WHITE PASSING

BY: Ramona Duoba

Singer, songwriter, activist Halsey has been on the streets protesting with her fellow citizens. Calling out for equality and justice and denouncing the heinous injustices African Americans have endured at the hands of the police. She has locked arms with demonstrators of the Black Lives Matter movement and was recently forced to defend herself against attacks of white-passing.

By definition, white-passing means an individual of one racial group is accepted, or passes, as a member of another group. Halsey has a white mother and a black father. She took some flack on social media for not embracing her “Black side” because of the language she uses. “On her post, she says let black ppl speak, not let our ppl speak. Nah, f— her,” the user wrote. Halsey responded to the now-deleted tweet, “I’m white-passing. It’s not my place to say “we.” It’s my place to help. I am in pain for my family, but nobody is gonna kill me based on my skin color. I’ve always been proud of who I am but it’d be an absolute disservice to say “we” when I’m not susceptible to the same violence.”

In a 2017 interview with Playboy, Halsey spoke at length about white-passing. “I’m white-passing. I’ve accepted that about myself and have never tried to control anything about black culture that’s not mine,” she said. “I look like a white girl, but I don’t feel like one. I’m a black woman,” she explained. “So it’s been weird navigating that. When I was growing up, I didn’t know if I was supposed to love TLC or Britney.”

The singer has taken to Instagram to keep her fans and followers updated about her experience at the Los Angeles rallies posting videos and pictures. Society may not understand her identity because her appearance doesn’t fit the expectation of “black” in America. Still, she realizes her position of privilege and the positive impact she can have on the black community. This week she announced on Instagram her support for Black Lives Matter with the Black Creators Funding Initiative. “We are launching a fund to help black creators and amplify their art, voice and perspective. This ongoing initiative will be entirely funded by the Halsey Team…we want to see your work and want to help achieve your goals.” With more than 20 million followers, Halsey’s already created a buzz by extending her platform “for black creators who want to enrich the world with their work.”