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 own race. There were two types of slave’s, house slaves and field slaves. The field slaves would have a darker skin tone and would have the task of working outside, for an example, picking cotton, from sun up, to sun down. The house slaves, lighter skin, lived inside the house with the slave owner and obviously, doing house work duties such as cooking and cleaning. During that time it was