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White Women Can't Offer Black Forgiveness

I am guilty of foisting the ‘white ally’ medal of honour on Kim Kardashian.

In the fall out from Taylor Swift’s now infamous scandal where Kardashian proved Swift was lying about her husband, Kanye West, I wrote an article describing her as an 'accidental white ally.' I took into account the highly problematic, well-documented relationship the whole of the Kardashain/Jenner family have with blackness and cultural misappropriation, but still declared loud and proud, wrong and strong, Kim Kardashian was a white ally; a person with 'anti racist goals' who are 'members of the dominant cultures.'

After Baller Alert released videos of Kim Kardashian defending Jeffree Star, it’s clear any allyship she showed in the past does not extend to black women. And her apology, while heartfelt and genuine, does little to acknowledge the real problem; her desperation for positivity and to absolve Jeffree Star’s past behaviour at the cost of black women’s silence is one of the insidious ways in which white supremacy is able to thrive- through the perceived innocence and passivity of white women.