On Monday, the model and former reality TV personality (who was introduced as a rapper and influencer) spoke at the Republican National Convention and seemingly implied that Trump and his supporters are not racist or anti-LGBTQ.
“Trump and his supporters don’t care if you’re Black, white, gay, or straight,” Amber said. “And that’s when it hit me: These are my people. This is where I belong.”
“I’m here tonight to tell you, no matter your political background, that the best chance we have to give our babies a better life is to elect Donald Trump president of the United States. I’m no politician, and I don’t wanna be, but I do care about the truth, and the truth is that the media has lied to us about Donald Trump. I know this because for a long time, I believed those lies.”
MSNBC host Joy Reid criticized Amber’s appearance at the convention, saying, “I don’t want to say she’s Black because she has said she’s not, so I don’t want to say this Black woman.”
“This woman who is of whatever race that she has claimed, she’s said she’s not Black, but [the RNC] brought somebody whose whole career is based on Black culture.”
“She used to be on a show on BET. That’s the reason most people know who she is. She dated one of the most prominent African American rappers in the business, in the history of hip-hop — so her whole culture came from Black culture, even though she says she’s not a Black person herself,” Joy said, referring to Amber’s relationship with Ye, formerly Kanye West.
“I don’t know anyone who takes their political cues from Amber Rose, but just in case you do, you might want to duplicate doing your own research, because she might not have done it thoroughly.”
Amber responded to Joy in a now-deleted tweet, “Hi @JoyAnnReid I’ve never said I wasn’t black I said I identify as biracial. I’m not going to invalid my white father to make you feel more comfortable. Stop being a race baiter ur president does enough race baiting for all of us.”
Perhaps Joy’s statement about Amber’s identity stems from comments Amber made (pre-forehead tattoo) during a 2015 HOT 97 Ebro in the Morning interview where she talked about sex, weird sex requests, never dating musicians, and her racial background.
When cohost Peter Rosenberg asked Amber how she perceives herself, she responded, “I do not consider myself a Black woman. Absolutely not.”
When Peter asked her what she considers herself, Amber responded, “Biracial?”
The conversation took a turn when Ebro chimed in and discussed how he chose to identify as Black because that is how society perceives him, and he “was raised by a Black father who was very pro-Black.” Amber added that when she’s around white people, she “doesn’t feel as white.”
I want to chime in here and say that it’s obvious from where I’m watching that Amber’s inclusion in the RNC was simply to persuade Black and LGBTQ voters since she specifically stated that Trump and his supporters don’t care if you’re “Black, white, gay, or straight.” But Joy makes a fair point that as someone who openly spoke about her struggle with identity and where she fits in, Amber was a peculiar choice for the RNC speech.
The assumption Amber’s speech would sway Black or LGBTQ voters is sillier than when a Fox News pundit said $400 gold sneakers were going to “connect with Black America” because the former president “understands culture like nobody’s ever seen.”
If you discovered that this is “where you belong,” Amber, that’s cool for you, but as a Black LGBTQ person — I don’t see myself in that crowd, and it would take more than a calculated RNC speech from a hip-hop adjacent personality to convince me otherwise.