Interesting conversation between Ferguson Protestor and Isaiah Washington on identifying as black..

[one_voice]

This was done in tweets but I still found it interesting...

Isaiah Washington Claims “I’m No Black”

Raven-Symoné has once against sparked a discussion over how some Blacks perceived themselves in society. Black Twitter and the media couldn’t stop talking about the Empire star’s declaration, she “wasn’t African American” and her on-air blunder of being from “every continent” in Africa and Europe with E! News. One of Raven’s fellow thespians co-signed her thought process and opened an interesting dialog.

Ferguson, Mo protester DeRay McKesson spoke out on Raven’s views on Twitter and chided the actress for her remarks. McKesson tweeted:

Tweets:

deray mckesson @deray
Follow

No amount of fame, fortune, travel, or skill will make a black person "not black." To attempt to "escape blackness" is to lose in advance.
5:42 PM - 27 Mar 2015

Isaiah Washington quickly weighed in on McKesson’s comments and claimed he was “no black”. The former Grey’s Anatomy star remarked:

Isaiah Washington ✔ @IWashington
Follow

@deray I disagree sir. I'm no "black"...I'm Mende Temne on my maternal side and Mbundu on my paternal side. No one can get a visa to 'Black"

Very interesting. While Washington is right, you can’t get a travelling visa to visit, “black”, you sure can get stopped by the police for being one. Soon McKesson and Washington, who stars on The CW series, The 100, had an interesting conversation on identifying as Black in America. Check out some of the tweets below.

deray mckesson @deray
Follow

@IWashington my comment is about how one is seen as "black" vis a vis white supremacy, not how you want to self-identify.

Isaiah Washington ✔ @IWashington
Follow

@deray Your comment included "celebrities", which I am and again, I'm not "black" with 35 years of research to dispel this notion.
5:56 PM - 27 Mar 2015

deray mckesson @deray
Follow

@IWashington you in a hoodie in the middle of the night are a black man in America, the nuance is erased.
5:52 PM - 27 Mar 2015

Isaiah Washington ✔ @IWashington
Follow

@deray I agree with you, but you are succumbing to a term that gives power to a stereotype that all African American men cope with Globally.
5:58 PM - 27 Mar 2015

deray mckesson @deray
Follow

.@IWashington are you pushing against this notion of a monolithic blackness? If so, I agree with you on this.
6:11 PM - 27 Mar 2015

Isaiah Washington ✔ @IWashington
Follow

@deray Yes and I'm also suggesting that we seek our ancestral links to the People that we share thousand year old histories with.
6:14 PM - 27 Mar 2015

deray mckesson @deray
Follow

.@IWashington I'm all for seeking them. But you seem to think that self-identification will work to dismantle the impact of wt supremacy
6:15 PM - 27 Mar 2015

Isaiah Washington ✔ @IWashington
Follow

@deray Yes, what other choice do we have now? We're still dying from violence in America & Africa. At some point we have to connect the dots
6:23 PM - 27 Mar 2015

http://hellobeautiful.com/2015/03/29/isaiah-washington-claims-im-no-black/

[qazplm]

1. I get what Washington is trying to say

but he tried to present a concept that is almost guaranteed to be misinterpreted when boil down to a tweet. Bad choice of forums.