There’s an old saying that I find surprisingly helpful even in modern life. There’s nothing more a White person with a nickel hates more than a Black person with a dime. Essentially, White people have been so brainwashed by their global privilege that it makes them sick to be confronted with the reality that sometimes, Black folks are just doing better than you.
That’s what happened with London editor Liv Siddall and Paula Sutton.
In this example, Siddall is the White person with a nickel. And Paula Sutton is the Black person with a dime.
Her dime just so happens to be an estate in the English countryside. And Siddall was so incensed by the idea of Sutton sharing images from this beautiful life that she let it drive her off if Instagram. But instead of keeping her feelings of bitterness to herself, Siddall shared them with the world.
In a tweet, she’s since deleted, Siddall wrote, “Deleted Instagram today for the first time ever (eight years!) Don’t know when I’ll be back, but let it be known that this was the image that did it.”
She included an image of Sutton sitting pretty on a picnic blanket, on a well-manicured lawn, in front of that countryside estate I mentioned earlier.
It was a moment of ridiculous jealousy and likely some unaddressed racism. But what the devil meant for evil, God used for good. Siddall’s tweet only served to drive more attention to Sutton’s page. And while there you can’t help but notice the beauty and her follower count jumped significantly.
Eventually, Sutton learned what caused the spike in numbers and she graciously addressed Siddall’s concerns about her feed.
Sutton explained that Siddall contacted her to apologize. But she started this page to share the things that make her happy.
Most importantly, Sutton wrote, “I’m a firm believer in taking the responsibility to find the content that brings YOU joy and moving on from the things that upset you.”
And there’s the rub.
Siddall’s comment ultimately launched her into another realm of popularity and she was later profiled by The New York Times.
In the interview, she shared this about race and being accepted in the space of country living.
“When I started in this community, it genuinely did not occur to me that it was not a place for me. My mother was into country houses and country living. I didn’t think it was out of the norm.
My parents arrived to England from Grenada without a penny to their names but were able to eventually build a lovely life for themselves. They instilled in us that we could achieve anything. So I didn’t think that a lovely lifestyle and a nice house couldn’t be mine. But at the same time, making it sound easy would be unfair. I know life isn’t as simple as wishing.
The situation last week has opened my eyes a lot. But I also believe that people should live their dreams and be unafraid of what other people think.”
Boom.
You can check out images from Sutton’s beautiful Georgian home on the following pages.
