50 Shades of Colorism
I was sitting in church with a friend when I heard 12 year old Madeline say to us that she wasn't black. When I asked how could this be, she replied with"I'm not black, I'm light-skinned." I don't know when it started, but lately complexion has been the center of all the jokes and memes on my timeline and news feeds. When I used to think of complexion, all that came to mind were phrases like "the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice". But now people are allowing complexion to be synonymous with personality, morals, sexuality, and social class and I'm not understanding why. We've been told all our lives not to judge a book by it's cover, but it seems like judgement has become second nature.
Colorism is the discrimination against a group of people based on the complexion of their skin tone. I cant even believe we as communities of color are even tolerating this. We have all these "isms" haunting us, and we're voluntarily adding colorism to the list. My first observance of colorism was with those ridiculous reverse compliments. Phrases such as "She's beautiful for a dark girl." or "I thought you wouldn't have talked to me. You know, cus you're lightskin - but you're cool though.."
I witness colorism occurring most amongst people of color. Women of a lighter complexion are assumed to be "stuck-up" or "ditsy". Dark-skinned women of color are assumed to be "mean" with a "bad attitude". I would witness these things in shock, amazed that someone can determine said characteristics based on the shade or hue of a complexion.
When I was growing up, I never even looked at complexion. Maybe a kid had big ears, or bucked teeth, but I saw everyone around me as just...Black. I'd gone to schools where African-Americans were the majority since Pre-Kindergarten. It wasn't until my high school years that I began to feel the sting of colorism. Here I was in a school where Latinos were the majority, and Black the minority. The change was weird, but I still hadnt considered it any reason to be prejudiced towards anyone. I started hearing "negrita" and "morena" during conversations around me when I walked by. In my eyes, we were similar in color. Granted their complexions were a little different - but brown is brown. Being of Haitian descent, I saw Dominicans as my cousins. I remember telling a Dominican that we were cousins and she replied "but you're black" with a twisted frown like I just cursed out her mother. I noticed harsh borders of separation upon walking into a classroom. The darker students on one sidee, and on the other side were Hispanic kids and every other ethnicity. In the warmer months you'd hear "Ay Dio look at my tan! I'm so black now, why?!" These were the years when I realized we were the same people but didn't see the world the same.
I went to social media to see what effect colorism had on people I didn't know. I went on Instagram and searched #TeamLightSkin and #TeamDarkSkin. I saw a bunch of images ridiculing and mocking communities of color of every hue and shade. There were images praising people of color as well, but many photos were of light-skinned people labeled as narcissistic, weak, and sensitive and dark-skinned people were labeled as grotesque, scary, or violent.Think I'm lying? Check for yourself!
Colorism also seeps into our cultures as well. I've heard stories from a handful of children about their West Indian parents wanting them to pursue a spouse of a lighter complexion "so their kids can be beautiful". Some Dominicans and Panamanians are ostracized because of their darker complexion.
There are endless results when it comes to light-skinned or dark-skinned names on these social networks. Some of you are relying on your skin color to attract your next partner, others are relying on their complexion for their esteem. When you describe yourself, think of what your are, not how you look. You are more than your skin. You have a brain, a heart, a mind and a soul. None of those are dependent on your skin color.
Dark, light, yellow, brown, olive, red...whatever and however your complexion is, take pride in being a person of color! Love it and embrace it. Let it bring us together. Colorism isnt restricted to only African-Americans. It travels into all communities of color. I wrote this post based on what I've seen and experienced. There are people bleaching, excessively tanning or simply hating themselves on the inside because of their own experiences with colorism. No complexion is "better" than the other. Your complexion cannot make you mean, violent, beautiful, strong, or smart. Some of you are dying to be accepted by everybody. LOVE YOURSELF, ACCEPT YOURSELF! Your complexion will never show your true colors - but your actions will.
Love yourself...Cut this self-hate out.
Love,
Evelyn
Have you ever been a victim colorism? How do you feel about colorism?
Comment below with your experiences!
*Names have been changed
** Photos courtesy of Google.com"