Unforgiveable Blackness

Unless you live under a rock, you have been bombarded by this story in almost every media outlet, foreign and domestic.

And while I certainly don't question the news value of the story, I do have to question the unmitigated anger in it all.

Not from black people though.  If you are black and you see a white person trying to gain advantage by pretending to be black, I certainly understand your anger, nor could I possibly have a problem with that anger.

But there seems to be an awful lot of anger and Schadenfreude from white audiences regarding this issue.

Why?

Why does it seem that white people are incredibly angry at her? Because she pretended to be something she's not? Because she tried to gain advantage from being something she's not?

But aren't we inundated by political leaders, public figures and celebrities who constantly pretend to be something they are not?

• The rich politician who spends thousands on "ordinary guy clothes" and whose campaign deploys untold resources to photo-op him into county fairs and burger joints, just like "real Americans."
• The liberal Hollywood star who professes environmentalism, but uses her private jet to spew fossil fuel waste into the atmosphere.
• The conservative "values voter" candidate who cheats on his wife and hides millions in gambling debt.
• The CEO who professes unbridled love for his employees, while making plans to layoff 50% of them in the next year.

Indeed, by now we are well-schooled in the illusion the famous and the powerful paint of themselves in order to curry favor, votes or support.  And we totally accept this premise.  We still vote for the lying politician, go see the disingenuous starlet's movie, and buy the products that the rotten CEO is selling.

Perhaps its because we have one set of rules for the famous and one set of rules for the anonymous.  Our celebrity culture lets the well-known get away with anything, but severely punishes the unknown. 

Why?

Again, perhaps its because we hold ourselves and therefore our fellow unknowns to a higher standard of honesty and behavior, and we do it because those of us who are anonymous have little to offer the rest of the world.  Celebrity and fame offers distraction and worship.  Anonymity only offers conformity and we'd better conform or there will be hell to pay.