Disclaimer: I am not of a fairer skin tone nor have I ever been.
At the end of the day, we're all people of color and should love the skin we're in more than what any person can ever say or do to us to make us feel bad about it. However, this is an issue that hits home very hard for me and I will not sugar coat anything about it.
Colorism is an issue plaguing various racial communities, especially the African American community, and still has yet to be brought to the attention of people who are impacted by it the most. Not only are people losing their self confidence by the boat load, but they are going to extreme measures to fit in, feel accepted, and love themselves. As we dive deeper into this troubling topic, I would like to remind you all of the disclaimer and to have you all reference the Colorism Part 1 for more background information on what specifically colorism is & its underlying impact in our everyday lives.
Colorism is not something that started in the new age or even with today's celebrities and their ever evolving lives. It started back in the times of slavery was where there was slave-owner rapes going on amongst the slaves. There was a forced separation between varying skin tones. (ie. the house slave vs. the field slave) This is where the trend of favoritism over lighter than darker skin began. As well as, the better treatment of someone because they were of a fairer skin tone than brown. Sadly, this action has only evolved over time into what we now recognize as Colorism, but no matter what time frame that it occurred in its impact still stands in the lives of people of color today. Also, because the hatred was always targeted towards fairer skinned individuals the view on their perspective was always minimized. What many people fail to realize is that biracial and lighter skinned African American people still struggle and have limitations as well. Wouldn't you be frustrated if every time you walked around people would ask you "what are you mixed with?" as if you can't just be fully black? Or making it seem as though the only reason why you are beautiful/handsome is because of your skin tone when you have much more to offer than your appearance.
There was even a point where an act called "blackface" was being used in films for the mere fact of Caucasians not wanting to hire actual actors of color. This type of makeup while filming only helped to increase the stereotypes about darker people and the stigma around them as slaves and freed slaves. These characteristics included the enlarging of lips, obsessively aggressive behavior, and illiteracy being displayed in both the actor's mindset and speech throughout these screenings.
The societal pressures of trying to look a particular way in relation to colorism has resulted in many men and women turning to skin bleaching. These celebrities including Azealia Banks, Lil' Kim, and even Sammy Sosa. Yes ladies, men
do experience self esteem issues in relation to colorism. They're not always the ones bashing. Though they did this act for all different reasons, what type of message it actually sending? Celebrities are still watched by various people, and since self esteem issues are not subject to age their impact of doing this still stands. Spice, of Love and Hip Hop, even went viral in late 2018 after posting staggering pictures of herself with fair, close to white, skin and light blue eyes. This content received much backlash, many even believed that it was just a publicity stunt for attention.
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| Pictured above is LHH Star, Spice, both before and after the skin bleaching hoax |
Spice later revealed that it was indeed all a hoax to get the media's attention on the importance of colorism, and was apart of a music video for her song titled
Black Hypocrisy where she talked about self-love and abolishing colorism. The visuals from the video included her speaking to a room of young girls in a powerful manner to convince them to view themselves at beautiful & showcased her with fairer skin while rapping in the song about people's perception of her on whether or not she was beautiful how she was or "too black" for them. Spice is also of Jamaican descent, and their culture is affected heavily by skin bleaching which is a partial reasoning as to why she created the song and temporarily lightened her skin. This very outlandish act may seem extreme to some people, but to others it was a rude, but much needed awakening for the sake of the African American and Jamaican community.
Another person who indirectly spoke to the colorism issue in the African American community was Beyoncé with her song Brown Skin Girl. Her recent song that was featured on the Lion King album received sensational feedback after its release for its extensive upliftment of black women, more specifically those of darker skin tones. Lyrics such as "
Your skin just like pearls
The best thing in the world" and "
She need an Oscar for that pretty dark skin" are some of the words that stuck out the most to listeners. Beyoncé already had a history of black women empowerment, but definitely in that particular song it was something that resonated with many different people past a catchy beat.
Sometimes we also fail to remember that people of fairer skin tones still face colorism and struggles along with brown/darker skinned people. For example, being considered "not black" just because your skin tone is light. Or what about the accusations of being "mixed" with something?
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Photographer: Frank Bauknight
Instagram: @byfrankieb
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For some, they can struggle with feeling there's no connection between themselves and historical figures because none of them actually look like them. Also, not fitting in with black nor white people because your not "considered" black or white to either side. They're just in the middle, if that makes sense. These are just a few of the many things that biracial or lighter skinned people can feel when it comes to discrimination and their skin tone. We should all be able to be on a united front and support one another. Don't let this man-made discrimination principle dictate to how you see others.
Now knowing what all you do now, you're probably wondering one thing. What can we do to end this cycle? Well, the answer to that is multiple answers but I can give my personal opinion on what action plan you should follow.
1. Be mindful of the compliments or even negativity energy you put out there. (Just because someone doesn't say something doesn't mean what you said didn't make them feel a certain way)
2. Embrace the idea of different cultures & characteristics are still nice, even if they aren't within your preference. (Just because someone doesn't look the way you would want them to doesn't mean they're ugly)
3. Remind YOURSELF that you are enough of person to be loved, cherished, and valued. (If no one else does, you do it for you. Don't think it makes you soft or extra to just
feel yourself. You can't expect someone else to love you if you don't love you.)
Once becoming accustomed to these steps, share them with others. Remind others how handsome or beautiful they are and bring out the characteristics that they have that don't always have to do with physical appearance. There's nothing wrong with preference, just don't degrade others in the process.
Always a pleasure sharing with you, thank you.
