First of
all, I am a fan of Zoe Saldana’s. I’ve loved her work since Center Stage and I get excited whenever
I see she’s in an upcoming film. So what I’m about to write is in no way meant
to disparage Zoe’s character. I’m simply expressing why I find what she says
about race to be troubling.
I’ve
always been the type of fan who likes to know everything about the projects and
actors I love. I actually listen to the DVD commentary on the TV shows I watch
and sometimes find the explanation of how a show came to be more interesting
than the show itself. I also like to know the backgrounds of my favorite actors
and actresses. Years ago I learned that Zoe Saldana was a Black Latina. I was
in college at the time and just learning about the African Diaspora so I found
her background to be fascinating. I understood when she explained that she
appreciated the African-American experience but couldn’t relate to it. She
didn’t grow up eating Soul Food because her ethnic background is Latina even
though her racial background is Black. Most people erroneously conclude that
anyone who is racially Black is also African-American. I totally understood why
Saldana found it frustrating that because of her skin color people would assume
she was African-American.
Recently
she gave an interview with BET, while promoting Star Trek: Into Darkness, where she reiterated her feelings on race.
Her comments did not surprise me but they irked the shit out of me. Saldana
appears to wish for a color blind world where race doesn’t matter. She said she
runs from anyone who uses the word ethnicity. She says there is no such thing
as people of color because all people have color. White people are not white. A
sheet of paper is white. People are pink she says. I am completely shocked and
horrified that she would imply that “people of color” do not exist as if we are
in a post-racial America.
I get
it, Zoe. I noticed as a 4 year old that coloring a person with a black crayon
or a white crayon made my pictures look stupid. I questioned my mother: why do
they call us black when we’re clearly brown? I asked these questions as a 4
year old. As I’ve aged I have come to understand that terms such as White, Black, of color, what have you, are political and personal identifiers.
These terms define groups with a certain political history in the world,
specifically since the 1500s or so. When I say I am Black I am obviously not
trying to convince anyone that my skin is literally black. When someone refers
to me as Black they are not literally saying my skin is the color black. They
are recognizing that I am descended from African people; they will probably
assume (correctly) that I am descended from Africans brought to the new world
in bondage.
Of
course there are people like Saldana whose history is different from mine. Her
father was a Black Dominican man. Her mother is of Puerto Rican descent. Both
of her parents’ ethnicities are a product of the exploration and colonization
of the “New World” by Europeans. The African slave trade is irrevocably linked
to that process. In fact, more Black African slaves went to Latin America than
to the North American colonies. Puerto Ricans proudly embrace their mixed
heritage and acknowledge that they are a product of White Spanish settlers,
Native Americans, and Africans making babies together. I’m saying that,
although ethnically Saldana and I are different (she grew up eating Puerto
Rican food, I grew up eating Soul Food) our shared racial identity (Black)
binds us because our histories and lives have been shaped by that world
changing institution: the African Slave Trade.
Zoe’s
effort to be distanced from her race is really sad. I wish she could be proud
to carry her Blackness. I wish she could embrace what it means. Think of what a
woman who looked like Zoe, whether she lived in Puerto Rico, The Dominican
Republic, or the U.S., would have been allotted in life 100 years ago … 200
years ago. And look at the life that Zoe has now. Zoe is an internationally
recognized superstar that acts not just in movies, but in Blockbuster movies!
Her career is amazing and yes, her Blackness makes it amazing in a more
poignant way than if she were an actress primarily of European descent. I wish
she would wear her color proudly instead of flinching whenever someone mentions
it, because whether she likes it or not, women of color take pride in seeing a
beautiful and talented Black woman given her due in the mainstream. We’re proud
of you, Zoe. Why aren’t you proud to be one of us?
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