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The mistreatment of dark-skinned black women is nothing new in America. The word "colorism" was first "coined" by Pulitzer Prize winner, Alice Walker, who used the term to distinguish the "preferred" treatment of an individual based on their skin tone (Norwood). It is the degradation of a person based on skin color. This issue mainly stemmed from slavery and racism, is commonly found in the black community where dark skinned women are stigmatized while their lighter-skinned counterparts are shown favoritism establishing a certain privilege/advantage, thus creating a gateway for negative psychological effects on dark-skinned women such as depression, internalized oppression (most known as self-hate), and low self-esteem, mainly caused by ignorant stereotypes and what the media has projected against their skin color.
In 1712, colorism was first introduced by a captain from Pittsylvania County, VA named William Lynch.
He was delivering a speech on James River concerning the control of slaves and although he did not actively mention what colorism was, he was a big part of the creation of it.
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His goal for the "control" of slaves was to separate them by skin color (Lynch 1712). The lighter black people were sent to work in the house while the darker ones stayed and worked in the fields. Naturally, this would raise conflict between the two groups of people, so he used this tactic in hopes of getting the slaves to turn on each other to avoid plans of escaping. In the earlier days, the light-skinned slaves had always been treated better than the ones with darker skin.
They received less "grueling" tasks and almost always worked inside the house (Nittle). Because of the privileges given to the lighter slaves, due to most of them being the slave masters offspring, the darker slaves grew to dislike them and even referred to them as an "asset" in the community (Nittle). While they were both treated horribly in different circumstances, the lighter slaves were given more lenient punishments. Even after slavery ended, lighter skin still received better opportunities as they were the first pick in job offers or education. Some lighter skinned black people even created social status clubs to keep out darker skinned black people. The "Brown Paper Bag Test" created around 1920 in New Orleans determined which black people had access to certain entertainment and education (Mernin). If you were darker than the paper bag you had no access. This was the most common form of prejudice during that time period that determined the "degree" of privilege a black person had in America (Mernin). As the years went on, colorism eventually got worse and started to single out a specific group of people. This would eventually fuel an unfortunate ongoing conflict of light skin versus dark skin, where the dark-skinned black women had become the main target.
For hundreds of years, dark-skinned black women have suffered through traumatic experiences and being demeaned for their skin color because of their lighter tone counterparts. If they do not face prejudice it is because they have been fetishized and are only desired if they look a certain way. There have been many examples of this discrimination, especially in the media. When you look around, every advertisement or music scene highlights lighter skin in a positive way, while associating darker skin with negative connotations. The type of black woman media liked to portray usually had lighter skin and more Eurocentric features. The black music industry likes to feature lighter skinned women and use them as lead singers in a group. Most times it quickly changed many people's perception of skin tones and often creating preferences based off of what they have seen in the media. The lighter woman would be in the limelight while the dark-skinned woman remained in her shadows.
Movies and TV shows like to group all dark-skinned women into one category as well, and displayed ignorant stereotypes making sure dark skin women are overlooked because of it. They face prejudice within the media which leads to an increase of misrepresentation and bashing within their community. Even the accomplished dark-skinned black women who have established a portfolio and are very talented will still be undermined because of their skin tone. Movies like the Nina Simone biopic shows the dangerous effects of colorism. The controversy surrounding it was that a lighter skinned actress Zoe Saldana played a notable dark skin woman by white-washing her and using blackface. The problem with this was that Hollywood decided to use a conventionally attractive black woman with Eurocentric features instead of closely following a resemblance to Nina Simone who had accentuated Afrocentric features and dark skin. It was a major controversy that really highlighted the discrimination of darker skinned women in the industry. They are constantly given stereotypical roles such as the "mammy" role or "sassy and loud" while the lighter women are usually depicted as "beautiful" and "kind" (Bivens). They are always assigned similar roles surrounding negative attitudes and the main topic of skin color or appearance jokes. Their lighter toned coworkers are able to have many characters and personalities. Television shows like "Martin" give example to this. Gina, (Martins significant other) was the light skin woman who was successful, calm, and funny while her friend Pam was the dark skin woman who was portrayed as loud, always angry, and annoying. While most people do not notice at first, it constantly "enforces" a stereotype that compared to light skin women, dark skin women are inferior (Lubi). Although it is wrong, this still constantly happens in the media and can damage a younger dark-skinned girl who watches these programs. While media contributes to colorism, it also creates a plethora of stereotypes that have been used against darker skinned women. It is toxic behavior that has caused many women and young girls of darker skin tones to develop a plethora of mental health and self-image issues.
From a psychological standpoint, the effects of colorism are detrimental and harmful to a woman's mental health and how she feels about herself which can take a toll on her self-image. Constantly being made fun of for their skin color and being called multiples derogatory names as well as always seeing their skin color in a negative light, some women start to internalize a disdain for it, often leading to the development of depression. Other issues arise from the dangerous effects of colorism such as self-hate in the form of skin bleaching. In Africa, there is currently a "whitening" epidemic where thousands of dollars are going into the bleaching cream businesses (Addiction With Risks). Statistics show that in 2011, over 60 million women in Nigeria have spent money on some form of skin bleaching products. The business has become widely popular and to them, it is considered a "standard procedure" (Addiction With Risks). They believe that the lighter they are, they will be more successful.
In Jamaica, the situation is just as horrific. They perceive light skin to be "ideal", if they are darker skinned, they use bleaching creams as a process to achieve "browning" or accessing lighter skin they were not born with (Kebede). Because of colorism's origin, many Jamaicans believed lighter skin contributed to "privilege and class" while darker skin was for poor neighborhoods (Kebede). The message of lighter skin being socially acceptable is a constant message to get rid of. Despite the very low wages most Jamaicans earn, women spend around $25 every couple of weeks on these creams. Most of these women who started bleaching did it because of the constant torment they would receive when they were younger. Despite the higher risk of skin cancer and skin rashes/discoloration, women will continue buying these creams that are killing them because society has taught them that dark skin is not beautiful. A multibillion-dollar industry was derived from women suffering from colorism, and instead of companies promoting self-love and helping them rid its toxic ways, creams were made to push the whitening agenda and continue to fuel the fire. Although bleaching cream sales have significantly gotten lower, the epidemic is still important to showcase.
"Light Skin blacks receive privileges at the expense of Dark Skin blacks" (The Race Card). Light skinned women receive more respect and more opportunities compared to dark skinned women because of societies perception of beauty. They are seen as more attractive because they appeal to whiter features. For years, dark-skinned black women have been demeaned, dehumanized, and disrespected based on the ignorance of correlating dark skin to negative meanings. There are light skin women who contribute to the torment of dark-skinned women to keep their position as the superior skin tone. They take part in the harassment and degradation of dark-skinned women so that they can feel more important by choosing to ignore the harmful effects it has on a dark-skinned woman. Being a light-skinned woman who chooses to ignore colorism is selfish and wrong. A lot of them enjoy their privileges without acknowledging the negative effects it causes. These women ignore that they have a privilege and go as far as to pretend to also be a victim, however you cannot be a victim in a system that benefits you.
This makes it harder for dark-skinned women to prosper because they are constantly attacked with no real reason. As a lighter skinned woman, your job is to step up and acknowledge the oppression on your darker skinned counterparts and use your privilege to give a voice to those who have been "silenced" by colorism (Staff). When a light-skinned woman can recognize her privilege while utilizing her advantages to upraise dark skinned women, she becomes an ally. Instead of ignoring the problem, address it and find ways to solve it so that the next time something like that would not happen because steps would be taken to be avoided.
Surrounding colorism, there are people who are willing to break the cycle by helping to set examples on how to avoid the negative outcome of colorism and prevent dark-skinned women and children being affected by it. Some ways a person can further prevention is to not support colorists (people who actively support colorism) who base their preferences on lighter skin tones and "praising" them for being light skinned (Windom). This might include your favorite rapper, actor/actress, or social influencer. Recognizing that this is a serious issue will also support the end of dark times. You can also become a spokesperson for dark-skinned black women by educating all who may not much of the subject or have been colorist without realizing it while teaching them how to overcome their ignorance by getting rid of demeaning stereotypes and negative opinions developed because of them. If you are a light skinned woman, become an ally and recognize your privilege. Once you see that you have an advantage as a light skin black woman you can use your voice to make a change. Being widely known and being a strong advocate for anti-colorism greatly help boost support because of a large audience to educate. Some famous light skinned celebrities recognize their privilege in the media industry and use it to support dark skinned women by making sure they only accept roles that were not stolen from dark-skinned women. Also starting within the family helps to stop colorism before it starts. Positive reinforcements surrounding skin color and checking family members who make negative comments also help get rid of negative comments surrounding skin color or Afrocentric features.
To conclude, colorism can be completely erased if more light-skinned black women recognized their privilege and used it to their advantage by making a way for dark-skinned black women to have a voice when they have been cast out by the media and negatively portrayed in society as well as knowing that craving attention at the expense of a dark-skinned woman's self-esteem is wrong. All over the world, black people should be working together to denounce colorists within the community, and to stop "embracing" it, ensuring that the younger generations will have positive reinforcements to support them so that they can avoid developing self-image issues that ultimately lead to depression (Packer). It is impossible to support your community if you are actively talking down on those with a darker skin tone than yours. In order to change a current issue, you must make sure the main problem is not you.
The mistreatment of darkskinned black women is nothing new in. (2019, Dec 11). Retrieved from https://studymoose.com/the-mistreatment-of-darkskinned-black-women-is-nothing-new-in-example-essay
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