Mathew Knowles had also said that he thought his ex-wife Tina Lawson was white. (Photo by Johnny Nunez/WireImage)
Mathew Knowles‘ recent headline-grabbing comments on colorism have detracted from the message of his new book, the famous manager said.
Knowles recently remarked on how the success of performers like Nicki Minaj, Rihanna, Mariah Carey and his daughter Beyoncé, have been aided by their lighter complexion.
“When it comes to Black females, who are the people who get their music played on pop radio?” he said in a Friday, Feb. 2 Ebony magazine profile alluding to their skin tones. “Mariah Carey, Rihanna, the female rapper Nicki Minaj, [Beyoncé and Solange], and what do they all have in common?”
But the Texas Southern University professor says colorism isn’t even what his memoir, “Racism: From the Eyes of a Child,” is focused on.
“People are smart enough to know that they are of the same shade of skin, I think we all know that,” he told Page Six Friday, Feb. 9. “I don’t think I had to say it … I don’t want us to get colorism as the main topic of this book. It’s not even a chapter. I talk about it in various chapters, but this book is about racism. It’s not about Black people on Black people.”
Knowles isn’t just focused on telling his own story of how he experienced race while growing up in Gadsden, Ala. His next book, called “Destiny’s Child: The Untold Story” is due late this year or early next year.
