Normani says she found Camila Cabello’s past racist remarks ‘devastating’

Normani has spoken out about the racist remarks her former bandmate Camila Cabello once posted online, saying she felt “hurt” by the situation.

In December, it was reported that racist comments Cabello made several years ago on Tumblr had resurfaced after a Twitter user shared a thread titled: “Exposing Camila Cabello’s racist and downright disturbing tumblr reblogs.”

One of the screenshotted posts showed Cabello using the “n” word, while other posts showed the musician reblogging memes that played into racial stereotypes.

Cabello shared a lengthy apology in response to the now-deleted Tumblr posts, writing: “When I was younger, I used language that I’m deeply ashamed of and will regret forever.

“I was uneducated and ignorant and once I became aware of the history and the weight and the true meaning behind this horrible language, I was deeply embarrassed I ever used it.”

During a recent interview with Rolling Stone magazine, Normani was asked for her view regarding the posts made by her former Fifth Harmony bandmate.

The musician said she wished to be “concise” about how she addressed the issue, telling the interviewer that she would get back to them on that particular line of questioning.

After a couple of weeks, the 23-year-old sent her response to the question over email, writing: “I want to be very clear about what I’m going to say on this uncomfortable subject and figured it would be best to write out my thoughts to avoid being misconstrued, as I have been in the past.”

The “Motivation” singer said she “struggled” to talk about the subject because she did bit want it to be part of her “narrative”.

“But I am a black woman, who is a part of an entire generation that has a similar story,” she added.

“I face senseless attacks daily, as does the rest of my community. This represents a day in the life for us. I have been tolerating discrimination far before I could ever comprehend what exactly was happening.”

Normani stated she has had “direct and subliminal hatred” targeted at her for years due to the colour of her skin.

“It would be dishonest if I said that this particular scenario didn’t hurt me,” the recording artist said.

“It was devastating that this came from a place that was supposed to be a safe haven and a sisterhood, because I knew that if the tables were turned I would defend each of them in a single heartbeat.”

The singer recalled that it took Cabello “days” to acknowledge what Normani was going through online, “and then years for her to take responsibility for the offensive tweets that recently resurfaced”.

“Whether or not it was her intention, this made me feel like I was second to the relationship that she had with her fans,” Normani said.

The artist added that she believes “everyone deserves the opportunity for personal growth”.

“I really hope that an important lesson was learned in this. I hope there is genuine understanding about why this was absolutely unacceptable,” Normani concluded.

“To my brown men and women, we are like no other. Our power lies within our culture. We are descendants of an endless line of strong and resilient kings and queens. We have been and will continue to win in all that we do simply because of who we are.

“We deserve to be celebrated, I deserve to be celebrated and I’m just getting started.”

Normani and Cabello became members of the five-strong Fifth Harmony in while competing in The X Factor USA in 2012.

Each member of the group had auditioned for the show as solo contestants before being placed together by the show’s judges, which included Demi Lovato and Simon Cowell.

The group finished in third place in the competition, going on to win an American Music Award and a Billboard Women in Music accolade.