“Now, if Rihanna and Houston were white, would the show have gone on? Would Rihanna’s abuser be welcomed back with open arms? As a commenter on Racialicious wrote, “Had Chris Brown assaulted Taylor Swift he’d be working at Mickey D’s now.” In relation to Houston’s drug abuse, when white English singer Amy Winehouse passed away last year, she was revered as a “free spirit” who, because of her loneliness, turned to excessive drink and alcohol. For Houston, no one really could come up with an explanation. After all, she really did have it all: She came from a musical family of superstars; she grew up in the church; she had that God-given talent and physical beauty. Why did she essentially throw that all away? This was HER fault. Winehouse’s personal troubles evoked sympathy; I observed that many of the online obits for Houston lament that her beautiful voice — but not the person — will be missed.”—
—Chris Brown and Whitney Houston: The Entertainment Industry Fails Black Women, by Laina Dawes
*The only thing I will personally disagree with is that Amy Winehouse was universally revered after her death - I saw plenty of people the internet over claiming that it was her own fault and that the world was much better off without, as one commenter so eloquently put it, “another fucking crackwhore”. I will say though that I’ve never heard such things said about men like Kurt Cobain or Jim Morrison.
