Yara Shahidi has definitely made her mark in Hollywood and beyond. So much so that the "black-ish" star has gained her own spinoff, "Grown-ish," coming in January. It follows in the footsteps of another iconic spinoff in documenting the college journey of one black family's daughter. "A Different World" followed Lisa Bonet’s Denise Huxtable in the same way that "Grown-ish" plans to follow Shahidi's Zoey Johnson.
This seemed to irritate the soul of one woman as she claims that these spinoffs only happen if the character is racially ambiguous.
ima pass on grown-ish like i passed on black-ish.
how is it that a spinoff only occurs when the oldest daughter is racially ambiguous?
— chick norris (@darfucius) December 13, 2017
While this woman's approach to the conversation is a bit much, she's not completely wrong. She does hit on a topic of conversation that needs to be discussed, but her delivery gained the backlash of many. So much so that she even caught the attention of Shahidi herself.
It is a-okay to not watch the show… but on the basis of my "racial ambiguity"? that neglects the fact that I am perceived as a young black girl in most any space I occupy https://t.co/THWiAKHhy4
— Yara shahidi (@YaraShahidi) December 14, 2017
While Shahidi doesn't agree with the woman's claims about her being racially ambiguous, she does acknowledge that there is a bigger issue in Hollywood.
Now, we can have a separate conversation on the ever present colorism and the monolithic black aesthetic on TV of 3c hair and lighter skin…
— Yara shahidi (@YaraShahidi) December 14, 2017
Of course, "chick norris" didn't respond to allow the exchange of grievances to happen, but Shahidi's eloquence caught the attention of director Ava DuVernay.
Some outliers. QUEEN SUGAR. INSECURE. Change gon' come. Thanks for who you are and what you represent. Your color. Your hair. All of you. And I for one am watching GROWN-ISH. Excited for you and eager to become a fan of the show.
— Ava DuVernay (@ava) December 14, 2017
The issue of colorism in Hollywood is an ever-present one, but not one that Shahidi is unaware of. The 17-year-old has spoken on these issues in previous interviews. She had a conversation with Zendaya, who benefits similarly, about it in an interview they recently did together for Glamour.
In the interview she says “My goal is not to be the face of black girls.” Instead, she wanted to see representation of all kinds of young Black women in the hopes that “I am drowning [in a sea of Black girls].”
“I shouldn’t be the ‘accessible’ version of black girls,” she said. “That doesn’t allow people to fully appreciate their heritage. I’m half black, half Iranian, and I’ve never seen a half-black, half-Iranian description of a character in a script ever. There’s more to do.”
This is why we love this young lady. Understanding your privilege is a task within itself, but trying to do something about it is another.
