Colourism: The Ultimate Shade
“What a waste of light skin. You know what I could do with that light skin? That curly hair? My career would be outta here. I’d be f…... running Hollywood.” Chris Rock.
Chris Rock recently told this joke at the NAACP Image Awards in reference to the Jussie Smollett scandal. His comment drew laughs from the audience but also plenty of nods in agreement. Rock was alluding to the privilege gained in being light skinned (not to be misinterpreted as privileged to be light skinned) which for some literally converts to tangible or measurable benefits. We want to discuss colourism a subject that is buried like a dirty secret, however has significant impact on the black community.
Matthew Knowles brought this conversation right into the main last year in an interview with Ebony magazine. Despite the very obvious talents of the Knowles sisters, their father believes the scale of their success is attributed to their lighter complexion. Regardless of the source’s motives, we cannot deny what we see in the media, or rather what we don’t see. Dark skin women are barely visible in the media and it's not for the lack of talent. Currently in the UK, female recording artists with any commercial success are either mixed race or light skinned, such as Ella Eyre, Ella Mai, Steflon Don, Corrine Bailey Rae, Mabel...it would be nice to be proven wrong.
Colourism is a relic of slavery and the bi product of racism. But unlike racism, colourism continues to play out in the black community, wider society and culture without the burdens of infringement, civil rights movements, gender equality and awakened social conscience. Yet the effects run close to parallel.
A study which was published in 2007, but still worth referencing, produced evidence showing the wage gap between lighter and darker-skinned African Americans is nearly as large as the gap between African Americans and whites. A researcher at The Root discovered that light-skinned women were sentenced to approximately 12% less time behind bars than their darker-skinned counter parts. The impact of colourism in America is widely discussed and heavily explored because as these studies show, the shade of your skin can determine your quality of life. However, in the UK it is barely addressed; we can argue that the issues in the US are greater and deeper, therefore incomparable to the UK. But where is the research to determine otherwise? The very recent press coverage in the UK (we can stretch this to a decades worth) is merely scratching the surface of the subject. In order for the UK to progress with this conversation it is essential for us to also have statistical analysis.
The painful reality of this infliction is its stronghold amongst black people, predominantly centred around the treatment of the dark skinned woman and how women in general are valued. Women are valued by how they look, a standard which is widely set and maintained by white men. The projected perception of beauty, which converts to value is not packaged in coffee coloured skin, rather a caramel macchiato. The closer the features are to that of a European, the more appealing. Again, it would be nice to be proven wrong. The fact that Lupita N’yongo’s name is batted around to rebut the argument only strengthens its validity. Lupita is but one woman.
A trauma of colourism is a black man loving his dark skinned mother unconditionally, but yet he cannot see the beauty in a dark skinned woman. He will constantly profess to loving his “sisters” yet can never be with one. This is a prejudice, not a preference. There is a verse in India Aire’s song “Brown Skin” where she says “Brown skin, you know I love your brown skin. I can't tell where yours begins, I can't tell where mine ends.” That sounds like a black man's worst nightmare. He wants demarcation! Too harsh?
Statistically there are more black men with women of their own skin tone, the dynamic usually changes once the man becomes successful/achieves a certain status. That success comes with a visual which doesn’t include a dark skinned woman by his side.
The tropes of a dark skinned woman is: She is hardened, aggressive, loud, promiscuous, unrefined. This disregard for the darker woman is exhibited in a way no other race would allow. Period. Her body, her movement and intonations have been caricatured, fetishised and regarded as crude, yet are imitated by others for financial gain, a toe in the culture and to get black men. And he is fully subscribed.
This then leads us into the physical manifestation of self-hate. Skin bleaching. Many of the creams used to lighten skin are banned due to unregulated ingredients which can cause liver, nerve, foetal damage, inflammation and burning. A BBC article revealed, high street shops that were prosecuted for selling illegal skin-whitening creams continued to do so, such is the demand. One of the women interviewed began using the creams at 16, said she did it “to be desirable.” Many women suffer the effects because they believe being lighter will change their lives for the better.
Thankfully there is a movement pushed by black women about loving the dark skin your in, with hashtags that champion black beauty and winning generally. And it is important to note that there are numerous dark skinned women who have succeeded through meritocracy such as Vanessa Kingori and Bozoma Saint John. The resilience of a black woman is not to be underestimated.
Regardless of how many succeed or struggle, this is a conversation that we need to keep having until the playing field levels up, just like all other forms of prejudice and discrimination.
Just a little disclaimer, this piece is by no means saying that all black men prefer light skin women.
