Thread by @SithaleKgaogelo, THE HISTORY OF COLOURISM AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL AFTERMATH.[LONG THREAD] Conversations about past [...]

THE HISTORY OF COLOURISM AND ITS PSYCHOLOGICAL AFTERMATH.

[LONG THREAD]

Conversations about past events such as apartheid and slavery seems irrelevant in this present time. I mean we cannot change the past – ‘our focus and energy should rather be invested on moving on.’

But I found reason to continue sharing this anyway in the fact that we are the products of history.

Our mindset and perspective are shaped by past events. Even though we might not have experienced a certain Era first hand, but the generation that did will eventually pass on or enforce that mindset to the next generation

In order to have a balanced view of a certain narrative, its origin must be understood. Because we often find ourselves comfortably on a side that we didn’t choose, where we were just subjected by the past.

When Mathew Knowles (Solange and Beyoncé Knowles’s father) was asked why he preferred to date women of a lighter skin tone, he replied, “I had been conditioned from childhood.”

Hence, Colourism is also one of the conversations that cannot be held without the reference of the past.

Just like other types of discriminations, it is also a legacy of White supremacy and racism. White was considered beautiful, clean and ‘heaven’s favorite’, while black was dirty, ugly and undesirable.

This racist narrative led to a segregation even among people of the same race based on their skin tones. Since white was more desirable than black, then lighter skin ‘black’ people were the preferable form of black.

Not to say that lighter skinned blacks were not subjected to any form of discrimination or oppression, all black people were victims of the past injustices.

But historically even as slaves, the lighter black skin people were generally given more preference than the people with darker skin.

For instance they used to hire lighter people to work inside the house. Whereas, the darker black people had to work in farms or outside the house, note, occasionally.

An SALDR paper suggests that In the 1950s, Black women in the Western Cape Province in particular, were more likely to find employment as domestic workers and cooks if they appeared to have a lighter complexion.

This segregation of black women based on skin tone was the apparent influence of the use of skin lightening or bleaching products.

The earliest records of the use of such products in South Africa among black women suggest that it began in the 1950s alongside the Coloured Labour preference Act of 1955.

To the very dark skin women it underpinned the desire to lighten as a means to overcome this institutional form of discrimination including colour stigma.

The American entertainment industry has always been used as an example when talking about light skin privilege.

Looking at some of the most successful black female stars from 80s to early 2000s, you will realize that the media industry clearly supported the notion of colourism. Whitney houston, Alicia Keys, Mariah Carey, Rihanna, Nicki Minaj, Beyonce, etc.

Don't mistake this to completely amounting their success to skin tone, these are naturally talented stars. But I am pointing out a historical fact that it was easier for a light skin to get a platform than it was for a darker skinned.

Numbers don’t lie. In any Media and Beauty industry in the world, what is the ratio of black light skin vs dark?

What about music videos? Especially hip-hop videos where the Beauty of black women is normally paraded, What is the ratio of light vs dark skin?

This links with the ideology of the marketability of the light skin and how such women are stereotypically attractive to a general audience.

American singer and actress Zendaya – who is light skinned by the way, while being interviewed by BeautyconNYC made an honest commentary about colourism in the entertainment industry:

“I am Hollywood’s acceptable version of a Black girl and that has to change. We’re vastly too beautiful and too interesting for me to be the only representation of that.”

Oscar-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o referred to colourism as “the daughter of racism”, also said that she was once told at an audition that she was “too dark” for television.
Remember, this was not in the 70s where segregation was a norm, this is a post slavery incident.

The preference towards light skin is not a myth, and sadly it still exists, especially when comes to our description of beauty and preferred black.

This is what writer Yomi Adegoke said,

"It’s no coincidence that several historic “firsts” for the black community were achieved by mixed-raced or lighter skin, fairer individuals: Barack Obama, the first black president of the US;...

Carole Gist, the first black Miss USA; Lana Ogilvie, the first black woman to become the face of a non-ethnic cosmetics brand; Halle Berry, the first black woman to win the Academy Award for best actress, the list is endless."

Whenever this conversation is brought up, it feels like an attack on light skin people, hence some they tend to be defensive or simply dismiss the talk.

We must understand that a Colourism talk isn’t an anti lightskin campaign, this is to show the injustice and degrading of dark skin in the past, and to outline the aftermath of such a derogatory.

Because a dark skinned kid was not born with that low self-esteem, It was shattered. Their skin was mocked. Every dark skin person from young age did receive negative remarks about their skin tone.

But they didn’t know why is it offensive to be called ‘dark skinned’, nor should their skin be used as a weapon of offense.

A dark skin woman was not born insecure about their skin tone, this was inflicted by the media’s representation of beauty, which was towards light skin. Putting pressure for women who are dark skin to assimilate towards the western standard of beauty.

So it is an act of ignorance to invalidate the points made in this talk simply because you have never degraded anyone based on skin colour. This is about the people who have been degraded.

It is so much defeaning to see this conversation mostly being addressed by dark skin people, the silence of light skinned fellows becomes telling.

And most of these people who voice out are normally branded ‘Jealous and mean dark skin people’. Exactly how some white people react to racism and Black Lives Matter, with a counter acting All Lives Matter, that’s how most light skinned people react, which is quite hypocritical.

This is a conversation that is not always taken seriously. I feel like our people need to be informed, especially the kids. That there is nothing wrong with dark skin, there was never anything wrong.

It’s just that history has done so well to degrade and take away the beauty from it. To make it look like the last class of skins.

In the film Dark Girls, psychologist Timothy Foley explains that the beauty industry is still feeding on the insecurities that people have about their skin tone, which hits children the hardest.

And sadly we also still feed into this colourism by entertaining the language and symbols that were used to disregard dark skin.

Daily language like “with your dark skin, you really need to make sure that you marry a light skin person so that your kids can be PAINTED light.”

How it was such a confidence booster for a man to be entangled with a light skinned woman – currently known as yellow bones. Because historically, light skinned black women were considered more feminine, hence men’s interest.

Also, we must distinguish between colourism and preference. Colorism is discriminating one based on skin color.
Some people are not colorists, they just prefer a certain skin texture more, got nothing to do with dislike or undermining others.

And there are those who mask their dislike for people of certain skin colour in form of ‘preference’.

The issue of colourism comes in when you do not want to see the beauty or normal in people of different skin tone. Being a colourist is not when you prefer white/black, it is when you discredit and mudsling the other.

We really need to review our description of beauty. To stop using the standard that was established by an Era of unfairness on all blacks. Where skin colour disqualified some, and gave others an advantage.

Also, appreciating a darker-skinned individual must not be within the construct of a white-dominated narrative, like “you are a rare black beauty”. They should never be treated as quotas.

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