Chinese beauty guru and self-titled ‘Wakanda Queen’ sparks outrage over ‘blackface’ tutorial

November 3, 2021

A Chinese influencer has come under fire after a video resurfaced of her teaching others how to darken their skin with makeup.

Going viral: The influencer, a beauty guru known as Suzy Z, first posted the video on YouTube in April. Last month, a user shared it on TikTok, where it has accumulated more than 2.7 million views.

The video, which runs for nearly six minutes, shows Suzy using multiple products to darken her skin and subsequently calling herself the “Wakanda Queen.”

In June, Suzy posted another tutorial darkening her skin tone and appeared to dress herself in South Asian clothing and accessories.
Descriptions under both videos indicate that they were made upon request.
Although Suzy has less than 1,000 subscribers on YouTube, she has more than one million followers on Bilibili — the platform’s closest Chinese equivalent — where she also posted both skin transformation videos under a playlist called “Global Style.”

Reactions: Suzy’s videos have drawn massive backlash from YouTube users, with many recent comments adding to the conversation and accusing her of racism for donning blackface.

One user asked, “Does she know how racist this is?” Another wrote, “MY SKIN COLOR IS NOT A TREND! THIS IS AN INTERNATIONAL PLATFORM! PLEASE RESPECT MY CULTURE!”
Many who identify as Asian expressed disappointment over her actions. “As an Asian, we don’t claim her — she is her own species,” one commenter wrote.
Others appear to praise Suzy’s makeup skills and hail her as “Queen” and “Princess.”
Some questioned whether race issues are actually relevant in Asia. One user asked to be enlightened, writing “Will a Japanese or Chinese person explain to me the cultural issues and implications of this vid? Certain sensitivities may escape me and sincerely, I’m at a loss. I don’t speak Chinese, so the verbiage is lost on me also.”

Featured Image via – Suzy_Z_

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