Tamera Mowry-Housley makes me weary. I loved her and her twin sister, Tia Mowry-Hardrict, on Sister, Sister like any good ’80s baby would. But grown up Tamera is tiring on so, so many topics — race being number one on that list. The child star used up precious air time on The Real to lament about fans joking that her white husband couldn’t really cook collard greens. Girl. If you don’t get you some real problems to whine about.
Over the Thanksgiving holiday, the actress posted an Instagram photo of a pot of greens with the caption, “Yaaas! My man cooks greens And yes! They are bomb!#HousleyThanksgiving.” Apparently some commenters aren’t believers that her white husband, Adam, can cook greens the way black people cook them. “Ain’t no way Adam is making some good collard greens…you must eat like a white person..,” one commenter wrote. I’m sorry, but this is funny. Like black people loving fried chicken, white people not using seasoning/knowing how to cook is just one stereotype they’re gonna have to live with.
Instead of ignoring the joke (or, I don’t know, laughing and moving on with life), Tamera had to get her weekly quota of sympathy applauds from the few people still watching since Tamar Braxton’s departure. “The only thing I can think of is, ‘Damn Gina! Why you gotta bring race into this?’ Like daaaang,” the talk show host said. “Now I gotta get all factual. Collard greens originated from Greece. They became a southern delicacy in the states. And what they don’t know is that Adam’s grandma is from the south, and she passed away before she could spread that recipe to him. My husband loves collard greens.”
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Adam loves collards so much that Tamera’s black mom (her father is white) passed down her recipe to him. Awww. Cute. She continued, “Guys, with there being so much racial tension in this world right now, why don’t we start with ourselves? It doesn’t always have to be about race.”
Tamera knew exactly what she was doing by captioning a photo of greens with “Yasss! My man cooks greens.” She wanted everyone to know her white hubby makes soul food. Cool. But nobody cares, girl. Had she not captioned the picture with that obvious approval- and attention-seeking caption, then inquiring minds wouldn’t be able to question whether her man can throw down or not. And since we’re here, I know we joke about white people not being able to cook well due to their alleged lack of seasoning, but I know some southern white women that will cook you out of the kitchen (I can’t speak for white women in other regions).
It’s just not that serious. The audacity to do a spiel about everything not having to be about race is exactly why she makes me weary. For some of us, everything is about race. Equating the “fix ourselves” accountability with systematic racism or racial tensions is a false, dangerous narrative. If every black person stopped talking about race today, racism would still exist tomorrow and 10 years from now. Is she really this clueless?
I’ve been on the outs with Tamera since her slut-shaming respectability stance on “good girls” all because she abstained from sex until she marriage. Her constant hurt feelings over people critiquing her interracial marriage are valid, but they come across so whiney. And it’s always about what some stranger said on social media. SOCIAL MEDIA. Lord, give me strength. I can’t and I won’t.
The silver lining? At least we all know now that Adam can make some good ol’ southern collard greens with the flavor of our ancestors making scraps into fine delicacies. I don’t know how my life would’ve gone on without that pertinent information. Thanks, Tamera!
Original by Bené Viera
