Here's my two cents worth on this subject.
First of all I do not believe that Guiliana is in any way a racist... I don't know her personally, but have watched her quite a bit on t.v., so that is just my opinion.
Second.... she should have known that what she said would be taken the wrong way and she would be harshly criticized. She should not have made the comment at all. If Zendaya had been white with dreads and Guilana had made the same exact comment, I believe very little would have been made of it. The comment would probably have been taken as Guiliana meant it ..... as something that would be said about a hippie. I saw her apology and felt it was sincere.
Third.... I am soooo tired of the fact that it seems you cannot say anything regarding an African American person without the "race card" rearing it's ugly head. Even compliments get turned around every which way so that they seem to contain a racial connotation. Here's is one of my personal experiences: I went to my bank one day and as I was waiting in line I noticed that one of the newer cashiers was amazingly beautiful... I was actually mesmerized... she could have easily been a model. Anyway I told myself a long time ago that if you feel a compliment, you should share it with the person. I know I like compliments, and depending on how much pain I'm in on any given day, a compliment really means a lot to me, in fact in can make my whole day. So when it was my turn to go up to the cashier, I ended up with her, so I reminded myself that I should compliment her...... "a compliment left unsaid is simply a thought." So, I told her I thought she was gorgeous, and she just stared at me. She didn't say thank you and acted a little nervous, so then I said "I hope I didn't make you feel uncomfortable with my compliment, but I just had to tell you." Finally, she made eye contact with me and said in a low voice "thank you."
Another incident (a short one) I was out shopping and passed by a lady with an adorable newborn baby. I love babies... any kind of babies, so I stopped her and asked if I could see her baby... she had him covered up. She just stood an stared at me. She pulled the blanket down a little and I told her how adorable her baby son was and asked her how old he was. She hesitated but answered me. She never once smiled, and she quickly moved away. Now that I can understand because I thought later, that being a mother of a newborn, maybe she thought I might try to steel her baby and was just being cautious ..... again I'm just assuming here.
I felt embarrassed that I seemed to have made her uncomfortable, and was very sad that I said something that was truly heartfelt and got the "indifferent attitude" from her. I know I am just assuming how she felt, but I will never know for sure.
Unfortunately I stop and think now before I compliment a person of color afraid I will somehow offend them.
I would appreciate any thoughts on this. Maybe I'm just too sensitive.
Sorry for the long post.
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