Cardi B took to Twitter this week to set the record straight, again, all because of Gina Rodriguez.
On Tuesday, the Jane the Virgin actress posted an Instagram story of her singing along to "Ready or Not" by the Fugees. Rodriguez, who allegedly aims to fight for inclusivity in Hollywood, looked to the camera and iterated "n***a" while singing Lauryn Hill's lyrics, instead of censoring herself. While we can all agree the song will always be a smash, what people can't seem to agree on is who can and can't say the "n***a."
After the Rodriguez debacle, the argument of who gets a pass — which seems to come up every few months — was once again on the table. In this discussion, the “Bodak Yellow” rapper’s use of the word came into question. Multiple twitter users expressed their thought that if the rapper, who is of Dominican and Trinidadian descent and identifies as Black, can say it, then so can Rodriguez.
Here we go again with the N Word double standard.
If Cardi B can say it, Gina Rodriguez can!
Full video in BIOhttps://t.co/DWsYAmtlqW
pic.twitter.com/qWrlrQBfcp— Brandon Tatum (@TheOfficerTatum) October 17, 2019
cardi b isn’t black and says the n word all the time & nobody says anything yal r mad inconsistent
— adanna duru (@adannaduru) October 16, 2019
How come some Hispanic people can say the N word … and others can’t ? It confuses me ! If you are gonna have outrage at Gina Rodriguez…what about Cardi B and other that get a pass ? #ginarodriguez
— YT MsDebDeb (@themsdebdeb) October 15, 2019
But Cardi b…….
Nvm, y’all ain’t ready for that conversation https://t.co/0lTMQ2ThSm
— Early 90s Baby (@El_fez_) October 16, 2019
One social media user took to the app to defend Kulture’s mom, saying the two instances are not the same because while the Bronx native embraces Black culture, the actress silences Black voices to interject about Latinx people.
Is cardi not a Dominican Trinidadian woman from the Bronx who embraces black culture? Unlike Gina Rodriguez a Puerto Rican woman who enters conversation about blackness to silence those voices to say “but what about Latinx people?” ?? There’s a huge difference https://t.co/dIz3j7NHI9
— gigi (@le_debut) October 15, 2019
The tweet then started an online rift when another social media user claimed the Hustlers star was actually a culture vulture.
Cardi never accepted being black. She embraces black cultures in the same way culture vultures do. She acts like a bw until its time to be a bw. https://t.co/wUfG8IT7qc
— Rah ???????????? (@Rachelle__023) October 16, 2019
The star herself eventually intervened, asking the Twitter user what it means to “act like a Black woman.” When an old video of the former television personality resurfaced, in which she talks about loving herself as a Black woman, she continued by saying she’s always claimed her Blackness but it’s “always a L.”
How do you act like a black woman ? How do black women act ? https://t.co/IMxOAgi7s0
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) October 17, 2019
But the crazy shit is when I did videos like this people used to say are you black “but you speak Spanish so I just started saying I’m carribean cause had to always argue and then people started claiming that I don’t claim my blackness.Its like it’s always a L https://t.co/9zrqrXqYfP
— iamcardib (@iamcardib) October 17, 2019
This isn’t the first time the songwriter has expressed frustration in having to defend herself. Earlier this summer, she sat down with Zendaya to dispel rumors and talk about the challenges she has faced when it comes to her blackness being called into question.
