Love her, or hate she is an amazing woman. She had to do what she had to do to survive. Nothing in her life was handed to her on a platter of gold. She is a true American story. Many times behind all the razzmatazz, the her virtues and her strength get obscured, but when you look beyond her Hollywood life and what she has done from how she grew up, you can understand where she is coming from.
When you talk about whites, people forget even whites do have class categories. I am not knowledgeable enough to be pushing this sort of argument in an interracial site where we have people more knowledgeable enough to do justice to this issue, yet I will still try to push forward this assumption of knowledge or ignorance. Meanwhile I am open to further enlightenment on the matter.
My understanding is that she is Italian American. There is this idea I hold on to that Italian - Americans have had to fight stereotypes and struggled also to find a place in America. The Mafia stereotypes are there. The big family stereotypes are also there where families are all cramped up with mama and papa and matured kids living with parents. You see some of these made for TV stereotypes rehashed and you still see the modern day typical slutty stereotypes of the Italian females in Jersey Shore. Sometimes when you observe American life from afar, you see a very complicated mix that Americans that live in the potpourri don't see.
Madonna came from such stereotypical family. Back in the days, she was portrayed as a slutty female and she exploited it to the maximum and made out like a bandit in the process. I wonder how her story was different from Britney Spears that started out with an image of a virgin. And how The next Italian White American Gaga is exploiting sexual themes in her music to also make a killing.
I think when people bother to see beyond the media narratives and see human beings with families and a history, they see beyond the media narratives and start to understand that human beings are human beings. They would see that some of the perceptions they have are because of the stories and myths created by the media.
Madonna is living her life. I think people should let her live it. She is done her bit for the black community and she was not obliged to. Some uninformed Africans (especially the elites) wrote all sorts of articles when she adopted a Malawian orphan, the said articles narrowed arguments for adoption or against adoption on the binary of white and black. I never saw that. You see so much when you bother to know about people intimately.
I love many white women that follow their dreams because the economy has empowered them. Many are mothers and have the ability to be a little more perceptive about abilities and also many have nurturing instincts to see through the madness of racism and exclusion. Most are real and grounded.
Madonna is one of those women. She is an icon. She deserves her place in popular music. During her reign she did her bit and embraced black music in all its notes and message. She did not have to date black men. She already had the signature of black culture written all over her music. I think that alone is enough. Talkless of the fact that she is raising a black kid. What else do people want?