CULTURE
What Makes You a Colonizer of the Black Community
It's not your racial identity, it's your behavior that's under scrutiny
The term "colonizer" typically describes someone who settles in a new area to establish control over indigenous groups and resources, co-opting and diluting their culture in the process. We often discuss colonization from a macro perspective, referring to a large group of settlers. A classic example is when White people from France, Spain, and Britain established colonies in the so-called "New World" starting in the late 1500s. This dynamic involved the forced removal of Indigenous people and the enslavement of African people. However, someone can also be a colonizer in a micro sense, on an individual level, as Kendrick Lamar illustrated in his latest release, "Not Like Us."
This rivalry between Drake and Kendrick Lamar goes beyond who reigns supreme on the mic. It touches upon the pressing question of cultural authenticity. In "Euphoria," Kendrick warned Drake not to use the n-word, making a case that his use of Black American lingo is inauthentic. While some people want to buy their way into black culture, they fail to realize there are some things money can't buy, like integrity and authenticity. As expected, Drake opened his response, "Family Matters," ignoring Kendrick's…
