Jackie Aina (@jackieaina/Instagram)
A beauty vlogger was urged by a Black fan to stop talking about race so that she could appeal to white female viewers, but her simple response shut him down.
Jackie Aina has not only amassed more than a million YouTube followers for her makeup routines, but viewers are also attracted to her political stance. On Instagram, she aligned herself with police brutality victim Alton Sterling and called out those who engage in cultural appropriation.
So, when a subscriber gave her advice on toning down such discussions in favor of success, Aina put him in his place. The makeup expert tweeted screenshots of a comment exchange on one of her tutorials Monday, Dec. 26. That day, a Black male fan named Abraham offered Aina a suggestion on how she can gain more white female subscribers.
“You need to stop talking about race, skin color, and WOC issues on your channel so much,” he said in part, later deeming it “race crap.”
“You can talk about it one [sic] in a while, but not all the time like you do. Or else it will alienate and annoy white girl viewers … And you need to reach the white girl audience if you want to go mainstream on YouTube,” Abraham said before name dropping white beauty guru Jaclyn Hill, who has 3.8 million subscribers. “I can totally see you being the ‘black Jackyn [sic] Hill,’ but you just need to make some improvements. No more race talk, please.”
Rather than engage in a back-and-forth discussion with Abraham, Aina had this one-word response:
After noting that she currently has 1.1 million YouTube subscribers, the beauty maven pointed out that race-related topics are in fact what fuel her videos, which include tutorials on how to find a foundation that matches darker skin tones, among other color-related topics.
https://twitter.com/jackieaina/status/813646473237643264
Aina also explained such topics are what attract nonwhite viewers to her videos.
https://twitter.com/jackieaina/status/813648091760902144
Many fans weighed in, mostly to side with Aina.
Jezebel questioned Abraham’s motivation for making the comment in the first place.
@jackieaina “the black Jaclyn Hill” what the hell?? You’re the only Jackie Aina. Why does he think you wanna be someone else lmao.
— Jezebel ?? (@cyennaaaa) December 27, 2016
Kiwanzaa found Aina’s response hilarious.
@jackieaina your reply has me dead ?? one word and it had the force of your whole personality behind it ily ?
— ✨Kiwanzaa ✨ (@keeyjay_) December 27, 2016
Meanwhile, It’s Crystal tweeted that Aina already has achieved mass success.
@jackieaina I’m more saddened for the Writer of that comment (“race crap” really?). Anyway whatta mean “if”, you already WENT mainstream.
— It’s Crystal (@Crys_n_Makeup) December 27, 2016
