April 30, 2018

"You are one of the white people sweetie"/"No. I am Not."

That "No. I am Not" comes from the recording artist Halsey (née Ashley Nicolette Frangipane), who came up for widespread criticism/mockery last week when she tweeted, "I’ve been traveling for years now and it’s been so frustrating that the hotel toiletry industry entirely alienates people of color. I can’t use this perfumed watered down white people shampoo. Neither can 50% of ur customers. Annoying."

Looking at pictures of Halsey, you might assume she's white. (The previous post is about a performer who is white, but is mistakenly seen as black.) But Halsey has a black father and a white mother and identifies herself as black, WaPo reports.
“I’m white-passing. I’ve accepted that about myself and have never tried to control anything about black culture that’s not mine,” Halsey said in August 2017 to Playboy. “I look like a white girl, but I don’t feel like one. I’m a black woman.”
Now, some people think the shampoo question is trivial, whether it's raised by a black person or a white person, but the complaint seems different if you think someone is raising it on behalf of other people who are not talking about it themselves.... doesn't it?

Why do we expect people to raise their own complaints? It reminds me of the standing doctrine in law, which restricts courts from hearing lawsuits brought by people who are not personally injured by the problem they want the court to solve. Some of the idea there is that if the people who are directly affected are not complaining, maybe it's not a real problem, and some of the idea is that the people who are directly affected might talk about the problem in a different and more useful way.

But filing a lawsuit is different from starting a conversation. Plaintiffs control a lot of what happens in a lawsuit that might affect a lot of people who are left on the outside. But someone who, like Halsey, introduces a new topic for public debate has no equivalent control. We can all talk about it, bat it around, and develop arguments, including arguments about whether it's even a topic worth talking about. Some of these arguments will be about whether the person who started the conversation is worthy, and those arguments might make somebody like me want to criticize arguments that are not about the topic but about the person who raised the topic: Should white people refrain from complaining about things that hurt black people? And how much do we want to get involved in figuring out the race of a person who's raising an issue?

As to whether the hotel shampoo problem is trivial, here are some more Halsey tweets:
The point is that mass production of those products as the standard is part of a greater problem of disenfranchisement. If white ppl can enjoy the luxury/convenience, there should be an option for everyone to. Its an “insignificant” example of a bigger problem. That’s all!...

When u make white products the standard, it makes white the “normal”. I was only trying to provoke some thought about the way these things impact our perception. That’s all....

It’s not just hotels. I stayed in a psychiatric hospital as a teenager and they didn’t have hair products for any patients who were POC. It’s hard enough being in there as it is, but then ur gonna too feel ugly and dry n frizzy too? Nah. Anyways. Y’all still missing the point lol....

It’s about being made to feel unincluded. Which is, obviously, a far greater problem than shampoo. I never wanna talk about soap ever again lol. 
ADDED: Is ever having listened to a Halsey song a necessarily element to having an opinion about her shampoo talk?

180 comments:

Earnest Prole said...

I love the smell of racial resentment in the morning.

LordSomber said...

First World Problems.

chickelit said...

She’s gotta wash The Man right outta her hair.

Unknown said...

I think the issue for me is that so many of the empathy police are policing on behalf of what they believe other people must feel. Which is pretty condescending when you think about it. I don't want to have people raise a stink on my behalf without me bringing it up first.

Bill, Republic of Texas said...

I stayed in a psychiatric hospital as a teenager

Wow! I didn't see that coming.

Sebastian said...

The shampoo is the least of it.

Check out the mini-fridge: bad wine, bad beer, overpriced. Deplorable.

I feel so unincluded.

richlb said...

I found her point valid and well thought out, although (she admits) trivial on the face. But hotels cater to their supposed clientele. To the best of my knowledge I have never stayed at a hotel in a major minority neighborhood and wonder what the supplied haircare products look like there. I suspect Halsey hasn't either. And what about people with very oily hair? Are they not catered to as well? Or people with coloring in their hair who prefer a shampoo that protects that.

Hotel toiletries are provided as a service to those who are too stupid or absent minded to bring their own. Complaints like this are more likely to lead to completely removing them in an effort to offend no one, as opposed to assisting someone.

Now her complaint about hair care products in a mental institution, that's a different argument altogether and it's a shame she ties that to her whining about Days Inn soap.

whitney said...

I have started replacing "starting a dialogue" "starting a conversation" with nagging. It makes everything so much clearer

The Cracker Emcee Refulgent said...

I love this stuff. It's not the end of America. It's the end of the Left.

Lucien said...

When someone is multi-racial and chooses to identify as black, it tells you something about how bad it really is to be black in this country. It’s like voting with your feet.

NKP said...

Halsey says she stayed in a psychiatric hospital as a teenager. It sucks to not be 'normal'.

Wince said...

Ami Horowitz: How white liberals really view black voters...

https://youtu.be/rrBxZGWCdgs?t=1m14s

iowan2 said...

This is the kind of activism that will instantly save dozens of Black kids lives in Chicago.

I am constantly in awe of my moral and ethical superiors.

Known Unknown said...

Race obsessions are unhealthy.

Thanks, media.

Jeff Gee said...

First World Problem? I think we're deep into negative numbers here.

MikeR said...

Use a bar of Ivory soap like I do.

madAsHell said...

Why do all these women want to be seen as black, but dye their hair blonde? Why did Michelle Obama always wear white woman wigs?

Caldwell P. Titcomb IV said...

So you think the hotel toiletry industry entirely alienating people of color is funny, chickelit? I can't imagine what sort of mind thinks like that. Sad.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

I don't like hotel soap. The soap itself is usually OK, just that the bars are too small.

So I have a soap dish that I bought at Walgreens and carry a normal bar of soap with me when I travel.

But that is just white male privilege talking. POC's do not have this privilege of carrying their own toiletries.

My bigger problem is with the shampoo labels. Without my glasses I can't tell the shampoo from the lotion because of the small fonts. (And, yes, I have used my bully pulpit in the packaging press to complain)

Seems like discrimination against older, hard of vision folks.

John Henry

Freeman Hunt said...

I can't use hotel toiletries either. I'd imagine a great number of people can't. They're generally for emergency use only.

F said...

I'd rather complain about the soap. If I go a day or two without shampooing, that's tolerable. Without showering, that's a pain to me AND to people around me. But motel and hotel soap is too small to use, and even if it were larger, it frequently doesn't even feel or act like soap. Just as someone said above, if you're going to need to shower or shampoo while you're staying in a hotel, don't count on the hotel's offering to be of any use.

Final rant: I can generally make out print without my glasses, except when it's really tiny. Anybody ever focus on just how small and useless the print is on a hotel shampoo or conditioner bottle? A simple "S" or "C" on a bottle would suffice, but somehow the purveyors of hotel toiletries think they have to spell out the entire word on their tiny bottle, so the print is correspondingly tiny. And then there are the bottles marked "Conditioning shampoo." Ok, read THAT without your glasses!

Bottom line: carry your own.

Earnest Prole said...

The name Ashley Nicolette Frangipane is too white to be anything but black.

Ken B said...

Actually faux outrage on behalf of others is one of our major problems. Just look at the recent Starbucks affair. Or the Halloween costume crap.
Althouse is one of those who gives credit to “cultural appropriation “ . Why isn’t this “outrage appropriation”? Why isn’t it white saviorism? Isn’t it the complainant arrogating the right to feel, think, speak, act for the presumed victim?

( Does Althouse use arrogate or will that annoy her?)

Unknown said...

Chickelit....that is funny....LOL

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...


Blogger F said...

Final rant: I can generally make out print without my glasses,

VISION PRIVILEGE!!!!!

John Henry

Ignorance is Bliss said...

I can’t use this perfumed watered down white people shampoo.

Perfumed is a problem for anyone who does not like the scent. It is not race specific.
Watered down is likewise an issue for everyone.

Forgive my ignorance, but what are the properties that make it white-people shampoo?

Ken B said...

BTW Ann, accusing people of racism isn’t really starting a “conversation.”

Kevin said...

She's not white but her biggest problem is the free shampoo.

How does that enhance her argument?

Dust Bunny Queen said...

The irony of people who insist on classifying people by their outward appearance and then resent that they are also classified by their outward appearance.

Looks like a duck, quacks like a duck.....must be a duck then.

Face it lady, you are a white duck.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

I wondered about how many people use hotel shampoo. I found this:

" According to Hoyt Harper, the global brand leader for the company that runs Sheraton Hotels, the percentage of guests who use the complementary items has shot up from 35 percent 10 years ago to 75 percent in 2014."

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/travel_explainer/2015/08/hotel_toiletries_how_are_the_soaps_and_lotions_in_the_bathroom_chosen.html

Interesting article more about how hotels try to please their customers.

John Henry

Kevin said...

Like most of the whining, this will not get Haley-approved shampoos in every hotel in America, but it will get many chains to remove what's already there.

Now that's Progressive!

bleh said...

Maybe she has a point. I don’t know. I get the feeling looking at her that she has white people hair, not black people hair. So while she may identify as black, and while she has black ancestry, her hair looks to be that of a white woman. If this is an actual issue, I doubt it’s something that she has experienced. Hey, if it’s a fair point, it’s a fair point, and anyone regardless of race can make the point as far as I’m concerned. I just think it’s odd that she acts as though it’s a personal issue or inconvenience for her. For purposes of hotel shampoo bottles, she has white privilege.

Anyway, I don’t shampoo my hair all that often, so it’s not something that concerns me when I’m traveling. I do very much appreciate the hotel soap.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

I don't understand women and shoes and never will. Equally, I will never understand women and shampoo.

My wife has perhaps 10-15 bottles of shampoo and conditioner in the bathroom at any given time. 10-15 years ago, the big fad was to use shampoo formulated for horse manes and tails and we had bottles of that for a while.

Since the conditioner and shampoo come in similar bottles I have more than once shapooed my hair with conditioner.

I buy these industrial size bottles of shampoo from Sams, whatever is cheapest, just so I can count on at least one bottle containing shampoo. In a pinch, Protex soap works just fine.

John Henry

rhhardin said...

Ain't no mamba snake though.

Ipso Fatso said...

If she identifies as black, as she says in the interview, then why is her hair short, straight and bleached blond in the video?

By the way, I am 1/2 white just like her, but I identify as a half breed or mixed race, I ain't white and I sure ain't much of a Mexican or Indian. Hey to each his own.

Owen said...

Mike R: "Use a bar of Ivory soap like I do.". Why isn't there an Ebony soap? Every complaint contains a message to the market. Somebody could make some money here. And this lady would feel compelled to buy it, just to demonstrate some Solidarity in the endless Struggle by the Voiceless who have been forced to suffer the grinding oppression of bad hotel shampoo.

Curious George said...

Hotel toiletry industry?

Seriously?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

According to Hoyt Harper, the global brand leader for the company that runs Sheraton Hotels, the percentage of guests who use the complementary items has shot up from 35 percent 10 years ago to 75 percent in 2014.

I suspect this change is people adapting to TSA rules. If I am flying I avoid checking a bag if I reasonably can. But TSA has rules on carry-on liquids ( up to three 3oz clear bottles in a clear ziploc. ) So I avoid bringing shampoo.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

Like, I don't have a problem with what she is saying about hotels and shampoo and shit. I mean, hotel shampoo doesn't really mean much, but if I spent two-hundred-dollars on a room maybe I'd want to think they thought of me and my hair as a customer, too, when they stocked their shit. But I get it: they can't stock enough shit for everybody and their needs, so someone's always going to feel left out and shit.

But it probably sucks to feel left out of things other people take for granted. Like, in the hotel bathroom there are hand towels, but maybe you lost a hand in, like, an industrial accident or some shit like that, and now they got a hand towel right there and you're missing a hand, and it's like, thanks for rubbing it in, right? I can see shit like that happening.

And maybe the hotels are afraid that, if they had shampoos for black people's hair, black people would just take it home with them because it's, like free shampoo. But I think white people do that too, it's just that the white people don't think of it as shampoo for white people's hair, they just think of it as shampoo. Which I think is her point.

Because, like, maybe you're gay and shit, but the hotel pay-per-view porn in your room is only straight-people porn, there's no videos of dudes banging other dudes in the ass and shit. And that probably makes you feel left out, too. But maybe the hotels have gay porn too now, I don't know, I don't look for it, maybe someone else can answer that.

I post my shit here.

Ipso Fatso said...

One way for hotels to adapt to their new upscale minority customers is to have a sign in the room reporting that should you need specialized shampoos, etc. ask at the front desk and then keep a supply on hand for such instances. You will always have those that complain but at lease you tried.

Ignorance is Bliss said...

Curious George said...

Hotel toiletry industry?

The Hotel Toiletry Industrial Complex

richlb said...

Ignorance is Bliss nailed it. I almost always try to keep it to one carry on, and I'm not about to pack some bottle of liquid in there (even in the 3oz approved containers) in an effort to avoid the TSA hassle. Since I'm bald (with some help from a razor) I just use soap all over. Hotel soap. Whatever crap they provide.

richlb said...

Ipso Fatso - I bet a lot of hotels already do this, even though they don't advertise it. You'd be amazed what you can request from the front desk at most hotels.

MikeR said...

@Owen: "Why isn't there an Ebony soap?" Ebony is some kinda wood, right? You'd need to get out the sawdust and wood chips afterwards. Really bad idea.
But my kids have oatmeal soap and mango soap now, and that sounds dumb too, so okay I guess.

Seeing Red said...

I bring my own and I’m white.

Hasn’t she ever heard of travel sized bottles?

YoungHegelian said...

Shampoo! We're talkin' here about hotel shampoo?!

Screw this trivial talk about shampoo! It's hotel toilet paper that needs a good dose of Social Justice!

Jim said...

African-Africans, as opposed to African-Americans, would definitely call her white.
Having said that, didn't we used to have hotels that were for "negroes only." I'm sure they always had hair care products that would be approved by Halsey. Bring back the Green Book.

William said...

Anyone who can afford to stay at a hotel can afford to buy their own shampoo.....She's a good looking woman. Good looking women are members of their own race--perhaps species is the better word. As a member of this tribe she's entitled to perks and privileges that most of us can only dream of. The membership eventually gets revoked, but it's a fun ride while it lasts........Maybe this was a way of publicizing the fact that she's black. Black singers might have more cachet in pop music than whites......Does anyone know what the hell is going on in that video.

Lewis Wetzel said...

I've gotten used to having black people blame all of their problems on white people. Now white people are pretending to be black people in order to blame white people for the most trivial of black peoples' problems.
I don't know what to do about this shampoo issue. Maybe go back to segregated hotels?
I am speaking as a POC who passes for white, of course.

Leslie Graves said...

I think it's a legit complaint. If the only shampoo I found in a hotel was "Head and Shoulders", I would be aggravated. I would be aggravated and I would think that the hotel doesn't get me at all and doesn't value me as a customer.

It's a pain to bring your own shampoo. It is somewhat susceptible to leaking in your luggage, it adds extra weight and if you try to avoid checking a bag, then you have to bring something that weighs less than 3 oz, etc., etc.

It's a pain. Yes, it's a first world pain but first world hotels should be solving the problems of their first world customers.

The fact that she has blond hair doesn't mean that her hair is not susceptible to some of the challenges of black hair, by the way.

traditionalguy said...

I suspect she is working the reparations angle. Since the Spanish King, the Portugese King, and the English King captured and transported 1/3 of the Continent Africa's population to sell in the New World to work them to death on sugar plantations between 1530 and 1780 and amass great elite fortunes, finding a mixed white and black offspring has been the norm.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

"One way for hotels to adapt to their new upscale minority customers is to have a sign in the room reporting that should you need specialized shampoos, etc. ask at the front desk and then keep a supply on hand for such instances. You will always have those that complain but at lease you tried."

That's a lot smarter than the plan I was thinking of. I was thinking, like, in the hotel lobby they could have a small gift shop with all the kinds of toiletries and shit in little bottles, and when you checked in they gave you a gift card for, like, five dollars of purchases and shit. And if you didn't need to buy the toiletries shit you could use the gift certificate at the mini-bar in your room, or like to pay-per-view some porn or shit.

But your way is smarter. Except for not being able to get free porn.

I post my shit here.

buwaya said...

Ditto on Ivory soap.
Forty years a fan, even back when I had hair.
Why does anyone actually need anything else?

Ed Bo said...

None of the females in my family will use hotel shampoo. I do, but my hair is less than an inch long. I've always assumed that most women (of any race) are far too particular about their hair care to use a "random" shampoo/conditioner/detangler.

I'd be curious about the female commenters here -- do you use hotel-provided hair products?

Rick.T. said...

We're so sorry, Sister Halsey.

Curious George said...

Let's end this controversy right now. How does she pronounce "ask?"

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...

Blogger Curious George said...

Hotel toiletry industry?

Seriously?

George, it is a huge business. Really huge.

Do the math

4.5mm hotel rooms in the US. Figure 50% occupancy, that is 2.25mm. Figure 50% usage of shampoo (some won't use it, others will make a bottle last 2 days) and call it 1 million bottles of shampoo daily.

And that is just shampoo.

John Henry

Rob said...

Now I lean conservative and think SJWs are full of it, but this is the first time I'm thinking "yeah, you have a little bit of a point." But the reason this situation exists is because an entire economic infrastructure was built around the fact that, for the most part, only white people were staying hotels a long time ago. Then it becomes a "this is how we've always done it" rule for hotels. However, she's not going to like the ultimate answer which will be "Welcome to the hotel, you may purchase any toiletries you may need from our shop right over there." What's next? No soul food options on airplanes?

YoungHegelian said...

Where is this woman traveling to that a drug store isn't a few minutes away? On safari in Botswana?

I was always amazed when I stayed in mid-town Manhattan that the hotels had mini-bars stocked with outrageously priced items. When you can walk out the front door & 100 ft away can buy the same items, 24x7, at 1/3 the cost, why pay those prices?

Virgil Hilts said...

I saw an article about bi-racial twins over the weekend and was confused thinking, can a woman be pregnant with twins from two different fathers, or is this one of those assisted reproduction procedures that went a little weird. But no. In each case the twins had the same parents. So how can you say the twin girls are of different races just because one is darker? Is that how people here think of race - a definition that looks solely or primarily at skin color and not parentage or ancestors? If that's the definition we're going to use, then this woman is white and the bad comedian is black. End of discussion.

Jupiter said...

She needs more tattoos.

Hyphenated American said...

“I can’t use this perfumed watered down white people shampoo.”

How can this self-identified “Black woman” talk about the experience of White people with the hotel shampoo?

wwww said...

"is to have a sign in the room reporting that should you need specialized shampoos, etc. ask at the front desk"

Yeah, this is straightforward for upscale hotels that specialize in guest services. Like the sign they have for asking for a toothbrush in case you forgot it. Extra-strength conditioner available through a request to the front desk.

This is for people who forgot to pack or if the bag is delayed. Many women pack their own stuff. You put conditioner in little bottles for the TSA.

Nonapod said...

Why do we expect people to raise their own complaints?

Because ideally people should be there own best advocates. If you have a problem (especially one of these so called "first world problems" like "OMG, this hotel shampoo is suboptimal for my particular needs!"), and you don't personally address it, why should you expect someone else to do it on your behalf? I mean, sure, it's nice when that happens, but why should you expect it?

Birkel said...

The answer will be to remove all complimentary bottles from the rooms and force people to request their preferred items from the front desk, if they remain available at all.

PuertoRicoSpaceport.com said...


Blogger Owen said...

Mike R: "Use a bar of Ivory soap like I do.". Why isn't there an Ebony soap

Even better, Owene, why not an "ebony and Ivory" soap? Like a black and white pastry it could be white on one side, black on the other. Living in perfect harmony! Not all that hard to make, either.

Or, to keep the percentages correct, perhaps just have slivers of black in a white (beige?) bar. Like Irish Spring does. 13% black, 87% white.

Probably have to pay Stevie royalties. Though, since he is blind, he might not notice. I smell a business opportunity!

John Henry

Kevin said...

Gozer the Gozerian: Sub-creatures! Gozer the Gozerian, Gozer the Opporessor, Volgus Zildrohar, the Traveler has come! Choose and perish!

Halsey: What do you mean, choose? We don't understand.

Gozer the Gozerian: Choose! Choose the form of the Oppressor!

Beyonce: Oh, I get it! I get it. Oh! Very cute. [to the others] "Whatever we think of." If we think of Betty White, Betty White will appear and oppress us, okay? So empty your heads. Empty your heads. Don't think of anything. We've only got one shot at this.

Gozer the Gozerian: The choice is made!

Beyonce: Whoa! Hold on! Whoa!

Gozer the Gozerian: The Oppressor has come!

Beyonce: Nobody "choosed" anything! [turns to Lil’ Kim] Did you choose anything?

Lil' Kim: No.

Beyonce: [to Serena] Did you?!

Serena Williams: My mind is totally blank.

Beyonce: I didn't choose anything! [All three slowly turn to confront Halsey]

Halsey: I couldn't help it. It just popped in there.

Beyonce: [sternly] What? What "just popped in there"?

Halsey: I-- I-I tried to think--

Lil' Kim: LOOK! [They all look over one side of the roof]

Halsey: No! It can't be!

Beyonce: What is it?

Halsey: It can't be!

Beyonce: What did you do, Halsey?!

Serena Williams: Oh, shit!

[They all see a giant miniature bottle of shampoo wrapped in the Four Seasons logo.]

Halsey: [resigned] It's the hotel toiletry industry.

Lewis Wetzel said...

"So how can you say the twin girls are of different races just because one is darker?"
The traditional way this is done is that white people decide if you are black or white.
This goes back to a world before 1960, when the US population was mostly black and white, there wasn't much intermarriage, and "mixed race" meant "black."
Part of the black outlook is that if you are black, and you go against the black community, the white people will shower you with praise and privilege, but when push comes to shove, you are still a n*gg*er to them.

Rick said...

Some of the idea there is that if the people who are directly affected are not complaining, maybe it's not a real problem....But filing a lawsuit is different from starting a conversation.

Being "different" does not prove the issue no longer applies.

We routinely see the outcome of this with campus radicals. They claim microaggressions on behalf of others because it's effectively an admission of mental weakness. For example the first claim of microaggression cited the use of red pen while correcting grammar and spelling. Citing someone else prevents the inherent weakness from accruing to the speaker just as citing "vulnerable populations" is an attempt to overcome others' recognizing the damage as obviously little to none. This is where the snowflake branding comes from - presenting even tiny issues as creating mass psychological damage. But obviously administrator radicals can't use themselves as examples since admitting they are damaged by such minutia would be career ending. So they need allies to play that role.

We shouldn't accept any complaints unless people are willing to identify themselves as suffering damages from the issue.

Hyphenated American said...

Liberals complained about Berkeley university posting thousand of free educational videos. Apparently deaf people could not use them. The Obama adminustration decided it was a violation of some laws, and Berkeley took down all the videos.
Liberals against education: clear win for liberals.

Next step: make sure that hotels take away all the shampoos.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

I'd just put up a sign saying "No Coloreds".

Problem solved!

buwaya said...

Put that woman anywhere in the world and everyone would assume she was white.

walter said...

Is there context for the "50%" reference?

lgv said...

FYI, amenities are produced by high volume amenity houses that specialize in high volume of small containers using a monoblock filler and capper. The crap costs about $.10-$.20 per unit. They are purchased as a supply like toilet paper and towels.

We manufacture high end product, including product for expensive spas located inside 5-star hotels. We often get asked to produce the amenities with the same product as sold in the spa. It never works out cost wise. Only the Broadmoor Spa ever actually did it, but decided it was too costly. It costs me more than what the hotels pay for the cheap stuff.

You are getting watered down phosphates (cheapest surfactant, produces the most foam) and $8/lb low end fragrance. It's not about people of color. It's about a give-away product at the lowest possible cost. The formulas are designed for no one.

Char Char Binks, Esq. said...

"50%" came out of Halsey's insufficiently shampooed asshole.

buwaya said...

Designation as "black" or "white" should be by an officially embodied jury of neutrals - Asians probably. Without recourse.

walter said...

Not surprising Igv,
The truth is most folks (especially pop stars) are sufficiently vain that they are not likely to use an untested giveaway.

wwww said...

"You are getting watered down phosphates (cheapest surfactant, produces the most foam) and $8/lb low end fragrance. It's not about people of color. It's about a give-away product at the lowest possible cost. The formulas are designed for no one."


Yep. That's why many women bring their own products. The face soaps and moisturizers are inferior.

Interesting it wasn't sustainable for the Broadmoor.

walter said...

This is more about a "white" woman trying to get some "black" cred.

Anne in Rockwall, TX said...

I'm with YH on this one. It's the toilet paper that is the issue.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Great comment, lgv. When discussing the value that branding can add to a product, I often use shampoo as an example. Even a small drug store or grocery store will stock dozens of brands of shampoo at a wide price range. They all do the same thing, in a pinch.

Clyde said...

Does she have a black father like Paris Jackson had a black father?

Matt Sablan said...

Speaking of micro aggressions... why is it "white girl" but "black woman?" Since the speaker is referencing the same person (herself), shouldn't it be consistent?

walter said...

Hyphenated American said.

"..Berkeley took down all the videos.
Liberals against education: clear win for liberals."

Given who produced them, might indeed be a win.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

This black shampoo thing was making me think of another thing, so I looked that other thing up, and found it. It was about the 70s' SNL era, and a skit for Garrett Morris that they ended up not airing:

"Garrett Morris was feeling degraded from years of small roles and what he saw as racist sketches. At one point, the writers were going to have him do a fake ad for "Tarbrush" toothpaste, which would dull African-Americans' supposedly shiny teeth (the bit was pulled "mercifully" at the last minute). Morris also struggled with his status on the show, and began free-basing cocaine. During rehearsals for the Kirk Douglas-hosted show, Morris ran screaming onto the set, saying that someone had put an "invisible robot" on his shoulder who watched him everywhere he went. He pleaded with crew to get the robot off of him.[3]"

So, like I said, I found what I was thinking of, but then there is the thing about the invisible robot and shit, and I'm, like more interested in that. Because it would suck to have an invisible robot on your shoulder and no one believes you. And, like, fucking invisible robots would definitely do that shit, which is why robots should only be like sex robots, and not invisible.

I post my shit here.

buwaya said...

Google and the US FedGov are the invisible robots on all our shoulders.

And you don't need to be temporarily insane from drugs to understand that.

RigelDog said...

I use the hotel soap and shampoo because it's messy to transport my own and I don't care that much about having the "perfect" product for my hair or skin. My hair is longish, straight, and fine, so the hotel shampoo never gives good results because I need a volumizer shampoo that is not harsh but also not with added conditioner. I think there is a bit of a point about not having products available for AA hair, but it's not going to be feasible for many hotels to provide multiple selections.

Ann Althouse said...

I think it would be nice in an upscale hotel to offer a choice of toiletries. I've seen reservation forms that let you pick whether you want a down or synthetic pillow. There could be check box for the toiletry set you want. It would be a relatively easy way to win affection from customers, including white people. Showing special kindness to black people is something white people are impressed by, especially in these small symbolic things that they relate to on a personal level (and that have to do with one of the main things you want a hotel for, taking a shower).

walter said...

Free-basing cocaine is a significant step toward changing one's status.

cubanbob said...

For POC

https://www.amazon.com/Magno-Classic-Black-Glycerin-Soap/dp/B000W2P6DW

Hotels ought to be encouraged to carry this soap and shampoo.


This girl can pass for white. Once upon a time not so long ago that would have considered a desirable thing.

walter said...

Don't forget "cruelty free" and vegan toiletries. There's yet another "50%"
There must be other categorical injustices to consider..

walter said...

All this discussion of preference is making the hair on the back of Bernie's neck stand.

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...

"Showing special kindness to black people is something white people are impressed by, especially in these small symbolic things that they relate to on a personal level (and that have to do with one of the main things you want a hotel for, taking a shower)."

I'm not sure that is something all white people are impressed by, but it sounds good, so that's close enough and shit.

But it could also sound like Althouse is whitesplaining, maybe.

I just don't know if white people are even allowed to do whitesplaining. Like, maybe it's only black people who can explain the shit white people do.

And maybe black people can even explain white people better than white people can, because most white people don't even think about being white that much, it's like not thinking about shifting when you're in a car with automatic transmission, but then there are people out there with manual transmission, and the people driving automatics, like, pull up close behind the people driving stick when stopped on a hill, and they don't even know that they're kinda like being an asshole.

So maybe it's like that. I don't know if Althouse's Audi is stick or not, but I bet that trying to explain why you want an Audi to a black person sounds a lot like whitesplaining.

I post my shit here.

Curious George said...

"Ann Althouse said...
I think it would be nice in an upscale hotel to offer a choice of toiletries. I've seen reservation forms that let you pick whether you want a down or synthetic pillow."

That's an allergy avoidance issue.

Kevin said...

I think it would be nice in an upscale hotel to offer a choice of toiletries. I've seen reservation forms that let you pick whether you want a down or synthetic pillow. There could be check box for the toiletry set you want. It would be a relatively easy way to win affection from customers, including white people. Showing special kindness to black people is something white people are impressed by, especially in these small symbolic things that they relate to on a personal level (and that have to do with one of the main things you want a hotel for, taking a shower).

I read this thinking, "It sounds like the beginning of a 4chan post."

Then I scrolled down and, viola!

John henry said...

Blogger lgv said...

FYI, amenities are produced by high volume amenity houses that specialize in high volume of small containers using a monoblock filler and capper. The crap costs about $.10-$.20 per unit. They are purchased as a supply like toilet paper and towels.

We manufacture high end product, including product for expensive spas located


And I thought I was the only one here who knew what a monobloc filler is. I've done a fair amount of work in personal care products over the years. Including selling monobloc fillers (Chase-Logeman)for 20 years.

We should probably correspond offline. Go to www.smedworks.com/losscalc for an online calculator to see how many weeks of lost production downtime is costing you, even if just a few minutes a day. My contact info is there.


John Henry

Kevin said...

Of course the real 4chan post would mention how you can get condoms and sex toys out of today's minibars....

John henry said...

Blogger lgv said...

FYI, amenities are produced by high volume amenity houses that specialize in high volume of small containers using a monoblock filler and capper. The crap costs about $.10-$.20 per unit. They are purchased as a supply like toilet paper and towels.

We manufacture high end product, including product for expensive spas located


And I thought I was the only one here who knew what a monobloc filler is. I've done a fair amount of work in personal care products over the years. Including selling monobloc fillers (Chase-Logeman)for 20 years.

We should probably correspond offline. Go to www.smedworks.com/losscalc for an online calculator to see how many weeks of lost production downtime is costing you, even if just a few minutes a day. My contact info is there.


John Henry

John henry said...

Walter,

No, no reference or context for the 50%. I think, from past reading, it may be a bit higher but it is not something I ever paid much attention to. It just seemed like a nice round number that could give us an order of magnitude of how much shampoo is used daily.

Strictly back of the envelope.

John Henry

Yancey Ward said...

Were her parents married when she was born? I suspect Mom had some 'splaining to do.

Biotrekker said...

So, Liberal/leftist/progressives, are we defining black people as coming from a place, or a certain family, or genetically, or phenotypically, or by "choice"? Which is it?

Give us your pearls of wisdom on this issue that y'all know so much about, and have pondered in your Cathedrals of Learning. S

Michael K said...

"I think it would be nice in an upscale hotel to offer a choice of toiletries."

I never use the hotel toiletries. Except the bar soap.

chickelit said...

Caldwell Titcomb IV scolded: So you think the hotel toiletry industry entirely alienating people of color is funny, chickelit? I can't imagine what sort of mind thinks like that. Sad.

I am all but hurt over that comment.

Big Mike said...

I have some bad news for Ms. Halsey. Most of us don’t like the hotel-supplied shampoos and conditioners. If she had more white friends she’d perhaps know this. That’s why you can buy small travel-size bottles of many popular shampoos in the drug store, or buy small plastic bottles you can fill with your own shampoo and conditioner. The exception is that I took the wife with me on a business trip where we stayed in a Westin and fell in love with their White Tea shampoo and conditioner — conveniently available through Amazon now that we’re retired and not staying in the likes of a Westin when we travel. (If you want to try it for yourself use the Althouse Amazon portal.)

Oh, who are we kidding? Ms. Halsey never gave a dog turd about hotel shampoos; she said as much. This whiter-looking-than-Wonder-Bread wanted to find a way to tell blacks that it’s okay to buy her music.

Rob said...

I used to travel Asia alot and there was a half a hockey puck of beige soap that was amazing in some hotels. It made my skin feel so good. I used to hide the soap I was using so the maid would give me another one and I put the new wrapped one in my baggage. I would have bought that religiously if I knew how.

Lewis Wetzel said...


Blogger Biotrekker said...

So, Liberal/leftist/progressives, are we defining black people as coming from a place, or a certain family, or genetically, or phenotypically, or by "choice"? Which is it?

A weak point of identity politics in the US is that it is all self-identification. There are no racial identity groups recognized in the US constitution, other than Indians.
Even with Native Americans, the difference was a matter of sovereignty, not race.
In Hawaii, the native population has become so diluted that the proponents of a sovereign Hawaiian nation want you to be considered legally and officially Hawaiian if you have a single ancestor who was resident on the islands before European discovery in 1778. That's 10 generations in the past, which would give you one part in a thousand native Hawaiian DNA.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Math is racist. Statistics are racist.

If a hotel chain knows that only a small percentage of its guests will need a given type of product (a minority of customers, say) then it doesn't make sense to carry both.
It would make a LOT of sense to offer the non-standard type of product as an option ("Please let your concierge know if you need different toiletries") but I 100% guarantee THAT would be racist, too ("how dare the hotel enforce segregation/uphold white supremacy by making POC beg for their products" etc).

It's fucking ridiculous to hold that not pretending a minority group is a minority group is racist. I don't say she doesn't have a complaint, but the complaint should be "more hotels should carry convenience products that are suitable for all people." The complaint "businesses recognize the reality of math/make decisions based on the distribution of customers they actually see and that's racist" is stupid.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Blogger Big Mike said...

This whiter-looking-than-Wonder-Bread wanted to find a way to tell blacks that it’s okay to buy her music.

I don't know that blacks buy that much music. I reckon Halsey wanted to tell white kids that she is black so it is okay for the white kids to buy her music.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Ann Althouse said...
I think it would be nice in an upscale hotel to offer a choice of toiletries. I've seen reservation forms that let you pick whether you want a down or synthetic pillow. There could be check box for the toiletry set you want. It would be a relatively easy way to win affection from customers, including white people. Showing special kindness to black people is something white people are impressed by, especially in these small symbolic things that they relate to on a personal level (and that have to do with one of the main things you want a hotel for, taking a shower).


Nice idea but that's not enough. "Check the box if you're a POC and want separate-but-equal toiletries??! Boycott!"

Gahrie said...

Showing special kindness to black people is something white people are impressed by,

Not all of us. I think they should be treated just like everyone else.

That being said, I like the idea of selecting your amenities as you reserve your room.

Sigivald said...

I just take my own goddamn toiletries with me when traveling, because "white" or not, the hotel stuff usually sucks.

But it's nice to see that some people can make literally anything into a racial identity mission.

HoodlumDoodlum said...

Nice centrist people would say "how dare you make POC feel different?! How dare you require POC to grovel just to get something that whites get by default?" Activists would complain and you'd insist that we feel their pain.

Anyway you're probably going to nicer hotels where that kind of customization is the norm. Lot of us use hotels & motels where that's not possible--where the rooms are all stocked the same at the time they're cleaned.

Static Ping said...

Complaining about the super cheap hotel shampoo that no one likes is perfect valid.

Complaining about the super cheap hotel shampoo that no one likes and then blaming it on racism is just stupid and petty and ends the conversation before it starts.

No one wants to have a conversation with a empty headed rich celebrity who is privileged over 99% of the population, yet pretends to be oppressed. On the desirable conversation hierarchy, that category falls somewhere between "crazy guy talking to himself" and "drunken uncle shouting about politics at the Thanksgiving dinner table." Pass.

walter said...

If she wants cred, she needs to stay where I stay..Motel 6.
I'm happy if no one is yelling and the stoner 3 doors down doesn't burn the place down.
But..there is a serviceable small bar of soap included.

Gahrie said...

I suspect she is working the reparations angle. Since the Spanish King, the Portugese King, and the English King captured and transported

No Europeans, kings or otherwise, "captured" slaves in Africa. They bought them from the Africans who had already enslaved them.

Anonymous said...

But filing a lawsuit is different from starting a conversation.

One would think. But these days "starting a conversation" is just the first step in "filing a lawsuit".

walter said...

johnhenry100 said...
Walter,
No, no reference or context for the 50%. I think, from past reading, it may be a bit higher
--
I was talking about Halsey's suggestion that 50% of customers are "POC" or otherwise hair product victimized.

Anonymous said...

How 'bout just giving management some feedback, on the order of "hey, a lot of your customers have different preferences in toiletries. We'd appreciate your providing this instead of just that"? I somehow don't think they'd respond with "thank you for your input, ma'am, but our company policy is to piss off and alienate paying customers who aren't white". Nah, what fun would that be?

And what's with the idiotic "people of color" thing? (Aside from "people of color" being an idiotic phrase in itself.) Since when did hair-care products for different hair textures divide into "white" and "non-white"? East Asians and Africans prefer the same "non-white" products? South Asians? Polynesians? For that matter, white people with thick, curly hair like the same products as white people with fine, straight hair? I don't think so.

Anyhoo, that chiquita sure looks white, shampoo-wise, anyway. Maybe this is all just a round-about way for a dingbat to humble-brag about her "good" hair.

Michael said...

Didn't know blacks required a different kind of shampoo. Female blacks or all blacks? Females with processed, appropriated, hair or Afro hair? Because it would help to know v

Oh, and Halsey, half the population is not POC. Not even close. And POC who are frequent travelers? Tiny. And, no. Hotels are not going to install a fucking drugstore aisle of hair products for POC.

If you think it is such a giant market then build or buy some hotels for POC or at the very least produce hair care products that pass your test, put them in little bitty bottles and sell them to hotels. You will make a fortune. If you are right.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

Halsey has a black father and a white mother and identifies herself as black

This is so many levels of stupid. Are we going to go back to the one drop rule of the slaveholding Southern culture. I thought that mindset of discrimination was gone long ago with the Jim Crow laws.

Her father, while being superficially 'black' (we can argue about the nuances of kin tone as well. Really black or espresso or chocolate or creole lady marmalade) is more likely a mixture GENETICALLY of many different sources from Irish to African and lots more.

Her mother also may be a mixture of many DNA sources and even have that dreaded one drop of 'black' genes.

SO this twat gets to decide which parts of her DNA heritage she can jettison and which ones she wants to keep, when in reality, she....like the rest of us all....is a mongrel.

How about instead of identifying by hair, skin, teeth etc, she just identifies as herself.

Pinandpuller said...

We know you identify as black because you're complaining. Bitch please. I bet you don't tip.

Pinandpuller said...

Excuse me, does anyone here speak jive?

Ignorance is Bliss said...

They should at least provide complementary Soul Glo

Unknown said...

Wow, 11:36 and something like 60 comments before someone states the obvious: you provide goods and services based on the bulk of your customers. That's not disenfranchising or disrespecting other customers, that's just economics.

William said...

I'll say these kind words about Ashley. Her song is catchy and she knows how to sing. Maybe she'll be able to build something on the attention she has drawn to herself with this foolish statement. I don't think you can say the same about Michelle, who's simply not very funny as a comedian.....,.Can anyone explain what's going on within the narrative arc of that video? Does it mean something?

mezzrow said...

Listened to the song. Gosh, it's tough to be 23 and semi-famous. /sarc

On the other hand, it is genuinely tough to be former mental patient for sure. Hope things work out, but this won't help. Not anyone asked me.


mezzrow said...

edit - Not that anyone asked me.

Leland said...

DBQ, she's just wants to be on the right side of reparations; the receiving side.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

DBQ, she's just wants to be on the right side of reparations; the receiving side.

Then I propose we do a DNA profile on everyone who "thinks" they should get money and only pay out the proportional amount.

4% sub Sahara African....4% of the moola

Plus a DNA and confirmed match that your ancestor was actually a real slave IN the US and not just a johnny come lately. Black from Haiti...don't count. Take that up with the French and the Brits. Black from the Congo post slavery times nope.

As if any of that would happen. If they pass reparations, without starting a civil war, then it will be just another free for all raping of the taxpayers.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

How about some IRISH reparations?

The Irish Slave Trade

Where's MY money????

PM said...

I usually take all those tiny toiletries home and throw them out there.

Dust Bunny Queen said...

I usually take all those tiny toiletries home and throw them out there

We take them: soap, shampoo, lotions, mouthwash, sewing kits etc ..and donate them to a battered women's shelter to be put into small care packages for the women and children (and sometimes men) who are fleeing bad situations with nothing of their own.

Useful until they can be situated into a more permanent arrangement and then are provided with better supplies.

Dude1394 said...

Start your own damn hotel chain and shampoo brand. Good grief.

jaed said...

@walter:
"Given who produced them, might indeed be a win. "

UC Berkeley has one of the best computer science departments in the country. No, people being unable to access that material was definitely not a "win".

jaed said...

Why is "poor-quality shampoo" defined as "shampoo for white people"?

That sounds kind of... racist. She says herself that it's poor quality ("watered down"), and then concludes that this bad shampoo is definitionally for white people?

walter said...

Have you seen a list of courses covered by those videos?

Fritz said...

the 4chan Guy who reads Althouse said...
Like, I don't have a problem with what she is saying about hotels and shampoo and shit. I mean, hotel shampoo doesn't really mean much, but if I spent two-hundred-dollars on a room maybe I'd want to think they thought of me and my hair as a customer, too, when they stocked their shit. But I get it: they can't stock enough shit for everybody and their needs, so someone's always going to feel left out and shit.
. . .


Real life is getting hard to parody.

buwaya said...

Berkeley online courses -

https://www.edx.org/school/uc-berkeleyx

On Python 3 - with data sampling application -

https://www.edx.org/course/foundations-data-science-computational-uc-berkeleyx-data8-1x

These are (many of them) still available.

Jim at said...

Or you could bring your own effing shampoo when traveling, you sniveling simp.

Lewis Wetzel said...

Berkeley was one of the early entrant not-for-profit schools into online learning. Their early catalog, from the mid-late 90s, had a lot of math/science courses, if memory serves. At the time I was living on the Big Island, and UC Berkeley offered UC credits in calc I & II for about $400 each. My local community college didn't offer calc I or calc II at all -- and they only accepted UC credits on a case by case basis (that's Hawaii).

Jim at said...

I think it's a legit complaint. If the only shampoo I found in a hotel was "Head and Shoulders", I would be aggravated. I would be aggravated and I would think that the hotel doesn't get me at all and doesn't value me as a customer. - Leslie Graves

Good gawd. Do you hear yourself?
You're part of the problem, Leslie.

Believe it or not, the world doesn't revolve around you.

William said...

There's lots of smart people here. Can someone explain to me what's happening in that video? I'm sure that if I could get a handle on it I would be well on my way to understanding how our civilization works. I know it has a meaning, but I just walked into the room and don't know what it is.

hstad said...

"I’ve been traveling for years now and it’s been so frustrating that the hotel toiletry industry entirely alienates people of color." What a complete moron! Oh please, I've traveled all over the World for 30 + years and after several trips (disappointments) you bring your own toiletries (including shampoo) if you want to get it right. If you don't, prepare to be disappointed and stop with the racist crap.

jim said...

Hmmm, white people's problems.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Damn. I'm browner than that, and I'm a certified (not to say certifiable) white chick. Who does she think she's fooling? Elizabeth Warren? Rachel Dolezal?

Then again, I didn't know that Mariah Carey was black until someone on TV mentioned it. So perhaps I'm not the ideal judge.

As for the shampoo issue: Bring your own, silly! I do. You are, in James Lileks' words, complaining about the texture and scent of the Free Ice Cream. Note the first word there: Free. Use it or don't, but, for heaven's sake don't gripe about it.

bagoh20 said...

So in modern America why do people who are biracial, and thus have that choice, always seem to choose to identify as Black and try to downplay their whiteness which is in equal quantity, not to mention those who identify as Black with no biological basis.

I think it says a lot about our current culture, some very good, some very sad. One thing it does suggest is that institutional racism is "dead, as we know it."

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Kevin,

Then I scrolled down and, viola!

Only actual violists get to say that.

(Is there any English word more often misspelled? I mean, apart from its/it's, there/their/they're, and the like? I found another in the last of Ruth Rendell's books recently: There was a character who badly wanted to be goalie on his footer team, found dead with a fragment of a letter containing the words "put me in goal" in it. The solution: It was meant to be "put me in gaol." The Inspector said he preferred "jail" for that reason.)

Caligula said...

"It is genuinely tough to be former mental patient."

Especially one who lacks the good sense to keep this information private. As (by law) it is.

Nonetheless, since she's chosen to reveal this this, may one speculate on whether, perhaps, she might have been treated for Narcissistic Personality Disorder (DSM-5 301.81)?

Matt said...

How come halfsies always identify with the black half - even when they've been abandoned by the black parent and raised by the white?

Barry Soetoro, Halle Berry and Colin Kaepernick come readily to mind.

Why, its almost like there might be some societal benefit to being black.

Darkisland said...

Why is "people of color" OK?

Why is "colored people" so wrong?

Sometimes my head spins

John Henry

jaed said...

"Have you seen a list of courses covered by those videos?"

I have. I downloaded a few before they were removed. Some computer science, macroeconomics, electrical engineering, a philosophy class given by John Searle.

(These aren't the open-learning EdX courses intended for "the community", contra buwaya—they are, or were, recordings of actual degree classes given at UC Berkeley along with course material such as handouts and tests. An incredible resource. I don't think I'm ever going to get over my fury at their forced removal from public access.)

SDaly said...

Diversity is Strength!

Kevin said...

Only actual violists get to say that.

Who doesn't like a good viola?

As for the French word, well no one much takes French anymore.

It's all Spanish and Mandarin these days.

Real American said...

YEAH! ALL MASS PRODUCED PRODUCTS SHOULD BE MADE SPECIFICALLY FOR ME!

Lewis Wetzel said...

EVERYONE MUST BELIEVE DIVSERSITY IS STRENGTH! IT IS WEAKNESS TO BELIEVE DIFFERENTLY!

Doug said...

It's about time for the POC professional victims to get a long, sustained dose of STFU.

Unknown said...

Would it help if they

left a watermelon on the pillow?

funsize said...

Female commenter, I use the hotel shampoo. It's handy to have in your toiletry kit (that pesky TSA again), and its nice to switch up what sort of product you use every now and then. But I am not so fussy about my hair as some women I know. For instance, it is not dyed, and I only very rarely use any products in it. (aveda, in case you were curious. They are frou frou but they smell so good). However, I do bring my own, in case the place I'm at doesn't have any, or if it is really bad for some reason. Bartell sells tiny bottles.

The thing about free stuff though....often its not very good. That's because its FREE. This is an important life lesson, and Halsey probably knows it already.

Oh, another little thing that has probably been addressed: she said hotels are alienating "like 50%" of their customers. Do POC and mixed race folks make up 50% of the US? I realize I can google this, but its probably widely variable by region.

Anonymous said...

I know there are shampoos marketed to black people, but I always assumed they would work on a white person's hair and mass market shampoos would work on a black person's hair. Anybody here know if that's true or not?

I just Googled "black shampoo white shampoo," but everything that popped up was either (1) about Halsey or (2) about shampoos for pets.

mikee said...

I, for one, expect that the day your self-identified racial identity is requested when making a hotel reservation, the shampoo in your room will be the very least of the worries faced by people staying at those hotels.

Bilwick said...

I was born in Brooklyn, but ever since I read Edgar Rice Burroughs' John Carter of Mars novels as a teen, I've identified as Barsoomian. The only problem is the police take a dim view of me walking around wearing only a leather harness with edged weapons and radium pistols hanging from it.

Michelle Dulak Thomson said...

Like I said, this is silly. There are legit issues about female makeup and such. There's a Sara Paretsky novel (Hard Time) in which V. I. Warshawski gets herself into a women's prison and not bailed out, so that she can discover how a diminutive Filipina ended up in front of her car dead one night. Read it; I think it's her best book.

Anyway, in the prison there's a black woman who's de facto matriarch of the whole place, and one of her complaints is that the commissary only stocks makeup for white folks. As someone who wears no makeup at all, I don't quite get this, but V. I. does, and at the end of the book she goes back to the prison with a tube of black-person lipstick.

Unknown said...

All this is nothing more than the white mans burden by liberal commentators. They feel if they don't speak up for the brown man he can not possibly survive.

wGraves said...

I'm a host for AirBnb. Each guest receives a full size bar of bath soap. It's one of many small things I do compete with hotels. I don't even advertise it, but folks who stay in my place probably notice it's a LOT more comfortable to stay in, without ever realizing that this attention to detail is the reason.

The consequence is that I have a very large rate of repeat bookings. Guests book me six months in advance. For example, February is just about completely booked up at the moment. So don't bitch about it, do a little research and take advantage of it.

Bunk said...

Really, we've become a nation of ungrateful inconsiderate fools. Complaining about a convenience item provided for you in case you need it?? Don't like it? Don't use it then!

We need another depression to get folks perspective back in order. All this noise would end right quick.

Paul Ciotti said...

Halsey: "“I look like a white girl, but I don’t feel like one. I’m a black woman.”

So that's how it works. If you are white you are a girl but if you're black you're a woman?

Sean said...

Bad at Love? At least she's consistent (her 'thoughts' are no better).

Ingachuck'stoothlessARM said...

the Rosa Parks of hotel haircare products.

TBlakely said...

"Starting a dialogue" and "starting a conversation" is code for STFU and agree with everything I say unless you want to be labeled a sexist, homophobic, racist.

MB said...

And another part of it is that a society in which people stand up for themselves, solve interpersonal conflicts by direct communication instead of gossip and scandal, and don't delegate celebrity spokeswomen as their representatives would be a better society to live in.
And yet another part of it is that this is is the very definition of a first-world problem.

Silly Calabrese said...

I always try to keep in mind that all this nonsense was going on in 5000 B.C. but we didn't have a comprehensive, world-wide network to disseminate these teeny tiny 'thoughts'. Forget the racial resentment-mongering industry for a moment, and consider why this stupendous invention called the internet is being used to propagate THIS information, rather than really profound and life-changing information...

RLW said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
RLW said...

This is so many levels of stupid. Are we going to go back to the one drop rule of the slaveholding Southern culture.

Well, upthread there WAS mention of Ivory soap, which prides itself on being 99.44% pure.

stlcdr said...

Add to the ‘everything is racist’ and ‘keep racism alive’ departments.

Jeff H said...

Now, only accept money for sales of your "music" to blacks. No white money in your coffers.

#poverty

truth speaker said...

I simply don’t believe her father is Black. Show me a picture of her as a kid with her parents and I *might* believe it; until then, she’s just another Rachelle D.

truth speaker said...

According to Wikipedia, her dad is Black with some Irish thrown in and her is of European ancestry, therefore she is more Caucasian than African. Claiming she ‘identifies’ as Black is nothing but marketing.

Stephen Morgan said...

He mother is a disgusting muddshark.. Bestiality is a sin against God.. So her mammy is going to burn forever in the sodomy ring of fire.

jaed said...

Someone drop a stinkbomb in here? <sniff> <sniff> Because something sure smells bad. (Possibly Althouse will decide to take out the trash.)



I know there are shampoos marketed to black people, but I always assumed they would work on a white person's hair and mass market shampoos would work on a black person's hair. Anybody here know if that's true or not?

Black hair is usually very curly or kinky (and curly hair is naturally fragile and tends to be dry), and black women often process their hair (which makes it more fragile). People with curly hair generally need gentle moisturizing shampoos, and conditioners with oil, because of how easily their hair can be damaged. You need to be even gentler if your hair is already damaged by processing or coloring.

So there's nothing specific to "black hair" qua black, but most black people would use gentler shampoo and a better conditioner than the (usually pretty harsh) hotel shampoo. Especially if their hair is long. OTOH most people with long straight hair would avoid the hotel shampoo too.

Caligula said...

"I know there are shampoos marketed to black people, but I always assumed they would work on a white person's hair" But if you're mixed race then you must careful mix them proprtionally to match your genetic heritage?

I always thought this was similar to the way generic Benedryl is marketed both as a sleep aid and as a sinus pill. It's the same antihistamine in both packages, but customers looking for a sleep aid are unlikely to buy a sinus pill while those looking for sinus relief are unlikely to buy a sleep aid.

Of course, both sleep-aid and sinus-pill packages contain chemically identical pills (except perhaps for exterior color). But someone looking for a sleep aid is unlikely to buy sinus pills, and similary someone looking for sinus relief is unlikely to buy the sleepy pills. And practically no one will buy a box that just says "contains 100 diphenhydramine 25mg tabs" on it.

Customers are not buying pills, they're buying relief for what ails them. Therefore if you want to sell your product you just have to sell them what they're looking for.

(And yes, the sleep aid pills do cost significantly more than the sinus pills.)

BTW, one of the wierd things in old magazines (from before about 1975) is that, unless the magazine was marketed specifically to African-American readers, none- absultuely zero- of its ads will show any non-white models. Except, occasionally, a black person may be shown in a service role. (Et tu, New York Times?)