Amandla Stenberg Called Out the Racist Idea That Black People "All Look the Same"

Back in August, a Twitter account (likely a media-affiliated one) shared a photo of Amandla Stenberg from the VMAs red carpet that caused a stir. The problem? The caption read, "@Normani rocks short hair tonight at the #VMAs," referring to former Fifth Harmony member Normani Kordei. Now, in a new Instagram photo set, Amandla is subtly calling out the embedded racism that leads people to mix up celebrities of color.

At the American Music Awards on Oct. 9, Amandla snapped a photo with Normani herself, with both celebs shrugging. She then shared both the original tweet confusing their names and the new photo from the AMAs with the caption, "They really think we all look the same."

In response to Amandla's post, fans commented their support, writing, "Y’all are two different successful black people but they gotta clump y’all together as a 'unit.'" And another person pointed out, "A lot of celebs look alike. No one is denying that part. Zooey Deschanel(sp?) and Katy Perry look alike. So do Toby McGuire and Elijah Wood. So do Blake Lively and Kesha. So do many others — many who share a closer resemblance than Amandla and Normani, but I've never seen a magazine or gossip rag confuse a white celeb for another attending an award show. Funny that."

Amandla's words refer to the racist micro-aggression of assuming all people of a certain race look alike. It's a psychological bias often referred to "the other-race effect," which researchers have hypothesized means that people of one race have difficulty identifying people of another. But you know how that bias can be counteracted? Experiences with people of diverse races, and a commitment to not assuming people of a different race all look identical.

Amandla's important statement comes at a critical time: her newest movie *The Hate U Give" also tackles micro-aggressions against black people, in addition to police brutality and learning how to speak out against injustices as a young person.

It also not-so-coincidentally comes after another incident of racism involving the American Music Awards, when outlets writing about the event apparently mixed up To All the Boys I've Loved Before actor Lana Condor with cellist Tina Guo. And before Spider-Man: Homecoming hit theaters, people were also mixing up Zendaya and Laura Harrier.

Normani hasn't added any personal comments to Amandla's Instagram post, nor has Amandla commented any further on the incident, but the message these two are sending is very clear: stop mixing up people of color, especially when Google exists and it's very easy to double check before you post.

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