Mathew Knowles recently sat down with Ebony to promote his latest book, ‘Racism: From the Eyes of a Child.’ In the interview, Destiny’s Child’s former manager discussed his experience with racism and colorism and how both topics have affected the black community.
He also revealed that the effects of colorism led him to date his ex-wife, Tina Knowles Lawson, as it was instilled in him from an early age. ⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀⠀
“When I was growing up, my mother used to say, ‘Don’t ever bring no nappy-head Black girl to my house.’ In the Deep South in the ’50s, ’60s, and ’70s, the shade of your Blackness was considered important. So I, unfortunately, grew up hearing that message,” he said, adding that it then led him to date “White women or very high-complexion Black women that looked White.”
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“I actually thought when I met Tina, my former wife, that she was White,” Knowles said. “Later I found out that she wasn’t and she actually very much in-tune with her Blackness.”
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“I had been conditioned from childhood. With eroticized rage, there was an actual rage in me as a Black man, and I saw the White female as a way, subconsciously, of getting even or getting back. There are a lot of Black men of my era that are not aware of this thing.”
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As he continued, he spoke on the similar patters of colorism in the music industry, even suggesting his daughters, #Beyonce and #Solange, get more spins because of their complexion.
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“When It comes to Black females, who are the people who get their music played on pop radio?” He said. “Mariah Carey, Rihanna, the female rapper Nicki Minaj, my kids, and what do they all have in common,” to which the publication responded, “They’re all lighter skinned.”
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“Do you think that’s an accident?” He asked.
