Beyonce may have a her pulse on what inspires us to "shake our tailfeather", but she is clueless when it comes to being politically correct. Her fashion spread in the French magazine
L'Officiel, proves that she is oblivious about what it means to embrace and celebrate the African culture. The spread that features her in African inspired garb also shows her in what some call "blackface" shots where her face is darkened considerably to help emphasis the "African" theme of the shoot. What is disturbing is the fact that her face had to be darkened to get the point across. Africans come in all shades of color so the need to have her face be considerably darker is insulting and ignorant and quite frankly not completely surprising considering the source. The French are inherently racist so the fact that they chose this way to supposedly honor the late pioneer of high life music and activist, Fela Kuti, speaks volumes of how they have perceived and continue to perceive Africans. What is surprising is that Beyonce who I have to admit based on interviews I have seen of her isn't very bright allowed herself to be used in this way. To some these are just simply artistic photographs, but to someone of African descent like me, it's another sign that Africans are still reduced to ridicule and silly stereotypes. And to have someone of color help encourage the damaging message stings even more.
