Miley's Blackophilia

In Blackophilia and Blackophobia: White Youth, the Consumption of Rap Music, and White Supremacy, Bill Yousman argues that white youth adopting black culture is a performance that allows whites to contain their fears through rituals of adoration (p 369).  When I read that, I immediately thought of Miley Cyrus and her fascination with the African American community.  However, before discussing Miley, I want to talk about these "fears" because I don't necessarily think that Miley is afraid of African Americans.  Maybe we already talked about this and I just don't remember, but if whites are afraid of black culture, why are they so fascinated by it?  Maybe it's just me, but I don't understand why white youth would adore black culture if they are fearful of it.   For instance, I'm terrified of ghosts, but that doesn't make me want to search for paranormal activity. I try to stay away from things that scare me, but maybe that's a bad comparison.  I guess I'm trying to say that I don't understand how Blackophilia is aligned with Blackophobia.

In regards to Miley, I think she does adore the black community but not out of fear.  I believe that she thinks it's cool to be black.  She even called her backup dancers her homies.  Yousman states "the
Other is often imagined as an alluring and exotic figure of intriguing and dangerous sexuality even as this sexuality is simultaneously drawn as primitive, inferior, and uncivilized" (p 384).  In relation to Miley, she's growing up and trying to find her own sexual identity.  With that said, it seems as if she believes that African Americans are exotic and perhaps dangerous and therefore wants to be just like them.  Although she doesn't realize, her actions are problematic because she is exploiting African Americans.  I realize that we've talked about this several times already, but Miley's performance at the VMAs is an excellent example of racial exploitation  because she essentially used her black backup dancers as props rather than people.  Yousman states that "whites often simultaneously identify with and envy Blacks partially because of repressed sexual desire" (384).  Miley wants to be sexually desirable and therefore attempts to do so by turning her "homies" into props.  Whether or not she realizes, Miley is dehumanizing and exploiting African Americans, more specifically, African American women, by taking certain parts of the black culture (clothing, hairstyle, actions) and basically making a show out of it.