...Colorism is a social issue that deeply burdens many African Americans today. Many who have researched the affects that it has within the community have all came to the same conclusion that "Once colorism lodges in individual African consciousness, the affected person is literally psychologically misoriented"(Azibo). This belief system is lodged in the African American people at a young age, so from the beginning their self worth is tainted by society. For example, when I was a young girl growing up in a predominately Caucasian environment I was told that I wasn't "attractive" because I did not have straight long hair, and pretty blue eyes. Because of things like this it is "imperative to know just where colorism comes from for optimal combat of it in schools, practice, and community"(Azibo). However, there has been new research that has been found that refutes the issue of colorism between specifically lighter skins being more favorable than those with darker skinned African Americans. Some now argue that it is actually less desirable to be lighter skinned, rather than dark skinned. Meaning that having a lighter tone can be seen with a negative connotation. Regardless of what is heard in the media there are many dark women who are extremely proud of their complexity, As Zora Hurston states "I am not tragically colored. There is no great sorrow dammed up in my soul, nor lurking behind my eyes. I do not mind at all". She is proud of her skin and who she is within it. There are many...
Words: 425 - Pages: 2
...------------------------------------------------- COLORISM WURAOLA, MUHAMMED June 29, 2014 iNFORMATIVE SPEECH SPEECH 103 June 29, 2014 iNFORMATIVE SPEECH SPEECH 103 COLORISM I will inform the audience about colorism and the effect it has on African Americans today. I will discuss when and how colorism started, and how it affects the way you feel about yourself and the way you live your life. “If you’re black, stay back; if you’re brown, stick around; if you’re yellow, you’re mellow; if you’re white, you’re all right.” This is an old nursery rhyme sung by kids. These days you would probably see the same idea being expressed by African Americans themselves. There is only one ethnic group that acts as if light and dark skinned are two different nationalities. Which ethnic group, you ask. African-Americans. Colorism refers to discrimination based on skin color. Colorism disadvantages dark-skinned people, while privileging those with lighter skin. I have also experienced colorism. People of my own race, especially the men will treat you differently just based on the color of your skin, and I also used to wish I was lighter. This topic may relate to you because colorism may exist in other cultures too, like Vietnam and India. I will discuss when and how colorism started, and how it affects the way you feel about yourself and the way you live your life. This brings us to how colorism started. A man name Will Lynch, a British slave owner gave a speech at the Virginia colony...
Words: 948 - Pages: 4
...Bangladesh 2012 Abstract Analyzing news reports and primary researches conducted, this study develops and signifies the theory of colorism among dark-skinned Asians and Africans. The data has been accumulated through news media all over the world which reconfirms the perilous effects of colorism and the prejudice and discrimination associated with it. Colorism is distinct from racism but it does overlaps at a certain stage. While racism is an inter-ethnic issue, colorism easily flourishes in a friendly intra-ethnic environment. The paper also digs into the post-colonial impact on colorism and the role of contemporary media’s representation of colored people through advertising and its amalgamation with the popular culture of countries with large colored population and capitalistic means of keeping the bias alive which amounts to roughly $18 billion industry. In the United States of America, it is evident that the practice is also a common thing among American Muslims comparable to the American African communities who rarely intermarries through racial lines. Recently, intra-ethnic employment discrimination has also caught some attention in the Arrocha v CUNY court case. According to a Newsweek report, International fashion world still prefers whiter models. The impacts of colorism normally results into discriminatory behavior and prejudices. Colorism, also forms prejudices about lighter skinned and white people, as they are seen as more intelligent and richer. Anglo-Indians faces...
Words: 464 - Pages: 2
...What if all African Americans were the same skin complexion? What if we never used the terms light or dark skin? What if we did not judge or imply that darker skin black people are less desirable? That Obama though qualified to run; he is “the right shade” to be president, he passed the “paper bag test”. Basically, what if we never experienced any form of colorism. The term black people are used in systems of racial classification for humans of a dark skinned phenotype, relative to other racial groups. Different societies apply different criteria regarding who is classified as “black”. The worst classification and the greatest divide with in the African American culture has come through Colorism; light skin versus dark, a form of discrimination within one’s own ethnic groups. Colorism is a term to describe prejudice or discrimination in which human beings are treated different social treatment based on skin color. It is in almost every race, but it is more predominant in the African American culture within the United States. Discrimination within and outside African American’s dates back to slavery and is still happening now more than ever. We have been brain washed through generations, teachings, peers, parents and the media. The light vs. dark topic has been apparent since the time of slavery, but its problems and consequences are still very evident. During the time of slavery African Americans were not only segregated with white people they were also segregated within their...
Words: 570 - Pages: 3
...that affects all areas of human relationships, especially in marital mate selection. Further intensified by the meteoric rise in Internet dating and mate selection, this bias often serves an invalidating function for darker-skinned women. This study (1) analyzed ‘profiles’ and ‘preferences’ of brides and grooms (N=200), and (2) coded ‘success story wedding photos’ (N=200) posted on four Indian matrimonial websites. Results showed an overwhelming bias among males for brides lighter-skinned than themselves. Males were also more likely than females to state a preference for skin color in their prospective brides, and to use qualitative words like ‘beautiful’ and ‘lovely’ to describe their preferred match. Most significantly, the ‘success story’ wedding photos consistently had lighter-skinned brides than grooms. Darkskinned women were almost non-existent in these ‘success stories.’ This research points to a technology-abetted intensification of colorism. That is to say that the powerful profile ‘menu’ options and the visual imagery of predominantly lightskinned, ‘successful’ brides illustrated on current websites visually reinforce the invalidation of dark skinned women. Keywords Internet matchmaking Colorism Indian marriage market Technology and women Skin Color Introduction Mate-seeking preferences are significant for relationships, marriage, and family life, but those preferences also illuminate larger cultural themes,...
Words: 9301 - Pages: 38
...the American slavery era; this division has fueled African-American cultural movements, societal achievements, and economic systems. Light skinned blacks have undoubtedly maintained the hypothetical lead, receiving the upper hand in American slavery and the post Reconstruction era. However, dark skinned blacks made slight gains from the 1920’s to the 1960’s. In order to further assert white dominance, slaveholders annihilated African ethnic identities. Slaves were instead classified them as tools to be used by whites in any way whites saw fit. Consequently, racial miscegenation between Caucasians and African slaves became a common component of slave culture. In order to obstruct...
Words: 947 - Pages: 4
...White Privilege and Colorism SOC 262 White Privilege and Colorism White privilege is a term that is used to refer to white people in America’s advantage over groups of people of color. It is said that whites have a bigger advantage, and many more perks over someone that is a non-white. White privilege makes a critical preference for white people and denies opportunities for people of color. Colorism is a form of discrimination that is based on the complexion of darker skinned Individuals, despite being of the same race (Banks, T. L., 1999). Colorism is giving privileges to lighter-skinned people of color in many different areas, such as income, education and marriage (Hunter, M., 2007). During the time of slavery, slave drivers would allow the slaves with a lighter complexion to work inside the home and live a more comfortable life. Those with darker skin complexion would work on the farms. Even today darker skinned individuals feel they are scrutinized because their skin is a darker complexion. My personal experiences of white privilege have been far and few. I sometimes find it easier to bond with individuals that are not of my own skin color. This may be a result of the environment I grew up in., which was a very diverse neighborhood. However, there have been a few situations where I have noticed I may be getting “white privilege.” For example, I have never been harassed or followed by any type of law enforcement based on the color of my skin. I have...
Words: 649 - Pages: 3
...One in two Filipino women are users of skin whitening products. This is what marketing research company Synovate claimed in 2004 (Spickard and Rondilla 79). Ten years later, a documentary entitled ‘Dark Girls’ came out with interviews from dark skinned people of different ages, talking about the pursuit for lighter skin. One interviewee gave his opinion on African women’s desire for lighter complexion, going on to say: […] most of the women wants [sic] to have, cause what they see on TV over there, lighter skinned women with nice hair and all of that stuff-so some of them want, want to be like that, so that’s why, some of them bleach their skin, cause they think the lighter their skin is, the [more] chances they have to actually one day be on TV, or get noticed by people, so they think bleaching their skin or lighter skin, is much, much better than dark skin. (Duke and Chansin) The issue being described is not only present among those belonging to African-American community (Herring 3), but the Filipino, and general Asian community as well (Dychiu 87). Given this, mass media should use its influence to help lessen instead of perpetuate occurrences of colorism in Philippine society. In order to have a clearer understanding of mass media, it must first be defined. By definition, a medium is a form of disemminating knowledge, and a mass is a large amount of people. Put together, mass media is a term that covers different forms of communicating knowledge and information to...
Words: 2684 - Pages: 11
...documentary, Duke& Berry wanted to explore the deep biased attitudes of skin color, predominantly dark skinned women that are within, and outside of the American culture. Furthermore, they hoped to deliver messages...
Words: 1094 - Pages: 5
...Racism and the trauma that African Americans endure is not a new concept. Racism can be defined as a “socially organized set of practices that deny African Americans the dignity, opportunities, space, time, positions, and rewards this nation offers to white Americans. (Bryant Davis & Ocampo, 2005). The interplay of racism, ethnic identity development, and racial socialization appear to be dominant themes, as African Americans interface with the legacy of slavery. Although slavery was deemed illegal in 1865, its aftermath brought about specific trauma legacies in the form of laws and policies which supported the powerlessness of African Americans. This phenomenon is known as cultural trauma. Cultural trauma is the idea that slavery as the initial...
Words: 263 - Pages: 2
...Gifted, and Black: Identity, Sexuality, and Black Girls,” is focused around the stigmas that society has placed on African American women and their perceptions of themselves and self beauty. It goes into depth to analyze how certain interactions and encounters shape how African American females develop and how they identify sexually. In the research, it talks about what a Jezebel is, and it is identified as a light skinned woman with long hair, who is perceived as “seductive, manipulative, and unable to control her sexual drives” (Townsend 274). Then they go on to identify who Mammy is, who is unattractive and obese and of a darker complexion. Both of these images were that which were projected onto women of African American descent, by the media and the European culture. This created an idea of “colorism”, and it made things that were of a lighter skin, or closer to their Caucasian and Latina counterparts to seem more accepted. It goes on to speak about how stereotypes have negatively affected the development and actions of African American women of all ages, from Jezebel all the way to the modern, do it all super woman, essentially being the single woman. The connection between childhood sexual abuse and the likelihood of continued victimization and sexual exploitation is also explored. The research goes into detail to see what is affecting the ways that African American females are looking at themselves. For instance, they value intelligence and it plays a role within their femininity...
Words: 775 - Pages: 4
...group, a race, or their supposed characteristics. Prejudice, to me is having an unfavourable attitude toward someone without good reasoning. For instance, an example of gender prejudice is men earning more money than women on average -- even if they are similarly qualified and performing the same tasks. Rather than paying their workers based on their performance and experience, many employers pay a fraction of their employees more simply because they are male while the others receive less due to the fact that they are not. This is not the only factor that plays in role in the sharp contrast in pay between males and females, however it does play a part. There have been many forms of prejudice throughout history that exist even to this day and have become more widespread such as colorism, ableism, sizeism, religious intolerance, racism, and nativism. Colorism is a form of prejudice based on the color of a person’s skin. It is prevalent among people who share the same ethnicity or race but it can also occur in multi-ethnic and non-white communities. In most cases, colorism is in favour of those with lighter skin tones. Albeism, yet another type of prejudice -- is not as widely known as its counterparts. It refers to prejudice against people who have disabilities that can be easily perceived...
Words: 722 - Pages: 3
...Woman in ballet have to adhere to strict standards of Eurocentric beauty, but black women face a barrier to entry based on the racialized notions of the black feminine body. Black people in ballet do not share a common experience, as black men have an easier time gaining significant opportunities based on the role of the male dancer’s function in ballet. Furthermore, black women have to deal with colorism in ballet; a phenomenon that does not happen to the same extent with their male counterparts. While ballet companies are attempting to move away from traditional norms, the lack of black women in significant roles, whether it be as dancer, teachers, and other positions within the institution, is a crucial issue that needs to be corrected. With more representation of black women in ballet, young girls in grassroot programs will have role models to encourage them to further their dance careers. Overall, black women have talent that is being ignored due to dated standards of beauty, but by becoming aware of the treatment of black women in the ballet community and instilling change, a new and inclusive standard of beauty can shine on the stage of...
Words: 1957 - Pages: 8
...1. My summary of age and beauty; Blacks and Caucasian women of all ages examines their bodies. To recognize and be willing to get cosmetic surgery to reshape their bodies to their expectations of healthy. 2. Thesis and purpose of this Article was that white and black women examines their body image but, colorism plays a part of black women body image. 3. The author studied gender studies with that background to able to inform the article. 4. Primary point the author used to support his thesis was the actual quotes. The research included a variety of women with a wide range of age and different cultures, with real quotes from women that consider healthy bodies in different ways. 5. Body image, healthy body and self-presentation are ambiguous...
Words: 396 - Pages: 2
...former head of the Department of African American Studies at the University of Cincinnati, and the past President of the American Sociological Association Council. Collins was the 100th president of the ASA and the first African American woman to hold this position. Throughout this paper I will discuss several ideas Patricia Hill Collins focuses on throughout her career. This paper will cover topics such as Intersectionality, The Matrix of Domination, Oppression, The Hegemonic Domain of Power, Resisting Power, and Subjugated Knowledge. I will also...
Words: 1364 - Pages: 6
