Friday, March 29, 2024

Jidenna Pens Open Letter in Response to ‘Colorism’ Criticism

Jidenna

*Nigerian-American singer/rapper Jidenna touched a nerve in folks recently when he spoke about the dangers of living as a light-skinned person in Nigeria. His comments suggested that light and biracial people are perceived as wealthy because of their skin tone, so therefore they are more likely to get kidnapped.

In a recent interview with Vlad TV, Jidenna spoke about returning to the African nation to bury his dad.

“When I actually buried my father, I had to bring a lot of AK-47s. I had to employ military commandos. Just to bury my father. When you’re light-skinned, you’re a heavier target for being kidnapped. You’re seen as more valuable. You’re seen as you’re white, therefore you have money. You’re American, therefore you have more money. If you have more money you’re easy to kidnap, and if you’re easy to kidnap we’re going to get you. So for me being light-skinned in Nigeria, in our family, it was difficult,” Jidenna said in the interview.

We live in a country that celebrates light skin, so Jidenna’s sombering revelation comes as no shock to us. Despite the IN YOUR FACE global propaganda that light-is-right, the Internet reacted stunned and brand new to his comments, with many accusing the “Classic Man” singer of being an elitist.

Jidenna fired back at the criticism via an open letter in which he spoke about being shot at and kidnapped as a child, and he also wants his critics to know that, “I am, always have been, and always will be proud of my Nigerian heritage.” Below is an excerpt from the letter (via The Grio).

“Contrary to popular belief, this interview was not the first in which I mentioned Nigeria. In fact, I’m frequently bragging about how Nigerians attend the world’s most prestigious institutions, and how we are known to produce world-class doctors, entrepreneurs, innovators, lawyers, engineers, professors, athletes and artists.

“My comments about skin tone were related to the notion of perceived wealth and value, not my personal beliefs. My point was never to imply that biracial or ‘light-skinned’ people are the only ones or the most targeted group of people kidnapped, or that I myself was wealthy at the time. Rather than focus on my perceived value, let us continue to focus on the value of Nigeria.”

Read the full letter here.

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