The Role of the Black Celebrity in the West's Racist Attitudes

I believe that intention makes little difference when dealing with racism. If a dancer/ musician knows full well that by putting their ass on display they are playing on racist notions of black beauty and sexuality, but they do it anyway to make a buck, does it make any difference? As much as I want to believe that racism is pretty cut and dry, sometimes it just isn't that easy. With the case of Josephine Baker it seemed as though she was very aware of what she was doing and what the implications of her ass-centric routines were. So in her case I feel inclined to applaud her for turning a negative into a positive and making money off her rear end. However, with Beyonce I feel like she is neither aware of some of the racist notions of sexuality that she is reminiscent of nor does she seem to be turning the desires and the beliefs of white people on their head in order to make money for herself. So while I have to respect Josephine Baker I end up feeling like Beyonce is simply being used for her body without really knowing it.

The question this all comes down to for me is: do black celebrities owe it to the black community to transcend these racist representations or is it perfectly acceptable for them to exploit society's racism for their own benefit (money and fame)? I can't possible know the answer to this because I cannot speak for everyone who has an opinion on the subject. Personally though, I think that black celebrities have to be aware of racist stereotypes and notions so that they can avoid them and start to incorporate counter hegemonic notions of beauty and sexuality into our culture.