The Real Housewives of Potomac revisited their heated row about racial identity on the show’s reunion last night.
In past episodes, Katie Rost has alluded to the fact that Gizelle Bryant and Robyn Dixon must have White ancestors because of their light complexion. Um, okay.
When asked if this is because she believes Byrant and Dixon are not Black, she responded,
“No, I’m really surprised that they’re so obsessed with skin color and racial identity,” she began. “I feel like every single time I do or say anything, it’s like ‘Katie, you’re not being Black enough’ or ‘Katie, how Black are you feeling today?’ I don’t wake up in the morning and go, ‘How Black am I feeling?’”
“I don’t walk around having race on my mind constantly,” she continued.
Gizelle Bryant explained that her father’s role in the civil right’s movement is why she is proud to identify as Black, which she feels Rost is ashamed of. Bryant shared that Rost had made demeaning comments during a baby naming ceremony about the Black side of her family. In a sort of apologetic attempt, she tweeted a photo of herself in a “Jackson 5 afro.”
What concerns Bryant and Dixon, is that Rost is reluctant to identify as Black. She deflects by calling their questions “ignorant” and referring to the ladies as “dumb and dumber.”
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While there’s a lot to unpack from this heated exchange, the troubling truth, for some of her castmates, has been how Rost has struggled to openly identify as Black because of her biracial background.
Do you think it’s important that Rost identify herself as Black?
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