Political strategist Symone Sanders recently took to Twitter to defend why she will continue wearing long, bright nails during her television appearances.
The popular CNN commentator shared a fan’s question about her colorful nails on Twitter, and decided to use the opportunity to school the masses on allowing women of color to be their authentic selves when they appear in environments where their numbers are limited.
“Hi Symone. You are so smart and beautiful,” the question said. “I like your comments on CNN. But may I give some advice? Okay, what do you think about your long nails? It’s not appropriate when you are CNN TV and discussing [sic] about politics. This is my opinion. Please do not take it [sic] bad. I [sic] am one of your followers.”
Sanders said she created the Twitter thread as a “reply all” to the people who had the same question, and she took them to task about calling the appearance of women like her “inappropriate.”
“When someone tells me my nails, the dress or blouse I wore or my hair is ‘unprofessional,’ I find what they are really saying is it is out of the norm for what they are used to seeing on cable news,” she responded.
“There aren’t a lot of black women on cable news,” she pointed out, and as a result, many are not used to seeing women who give smart analysis, but also present themselves differently.
“B/c I am not “supposed” to be able to give you solid political commentary with a bedazzled nail right?”
She added: “I stopped looking for validation long ago from folks who didn’t think I belonged in the first place. Don’t let the non-melanated proverbial majority (proverbial b/c people of color are the actual global majority) tell you what’s “acceptable.” You will be left out every time.”
Check out her full thread below:
Tell ’em!