying to pass for anything, and I’m not perpetuating anything.
While I agree Blake might not be a blonde anymore, there are definitely many people who are born blonde and stay blonde until they go gray
Er not true. My grandmother hails from Prussia ( a long gone German province) and at the age of 41 my hair is blonde as blonde as blonde without any help at all. Just defending the natural blondes y’all!
I feel like I should put my helmet on before I proceed with this comment, here goes:
Why is it only okay for non-white people to talk about where they are from? I really don’t like the tone that pops up a lot around here, that blonde white girls are “Beckys” and “Basic” it just feels really mean.
Actually most of the comments here read for very interesting conversation and makes solid points in both directions.
Insights to respect. Especially for us non -Americans.
Now if only Kitten could have been here today.
She always has great posts to tap into.
Just for a few; the ‘basics’ /’vanillas’ / ‘oatmeals’ /’insert adjective or slang’ is about all that they can get, to deal with that non stop Lively pain.
You’re right. Not all the comments are rude. There is a lot of great dialogue around here. It does seem that people get a pass for insulting white women and using the word “white” in a derogatory way. I understand that this is a gossip site but people can’t control their skin color and should be respected just as equally. I’m getting tired of being called a Becky or a Basic White Bitch or Skinny White Bitch like it’s no big deal.
Oh I agree 100%.
And I say that as someone whose half Nigerian and half British.
The word is eye roll inducing to me, which is why I added “insert adjective or trite slang here” in my post.
Anyway it speaks more about those who use it, than those they try to attack. So there’s that.
I agree that Becky/Basic/Vanilla is rude and should not be okay.
Me too… Let’s share info without insults especially racial ones 🙂
You’re 100% correct though. While some of the discussions here have been great, I’m side eyeing the ones that go “but she’s white.” Or are trying to undermine her heritage because of her skin color. The whole point of the ad is to show that we come from different places/backgrounds which influence who we are and hey get this our genetic make up.
I didn’t see a post about this when Beyoncé spoke about her Native American heritage in a L’Oréal ad. But because Blake is your stereotypical white girl to folks on here, we must all be outraged and offended.
no one is saying white people shouldn’t talk about where they are from, and honestly, I think if “basic” is the worst thing they can be called, I’ll be over there playing my tiny violin. (contrast that to non-white girls getting called “ghetto”, “ratchet” and outright ethnic slurs)
Anyway, Flake Lively is not above fibbing for the sake of image – I remember her claim that she only did Gossip Girl so she could attend Columbia – so it’s very much possible that this is something she saw as another cute little factoid to make herself look more interesting, especially given that unverifiable “Cherokee ancestry” is something white people often claim for that exact purpose.
She’s anything but harmless. Defending Allen, ‘Plantation Party’, now this. She’s a walking talking white privilage impersonation.
On the other note, Jennifer Lawrence always looked a little Native to me, she has very interesting bone structure, and looks a little ambiguous. That’s propably why producers like her (same thing with Vikander). 🙂
@…
JLaw has that Renee Zellweger thing going on in her bone structure that’s quite common with a lot of people of especially Northern and Central European descent. For the life of me I can never see the ambiguity in Vikander. She looks like a white woman to me, no racial ambiguity at all. I always think, with her, it’s because people (especially British and Americans) have a certain idea about how Swedish people should look (blonde, blue eyes) and she doesn’t match the stereotype.
Blake is everything!
Oakland Booty
LA face
Cherokee
Amazing actress
Thespian
I have a friend with red/orange hair and the palest skin you would EVER see….who gets discounts on college because he is a certain(small) percentage Native American. My mind was blown but genetics can be weird. Also, my college professor told me that those test are pretty basic and garbage. They ‘match’ similar DNA to an area, and it just says when people with similar DNA passed through the area. It’s not 100% and people take them WAY to seriously if you ask me.
I’d say this was mainly L’Oreal’s fault. I don’t have a problem with her saying she has Cherokee heritage since she listed the other lines of heritage as well, but I would be interested in knowing if she’s just been told she has Cherokee ancestry or if she really knows. Both my great-grandparents were Native American, Cherokee & Choctaw. I grew up always knowing that. Whats crazy is that when my mom’s Mom (it’s her parents who were Native American) did her ancestory, and my Dad did his ancestory, they figure out that my Dad’s family actually were some of the people who moved my mom’s family on the Trail of Tears. That was a crazy thing to find out.
I’m Indian and I live on a rez. The whole claiming Cherokee is pretty much seen as a joke to us. For Blake Lively to claim Cherokee, sure whatever. But I have yet to see her do anything with the Indian community. It’s annoying and in poor taste for her to claim Indian to make herself seem more exotic and it’s a bad look for the company. Why don’t they hire a true, brown skinned Indian woman to represent their shades instead of pushing this Blake Lively crap?
I’m a Maybelline girl anyway. I don’t like pink undertone of L’Oreal foundations.
I was unaware that the only way you can claim that you’re Indian is if you’re Brown skinned. Now it makes sense why no one batted an eye when Beyoncé did the same thing. “Oh well she’s brown skinned so she must have some Native American in her!”
In regards to Blake…I have no idea what she does in her down time nor do I really care. She’s not one of those celebs who announces that she’s done charity work or donated to causes so you nor I can prove/disprove whether she’s done anything to help.
I understand that you live on a reservation so you have more clout in regards to this and have a legitimate reason to be upset if someone were to make fake claims or act like they’re part of the struggle but you have no idea if she really is Cherokee and dismissing her claim because of her skin color is really tone deaf. The whole point of the ad was to show how our backgrounds make each and every one of us different and thus not all of us will have the same skin tones.
I think her Cherokee ancestry is about as genuine as her having taken up Gossip Girl only to be able to attend Columbia part-time – a self-serving minor factoid that she would *like* to be true, but which very likely is complete hooey.
Especially considering she has no known native ancestry for at least five generations.
Was it an ad for a self tanner? If not, then sit down Blake. Get a fake tan before you “come out” as a different ethnicity betch.
I’d be curious to find out how much “part Cherokee” she is. If its one of those cases where she is like 1% then yeah, I think its super silly to then start labeling yourself as Native. Even though she isn’t running around wearing a headdress or trying to claim minority status or anything else inappropriate. BUT for all we know maybe she has a grandparent that was more directly native. Just because she has white skin and blonde hair doesn’t mean she automatically must be lying or exaggerating the truth. Genetics can be a funny thing.
Do they have an ancestry test for stupid because I’m thinking that goes back to her great great great great grandmother too. On another note, if this is part of her and RR’s campaign to get Deadpool to the Oscars hey are failing. Nothing about these people is not staged or carefully marketed. Down to the pap strolls that happen in the middle of nowhere to the marketing of their kids at Just the Right Time. Don’t worry, we’ll be seeing her and her equally narcissistic hubby in a Lifetime movie of the week in no time
If the part Cherokee is BS, then shame on her.
Otherwise, it is what it is. She’s selling cosmetics and yes, our genetic heritage can affect our skin tone. Should she apologize for being “too white”? Is she supposed to hide or lie about it IF it’s true?
And LOL for the blond comments. She’s quite clearly a bottle blond.
If anyone has not seen this PBS series, I would strongly encourage watching it. Really educational and very, very interesting:
http://www.pbs.org/show/first-peoples/
Sounds like she was just saying what makes up her heritage. If that’s the truth, I don’t see anything wrong with her mentioning that. The only way I could see a problem with what she’s saying if she’s lying, but I don’t see why she would risk a lie. It also doesn’t seem like she’s trying to appropriate Native American culture as her own in simply stating her genetic make-up. It wasn’t like she left the English, German, and Irish part out to make it seem as if she were more Cherokee than she really is.
The only part of the ad I thought was a little dumb was her saying that her family comes from all over. But she probably didn’t write that part. Most of her heritage is an amalgamation of different white ethnicities (English, Irish, German) so when she said her family comes from all over, I was slightly confused. Saying one’s family comes from all over would probably make more sense coming from Wentworth Miller who has a lot of different white and non-white ethnicities in him, imo.
“It also doesn’t seem like she’s trying to appropriate Native American culture as her own in simply stating her genetic make-up.” – Exactement
I believe her claims of native ancestry about as much as I believe Johnny Depp’s.
For goodness sake, I feel like Americans take race far too seriously, no wonder there are so many issues with racism. Blake Lively is damn adorable. If she told me she was part Brummie (person from Birmingham, UK) I’don’t happily accept her as one of my people and buy her a drink.
I’m part Seminole and I’m even whiter than Blake. I’m actually really proud of that, but I’m not registered with the tribe because a lot of people pop up in Florida trying to cash in on the gambling fortune, and they’re wary of that. I find no fault with Blake stating a fact. She’s not saying she’s suffered discrimination, she’s stating a fact. Johnny Depp’s been claiming to be Cherokee throughout his whole career without any proof and no one ever calls him out on it.
…did you miss the whole Lone Ranger fiasco with Johnny? He hasn’t got away with his claims of Native heritage, far from it in fact, and I’ve seen side-eye directed at him for those claims even before TLR.
People are rightfully suspicious of Flake here because her alleged Cherokee heritage has never, ever been brought up before these makeup ads she’s trying to cash in on, and there’s no known Cherokee or Native American heritage or affiliation anywhere in her family tree (compared to, say, Angelina Jolie, whose 10-generations-back Huron ancestry is verified) . I’m sure she would like it to be true though, bless her heart.
Heh, and yet Bertrand claimed to be part Iroquois didn’t she?
Why all the drama about her saying she is part Cherokee ? So what ?
People get so up in arms about everything .
Her foundation doesn’t look good in this ad. Maybe she had some skin issues from pregnancy but it’s really thick and powdery- her skin is much nicer on GG. I guess the colour is right though. I have yet to try these foundations that come in so many colours. I don’t wear foundation but this makes me curious.
Thanks for posting the slate article. That was really informative. I don’t hear people claim to be Cherokee that often where I’m from.
I really love the range of excuses her fans come up with, for all her gaffes.
Like, it’s amazing just what extent people will go to, to cover for some white chick whose biggest achievements in her professional life are her nose job+boob job.
Further suggestions for Lively’s future add campaigns.
All suggestions were developed after analysing Lively’s career pattern.
Hair dye
“I am neither naturally beautiful nor naturally talented. In fact I have dirty mouse-blonde hair by nature. But just dye your hair blonde like me and you will be more successfull.”
Mood Enhancers (aka “powdered sugar”)
“I had to charm some very grumpy and bitchy people who are big names in fashion because I needed their help for an ad campaign and the money from the latter.”
Anti-Depression medication and anti-baby pills
“I too had to sleep with a man I didn’t like to further my career and that was very depressing.”
Weight Loss stuff
“I too had to lose a lot of weight to get better parts and this … helped me a lot to starve off some healthy body weight.”
Alcohol
“When you lack ideas then just have a glass of … and you will come up with splendid ideas like me. For example my antebellum website which glorified slavery.”
Love her.
She was so hot in The Shallows!
My niece is adopted. We did her DNA recently and she’s got quite a mix of countries where her ancestors came from. Based on her birth parents and where they said they were from, we were quite surprised to find she’s 4 percent Native American. Kind of fun to find out!
blake… you gotta stop before EVERYONE pulls out your pre-gossip girl pics where you were sometimes looking like West Va trailer PWT.