Summary

The article discusses the negative reactions within the black community to Ralph Lauren's collaboration with HBCUs, juxtaposing this with the importance of recognizing positive aspects of black history and culture.

Abstract

The author reflects on the backlash from the black community towards Ralph Lauren's investment in young black designers, which aims to create affordable clothing inspired by black collegiate fashion from the 1920s to the 1950s. Despite the positive intent of the initiative, many social media comments were critical, suggesting the clothing would only be affordable for white people or that the partnership was akin to endorsing Jim Crow-era clothing. The author admits to initially contributing to this negativity but emphasizes the need to acknowledge and celebrate the joyful moments in black history, which often get overshadowed by the focus on slavery and segregation. The piece argues for a balanced view of history that includes celebrating achievements and progress, such as the Ralph Lauren collaboration and the recognition of Juneteenth as a federal holiday, rather than dismissing them as performative acts.

Opinions

The author believes that the black community's negativity towards positive developments, like the Ralph Lauren HBCU collaboration, is counterproductive.
There is a perception that the black community is overly focused on historical pain and current oppression, which overshadows the positive aspects of black history and culture.
The author suggests that the black community should embrace and celebrate small victories and moments of joy from their history, rather than dismissing them.
The article criticizes the reaction to Juneteenth's recognition as a federal holiday, seeing it as an example of how the community sometimes fails to appreciate progress due to a fixation on larger systemic issues.
The author advocates for a more nuanced understanding of black history that includes both struggles and celebrations, and encourages the community to take breaks from constant activism to enjoy these moments.

The Negativity of The Black Community is Sad Now

And I participated in it too.

I listened to one of my favorite podcasts today done by an awesome black activist.

She talked about how “black negativity needs to stop”.

This whole thing stemmed from a deal that Ralph Lauren (a famous clothing brand) made with HBCUs (Morehouse and Spellman).

Ralph Lauren is investing young black designers to make affordable pieces to acknowledge the influence that black people have had on Americana and American fashion, specifically from the 1920s to the 1950s. The clothing line is inspired by black collegiate fashion in the 1920s.

However, tons of black people on social media didn’t take kindly to it.

“The clothes will just be affordable for white people.”

“Why are they partnering with a white clothing brand?”

“They’re just going to make Jim Crow clothes.”

So much negativity for a positive move by Ralph Lauren.

Here’s the thing.

I feel bad for contributing to the black negativity. I can’t lie, every time I see a picture of a black person from the 1920s-1950s, I always feel bad.

That timeframe for me, and most black Americans today, symbolizes a time of pain.

A few months ago I asked my grandma (who was born in 1945) how sad it must’ve been to grow up during segregation.

But she gave me a weird look and said, “Umm, my life was okay.”

She didn’t get shot. She didn’t get chased by dogs. She wasn’t sprayed with a hose.

This isn’t to say that ALL black people back then had a dandy life, but black people did have some fun moments back then.

They went to parties. They hung out with their friends. They dressed up. They attended concerts and balls.

Not everything was about slavery and segregation.

Sometimes I need to take a second to wrap my head around it. The black negativity is getting out of hand.

It’s added to this idea that black people are 3x more oppressed today than we used to be in the 1960s and that’s just not true.

This black negativity is also because whenever we learn about black history, we always learn about the pain we went through first.

There’s nothing joyous in it.

Of course, we can’t forget those moments, but black people had some fun moments back then too. Sadly, I don’t know much about them, but they happened.

That’s why it’s crucial for black people to chill out sometimes and have fun.

Not every good thing that happens to us is bad. The clothing deal with Ralph Lauren is a huge plus. This negativity reminds me of Juneteenth when a lot of black people didn’t like the fact that Juneteenth was recognized as a federal holiday because they felt as though it was “performative.”

Sometimes we don’t celebrate the small wins because we’re so focused on the COMPLETE annihilation of the system instead of the good shit we have now.

So let’s chill out a little more.

It’s good to take a break every once in a while.

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