I’ve been annoyed with Clutch’s editorial lineup over the past year, what with all their, “EVERYBODY’S RACIST!!!” posts, because I remember a time when the content was much more rounded. The good news is, it looks like they’re going back to that somewhat. They still have the “EVERYBODY’S RACIST!!!” posts, just not as much. So I’m encouraged.

They did get this recent story about the skin-lightening okey-doke the beauty industry (lead by folks all-too-willing to go along) is spoon feeding dark-sling folks across the globe. And true to history, it’s our OWN PEOPLE who are handing the oppressors a steady stream of fresh slaves. Enter Nigerian-Cameroonian, Denicia, as a willing sacrifice (because hell, at least she’s getting rich).

The story:

Whitenicious, a cosmetics line created by California-based, Nigerian-Cameroonian pop star Dencia touts its ability to help customers even out their skin and get rid of discoloration. The product is essentially a skin bleaching cream in a golden jar, sold for $150 a pop– well, at least that is what anyone would gather from Dencia’s “transformation” as seen on the advertisement, from a mocha beauty, to a caramel, Beyonce look-alike, to a washed-out corpse.

So why is this never explicitly stated? More importantly, why is the purpose of Whitenicious — to make a dark skinned person have lighter skin — intentionally concealed? The advertising campaign for Dencia’s product leads consumers to believe that the function of her “cosmetic” is to “nourish your skin and lighten dark knuckles, knees and elbows.”

If this cream is meant for your knees, how did it get all over Dencia’s face, arms, legs and torso? Did she trip and fall into a giant vat of Whitenicious while at the factory– not once or twice,but so many times that she somehow managed to visit every single shade on the skin color spectrum? Or maybe every last one of the containers was defective and when she tried to squeeze out a dab for her elbow, the cream squirted out all over her face. Of course, then she would have had no choice but to apply it all over her body again, at least 200 times.

There is a big discrepancy between the advertised purpose and the practical use of Whitenicious, let’s be real here. The purpose of Dencia’s cream, as is the purpose of most skin bleaching creams, is to lighten skin on the entire body. The unstated purpose is to transform a colored woman into a white woman– as exemplified by Dencia herself– to become Whitenicious (some combination of white and delicious I presume?).

So, why conceal the product’s purpose? If the underlying belief is that colored women are more beautiful with light skin, why not just come out and say it?

Wait. It was originally published by The Frisky. Meh. Oh well. At least they co-signed.

Hey! I think Kola Boof provided a good summary.

Gotta love Kola.