In Defense of Mulatto

2020, as I mentioned in my last article, has truly been Mulatto’s year.

In fact, if you listen to hip hop or rap at all, I’d be thoroughly surprised if you hadn’t heard of her by now.

She’s got features with Lil Baby, Gucci Mane twice over, 21 Savage, Boosie, and City Girls, to mention a few. She scored a place on the 2020 XXL Freshman Cover.

Mulatto during her XXL cypher

She’s a star.

And where fame comes, criticism usually follows.

Mulatto, or Big Latto, as you may hear at the beginning of all her verses, is criticised solely for her name.

Now, speaking as a biracial girl, I feel I can give my opinion on the matter (whether it’s needed or not is another question).

You see, when I first heard about Mulatto, I actually had no clue her name had a meaning to it. A very historically politically charged one, at that.

I thought she was cool, and that was all. Not to mention the fact that there aren’t many mixed-race female rappers in the game at the moment.

When I actually found out what the term ‘mulatto’ meant, I wasn’t shocked, or offended, as many people are—I felt empowered.

‘Mulatto’, during the days of slavery in the United States, was a derogatory term used by white people to describe people who had parents of white and black race. In no way was it a compliment; one could say it was the equivalent of the n-word for black people, but for biracial people (although mixed people usually benefitted from colourism and were treated better than those of a darker skin tone).

In any case, when I heard Mulatto’s explanation for her choice of stage name, I was in awe.

‘With my name being “Mulatto” I feel a certain duty to speak up. If you don’t know the origin of my name, in American culture, it was a racist slur used for the offspring of 1 black parent, 1 white parent. A lot of people don’t understand my reclaiming of the term and won’t no matter how many times I speak on it and that’s fine. I come from a white mom who was offered the option of abortion and ridiculed for creating a seed with a black man. I come from a half-white family who doesn’t understand my frustrations, experiences, and challenges because they can’t relate. (It’s so frustrating trying to educate them and protect my other black cousins as that side of my family continues to diversify) but the term holds power to me & it’s me owning and loving the same qualities of myself that I was judged for before even being born. My name was never meant to highlight my white side but instead the exact opposite...To spit in those same faces by owning the exact part of me they hated.’

Black artists have rightfully reclaimed the n-word in a stance of empowerment, and this is what Mulatto is doing for mixed people. Taking a racial slur—our racial slur—and making it represent all of her talent and success is not to be confused with self-deprecation, but rather with the retrieval of power.

To say that Mulatto is colourist because of her stage name, in my opinion, is just as good as saying she’s colourist for existing as a biracial woman. Mulatto. It’s what she is. It’s what I am, and every other mixed person on the planet. Is she colourist for existing as she is? Is it her fault the system is corrupt and favours lighter skin over darker skin? Let’s not forget that mixed people aren’t exempt from mistreatment under the state, either.

From an ACAB perspective, if a racist policeman stops a mixed person, they won’t see the white and offer them benefit of the doubt. They’ll see the black, just as slaveholders and white people did, under the One Drop Rule, which determined that ‘any person with even one ancestor of black ancestry (one “drop” of black blood) was considered black’. Of course, today, things aren’t as simple. Although racism is less visible, it’s given way to other issues which appear under the same bracket, such as colourism.

This is not to say mixed people receive the same treatment as black people in a racist setting, not at all—to say that would be a vile aberration of the truth. This is just to say that we are not exempt from racism, either, or from the feeling of not belonging.

Growing up in different places, first in a mainly white, rural area, I never felt completely at home. Mulatto describes this feeling in her song ‘No Hook’ perfectly: ‘always felt too black for the white folks’. Then comes the experience of having your hair constantly touched, which is something I’m sure every person of colour can relate to: not that it’s the worst thing in the world, but simple microaggressions as such can really make one feel like they’re unusual, a creature to be observed and analysed, rather than a normal human being.

For those saying Big Latto’s a colourist—you're wrong. She claims her blackness as much as anyone else: ‘I’m black. I went to black schools, listen to black music, and live in a city where black people thrive. Atlanta. But this isn’t just about me or my story. I feel the responsibility to bring awareness to what’s going on especially with the platform/followers/influence I have. No justice no peace. I refuse to be a part of the problem by ignoring the problem.’

At the end of the day, the way I see it, if you’re not mixed, you don’t get to speak on this situation. End of story. Had Mulatto actually been expressing colourist attitudes, I’d be saying otherwise.

If you’re not biracial, you don’t know how it feels to be split between two races, sometimes being forced to choose. You don’t know how it feels to be too white for the black kids, and too black for the white kids.

Essentially, I'm asking you politely to mind your own business.

There’s not much portrayal of mixed culture in mainstream media or music, and Mulatto gives us the platform we need to feel empowered and represented.

For that, Latto, thank you.