Color Complex Essay

Even if slavery is not the presiding rule of the land on this planet any longer, segregation based on appearance still exists, just as the "social construction of ‘whiteness’ historically has implied the racial superiority of whites", and prompted the "separate but equal" doctrines of the late nineteenth century (Rundblad & Kivisto xxxi).

Drawing the Color Line by Howard Zinn the second chapter from A People’s history of the United States. The authors writes this chapter to explain racism and how it started, “a continent were we can trace the coming of the first whites and the first blacks-might supply at least a few clues” he wants to use history to try to explain why it started. In this chapter Howard Zinn gives us an insight on Slavery and racism in the early 17th century of America. This chapter does not only tell us why slavery accrued but how it happened. The author Howard Zinn tells us how the Americans were simple prone to having slaves because of the circumstances they faced in the early 17th century. It was a period of starvation Howard

In his essay, “The Souls of the Black Folk” Du Bois (1903) states that “the problem of the Twentieth Century is the problem of the color-line,-the relation of the darker to lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea” (275). According to Appelrouth and Edles (2012: 269) “the color line is both a preexisting social and cultural structure and an internalized attitude”. In addition, they explain that the color line “addresses the historical and institutional (i.e., colonial) dimensions of race” (269).

“Racism was used aggressively to divide poor white southerners from slaves. The relationship between the wealthy and the poor was aggressively exploited by the rich white slave holder to ensure the poor whites non-slave holder that they had a similar cause” (Shaping America: Lesson 16). This caused non-slave holding whites to have a similar view as latter. Non-slave holding whites were in direct competition with slaves and more often than not were forced out of work due to the free labor slavery had offered.

The thesis of the book is that segregation of black and whites was developed later in life than it did when slavery was just introduce. In the earlier years blacks and white would live within the same residence and or property, sharing the same premises if not equal facilities. The black and white would attend the same church and sit in the pews. As life progress and economics and Political conflicts took place that’s when the segregation began.

Black Americans faced several harmful social, economic, and political conditions in the United States of America during the Gilded Age. One of the unfair social conditions they faced was segregation. For example, in Florida, Kentucky, and Mississippi, the Jim Crow Laws required separate schools for white children and children of color. In Georgia, blacks barbers were not allowed to serve white women or girls. In Virginia, theaters that attended by white and black people had to separate the two races into different sections of the theater. Many argued that the two races were separate but equal, however that could not be further from the truth. Separate does not equal equality. There was a racial pyramid in the country with white people at the

The root cause of the problems and issues that faced African Americans from the beginning of the Reconstruction Period well into the 20th century “is the problem of the color-line, -the relation of the darker to the lighter races of men in Asia and Africa, in America and the islands of the sea” (W.E.B. Du Bois, The Souls of the Black Folk, 1903). The most obvious root cause for racism problems and issues African Americans face is white supremacy.

Historical archives discovered by Dorman show that colorism had tangible boundaries within the African American community during the 1920s (47). It is stated that blacks often divided themselves into four subcategories which consisted of “black”, “brown”, “light brown”, and “yellow” Negros (Dorman 47). The above ranking would be listed in a hierarchy from “black” being at the bottom of the socially accepted hierarchy to the “yellow negro” being the most revered and desired socially.

White over Black: American attitudes toward Negro 1550-1812 is a book written by Winthrop D. Jordan, who was a historian in the subject of the history of slavery in the Americas.

The arrival of the African-American identity began with slavery and the slave master’s behavior toward the field slave and the house slave. In other words, the identity of the African-American was given by European slave masters instead of their personal creation. African women were raped and the slave master’s preferential treatment of their offspring created a hierarchy among the slaves. As author Roger Smith (2004) explained, power and privileges were given to those with lighter complexions over those who are darker. In the days of slavery, “light skin blacks were assigned to the house while blacks with dark skin had to work the fields.” (p.1). The promise of educational opportunities were also given to slaves with lighter complexions. The indoctrination of Jim Crow Laws and white supremacy proved to keep the institution of slavery going even after its abolishment. Subsequent to the abolishment of slavery, blacks traveled to northern states and cities and created their own societies. According to author G. Reginald Daniel, in his book, More than Black, Blue Vein societies consisted of pluralistic elites within the African-American community. “Membership in these societies were determined by individuals’ phenotypical and cultural resemblance with European Americans” (p. 4). The structural set up of these societies created an illusion of escaping the common stereotypes of blacks.

Wacquant introduces four “peculiar institutions” that are responsible for the “control” of African Americans throughout United States history: chattel slavery, the Jim Crow system, the ghetto, and arguably the dark ghetto

Looking back in time, slaves were differentiated into mulattoes and pure blacks. Pure blacks did most of the outside labor leaving the house labor to mulattoes. For mulattoes, being a house servant brought advantages including food, shelter, and clothing. Mulattoes were trained for skilled occupations and these skills allowed mulattoes to separate themselves from other blacks. The light skinned blacks were exposed to cultural views and practices such as proper speech, dress, and mannerisms. Once a mulatto was emancipated, he/she was better prepared for negotiating with whites because mulattoes knew how to handle them. Mulattoes had a sense of being superior over the darker slaves. Because of the color similarities between mulattoes and whites, the mulattoes were the middle class between blacks and whites.

This tolerant attitude led to a wide range of “race classification.” According to how much “white” a slave had, their value in the eyes of society increased. Slaves could be black, octaroon or mulatto to name a few. Thus this led to a classification based on one’s degree of white blood. In the United States no such classes existed. If a slave was born to a black mother, that slave was black. In essence, Latin America judged based upon the degree of “blackness” while the South saw only two races, black or white. Outward appearance, the color of the father or anything else deviated the classification in the United States. It has been said, half-facetiously, that Southerners are color blind, in the sense that individuals, despite their racial composition, are considered to be either white or black, while Latin Americans recognized degrees of blackness and whiteness.

In the article, “The Mulatto Advantage”, the author discusses the belief that light-skinned African-American slaves were treated better than dark-skinned Afri-can-American slaves in the antebellum Lower South. The proof that the author has that lighter-skinned african-americans were treated better is that they had a height ad-vantage over the dark-skinned, which leads to the conclusion that they were feed a lot better than the dark-skinned.

Based on the findings that one has discovered in life itself, in essence, color helps with the flows of life in a way that it can determines your thoughts, emotions, and decisions. In my research I gained a vast amount knowledge and from what I’ve learned; now I can explain colors in depth, with a great amount of detail. If colors were non-existent, then, there would be a very grey look upon life. Colors brings forth light, and the light brings forth living. The world displays colors for a reason and it’s very important to life.