On a recent trip back to Chicago, friends and family gathered to celebrate my nephew’s sixth birthday.
While eating and laughing among the family, I turned to make sure I let my nephew know how much I appreciate him and how important his birth is to me and the rest of the family. He wanted to share with me the black history he has learned in his class.
“Our president, Barack Obama, is black like you Auntie Kelli,” he said excitedly.
“Yes he is, and you’re black, too, Kris,” I added.
“I’m not black. I’m white.”
The first thing Kris, whose skin color is light like Stephen Curry, noticed is the different shades of skin color. He realizes that President Obama was darker than he was and since he isn’t dark-skinned, he must be white. Kris did not make up these differences. Without deliberate or conscious thought, his statement reflects the fact that this thought pattern reflects the social issue where people learn early on that skin color is significant.
Although some people will argue this is irrelevant and does not exist and people do not notice or care about the differences in skin colors, the observations of a 6-year-old child contradict these statements. And so does history. Because of the fight against racial hierarchy, they do not choose to express concern about the internal hierarchy of skin tone. The phenomenon of “colorism” both occurs in the African-American community and is understood and used by outsiders. Blacks’ perception of discrimination is that their fates are linked to their race almost never vary by skin color. In other words, being African-American is not good enough. Being separated by skin pigmentation sets one higher or lower than another in the same racial group.
According to Jennifer L. Hochschild of Harvard University, “dark-skinned blacks in the United States have lower socioeconomic status, more punitive relationships with the criminal justice system, diminished prestige, and less likelihood of holding elective office compared with their lighter counterparts.” Skin color is associated with individuals’ preference as well as their outcomes. Most Americans prefer lighter to darker skin culturally and normatively. Filmmakers, advertisers, modeling agencies and matchmaking websites all demonstrate how much the power of a fair complexion, along with straight hair weaves, and Euro-centric facial features appeals to Americans. Skin color is definitely involved in social, economic, and cultural characteristics. Understanding it helps us as individuals to explain the nature of racial issues in the United States over the past several years. It is truly upsetting to find that dark-skinned blacks must deal with even more barriers to success and happiness than others in their group, especially given that outsiders also accept this as the norm. Also, by examining this skin color issue it raises questions and concerns about contemporary strategies for promoting racial equality.
Color preference is related to racial prejudice, and like prejudice it is linked to obtain and maintain power over others.
We can see on television and the Internet popular African-American stars are of lighter skin tone. Studies also show that black people in positions of power or influence tend to be lighter skin as well. This makes it difficult for the African-American community to stop the spread of this division when really popular celebrities are light-skinned. For example, Beyonce, a standard singer, light-skinned, young, black, small figured and pretty, sells a single concert ticket for over $500 and will sell out arenas across the United States and Europe. Beyonce has outsold several other black singers who have better vocals, talent and range. Jasmine Sullivan is the complete opposite of Beyonce. Having darker skin, natural hair, and being heavyset cannot sell her concert tickets at the price and doesn’t have the same fan base as the light-skinned singer. There shouldn’t be a caliber between light and dark skin people. African-American is black. Black is African-American. Black is a shade. Outsiders don’t care if one is lighter than another black individual.
As a young black women growing up in this contemporary era of this “light skin vs dark skin” dilemma, I don’t consider myself either shade. I believe as an African-American, our people should support music of all black artists, it they are talented, regardless if they’re one shade or another.
Colorism operates both intraracially and interracially. Intraracially, for example, is when Hollywood releases a movie and chooses Halle Berry instead of Whoopi Goldberg on the basis of skin tone. They both are qualified black actresses who have won an Academy Award at least once in their career. Therefore, not all colors or skin tones are equal. The black community gives outsiders the permission to divide and promote inequality among brothers and sisters by believing within the group that “lighter is righter” or “the lighter you are, the whiter you are.” Unification and support is the key solution to this problem.
Understanding that your race and identity has to do with the history of your ancestors. During the Civil Rights era, white supremacists didn’t decide to overlook Rosa Parks because she was light-skinned. Martin Luther King Jr. was mistreated the same way as my grandfather and any other black man of that time period. There is no separation.
Why try and fit into a group that once treated you with such disrespect and cruelty? Wake up and change your reality. Teach little black boys and girls the importance of loving their own dark or light skin. Love their own natural nappy hair. Be proud to be African-American.
Be proud to be you.
