-I think it's great to have appreaciation for other cultures but this is just an idiotic thing to say IMO.


Ring the alarm! Buttastic Beyonce -- who is up for "Female Artist of the Year" at the VMAs -- tells Latina Magazine, "I'm just jealous that I wasn't born Latina. I wish I had been because the culture is so beautiful." If Beyonce is going to attempt to voice an original thought, perhaps she should write it down and read it first!

Bey may have put her high-heeled foot in her mouth with this one! Somebody let this woman know that appreciating a culture is great, but actually wishing (and perhaps morphing) yourself into it is a little annoying. The sultry singer goes on to say, "I noticed a big difference between speaking to all of the Latino stations and speaking to the pop stations or the other stations. With the Latino stations, there was so much love and everyone is so genuine." Is anyone listening out there? Hola?!

Where was Beyonce's mother, Ms. Tina, or even Jay-Z when this was going on?! From now on this girl needs a chaperone to monitor all statements! Her booty is legendary, but she shouldn't speak out of it.

http://www.tmz.com/2007/0...rn-latina/
[Edited 9/8/07 21:08pm]

Cinnamon234 said:

I really don't like beyonce, but i find nothing wrong with the comment
Its kinda like Madonna saying she wished she was born black,

EmbattledWarrior said:

are you black?
If you are or even if youre someone who is proud of your race...you should be offended.Im glad I am what I am and if I had the chance 2 change it I wouldnt.I dont care how much I like a culture Im not gonna try 2 change my own.
and so what if Madonna said that...that means they BOTH need 2 have a seat
I wonder if people would respond more harshly to this comment if Beyonce was talking about being white

Perhaps we are reading too much into her words. It seems that she was touched by the love she was getting from her Latino/a audience.

Is there anything she can say without people jumping all over her about it?

It seems like a pretty harmless comment, considering in an interview earlier this year she said something like "I'm a black artist and I make black records".

so yall tellin me that if Prince made a comment like "I wish I were born white" because he loves the culture so much youd find nothing wrong with that?It doesnt matter who said it...I dont like it.I dont think she meant it like it came out but maybe if she stopped the ass-kissing 4 one second we'd understand her more clearly.And b4 you group me with Beyonce haters...I actually like Beyonce...just not everything that comes out her mouth.Oh and she went on 2 say that she has Cuban friends...wtf!Thats bad as white people getting in a racial jam and saying "but I have Black friends"

Cinnamon234 said:

Paris Hilton makes more sense than this tool. I hope black folks take her to task for this dumb-ass remark.

Najee said:

I agree. I am sure Beyonce is proud of who she is and her race but that just isn't a smart comment to make 'cause it sounds like she is trying to distance herself by saying that.

She has been getting a lot of support by the hispanic community as of lately though so I don't know, maybe she felt the need to say this for a reason to be accepeted even more. Either way, it wasn't a good idea.

So?

Am I supposed to feel offended? Coz I don't. If thats what she thinks then thats what she has to live with.

I don't think her mouth said anything there that her look hasn't been saying for years.

whatever she wants to appeal the latino market..yes i know she's half latina but whatever people do alot things to get money..

I think racial couching and anger over this comment is a bit illogical. "Latino" is NOT a race! There are countless people whom those of us obsessed enough to continue with these absurd catalogings would/could consider both "black" and Latino (with the vast majority of those we call Latino -- even white Latino -- claiming somewhat recent black ancestry, anyway). Beyonce's comment then, clumsy or no, was a cultural one.

As it were, if she vibes with the many Latino cultures so much so that she wishes she were a member of one, I ain't mad at her. There are cultures I'd love to call my own, because they are so rich and vibrant. That hardly means I'm crapping on the one(s) I've been blessed with.
[Edited 9/8/07 23:56pm]

weepingwall said:

Where did you get your information??? She is not half latina!

Lammastide said:

Co-sign
for me its the asian culture
There are thousands of beautiful cultures out there, just because you like them doesn't mean your rejecting your own.
just means your open minded enough to see the beauty of other cultures...
If you ask me, the people who are alarmed by the comment are the same narrow minded people that prevent this world from world from growing.
Infesting the very soul of the american dream, which has become nothing more than a dim fallacy.
oooh. had a Beatnik moment...
i digress...

Point being, if you have a problem with it than you're just another victim of this new breed of xenophobia, that extends from countries into cultures...

dig that

weepingwall said:

Since when is Beyonce half latina?

Anyway, the thing that gets me about this is that you would never hear a Latino/Latina person like Jennifer Lopez or somebody stating that they wished they were African.
[Edited 9/9/07 0:02am]

EmbattledWarrior said:

Too much Hunter Thompson.

Cinnamon234 said:

very true.And yea,Beyonce is NOT 1/2 Latino.If this were true why would she even state that she wish she were.

Lammastide said:

I'd say Kerouac, But it was a bit thompsony wasn't it ?
"forever humping that american dream"

The statement doesn't bother me at all.

I can understand how it does seem like a ridiculous thing to say as it's simply not good p.r. for a cash cow commodity like Knowles to make public statements in which the context can be construed as divisive, preferential, or alienating to her fans...

That being said, in all fairness I would imagine that she would in all sincerity be referring to a kind of loving and communal spirit and esstentia reflected by the latin community, rather than a physical aesthetic (particluarly as there are plenty of latinas thoughout central and south America with black skin). When I lived on that side of the pond there was a time (because of my studies, then later because of my professional environment) when I was immersed in Latin American culture, and I have to admit very much missing the ease with which people extended affectionate words, gestures, or terms of endearment in everday life. Odd, but even lounging here now my head drifts off into a sentimental kind of la-la land as I reminisce on the voices that made up my world then, who would so effortlessly pepper our conversations con phrases like "mi amor", o "mi vida"...or cute things like how if one person went out for lunch, they always came back with a tray of cafecito for EVERYBODY ...these are just little everday, humanistic slices of life that could probably make a person very infatuated with a culture...I'M not offended by what she said at all, although I think maybe it came out a bit wrong as Beyoncé's not a particularly eloquent girl. But somehow I feel like I get the core of what she's trying to convey.

Ottensen said:

that post was filled with magic man
beautiful poetry

EmbattledWarrior said:

LingMAO at the "Beatnik moment" phrase...

If I didn't live so far I would SO invite you over for coffee right now

Cinnamon234 said:

But they ARE Africans, whether they say it or not. Slavery is a bitch

BTW I think Gloria Estefan at some point acknowledged the African ancestry of her music and herself too

Latin people are cute.

I am sure I am a bit dumb like some of you paint Beyoncé, but what is wrong with this remark? Why do people immediately assume she does not want to be black? Why are peeps so insecure about themselves they have to blow up other people's comments and put them in another context? She explains she likes the culture, so I immediately assume she is saying it because of that, not because she does not want to be black.
Media make elephants outa mosquitos sumtimes.

She just wants to shake it like Shakira

Cinnamon234 said:

Maybe she said: "I wish I was born like Tina"
Tina Turner. She's black, ain't she?

Calligraphy said:

jeezus christ someone give this ignorant bitch a guv'ment grilled cheese sandwich so she can keep her fuckin mouth closed..