Oof: Thandie Newton Catches Flack For Calling Herself The First Dark Skinned Woman In Star Wars

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Newton got wind of the fact that her words weren’t well received and she issued this statement.

And then this one.

I think we can agree that there’s no need to call the Cancellation Cops for this one. She is darker skinned in relation to the White men and women who have dominated the Star Wars stories. Not to mention, being Black and interacting with Black folk for as long as I have, I notice that quite a few of us have a tendency to see and view ourselves as darker than we really are. (Myself included.) Still, in a global context, Thandie is a very light-skinned Black woman. A light-skinned Black woman who misspoke.  And while her choice of words were extremely unfortunate, I think the conversation about her being the first Black woman in Star Wars is a necessary one. Why did it take so long? And what can those in and around Hollywood do to ensure that the door is open to various representations of Black women and other dark-skinned women of color?

What do you make of Thandie’s comments? Were they a grave error or did she just get caught up in the moment?

Veronica Wells is the culture editor at MadameNoire.com. She is also the author of “Bettah Days” and the creator of the website NoSugarNoCreamMag. You can follow her on Facebook and on Instagram and Twitter @VDubShrug.
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