This woman’s YouTube video about the sexualization of black women was taken down by the site
YouTube has come under fire for troubling content shared on the platform. From YouTube kid channels showing violent images to Logan Paul making a mockery of suicide, many questionable videos have been allowed to live on the video platform. But it looks like genuinely educational videos are being deleted.
One YouTuber is fuming over the company’s decision to remove her video. Kat Blaque has 100k+ subscribers and creates videos addressing racism, white privilege, and trans rights. With videos titled “Black Activists with White Partner,” What is Rape Culture,” and “What Defines Gender?”, Kat has never been afraid to address any and all issues relevant to women and marginalized communities.
But it’s one video in particular that caught YouTube’s eye. Kat says the platform randomly removed a video she uploaded years ago. And the content in question has her pondering the motive behind this decision. The video is from November 2014 and is titled “Jean Paul Goude & the Hottentot Venus.” It was timed around Kim Kardashian’s Paper magazine cover that intended to “break the internet.” But Kat’s focus was on the typically forgotten Sarah Baartman, nicknamed Hottentot Venus, who in the 19th-century was paraded about as a freak show due to her large behind and curvy body (a body type that Kardashian is now embraced for). Even in death, Baartman was still on display. Her genitals remained in a Paris museum until the 1970s.
In Kat’s video, she drew parallels and addressed the hypocrisy relating to how Kim’s curves can “break the internet” but the sexualization of black women has dire consequences. That video was from 2014 — remember? For some reason, YouTube decided to take it down this past Sunday.
Kat quickly and rightfully called them out.
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She went on to discuss YouTube events where she felt less than supported, and the removal of the video seemed to be her last straw.
When YouTube replied to Kat via Twitter, she wasn’t having it:
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The YouTube team went on to tell her the video’s removal was an error.
Appreciate you reaching out and letting us know about the video removal, this was an error on our side and we confirmed the video is now back up. Our apologies.
— TeamYouTube (@TeamYouTube) January 8, 2018
While the video is back up, the damage seems to have been done. Kat vows to take a step back from YouTube. false
Wherever Kat takes her work, we’ll be following and listening.
