ONTD Original - Is Gina Rodriguez purposefully anti-black?
With her latest nonsense coming to light people have been buzzing anew about Gina Rodriguez's intentions in regard to her feelings on black people and their works both in front of and behind the camera. This post isn't about debating if the points she makes are valid (often they are) or if what she's doing is anti-black (which it is) so much as it is debating whether or not it's intentional.
1. Forgetting that afro-latinos are latino
Marvel and DC are killing it in inclusion and women but where are the Latinos?! Asking for a friend...
- Gina Rodriguez (@HereIsGina) July 23, 2017
When trying to point out that the lack of diversity in Super Hero movies Gina made comments expressing desire for latino supers. Now, in and of itself this is not a bad thing but it does, however, erase that there are some afro-latinos currently in place, a point made by fans:
Zoe Saldana, Rosario Dawson, Jay Hernandez, Michael Pena, Tessa Thompson, Natalia Cordova... https://t.co/qCpifvR078
- Dinah Laurel Lance (@LordPotter4eva) July 23, 2017
so you’re gonna act like rosario dawson, tessa thompson and zoe saldana don’t exist.... https://t.co/8eVXKS6dI3
- ezra miller's whore (@lipgIosse) July 23, 2017
Lupita is Mexican, Rosario Dawson is an Afro Latina and so is Zoe Saldana but you're probably talking about nonblack Latinos huh :/ https://t.co/Vq8cgggChp
- Lex 🎃 (@LexRambeau) July 23, 2017
Diagnosis: inconclusive - While it's arguable that Gina meant clearly defined hero types or heroes onscreen inspired by latin culture to forget the likes of Zoe Saldana, who has always been loudly and fiercely latina, as well as Rosario, Lupita & others is very short cited.
2. What about our girls' trip?
What an inspiration #GirlsTrip is for our community. Those women are incredible and I agree this would be fucking fantastic! https://t.co/YFDFRQJqqM
- Gina Rodriguez (@HereIsGina) August 3, 2017
To the surprise of not only white people but everyone who wasn't black 'Girls Trip' ended up being a smash success during last summer's movie season. P*r*z Hilton, busy body troll that he is, made mention that there needed to be a latina version. The problem? With tone being what it is the sentiment can come across as not allowing black works to stand on their own.
Diagnosis: Inconclusive - In the context of how black hypervisibility is treated this becomes an eyeroll worthy offense that seems to belittle the achievement of black people but the general sentiment seems innocent enough.
3. #LatinaPower lunch
https://instagram.com/p/BaSSTWRA2cs
In october of 2017 Gina Rodriguez shared a photo of a 'power lunch' she and America Ferrera organized celebrating fellow working latina actresses. The problem? People were critical of the fact that, aside from Rosario Dawson, there were no other afro latina attendees.
Diagnosis - negative. While it would've been really incredible to see more afro latinas there considering this was what seemed to be a personal event instead of an official industry one and the fact that Gina doesn't seem to know many afro latinas personally I'm not sure I want to fault her on this particular instance.
4. Gina vs. Blogxilla's compliment of Yara Shahidi
Gina Rodriguez really irks my soul
HE SAID WHAT HE SAID “BLACK WOMEN” pic.twitter.com/3S64wEWmgv
- Janet ✨ (@nostalgiaonfilm) September 27, 2018
Expertly covered in an ONTD post two months ago while on a press tour for Little Foot with Yara Shahidi interviewer Blogxilla paid a compliment to Yara for being an inspiration to black girls. Gina gave us a lil bit of the Victoria Justice meme by saying she's inspiration to all girls, a point Blogxilla refuted both in the moment and later on when receiving push back:
It was a very personal question because I have two beautiful BLACK daughters who look up to @YaraShahidi so she is their role model. I definitely recognize Yara is a role model for all women of all ages but MY daughters need women like her. https://t.co/bdlTpUFI3L
- The Extraordinary Xilla (@BlogXilla) September 27, 2018
Diagnosis - yes sis! Blogxilla pointing out how Yara is an inspiration to fellow black girls in particular doesn't preclude her from inspiring all of them so why she felt the need to reference everyone in this instance is beyond comprehension. Even if she wanted to point out how Yara inspires many she could've acknowledged that in a subsequent statement without undermining Blogxilla's point.
Which leads us to this latest kerfuffle from yesterday:
5. Gina on the salaries of latina actresses vs. other minority counterparts.
Gina Rodriguez Says Black Actresses Get Paid More Than Asian and Latina Stars and Social Media Users Light Her Up https://t.co/BQciZSwvqo pic.twitter.com/y1ciJkCV7S
- Atlanta Black Star (@ATLBlackStar) November 23, 2018
During a recent panel discussion with Emma Roberts, Gabrielle Union & Ellen 'BEEN' Pompeo for 'Net-a-Porter' to discuss working in the industry Gina Rodriguez felt compelled to compare salaries for latina actresses' lower salaries to other actors. Specifically fellow minorities. As quoted from Yesterday's post on the subject:
“I get so petrified in this space talking about equal pay especially when you look at the intersectional aspect of it, right? Where white women get paid more than black women, black women get paid more than Asian women, Asian women get paid more than Latina women, and it’s like a very scary space to step into. Because I always feel like I fail when I speak about it because I can’t help but feel already so gracious to do what I do and I feel like, culturally, I feel like I was raised to just feel so appreciative of getting here.”
Needless to say black people were not amused by this to say the least.
Diagnosis: YES SIS! Leaving out Sofia Vergara as an outlier - because her money comes not just from her work on modern family but all her varied endorsement ventures - pointing out that latina women are paid less is a decent point to make but NOT in comparison to other underpaid and undervalued workers who make less than white counterparts as well.
Closing thoughts: While the first 3 examples may go either way it's clear that the last two cannot and, given the context of them, it casts the first examples in a new light of skepticism. Why Gina feels the need to point out black accomplishments in order to contrast them with latina ones is beyond me but the shit is not cool, it's not lukewar-m and sure as hell is not hot! Get it together Gina.
Sources: 1 , 2 , 3 , 4 , 5 , 6 , 7 , 8 , 9 , 10 , 11