Shannon Miller: Ginga Jay rant proves Black women always carry the weight of stereotypes

Influencer Jahzeiah Francois known as Ginga Jay, went on a scathing rant on popular YouTube show BK Chat. His rant detailed why he "doesn't date Black women" and has since blown up online.

In the now viral clip, Francois said: "Here’s why I don’t date Black women, because you don’t like to get put in your place - stay in your f**kng place!” Later, he added: “Black women don’t f**kng behave themselves.”

Francois has since doubled down after the video went viral, insisting he stood by every word, and only apologising for the way he delivered it, not the message itself. On a video posted on social mediahe said: "Yes, I apologise for my actions because I should have controlled my anger - and that is all I'm apologising for - let's be very clear here, everything I said was true."

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The words were disgusting, but what stung more washow familiar they sounded.For Black women,being told we’re 'too aggressive’, ‘too loud, and ‘too much’ is nothing new - in fact, it's the same tired script but dressed up as a preference.

Aggressive isn’t a harmful word, but when it’s used in a derogatory context against Black women, it becomes one. It’s the word that tells us 'you don’t fit, you’re less desirable, you’re not soft enough'. Each time it's used to describe us, whether at work, in relationships, or shouted in a podcast, it chips away at how we’re seen and contributes to the narrative that’s so hard to shake off.

Research by Georgetown Law’s Centre on Poverty and Inequality highlights that adults view Black girls as less innocent and more mature than their white peers, often labelling them as “angry,” “defiant,” or “disruptive”. In the UK, where Black girls already contend with significant racial disparities, this bias can deepen the challenges they face, as reported by Women at Wish in 2024.

And it’s not just the words themselves but the mindset behind them. When a man demands that Black women need to "sit down" or be "put in their place," it is more than just disrespectful - it’s dangerous.

Language like this has long been used to control women - by silencing us, shrinking us and making us believe we don’t deserve the same space as men.

British social anthropologists Edwin Ardener and his wife Shirley Ardener created the Muted Group Theory in the 1970s, which shows how language systems are built around men's perspectives often leaving women's voices muted or dismissed due to a cultural structure rather than the inability to speak - which is exactly what rhetoric like this does.

And these situations don't just stay online, they echo in real life shaping an atmosphere where shouting, demeaning or even hurting women can be brushed off as ‘discipline’ rather than abuse. And when the target is Black women who are already dismissed as ‘aggressive’ - those words carry an even heavier threat suggesting we somehow deserve it.

PenGame Rap Battle, a podcast which he co-hosted, said that Francois' behaviour "did not align with their core values" and announced he would step down from the platform

An Instagram post from the podcast's official page read: "Pengame would like to make it very clear that we do not condone the behaviour displayed in the recent videos involving Ginga-Jay."

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The owner of PenGame, Andre Wright, known as Margs, publicly cut ties with Francois, stressing that he didn't want to be associated with "the face of anti-Blackness" or a man who openly disrespects women.

He explained on The New Blxck on Patreon, "I don't need the face on anti-Blackness being tied to me, it's a Black business - I have Black women staff, my BTS girls, rappers - I'm a Black man first and foremost."

"He said I can't put them in their place, so that makes me think you enjoy putting women in their place, so what are you doing in your spare time? This is wild, it comes to protecting women. You stood up, you're showing aggression and you attacked this women personally," Andre added.

Even after this, some people continue to counter this backlash by arguing that those offended are "is too sensitive" - but this isn’t about sensitivity.

When stereotypes follow you into dating, working and everyday life, it’s about survival. Sensitivity is reacting to something hurtful, when survival is carrying it constantly, by adjusting how you talk, dress and even exist just to avoid being written off as "aggressive."

It's not about Black women being "too sensitive" - it's about refusing to normalise misogyny and abuse towards women. Black women don’t need to be less. Society needs to stop asking us to shrink so it can feel more comfortable.

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