allthoseripplingpectorals:

im-nora-ephron-bitch:

I just read a recap on last nights episode from a publication I usually appreciate. They kinda trashed on how they handled Kats race storyline. And I don’t know…maybe I’m too far gone in my love for the show. But I appreciated how it was handled?

I just think internalized racism is a real thing. Also I know biracial folks who really struggle with how they identify. I’m not biracial so I’m not going to begin to comment on this from that stand point and maybe I’m way off in my opinion. But I’d love others in the fandoms opinions/critiques, especially my woc folks. I just don’t want to be blinded by my love for the show, and I usually can spot its flaws pretty independently but I don’t know…I thought the racial stuff being addressed was done well?

It wasn’t brilliantly handled but it wasn’t bad. Everyone has the right to self-identify but it will always be important to interrogate how anti-blackness and ignorance informs a persons decision to identify. Kat’s parents felt like real people with specific histories and points of view. And Kat’s reactions seem true to someone raised in a colorblind world. That’s real life. Not everyone is a critical race scholar and to expect them to be isn’t fair. What is fair to ask is how did Kat’s ignorance impact her relationship to other black people and prevent her from developing her own perspective on race? What’s also fair to ask is how much of Kat’s dad’s desire to distance himself from blackness is self-hate vs a protective measure? Also, there is something to be said about how the writers tailored the storyline to Aisha’s experiences. Black Australian is going to be a different relationship to blackness than Black American.

I doubt they’ll go into it more but how Kat managed to develop a feminist perspective and think about gender without thinking about race is interesting.