The Melanoid people who identify with being Dominican have demanded that their Haitian Brothers and Sisters leave the Dominican Republic. It’s extremely unfortunate, considering that their fallout has a long history of them being manipulated by the white supremacist colonists on both sides (the French for Haiti and the Spanish for the Dominican Republic). As we witnessed yet another view of the Black experience, we must be mindful of just how diverse it is. The circumstances may vary, yet the fundamental causes are the same.

From the super wealthy Europeans who manipulate conflicts among the native Africans as they lust for the natural resources of the mother continent, to the eradication of Melanoid people in Australia, the Black experience is much like the traditional quilts that our mothers and grandmothers would create in generations past: colorful, elaborate in its composition, yet a body of work that has been passed down to act as a narrative to our experience.

Oftentimes, the Black experience is limited to that of the Melanoid people who have resided in Urban America since the Great Migration of the early 1900s. We’re all too familiar with the Black experience as it pertains to “the hood”, yet there are countless Melanoid people in rural and suburban America alone who experience their own version of “Black plight”. The geographic isolation of these Brothers and Sisters is enough to pose a challenge in itself, although it is neither greater–nor or worse–than the Black experience of “the hood”.

The Black experience in Europe is a prime example. Much has been said of the day-to-day dealings of Melanoid people in places such as the U.K. and France, yet the underlying issue remains that they too, experience–and often find ways to counter–racism/white supremacy “across the pond”. An interesting sector of the diverse Black experience on a global scale involves the masses of Melanoid folks who have migrated to Asian countries such as Japan, where the Black experience takes on a life of its own.

Despite our language barriers, the food we eat, or the geographical regions we live in, a Black experience in one area is only represents the patch in the quilt that encompasses the entire Black experience…and this is the ONLY “diversity” we should concern ourselves with at this point in time.

For years, the “blackface” acts have been used by members of the dominant society around the world as a means of either paying homage–or ridiculing–Melanoid people. In spite of the stigmatic history of “blackface”, there exists a group of people in Japan who feel that they pay tribute to the hip-hop culture of Black America by donning clothes, wearing hairstyles, and even tanning their skin as a way of mimicking the very same group of people who they see on the music videos.

This video captures the very essence of the “B-Style” culture that Japanese hipsters have embraced. “B-Style”, short for “Black lifestyle”, would be referred to as a subculture for most, but to “B-Stylers”, their lifestyle is the only way to live. Hina Hasunuma is one of the main characters of the video clip. Hasunuma, who in the video worked for a trendy Japanese retail store that sells hip-hop themed clothing, says that the stores slogan is “Black for Life”.  In the 4:10 mark of the video, Hasunuma’s mother laughs off her daughter’s choice of lifestyle, mentioning that it is a fad that she will soon grow tired of being a part of.

The “B-Style” trend of Japan is akin to a trend occurring in the United States in which members of the dominant society make money hand over fist on the backs of Melanoid talent, style, and culture. What this Japanese trend also shows us is that people outside of the Melanoid community are able to go through “slumming” phases by sampling or borrowing elements of our culture, only to return to their own cultures at any moment’s notice with their socioeconomic statuses in tact.

Despite the influx of non-Melanoid people copying (and in many cases infiltrating with no intent of empowering the culture in which they siphon from) our style and culture, we are left vulnerable to such treatment because our communities lack an enforced code that heavily reprimands these people for doing so. If Melanoid people in the U.S. were to start mimicking the styles, cultures, and mannerisms of certain people outside of their communities for financial gain, chances are likely that we would be checked on what they believe to be an infringement upon their culture on our behalf. Anyone is entitled to copy  the cultures of other groups of people, but their intentions must be questioned. Is imitation the greatest form of flattery, or in the case of the “B-Stylers”, is it the greatest form of mockery?

by B. Clark