grrlyman:

queerandpresentdanger:

msqueenly:

What confuses me here is all the things that are being said in the text. I’m not an expert but I cannot remain silent when Saartjie is brought up.

Sara Baartman, Saartjie, was toured in freak shows and circuses by both britain and france for white amusement, like a caged animal. She was dissected after her death to further scientific racism. People begged France to return her remains Africa for like 200 years.

What the fresh hell is all this “celebrated”, “white lovers” (does an African woman, not even known by her real name, actually call a white man her “lover” when she’s not, you know, FREE???), “sensation”? Why is she being made out to sound like a fashion statement? What realm is this book from?

What she went through was horrible, and the fact that there was specific inspection of her labia, enough for it to be a “sensation”, is fucking horrifying. This turns my stomach.

Just white folk writing history, like always. They kidnapped her, put her naked and on display, talked about and treated her like less than human, and sexually assaulted her, and these motherfuckers want to call it a goddamn celebration.

Just business as usual when it comes to white folks talking about the people their ancestors treated like shit. They really are under the impression that we’re all stupid. Note to white folks: Rewriting history doesn’t change history, no matter how much you want it to. Be honest with yourselves.