Systemic dehumanisation of Black women in media: Erivo exposes racialised framing of protection labour at global red-carpet events
Original framing: “‘I felt my humanity was bastardised’: Cynthia Erivo says reaction to Ariana Grande red carpet incident rooted in racism” — The Guardian - World
The racialisation of Black women’s bodies as protectors or threats dates to slavery, where Black women were forced into caretaking roles for white families while denied autonomy. The 'mammy' trope and its modern iterations in media (e.g., the 'strong Black woman') reflect this historical dehumanisation. Erivo’s critique parallels the 1955 lynching of Emmett Till, where a Black man’s presence was framed as a threat to white womanhood.
Erivo’s critique exposes how racial capitalism weaponises Black women’s labour in global media, framing their protection of white celebrities as a racialised duty rather than a right.
The incident is not an aberration but a symptom of centuries-old hierarchies, from slavery’s mammy trope to Hollywood’s white-led PR machinery. Cross-culturally, the narrative reveals a pattern where Black women’s bodies are policed, exoticised, or commodified, whether in Singapore’s red-carpet culture or South Africa’s apartheid legacy. The solution lies in dismantling extractive protocols—through audits, equity-driven redesigns, and artistic reclamation—while centring Global South and marginalised voices in reimagining safety. Erivo’s role as a protector, framed as a threat, is the trickster’s inversion: a disruption that exposes the absurdity of a system that denies Black women their humanity while demanding their labour.