This is something I've wanted to comment on for a while. I gave some time to pass for the situation to improve, but nonetheless it hasn't to my dismay.
Let's look at the Fantasia and Alicia Keys dilemma. Both were involved with less than honorable men, and the way the media treats both women is very different. Mind you Fantasia's suicide stunt did not help her case, but when word first got out about her illicit affair the media swarmed her and derided her, even going as far as mentioning a possible sex tape - who doesn't have one nowadays? When this happened to Alicia, it was like as if a bird just flew over your and you went back to your business. Then I thought it would be a fire storm when she got pregnant. Nothing. It was reminiscent to FEMA's response to Hurricane Katrina five years ago. And he was STILL with his WIFE! Shortly after the wedding Swizz Beatz goes on to say marry Ms. Keys was the best thing that ever happened to you... sure.
Being the person that I am, I like to look between the lines and see what's really going down; why the mainstream media is responding the way it is. With little hesitation I came to the conclusion that subtleties of class, race, and colorism are more profound than any of us can imagine. Let's take a look at the background of these women: Fantasia Barrino was a poor dark-skinned - yes I said it - black girl from North Carolina who dropped out of high school after being raped by a classmate and had her daughter at the tender age of sixteen. Alicia Keys was born in Manhattan to a black father (absent the majority of her life) and white mother, trained in classical piano, and after being a high school valedictorian accepted to one of the top schools in the country. Can you see the differences already? In particular, can you see how they will be viewed by the world? The best thing to happen to Fantasia was "American Idol" which indirectly turned her into a charity chase and she would forever be used as an example of achieving the American Dream - persistence through persecution. The best thing to happen to Alicia was well... and this will be offensive... when her black father left the picture. When she burst on the scene, no one questioned her blackness or the fact she was raised mainly by her white mother (tangent: opposite was the reaction when Mariah Carey stepped on the scene.). Alicia was not a tragedy, but an indirect "poster child" for the success in surmounting racial boundaries as a multiracial person. You can already see where this is going...
I'm not arguing for us to demean Alicia as much as we have Fantasia. I'm arguing for us to look at both situations with an even-ness in disapproval, regardless of their actions afterward. Yeah Fantasia tried to "kill" herself, but Alicia got pregnant before Swizz's divorce was finalized. Is really one action more preferred than the other? Has Alicia received a free pass because she got pregnant? Has Fantasia's behavior reinforced the negative traumas of her past she has never really escaped? Imagine if Fantasia was of a lighter hue... Imagine if Alicia was a tad bit darker and had her father involved... There are more questions than answer I can provide. My piece of advice: read between the lines. There are so many subtle dynamic that are at play. As a wise person once told me, question EVERYTHING.
