Yesterday's Breakfast Club interview with Love & Hip Hop Miami breakout star Amara La Negra is already getting tons of heated responses, from those frustrated with Charlemagne tha God and DJ Envy's dismissal of Amara's struggles as a proud Afro-Latina, to those who still doubt her lineage in the first place, and now, a clapback from former Love & Hip Hop star Cardi B's younger sister Hennessy.
In the 40-minute interview, Amara tried to explain that as a Latina of much more obvious African descent, her positioning is different than lighter skinned Latinas such as Cardi, Jennifer Lopez, Shakira, or Sofía Vergara. The interview shed important light on the colorism that is pervasive throughout Latin America—and the world, really. While host Angela Yee seemed to grasp the concept, stating she grew up with plenty of Afro-Latinos and Dominicans in particular, Charlemagne and Envy had a much more difficult time, with Charlemagne at one point asking Amara if it's "all in her head."
Amara also said that Cardi's success has been made slightly easier due to her lighter skin. Cardi herself has addressed issues of colorism before, acknowledging in an interview with DJ Vlad that in many strip clubs across New York City, darker skinned black dancers and bartenders make less money or aren't hired at all.
Cardi's younger sister Hennessy took to Instagram to defend her sister as a hard-working and likable person with well-deserved and hard-won success. "People fuck with Cardi because of who she is, not because she's light skinned," she insisted.
Amara responded to Hennessy's now-deleted post, saying she may have misunderstood what she was trying to say in the interview. Hennessy then took to Instagram yet again to clear the air, saying she agrees with the main point of Amara's comments about colorism being a larger problem, but still doesn't think her sister—or herself—benefit from it.
Unfortunately, this is a reality for people of color all over the world as the effects of history has left behind a hierarchy of complexion-based social standings in its wake.
