You Look Like Beyonce: Are Comparisons Inherently Racist?

Is it racist for a white person to compare an everyday black person to someone famous?

Last weekend I went to the House of Blues to see an incredible, energetic sold-out Kings of Leon charity show put on by Platform One Entertainment and the Lisa Klitzky Foundation that benefited the University of Chicago Comer Children's Hospital. I was sitting in one of the opera boxes with friends when a cameraman came in to film the crowd and the stage. One of my friends commented -- but not before she said something to the effect that she didn't want it to be taken in the wrong way -- that the camera guy, who was black, looked like Chris Rock.

Taken the wrong way? How can saying someone looks like another person be misconstrued? But I knew what she meant. I said, "Isn't it funny that white people feel like they're being even slightly racist when saying a black person looks like another famous black person, but that we have no problem comparing non-famous whites to famous people?"

From this, another woman standing near us joined the conversation saying that she mentioned to one of her black female co-workers, who had just done some sort of dance or energetic move (I can't remember the details -- we were in a partying state) and she commented that she looked like Beyonce in her video for " Single Ladies." Her co-worker became immediately offended, making a comment to the effect of, "What, you think we all look alike?" The woman who made the initial comment was stunned and said she would be completely flattered if someone said she looked like a gorgeous entertainer. She then added, "I guess we can never win."

I found this whole exchange really interesting, at a time when our country has reached a breakthrough in race relations, where we can elect our first black president, not on the color of his skin but for the fact that he has rallied the country, given us hope and instilled a sense of renewed patriotism. Isn't that what so many of us -- white, black, Asian, Latino, whoever -- have longed for for so long? To bridge a barrier moving us away from a horrible past that left so many in our country with deep wounds and scars?

White people finally feel more of a kinship with our black neighbors, but there's still those hushed conversations and moments where we feel like we have to be careful about what we're saying. Do we have to say the word black in whispers when describing someone? Is saying someone who looks like a famous black person racist because there's this perceived misconception that white people think all black people look alike? Or is it really just a plain fact that people look like other people? For years, people have said I look like various famous white people, some very complimentary and others personally insulting. But hey, it's a perception and someone's opinion.

In Saturday's edition of the Red Eye, the paper featured an interview with Reggie Brown, a 28-year-old aspiring actor. The article ran beneath a picture of Brown wearing a dark suit and light blue tie with the headline: 3 Questions for an Obama look-alike.

Now I have no idea the race of the journalist who wrote the piece or the editor who ultimately signed off on the interview. But does it matter? Looking at the picture, it's obvious that Brown is a spitting image of our new president. Surely, it's ok to say it. Because to argue the point would be foolish. The proof is in the picture.

So have we finally gotten to a point where we can start talking to people as people? Are we able to discuss a person's physical attributes without it setting off a firestorm of racial rhetoric? I for one surely hope so because it's high time we stop talking about people for the color of their skin but who they are. Commenting that someone looks like another person is a matter of opinion -- and sometimes fact -- and should simply be taken at, well, face value.

Comments

[Genmaicha]

Ari, one of the problems is that white people often tend to compare one Black person with another Black person who actually looks nothing like them or at best a very, very distant similarity. This tends to make the comment questionable in the eyes of many Black people. At the very least it points to the fact that some White people either aren't really looking closely or for some reason "can't tell us apart." There was recently an episode of Dateline or one the the news magazine programs in which a group of whites and then group of Blacks were asked to ID a fake robbery suspect from a line up. Guess what- the white people did horribly and not one of the Black people got it wrong. They drew some conclusion that White people ID by hair color, which varies greatly among whites. Since most Black people have Black hair this is a really lousy way to id us.

[cynara]

I've been told I look like Beyonce. Also, in those silly online programs that compare your face to a famous persons (using algorythms to determine who you most look like ) - Beyonce is always the first star to pop up when I input my picture.

That said, I'm as white as they come - dirty blonde hair with skin so fair I'll never tan. So no, I don't find being compared to Beyonce to be inherently racist - I take it as a compliment. (Better I'm compared with Beyonce than Kathy Griffin! Regardless of race, pretty is pretty....­!)

Moreover, its worth remember most Americans aren't descended from just one race. Beyonce's white ancestors may have resembled my white ancestors and, who knows, I could have some uknown African ancestory in my tree too...

[RachelMc]

ugh if some1 told me i look like beyonce i'd be thrilled. now if some said i look like whoopi on the color purple, thats a different story.

[amoore503]

There's nothing wrong with bridging gaps but there is something wrong with stupidity and rudeness.

[Dailyfare]

Ugh, sorry Ari. But Reggie Brown DOES NOT look like Barack Obama.

Oh, dear.

Reggie's voice - close. But looks. . .similar, but not a spitting image.

One reason black folk may be "sensitive" is that there's a history of sending the brown-hued to jail due to "looking like" someone.

Just sayin'. The chickens due come home to roost eventually.

"White people finally feel more of a kinship with our black neighbors" -- Really? Doesn't this take a kind of intimacy that's only developed over time, and not forced or manufactured due to current circumstances?

Just sayin'.