Skin Tone Test Paper

Caucasians have the lowest amount of melanin in their skin cells when being compared to other cultures. Melanin is crucial to protecting our skin from UV rays, and so someone with a darker skin tone is better protected.

This problem is called Colorism. Colorism is racial bias, both intra and interracial, based on the tone of one’s skin. This can be as minor as social interactions, and as major as segregation. Colorism is a real and relevant problem; According to Shankar Vedantam, a writer for the New York Times, we have a way of thinking based off of “culture and history,” which tends to subconsciously privilege those who have lighter skinned as opposed to darker skin.

The color gradient in U.S. society has always been around. In fact it is alive and well in the African American community. In some circles a light skinned African American woman isn’t “REALLY” black to some who are of a darker hue. Which for many people has often lead to some feeling like they have to continually “prove their blackness.” This is the same in many Hispanic households where in Puerto Rico the darker skinned Puerto Ricans are treated as a lower class citizen and this treatment comes from with in the ranks of the Puerto Rican people, not from another culture. So yes, the color gradient is very much a part of the U.S. lifestyle and culture.

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

Colorism has been prevalent in America since slavery. The lighter slaves would be put to work in the house and the darker skin slaves would be put to work in the field. In my opinion, this is one of the many Eurocentric ideologies that are still experienced today in the black community. Growing up I was a lot darker than my peers. Boys at my middle school would always say my best friend is prettier than I because she was of a fair complexion. Colorism is also best exemplified in movies such as Color Purple and Spike Lee’s School Dazes. Once I completed the “Skin Tone IAT”, the results were a bit surprising, they stated, “Your data suggest a moderate automatic preference for Light Skinned people over Dark Skinned people”. I was raised by my great grandfather who was Irish and Indian. To the naked eye, he looked like a Caucasian male. Up until age 6, I was afraid of darker skinned men. The results are still surprising to me that after all these years I still have a preference for light skin people over dark skinned people when in my personal opinion I feel that skin tone doesn’t matter or define you as a person. Which was also shown in class when we did the circle activity. Once again taking this test I felt that it was a bit unnecessary because you’re upbringing has a lot to do with the results and it does not mean that you have any sort of bias toward a particular group. I believe my results are inaccurate because the type of men that I am generally attracted to now are of Darker

The first test I took was the Race IAT. I had to classify words or pictures of people in groups. The website made it clear that going fast was important. This IAT showed pictures showed faces and the categories were European American and African American. The next round was words, and the categories were Good and Bad. The round after that combined the pictures and words. On the left there was European American and the word Bad on the right was African American and Bad. That was all the test was, classifying the words and pictures. Since it was my first time taking this test I thought there was going to be something related to stereotypes and questions asking my opinion. I was surprised when I finished. The categories switched sides and Bad was then paired with European American and Good with African American. My result was that I had a moderate automatic preference for African American compared to European Americans. I was surprised about this response. Growing up I went to all white schools, did not have numerous relationships with African Americans. Since college that has changed but I believed subconsciously I would have a preference to European Americans. I do not understand how sorting the pictures and words into categories would determine a preference. But now that I am aware hopefully I can catch myself in situations of preferring Africans Americans.

In the article Eric Watts makes various statements upon what he has witnessed about humans and race. He stated how he consistently had to confront Caucasian students about being stereotyped because of the color of his skin. Besides the Caucasian students he was also stereotyped by his peers, as he stated in the text “what did surprise me during those years

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

Also, it even was effected in sports because back then it was just whites playing baseball and games like that. Now it is a mix of different skin colors that play today. I know that because when I play sports I either play against different skin colors or I play on the same team as them.

Some people are very accepting of other and some people are not. When I took the Understanding prejudice quiz I got the result saying I had a slight automatic preference for white people. The result did not shock me very much because I was raised in a house where we were taught to treat everyone equal. I was raised with a sister who is half African American. However, I know there are still things I do or say on occasion that can be considered prejudice. It surprised me how high the percentage of Strong automatic preference to white is. I was thinking in today's culture many more people would have grown to accept everyone equally. It is amazing to me that the top 73% all have some form degree of automatic preference towards white people. I

Inside the 18th, 19th, and twentieth centuries, some people of mixed ancestry passing for white frequently claimed local American, Slavic, or Southern European ancestry to explain skin shade and capabilities differing

The issue of skin color has effectively been used to disrupt harmony and togetherness among individuals. Color and race is actually a common problem in many parts of the world, but it has a socioeconomic cause and it’s not a prejudiced one. It more or likely has to do with the fact that any person who worked lesser down on the socio-economic scale which is working outside like in fields etc., and as a result developed a darker skin tone than the person that

“Among African Americans, skin tone is an important physical characteristic that creates divisions in the community and affects the quality of life. Like gender, a person’s skin tone is a visible physical trait that others immediately notice during social interactions and use to form judgments” The Light skin versus Dark skin issue that has been haunting the black community for centuries is deeply rooted from the times of slavery. Because of the influence of white supremacy, mixed race children received better treatment which resulted in the formation of a social stratification within the black community that impacted how they were treated by white people as well as the way they were treated within their own community.

We are still consumed with the notion that there is some possible generalization that can used to determine who belongs and who doesn’t, to a certain category of ethnicity. Throughout the process of natural selection, uninhibited love and the freedom of choice, we humans continue to cloud the reality for the concept of race. This social construction of race no longer holds as a scientific factor. Physical features such as skin color and eyes and hair have been proven scientifically to be components of the location of environment. These traits were

The readings that were read this week gave me the realization that people understand that appearance and matter socially, among the working class. The physical distinctiveness of African slaves is the key idea that the lighter you are, the better you are. Even today there are many social constructs within the African American community that you are uglier if you are dark skin. It also gives those who are light skin the idea that they are better and comes with a stereotype that light skinned blacks are “boujee.” I think it comes from slavery because those in who worked out in the fields were dark while those who were house slaves tended to be light skinned. Light skins also got better treatment from their master and and I believe that the social