Today in Post-Race History: Montana Fishburne

Several weeks ago, I had planned on writing the NAACP in an effort to convince them to ceremoniously bury the term post-race the way they did the word nigger a.k.a "the n-word" a few years ago.  Then the whole Shirley Sherrod debacle happened, and I decided that obviously the NAACP's race card had been suspended, therefore making them barely qualified to issue brown paper bag tests let alone march around some midwestern city long abandoned by industry, singing dirges for problematic words that are just impolite to use.  On Friday, I was glad I put the brakes on becoming pen pals with the NAACP.  I may need to use the term post-race--and not just to be a sarcastic bastard.


Montana Fishburne, the 19-year-old daughter of Laurence Fishburne, has decided to release a sex tape.  According to reports, Ms. Fishburne intends to follow in the stiletto steps of women such as Paris Hilton and Kim Kardashian:

"I've watched how successful Kim Kardashian became and I think a lot of it was due to the release of her sex tape by Vivid," Fishburne said in the press release." I'm hoping the same magic will work for me. I'm impatient about getting well-known and having more opportunities and this seemed like a great way to get started on it."

If I may echo Cee-Lo, you don't shock me anymore.  And though at some point in ancient history the idea of making a sex tape to get famous seemed illogical, in this lifetime Fishburne's rationale is not immediately absurd.

I don't intend to engage in some (Moynihan-esque,) this girl got Daddy issues type of conversation; I'll let commenters on other blogs handle that.  I'm also not interested in a broader discussion on pornography.  I'm not against people getting paid for having sex.  That is another discussion, for another time.

What strikes me about Ms. Fishburne's thinking is how classically post-race/colorblind it seems.  She sees no difference between Kim Kardashian and herself.  Fishburne is arguing that since she's the daughter of a rich and famous man, then she might engage in the same kind of behavior that the daughters of other rich and famous men have and expect the same results.  Being a young black woman does not give her pause.  The discourse on black women's sexuality, about their lasciviousness and their Jezebel nature does not apply.  Montana has no use for that history, because perhaps she was raised to think that little black girls are just like anybody else.

Is the logic behind Montana Fishburne's sex tape not a post-race dream?

Tell you one thing, if Montana Fishburne gets a reality television show on E!, racism might be over, and I'll have a non-sardonic reason to employ the term post-race.

Where in the world is Jaimee Foxworth when you need her?  (Smoked out.)