The Black Of Black Is Ugly

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

Racism is an ideology that is based on the principle that human beings can be subdivided and ranked into categories as being inferior or superior. It’s worth mentioning that in recent years the concept or notion of racism has changed. Racism in the post-racial twenty-first century is now marked by subtlety that discriminates against individuals through unnoticeable or seemingly passive methods. Although overt racism has decreased since the 1960s, it has been supplemented by what is called colorblind racism,” which refers to “contemporary racial inequality as the outcome of nonracial dynamics” (p. 455-456).

When trying to understand the concept of color blindness we first need to understand what the term means. It is a set of beliefs in which white individuals judge non-white individuals as if they were treated equally ignoring past racism (Scott p. 77). Individuals who use color blindness do so through four central frames usually used together. The four frames are abstract liberalism, naturalization, cultural racism, and minimization of racism. To understand how the four frames are sometimes used together we need to understand their meaning.

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).

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.

Racism is prejudice or discrimination directed against someone of a different race based on such a belief. An example of racism in the public services comes from a news report on channel 4 earlier this year. The report tells how there has 120 racism cases in the Metropolitan Police over the past decade, but only one officer was dismissed as a result. This shows that racism is common in the public services but is not necessarily dealt with as it should be.

Race has been an issue in North America for many years. Eduardo Bonilla-Silva discusses the new racism in his book, Racism without Racists. Bonilla-Silva classifies the new racial discrimination as color blind racism. Color blind racism is then structured under four frames (26). Color blind racism is believed to have lead to the segregation of the white race from other minorities called white habitus. Color blind racism and white habitus has affected many people, whom don’t even realize that they are, have been or will be affected.

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

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

Colorism can be defined by a practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin

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 keyword I have chosen to research is prejudice given that the article we have been reading in the past few weeks happens to be called, “Playing with Prejudice”. In my effortless research, I simply located the article, "The Effect of Skin-Tone and Racism on Perceptions of Attractiveness", written by Lauren A. Mcdermott also Terry F. Pettijohn II. This article was a fascinating read for me as the reader because it demonstrates its evidence through several research studies saying that an individual’s skin-tone determines the attitudes also behaviors expressed toward that individual. When continuing this interesting reading it explains that African-Americans with lighter pigmented skin-tones lead beyond privileged life than those African Americans

Colorism, as defined by Margaret Hunter of the Sociology and Anthropology Department of Mills College is “a function of racism and social stratification, first introduced by Europeans during the colonization of the New World.” Through colorism, an “institutionalized hierarchy of complexion” was developed. Thus making skin color an identifier and a way to racially oppress those who have not assimilated (Hunter 2007).