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Karol G’s Controversial BLM Tweet And Subsequent Apology Brought Up The Topic Of Anti-Blackness In Latino Communities

The Colombian reggaeton artist deleted her tweet but the conversation continues.

On Monday, reggaeton artist Karol G started trending on Twitter because she wrote a tone-deaf tweet about race, that has since been deleted.

Given that she literally compared race to her dog’s fur, people were not happy and quickly meme-ified her problematic tweet:

Karol G be like "this will for sure end racism" https://t.co/jsnXQhHEay

But beyond memes, people felt that this served as a good opportunity to discuss racial biases that non-Black Latinxs have toward Black Latinxs.

En Colombia, literal asesinan a defensorxs de derechos humanos por ser negros y esta mujer diciendo que un chucho demuestra que el blanco y negro van juntos. https://t.co/Kz2ZeeCvvD

Translation: "In Colombia, they literally kill defenders of human rights for being Black and this woman is saying this mutt proves Black and white go together."

@karolg is showing us what many non-black Latinxs think they’re doing right by. “all lives matter, race doesn’t matter, we’re all human.” NO. just bc you don’t wanna see race & how it affects every part of a Black person’s life doesn’t mean it doesn’t exist

Lol not surprised with how Karol G decided to tweet.. this is typical with some light Latinos or even brown/black Latinos.. they refuse to acknowledge their blackness. Colorism is a real thing in Latino culture it pisses me the fuck off

Others also called out reggaeton artists besides Karol G for capitalizing off a genre rooted from Black Latinxs and not properly standing up for Black lives:

Karol G knew wtf she was doing. A prime example how white Latinos want to act oblivious when it comes to their privilege.

Most of the reggaetón artist have either stayed silent or posted stupid shit like Karol g very dissapointed in them. How can y’all not side with black people when y’all are making a living off a black created genere

Goya, who is part of the Colombian hip-hop trio ChocQuibTown, also spoke out about this:

Los mensajes de @karolg queriendo solidarizarse con esta causa; son Ejemplo de como alguien que hace música y videos con factura afrodescendiete, con ídolos NEGROS. No tiene claro lo que es RACISMO, Ni Discriminacion, ni la importancia de las razas. Y es algo que sumaría Mucho. https://t.co/Mrv7F1k92G

Translation: "Karol G's messages wanting to stand in solidarity with this cause are an example of how someone making music and music videos based on African-descendant culture with Black idols doesn't understand what racism is, nor discrimination, or the importance of race. And it's something that explains a lot."

After hours of people calling her out, Karol G issued an apology in both English and Spanish.

"I was wrong and I apologize. I want to make clear that my intentions were right in the photo I posted earlier. I meant to say that racism is terrible and that I cannot begin to understand it," she wrote.

"These past few days have been hard and it's extremely painful to see it continue to happen. IT NEEDS TO STOP. There is only one race and that is the human race. I recognize that the way I expressed myself was not right."

However, her apology doesn't solve her misstep. People brought to her attention that it's harmful to say that there is only one race:

@karolg gordi yo te amo pero por favor deja de decir que las razas no existen. por favorcito. por favorcin. pofabó. pufabú.

Translation: "Gordi I love you but please stop saying that race doesn't exist. Please. Please. Please."

@karolg El discurso de que "no hay razas" invalida las luchas que históricamente las minorías han tenido que enfrentar a causa del racismo. Dile a tu publicista que te haga un mejor comunicado o borra tu cuenta de Twitter.

Translation: "The discourse that 'race doesn't exist' invalidates minorities' historic fight for their rights that they've had to deal with due to racism. Tell your publicist to hire someone to write [tweets] for you or erase your Twitter account."

The tweet about her dog wasn't her only problematic one, either.

No se a quien se le ocurrió dividir a la sociedad por “Razas” Usted no tiene un amigo blanco, un primo negro o un compañero caucásico. Usted tiene un amigo, un primo y un compañero. Fuck that 🖕🏽

Translation: "I don't know who it occurred to divide society by 'Race.' You don't have a white friend, a Black cousin, or a caucasian partner. Fuck that."

The tweet invalidates the fact that race does exist and right now the main focus should be on how to confront anti-Blackness and help Black lives, rather than to simply say race shouldn't be a thing.

Over the weekend, she also tweeted a picture of herself with the caption, "Se trata de vivirla. Hoy estoy feliz." Translation: "It's all about living it. Today I'm happy." She posted this while many all over the US – and around the world – are protesting to bring attention to police brutality against Black people.

Se trata de vivirla 🔥 Hoy estoy feliz

In conclusion, those of us who are non-Black Latinxs need to be more aware of how we demonstrate allyship. We need to treat the situation at hand appropriately, amplifying Black voices and sharing resources to help protesters instead of making blanket statements that race shouldn't exist.

To all my fellow non-black Latinxs, we have A LOT of work to do. #BlackLivesMatter