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Intellectually, I know all the stuff that Erin quotes and paraphrases in the article. But her piece still leaves me feeling utterly gross. I can barely write this note! Dare I say that it is so superficial and truly insulting to be judging Michelle's "authenticity" by her rear end. I hear African American women do this to each other all the time, and I just recoil in disgust; indeed, the only time I feel such heightened awareness about my rear-end is when I am among African American women. The problem here is not the ideas we've inherited vis-a-vis Hottentot Venus or the Sir Mix-A-Lots of the world. White people aren't judging Michelle based on the size of her ass. If they are going to project any racist notions onto her body, the entire package is a problem, ass is not really that significant. The real problem is that persons like Erin insist on using the size of their ass as some kind of credential, ticket or bargaining chip, and who believe they have the right and duty to impose those racist ideas on other black women, as if that sharing a racial group makes them somehow better adjudicators. Black women all over the world take the size of their backsides for granted; it is what it is. It is only in the US where you hear this kind of fixated discussion about who's got a "black butt" and who doesn't. Its not as if Black women don't have enough to deal with, now we are reminded that Michelle's in the in-group because she's got a black butt. I mean, how much lower can this discourse sink? Don't try to show me, either.
