Colorism is a type of discrimination where lighter skinned people are treated more favorably than people of darker skin [1] . This is a phenomenon that happens in a lot of minority communities of color, but for the purposes of this article we are going to focus on colorism in the black community.
Colorism can be dated back to slavery. When lighter/fairer skinned slaves were in the house doing domestic work, the darker skinned slaves were outside in the fields. The lighter skinned slaves were often preferred in the house because they were children or grandchildren to the plantation owner due to the sexual assault that slaves often experienced. Although these mixed race babies were not freed or claimed by their white fathers, they were awarded privileges like being in the house and doing less labor intensive work. As a result, light skin grew to become a positive attribute in the black community.[2]
It’s important to talk about colorism because it is destructive to the black community. Of course as a whole, we already face oppression and discrimination from other races, so adding that extra layer of hate can cause serious harm to our unity and abilities to evolve as a unit. With social media outlets such as Twitter and Instagram pitting the community against each other with #TeamLightSkin and #TeamDarkskin, now seems like a vital time to create a dialogue about colorism. If we continuously create problems and division within ourselves, then we can never come together and rise against the oppression placed on us by other groups.
This article begins by discussing recent media events that touched on the issue of colorism. I will then present research that shows that colorism can be internalized and externalized. Lastly, I will provide the my own thoughts and suggestions about colorism within the black community.
In a recent episode of the TV show ‘Grownish’, two of the characters (Jazz and Sky) discuss their experiences that they have had with colorism [3]. The characters focused on how they felt that they were overlooked on the dating scene compared to white, foreign, and light skinned women. Jazz and Sky felt that their skin tone put them at the bottom of the totem pole of guys preferences at their college.
This isn’t just an issue that affects one’s preferences in dating. Colorism can have internalizing effects on individuals. Not only do people of darker skin tones internalize it, so do folks of lighter skin tones. A study that examined African American girls between the ages of 11 and 19 found that girls that identified as “lighter” or “darker” tended to report lower levels of self-esteem than girls that said that they were “somewhat in between” [4]. For these girls, sticking them into this category based on something that they can not change creates a challenge for them that otherwise might not have been discovered had it not been for that study. Additional research was found that was conducted on African American women at black colleges regarding their skin tone preference. Only 17% of the women in the study wished to be darker while 36% wished to be lighter [5].
These internalized feelings can also become externalized and be casted onto others, paving a foundation for individuals to make prejudice assumptions about others based on their skin tone. Another study tested children’s memories to see how good they were at pairing certain attributes from a story that was told to them to the story characters. The character selection was composed of lighter or darker skinned African Americans. The results showed that on average, children paired the negative attributes to the darker characters and the positive attributes with the lighter characters. Later research took it a step further and asked kids to simply pair groups of characters with traits such a mean, ugly, clean, and smart. One group of characters was composed of darker skinned children and one of lighter skinned children. Once again, the participants were far more likely to pair the negative traits with the darker characters. Sixty-four percent of the children said that the dark skinned group was “ugly” and 54% said that they were the mean group. Only 12% said that the lighter group was mean and 8% said that they were ugly [5].
So often we (the black community) comment on skin tone, that it becomes normal. Our families talk about it when we are born, our peers talk about it, and the media shoves it in our face. But just because it’s ‘normal,’ that does not make it right. Something that others may not think about long after they say it, such as comments in regards to ones skin tone, can actually cause a serious impact on an individual.
Colorism is wrong and in my opinion, it is a form of self hate. As stated earlier, the lighter skin is fetishcized because it shows closer ties with whiteness. Black people should love the skin that they are in, no matter what the shade. All people have the right to feel comfortable and confident in their own skin, but it seems to be those with darker skin that have the stigma and stereotypes aimed at them. How can one feel comfortable in their skin when they are wearing all of these stigmas and stereotypes just because of their skin tone?
So what can be done? First, we, the black community, must come together and collectively acknowledge that colorism is a thing. Because some people are still in denial. Second, we need to have a sense of solidarity. Because, no matter what your shade of black, you are still black to those outside of the community. Lastly, we need to stop the hate speech. Stop with the ‘nicknames’: light bright, darky, midnight, high yellow, amongst several others. Not only does this cause division but it belittles us down to something so simple as our skin color. We don’t have any control over that. What we do have control over is our actions and the way we treat people.
References/Links to Visit
[1] Colorism. 2015. National Conference for Community and Justice.
[2] McKenzie, Joi-Marie. 2017. “Student Showered With Compliments After She
Courageously Admits to Low Self-Esteem.” ABC News.
[3] EXCLUSIVE: Chloe And Halle’s Characters Face The Realities Of Dating In New
‘Grown-ish’ Clip. 2018. Essence
[4] The Association of Black Psychologists on Dark Girls
[5] Adams, Elizabeth A., Beth E. Kurtz-Costes, and Adam J. Hoffman. 2016. “Skin Tone
[1.1] Dyana, Erin. “5 Important Things Colorism Has Taught Me.” DDS Magazine, 6
Keyondra Wilson is studying Applied Sociology at Old Dominion University. She is particularly interested in inequalities in race and social class. She works as a Graduate Research Assistant at the Social Science Research Center at Old Dominion University. Her life goal is to someday own her own charity specializing in helping disadvantaged individuals and families. Her life motto is, “Don’t Survive. Thrive.”
March 29, 2018 at 2:54 pm
I wasn’t that familiar with this issue prior to reading your post. I think that this division between light and dark skin is an important topic to bring more awareness. Hopefully more people will become aware and stop increasing that division between light and dark skin tones.
March 29, 2018 at 5:48 pm
I knew that colorism was a major issue but some of the percentages you talked about really surprised me. Especially this quote, “17% of the women in the study wished to be darker while 36% wished to be lighter”. This is a huge issue. I believe colorism often stems from the beauty standards displayed in the media, which majority of women are either white or have very light skin tones. This extremely specific beauty ‘ideal’ often leads to girls and women having many insecurities related to their appearance. Two things that I believe can help decrease colorism is bringing awareness of what colorism is and increasing the representation of different men and women in the media, of all skin tones and body types.
March 29, 2018 at 8:31 pm
Growing up in public school i used to hear lighter toned people say they would be in the house jokingly. Not realizing how deep the history is behind what they were saying. Also, i had no idea that light skin people struggled just as much as dark skin people when it comes to colorism.
March 29, 2018 at 11:25 pm
I was sort of away of the colorism going on in the world. I really think most people are doing the most when it comes to the color of our skins. I personally don’t really care what anybody has to say about my race because I know that I am more than what they portray me as. We all are one and we need to come together and put the past behind so the world can grow.
March 30, 2018 at 1:42 am
It is so crazy how African Americans is discriminating each other based on a skin tone. For many years dark skinned men were looked down on, because of how dark their skin is. I am guessing since light skinned guys are “closer” to Caucasian complexion, they were seem as better. People should not be judge on their skin tone. At the end of the day, it does not matter if the person is light skinned or dark skinned, because they are still African American.
March 30, 2018 at 3:03 am
Being dark skin, I have experienced colorism pretty much my entire life. It never effected me that much because I knew that it was just people trying to tease and be funny. However, when you start realizing how it divides black people from within, you start to understand that it’s not just jokes and that it can lead to lots of damage in the black community. We are already oppressed so there is no reason for us to cause more oppression within each other.
March 30, 2018 at 3:44 am
I have firsthand experienced the impact colorism has on an individual and a society as a whole. Growing up I have had friends bleach their skin colors because been “light skin” was deemed more attractive and acceptable until recently. Today on social media everyone raves about how been dark skin is beautiful compared to the past where one was not even looked at or considered beautiful because of the darkness of their skin.
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