Normani has remarked on her previous Fifth Harmony bandmate Camila Cabello’s history of racist conduct via social media.
A year ago, Cabello experienced harsh criticism when years-old posts highlighting racist slurs and deprecatory images from the artist’s close to home Tumblr reemerged on the web.
In another Rolling Stone main story, Normani first communicated anxiety toward tending to the issue inspired by a paranoid fear of not being “concise” in her reaction. She later caught up with the author by means of email.
“I want to be very clear about what I’m going to say on this uncomfortable subject and figured it would be best to write out my thoughts to avoid being misconstrued, as I have been in the past. I struggled with talking about this because I didn’t want it to be a part of my narrative, but I am a black woman, who is a part of an entire generation that has a similar story,” Normani’s email began.
“It was devastating that this came from a place that was supposed to be a safe haven and a sisterhood, because I knew that if the tables were turned I would defend each of them in a single heartbeat. It took days for her to acknowledge what I was dealing with online and then years for her to take responsibility for the offensive tweets that recently resurfaced. Whether or not it was her intention, this made me feel like I was second to the relationship that she had with her fans.”
“I really hope that an important lesson was learned in this,” Normani concluded. “I hope there is genuine understanding about why this was absolutely unacceptable. I have spoken what is in my heart and pray this is transparent enough that I never have to speak on it again. To my brown men and women, we are like no other. Our power lies within our culture.
Cabello has meanwhile apologized for the posts. A Twitter string caught screen captures of Cabello utilizing the n-word and posting racist gifs on her own Tumblr in 2012 and 2013 when she was around 14. Cabello apologized freely on December 18, saying
“When I was younger, I used language that I’m deeply ashamed of and will regret forever. I was uneducated and ignorant and once I became aware of the history and the weight and the true meaning behind this horrible and hurtful language, I was deeply embarrassed I ever used it….As much as I wish I could, I can’t go back in time and change things I said in the past. But once you know better, you do better, and that’s all I can do.”
I’m sorry from the bottom of my heart. pic.twitter.com/iZrnUawUAb
— camila (@Camila_Cabello) December 18, 2019