Discrimination Based Upon The Tone Of One 's Skin Essay

Colorism is based on skin tone and the person who is closer to being white would have more opportunities in life. If you’re darker than others it usually don’t play out in your favor but if you’re lighter than others you are privileged. Colorism is defined because the mind-set among African Americans discriminating differentiate skin complexion, for instance being too mild or too darkish. Colorism originally came from slavery, because slave owners would treat slaves with lighter complexion better than slaves with darker skin. For example slaves with dark colored skin would have to work out in the field in the hot sun while slaves with fairer complexion worked in the house in the AC. Also slave owners would sexually intercourse with light-skinned

As stated above, African-American women have been subjected to measure themselves against white women. White women are viewed, in this society and since the beginning of the concept of race, as the epitome of beauty. Logically, African-American women attempt to emulate the white standard. This creates an inferiority complex, because the epitome of beauty is white woman, than any other race can be deemed as inferior; this deteriorates African-American women’s self-worth. To remedy worthlessness, many body modification techniques have been made to fully mimic white women in terms of beauty. This emulation still is being done and it is continuous, because of the psychological ‘white fantasization .

Colorism is a discrimination that favors lighter skin more than darker skin. For the black community, these images in the media have a profound effect on women of color because in our society lighter skin is seen as “prettier”. This is why attractive black women are constantly asked if they are mixed, because it is not the “norm” for a darker skin woman to be considered beautiful. There are some mixed women who are born with thicker hair, regular brown eyes, and brown skin, and they receive discrimination because they are not the type of

America has had discrimination against minorities for a long time and it will continue to have it until people treat minorities with respect. Discrimination is when people treat minorities bad because of their skin color, ethnicity and the place they were born. For immigrants, the problems they had to arrive to America were not a good experience only by the struggle to gain acceptance among the population. Most immigrants came to the U.S. to have a better life and give education to their children. Almost all immigrants have experienced discrimination at some point in their life and even some are still experiencing it today. Most Latinos don’t have a choice but to deal with it because they know they are illegal and they can’t say anything

There are lots of potential effects related to discrimination. It includes things like disempowerment, low self-esteem and self-identity and also marginalisation. I am now going to explain these effects and connect them with a case study.

If a black woman had dark skin she would resemble a man, therefore making her ugly in society’s standards. This pressures black women to constantly be "compatible with the white female standard of beauty" (Ashe 580) in order to be socially accepted in society. Intuitively black women understood that in order to be considered desirable, the less black they had to look. This unfortunate perception of beauty stems from a long pattern of "sociohistorical racial injustices" (Bealer 312) towards darker skinned African Americans. Maria Racine states in her review that since slavery black people who approximated closer to whites were sexually sought after by black slave men and white plantation owners and were considered to live a somewhat "easy coexistence" because of their appearance (Racine 283). Since it’s start, colorism laid the pathway of racial prejudice towards dark skinned individuals. The result of treating dark African Americans as subhuman beings led to the altering of the black psyche by creating a "pervasive hierarchy" of beauty that black woman constantly combated or were forced to accept. (Bealer 312).

Racial discrimination has a great impact on people of various races. Throughout the past generations, many people have faced discrimination because of the way that they look. People have been hated, beaten, killed and made fun of. Many people have been put down because of the way that they look. Adults, teens and even children began thinking less of themselves after the incidents. Many African Americans started considering themselves inferior to whites, which lead them to perform worse in school and daily activities. Looking at the play A Raisin in the Sun by Lorraine Hansberry, the Montgomery Bus Boycott, and the video experiment Brown Eyes and Blue Eyes performed by Jane Elliott, it is evident that African Americans faced discrimination for hundreds of years, which lead them to consider themselves inferior amongst all other people.

There are approximately 7 billion people in this world. Each person has a unique combination of traits such as skin tone, face shape, body type, eye color, hair color, and other characteristics. These traits vary due to genetics, environmental factors, and much more. An individual 's race is defined by their physical characteristics and how they differ among others. Race is not defined by the way an individual behaves or portrays themselfes; it is based strictly off of their physical traits. Since America was founded, race has played a significant role in the relations of the citizens in this country. For decades, different races have been stereotyped and been prejudice towards one another, without realizing how invalid their judgements are. Specifically, African Americans have been discriminated by caucasians in America since it’s founding. It began by the enslaving of African Americans, and today, the discrimination and inequality is more hidden in society. Although America has made significant progress in overcoming racial inequality in the country, many African Americans are still being subject to hardships that Caucasian Americans do not face, especially in regards to the justice system.

Back in the early 1800’s, the color of one’s skin mattered amongst African Americans and Caucasian people. There was infidelity between the Caucasian slave owners and the African American slaves. Of course, the outcome of that produced a fairer toned child. In most cases the child could pass as white. The mixed toned kids got to be inside doing housework, while the dark Negroes worked in the fields, under extraneous work conditions,”their dark-toned peers toiled in the fields”(Maxwell). From the early 1800’s to modern day, there is controversy that light or bi-racial African Americans are better than dark colored African Americans. African Americans had to go through tests to see if they were able to receive priviledges

As some may say, “If you’re light, you’re alright. If you’re brown, stick around. And if you’re Black, get to the back.” Colorism has become a popular practice in the African American culture. The praise for being fair­skinned is often seen as being a light­hearted compliment that degrades the other half of the spectrum. In the article, “Black Identity” by Kathy Russell, Russell researches and proves how the negative effects of colorism is ever present in the African American culture and is ingrained into their youth. Colorism is not a new debatable topic but the effects of such continues to evolve. Colorism in the African American Community, specifically, needs to be addressed and dealt with so that they may unite as a community with the purpose of understanding how the present is in correlation with the past, decrease the popularity of color­based self­hate within the African American community so they may eradicate the racial issues present in the judicial system, and teach African American youth to fight against colorism and its negative effects so that they can create positive, proud future for the African American community.

Indeed, ‘colorism’ within racial and ethnic groups is a lot more prevalent than we are prepared to admit. Light-skin preference has been common practice in the black community for generations. Though being black requires us to respect our culture and heritage, it’s difficult not to be influenced by the perception that black women are often not accepted as being intelligent, desirable, and beautiful enough. Also, individuals within the black community have been called ‘Oreo Cookies’ because of the way they speak, where they live, and the people they choose to interact

The idolization of lighter skin colour that has occurred within black communities within America, as mentioned earlier, stems from colonization and has persisted into the modern age through racialized beauty standards, as well as economic and social opportunities. Due to their perceived proximity to white individuals within the racial hierarchy, lighter skinned black Americans are considered to be more beautiful and are presented with the opportunity to receive a higher income and level of education than darker skinned individuals based on their physical appearance, as examined by Margaret L. Hunter. Nevertheless, these individuals are still barred from reaching the same levels of opportunity as white individuals, which is depicted through a lower employment and income rate, indicating their inability to transcend beyond their social racial category. Instead, there appears to be an unhealthy racial hierarchy created within the black race which stigmatizes and divides coloured individuals from collaborating, as per the wishes of early colonizers in my perception. Through accommodating to the desires of early European colonizers, colorism exhibits tendencies of Nobles conceptual incarceration, in which coloured individuals are still submissive and uncritical towards their reasons of perceiving lighter skin as being more socially acceptable based on a European

Colorism is an issue amongst African Americans that is slowly disunifying the culture. The idea that is constantly reiterated in the African American community is that if you are light skinned you have a better job with more income, more successful, have more relationships, and are deemed less of a threat, essentially living the “best of both worlds”. If are darker skinned you are jobless or at a job that is not moving you into the future, less successful, passed by a potential mate, and is labeled as a common crook. The ideas about color pigmentation in the African American community all goes back to the original argument made numerous of times: “White is good, Black is bad”. Slavery is a primary reason why African Americans have this

The “Colorist” culture believes that light hair and blue eyes is the standard for beauty. People who fall victim to this altered view have gone as far as skin bleaching and extreme poisonous routes which have contributed to the deaths of women trying to stay in trend. Countries such as India victimize dark females with favor placed on lighter skin. Africa is a predominantly a dark skinned continent that has taken up the "fair skin death trap"; a country that should be praising rich cocoa skin, or darker skin that is native to India began to praise European like skin. The colorist view projected by society and the media leads to exploitation and the death of some who have subscribed to colorist ideals.

Colorism is the prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group. Colorism has been one of the most prominent dividing factors amongst multitudes of ethnicities and cultures. Lighter skin has been associated with higher levels of intelligence, wealth, attractiveness, and more. As a result, those of darker complexions have undergone drastic and harmful measures in order to meet these restrictive beauty standards. Advertisements exhibit men and women with creamy white skin and silky straight hair. Companies have profited off of colorism by selling skin bleaching and hair straightening products. The damage colorism has created amongst communities physically and psychologically is deplorable.