‘So Goth I Was Born Black’: Meet the black girls of goth

blackrockandrollmusic:

Pale, thin, and white. In
some ways, the aesthetic ideal for a goth isn’t much different from the
aesthetic ideal for a ballerina.

While ballet has superstar Misty Copeland bringing
attention to the lack of diversity in that field, goth culture doesn’t
have an African American of similar status as its face.

Yet black goths
exist.

They can be found in Facebook groups like Black Goth Girls Rock. They attend the AfroPunk music festival in combat boots and Wednesday Addams dresses. And they’re buying the new tops illustrator Bianca Xunise designed for indie brand Adorned by Chi.

“So goth, I was born black,” the shirts declare.

It’s the unofficial motto of goths of color, Xunise explains.

“I don’t know the originator,” she says. “It’s something I’ve seen and heard since the early days of LiveJournal.”

Born to artist parents in Chicago, the 30-year-old says
she’s identified as a goth since childhood. Although contemporary music
was off limits to her as a kid, she found herself drawn to movies like Beetlejuice, Casper, and Mermaids.
But her interest in goth style and culture led bullies to pick on her
in school. Some of her black classmates were weirded out by her interest
in the subculture, while being a woman of color made her feel as if she
didn’t quite fit in with fellow goths.

“Whiteness and thinness and all these other things are
valued in the goth community, and that can make you feel very excluded
because I had a black body and skin,” she says. “I’m not a thin, pale
white woman. I’m a plus-sized black woman, but I thought, ‘I’m going to
create my own space.’”

Xunise isn’t the only one. Other African-Americans say
they became “scene kids” because of their upbringings, interest in art
and music, or fondness for a particular aesthetic.

They point out that
goth and alternative cultures may be linked to whiteness in the popular
imagination, but many of the characteristics associated with these
subcultures, especially piercings, tattoos, and rock, have roots in communities of color. [Read More]

‘So Goth I Was Born Black’: Meet the black girls of goth