Cardi B talks of her ‘Afro-Latina’ roots to educate people on race and nationality

The singer's natural black hair got enmeshed in controversy recently, and she criticised people on social media for failing to understand race and ethnicity

By: Lifestyle Desk

New Delhi | April 2, 2021 08:00 PM IST

4 min read

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Cardi B took to Twitter to talk about her race, stating that while hair texture has got nothing to do with race, she identifies as "Afro-Latina". (Photo: Instagram/@iamcardib)

Cardi B has made it known that she plans to launch a hair care line, so as to educate people on race and nationality, and particularly let them know what Afro-Latina hair means. In an Instagram post, the rapper shared the news, writing that she thinks it “is time for people to educate themselves on nationality, race and ethnicity”.

“Being Hispanic/Latina don’t make your hair long, don’t make your skin light or don’t make your face features slim specially Latin countries from the Caribbean islands (sic),” she wrote in the caption. “Dna have something to do with your hair not your nationality but guess what you can always maintain your hair …..and one more things not everyone that speaks Spanish is Mexican 😉,” she added.

Alongside the caption, the 28-year-old rapper also shared a screenshot of one of her tweets, in which she had written that nowadays people think that every Hispanic is Mexican, and therefore, must have the same hair texture, colour, and features. She also shared some more screenshots of people debating in the comments on whether she is Black, or a Spanish girl.

The American rapper is of mixed descent. While her mother hails from Trinidad and Tobago, her father is from the Dominican Republic. And she has had it with people leaving ‘offensive comments’ about her natural hair, which she had displayed in a recent video on Instagram. While the rapper likes to wear her hair differently and has quite an interesting collection of wigs, in the video, she flaunted her long and naturally healthy black hair, which fell on her bareback covered with tattoos.

Cardi B also took to Twitter to talk about her race, stating that while hair texture has got nothing to do with race, she identifies as “Afro-Latina”.

But she is not the only celebrity whose natural hair colour and texture became a topic of interest recently. A few days ago, it was singer Billie Eilish, whose hair transformation made news. The singer let go of her signature neon green-black hair, and debuted buttery blond tresses, leaving people shocked. In fact, it was also said that she had to wear a wig for a few weeks while she was going through the transformation.

Earlier this year, singer Demi Lovato, too, embraced her body and her authentic self, by chopping off her long hair and embracing a rather sharp, crop-cut. While talking about with talk show host Ellen DeGeneres, she had said: “I feel so free… more authentic to who I am. And I also feel like I used to hide behind my hair, especially, you know, I have talked all about my past — being in recovery from an eating disorder. And I used to use my hair to hide behind. And it would cover my body…”