Gina Rodriguez "Anti-Black" Controversy

Overview

The Gina Rodriguez "Anti-Black" Controversy refers to a backlash towards a series of comments about diversity and race made by actress Gina Rodriguez, star of the television series Jane The Virgin.

Background

On July 23rd, 2017, Gina Rodriguez tweeted, ^[1] "Marvel and DC are killing it in inclusion and women but where are the Latinos?! Asking for a friend…" The tweet received more than 8,600 retweets and 35,000 likes in 24 hours (shown below).

Developments

Smallfoot Interview

In September 2018, in an interview for the film Smallfoot featuring Rodriguez and co-star Yara Shahidi, the interviewer called Shahid "a role model for young black women." Rodriguez attempted to correct the interviewer by stating, "for young women."

Online Reaction

On September 27th, 2018, Instagram ^[5] user @theafrolatindiaspora posted the interview and added the comment, "Someone please come and get Gina.. she’s acting up again 🙄 … stop correcting us." The post received more than 14,000 views and 1,000 likes in three months.

Many criticized Rodriguez for the correction. On September 27th, 2018, Twitter^[4] user @MJFinesseLover tweeted, "Gina Rodriguez really tried to derail the conversation by making it about “all women” when the interviewer was CLEARY talking to Yara Shahidi about BLACK WOMEN. She does shit like this and wonder why Afro-Latinos be dragging her ass. Girl, do better. Smh" Within four months, the tweet received more than 200 retweets and 675 likes (shown below).

Over the next year, the tweet grew and interview grew in awareness. Many refuted Rodriguez's assertion that people of Latin American descent are not present in the films. Twitter user @CNRush tweeted,^[2] "I honestly wonder how Black latinas like Gina Torres, Tatyana Ali, Tessa Thompson, and even the perpetually lost Zoe Saldana feel about Gina Rodriguez’s consistent jabs at Black women." The tweet received more than 1,400 retweets and 5,000 likes in three months (shown below, left).

On November 23rd, 2018, Twitter user @sofiaquintero tweeted,^[3] "It is quite possible for Gina Rodriguez to advocate for better Latinx representation without constantly evoking African American advances in a way that implies they're part of the problem. If she refuses to learn that, her cultural activism actually perpetuates the problem." The tweet received more than 4,000 retweets and 13,000 likes in less than three months (shown below, right).

Sway's Universe Interview

On January 22nd, 2019, during an interview on the radio show Sway's Universe, the interviewers asked Rodriguez about allegations of being "anti-black." She cried while answering the question and said, "The backlash was devastating, to say the least. The Black community was the only community I looked towards growing up. We didn’t have many Latino shows and the Black community made me feel like I was seen.^[6] So to get anti-Black is to say I’m anti-family." Within two days, the interview received more than 56,000 views on YouTube.

That day, Twitter user @danielleisback_ tweeted a video from the interview and added the caption "Here's Gina Rodriguez crying because she's been rightfully called anti-black." The tweet received more than 8,800 retweets, 38,000 likes and 2.5 million in two days (shown below).

Search Interest

External References