Cardi B Talks Colorism and Her Blackness With Zendaya For CR Fashion Book

Cardi B has it all— a healthy, new baby, a thriving career, newfound wealth and everything most women would want. Well, almost everything. The Bronx-native recently opened up to actress Zendaya about a few things she does not have in a recent interview with CR Fashion Book. One thing being more privacy, which is nearly impossible in her now very exposed life.

In the interview, she also talks about a pervasive problem in the Black community: colorism. Read what she had to say:

Z: Is there anything that people don’t ever ask you that you want somebody to ask you?

CB: One thing that always bothers me is that people know so little about my culture. We are Caribbean people. And a lot of people be attacking me because they feel like I don’t be saying that I’m black. Some people want to decide if you’re black or not, depending on your skin complexion, because they don’t understand Caribbean people or our culture. I feel like people need to understand or get a passport and travel. I don’t got to tell you that I’m black. I expect you to know it. When my father taught me about Caribbean countries, he told me that these Europeans took over our lands. That’s why we all speak different languages. I expect people to understand that just because we’re not African American, we are still black. It’s still in our culture. Just like everybody else, we came over here the same fucking way. I hate when people try to take my roots from me. Because we know that there’s African roots inside of us. I really just want people to understand that the color that I have and features that I have are not from two white people fucking.

“Some people want to decide if you’re black or not, depending on your skin complexion...”

— Cardi B

Cardi is one of several women in the spotlight who has had to deal with their cultural identity being questioned because of their skin tone, and it is high time we had the conversation as a community so shoutout to Cardi for letting people know who she is.

Can you relate? Read the full interview here.