Martina Big & Rachel Dolezal Both Want To Be Black — But Is That A Bad Thing?

For hundreds of years, people have wanted to be black without actually taking on the struggle of being black. 

It's the one thing that keeps cultural appropriation going strong. As depicted in the movie Get Out, there are people willing to go to great depths to be and look like us.

However, the desire doesn't usually go beyond tanning, implants, and general style.

That was until we met Rachel Dolezal aka Anita Ronge.

Rachel Dolezal was exposed by her family for posing as a black woman for many years when she is in fact a white woman.

And now the most recent white woman to go to an extreme to appear to be black is a German model Martina Big.  

Martina Big announced on her Facebook page yesterday that she had "great news" and added that she "had done the next step in [her] transformation to a black woman."

As a black woman myself, I've always felt conflicted in cases like this because although people are quick to call appropriation — it's not.

Appropriation is stealing from another culture without credit (in my opinion, otherwise we're all guilty), which both of these women have given in their own right.

We might also think racism, but is it?

What I do know to be true is that the image of the black community is already one that's fragile and with that, we have to be careful of what figureheads we allow to be a representation of the black community. 

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And truthfully I can say that in that sense Rachel Dolezal, however crazy the situation was, is someone I would've minded keeping on board.

She quietly lived her life as a black woman (with tasteful makeup, quite opposite of blackface meant to mock black people), she didn't make a mockery of us or perpetuate stereotypes with any plastic surgery that we know of.

Granted, she lived a fraudulent life, but she lived a full and fulfilling fraudulent life.

She spent time working a position at the NAACP and thus helping the black community, not contributing to the ignorance or stereotypes that we already have a difficult time ridding our community of. 

Although by being ostracized, exiled, and treated like a pariah, Dolezal has been giving a more realistic depiction of what it truly is to be black.

I do feel for her, and I absolutely appreciate the work that she was doing for the community, despite seeming a bit out of touch with reality. Although there are many who can't see and appreciate the work that she was doing, there are many of us who can.

But Martina Big's perception of what it means to be black is troubling. 

While I think her issue has more to do with mental illness more than anything, I think that her ideal image of black women (no matter how much flattery she spews) is one that we don't want because we are so much more than the big butt that she aims to have or our hair.

Hell — we're just more than our damn looks PERIOD.

She may speak of flattery saying how "wonderful" it is to "become more and more a black woman," but look-wise it appears to be an insult and/or blackface. Her image and her obsession will only add to a struggle which Big has no intentions of helping with (judging by her media personality).

She, unlike, Rachel Dolezal is not an image that we'd be proud to have represented our community ... ever. 

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Her passion for being black is superficial at best and that's not what we need right now — we don't need a faux black Barbie with over the top cosmetically added features. We want and need people who are helping to bring about change in our community and the way that others view it. 

But to say I'm outraged, that would be a lie. Well, at least not by the fact that she wants to be black, just by her portrayal of what it means to be black. 

So although they have similar intents as far as posing as a black person, being black means two completely opposite things to both of them and one is a harmful interpretation that keeps the door open for prejudices and one that we're unwilling to accept — regardless of the intent.

Related: I Have 3 Pieces Of Advice For The White Lady Pretending To Be Black

In the case of Martina Big, she won't be embraced by the black community as if she's a Tom Cruise or even Rachel Dolezal (by some) because she's a high-risk investment and really bad look that we can't afford to take as we are continuously trying to clean up the image portrayed of black people in the news and the media.

Seriously, the Black Delegation has traded actual black people for their out-of-pocket buffoonery (hey, Raven Symone, girl) — so I assure you Martina Big would never be a "draft pick" of ours. 

Sorry, but we just can't afford to take those L's right now.