Also Dear Fellow White People:

higglety:

thepeacockangel:

Let’s remember that the hyper-competent black woman who never gets a romance storyline and carries all the white people on her team, is not a progressively written character.  The trope exists to justify the centuries old bullshit of treating black women like unlovable beasts of burden while white women get to be treasured decorative objects to be protected (which is a better position, don’t lie, like it’s not ‘actual person’ good, but it’s a biiiig step up.)

Like she’s cool and she’s a badass, but she deserves to get to be vulnerable, and treasured and loved and not treated like an expendable resource rather than a lovable and valued human being.

I agree, and would like to add that this incisive description of the trope just gave me an epiphany? Because you say it tries to justify the trope of treating black women like beasts of burden, but I kind of think it might be more like an extension of that idea? Because if the hyper-competant black woman is carrying all of the people on her team, isn’t she still doing all the work? Except we’re supposed to be OK with that because she’s badass. She’s still carrying everyone, but that’s supposed to be a good thing now.

Pretty much, it’s like “Uh, well at least we’re acknowledging she’s good at it?  PROGRESS!”