Source: Shareif Ziyadat / Getty
Joe Budden recently called out New York City strip clubs for the lack of Black women on their rosters. On his Instagram story, the New Jersey rep slammed them for intentionally hiring women with a certain aesthetic.
“NY strip clubs, not only are you not hiring Black women, but you’re purposely hiring the SAME exact girl,” he wrote on a picture of non-Black women posing together at a strip club. “Your promoter having a type is gonna lose y’all money this Summer. this is disgusting (not the girls, the optics).”
Cardi B, who has been open about being a stripper in the past, has also spoken on this issue. Back in 2017, the “Rumors” rapper said that Black women are often pushed aside in New York strip clubs. In the Big Apple, bartenders are just as well known as the dancers and referred to as “startenders.” Cardi B said Black women are not top contenders for that job either.
“They don’t even hire Black bartenders in New York City strip clubs, which is sad,” she told DJ Vlad. “I feel like people have this fetish with these girls that they consider exotic, you know?”
What Joe Budden and Cardi B have pointed out is a clear example of colorism and racism. As long as the woman has the features of a Black woman but not the complexion or hair texture, she is acceptable. New York City dancers even went on strike in 2017 over the blatant colorism and hiring of racially ambiguous women over Black women. That same year, DJ Kay Slay also acknowledged that racism was running rampant in New York City strip clubs.
“What I do understand and acknowledge is that there is RACISM against black woman in most of these NY strip clubs!,” he said in an Instagram post. “It has been going on for a while now it didn’t just start? At some of my events when it’s celebrities in the VIP I have to grab the black women by their hands and pull them into VIP.”
