Colorism within the Black Community || USF 2023

colorism is a political and social  hierarchy a system of discrimination   or a system of Oppression similar to racism  but the difference is that colorism happens   intra communally the intercommunal aspect of  it the ways in which we perpetuate colorism   towards each other and particularly how  people have created social strata based   on color and the Darkness of one's skin  in almost every country especially those   touched by colonialism so it's not just within  our communities it has an effect outside of our   communities it's a discrimination between you  know a societal standard of what a person's   skin color is and how they are impacted by it  within the society that they live in or just   society as a whole seeing the difference in  the shades of your skin and then valuing the   worth of that person based on their skin  color they said dark like it was a bad thing so colorism is the discriminatory practice  of favoring lighter skin over darker skin and it   started here in in this country with slavery  where we were divide where they divided the   slaves and the darker skinned slaves were in the  field the lighter skinned slaves tended to be in   the house a lot of our habits and our Behavior  really goes back to slavery and we really what   we had to experience now that really it played  a pit of R in our history it really shaped us   we were like you know taken from our homelands put  on boats brought to a foreign country w're really   allowed to express oursel culturally emotionally  physically really in any way whatsoever Willie   Lynch was a slave owner and he made the speech  on the James River and basically told other slave   owners the best way to control slaves through  through Division and that's the gist of it was   through Division and he talked about dividing  slaves based on the shade of their skin and   so this this came with slavery and it perpetuated  throughout From Slavery up until even now that we   have this issue of lighter skin over darker skin  kind of a a phenomenon that we see take place most   frequently within communities of color where um  people with fairer skin or lighter skin are seen   as you know more desirable as um smarter more  beautiful and have all the positive attributes   associated with them because of the color of  their skin I'll say look at as a gradient of   color right the acceptance is lessening as you  go um and it's it's always been uh just a lack   of acceptance for for darker skinned people  in any one of these issues people would say   oh you're so white on the inside be black on the  outside people call me an Oreo people would call   me a panda because I wasn't growing up around  people who look like me I think it affected me   affected me a little bit in my confidence in  that way when I was younger doesn't affect me   as much now cuz I've accepted my color can I  even go here will I be accepted here it kind   of created a fear in my mind of um interacting  with certain people and going for certain things   my classmates would be like oh I want to get  out the sun oh you so dark they said dark like   it was a bad thing so as a darker SK black man  I'm definitely perceived to be more aggressive   more combative just in like any situation um I  have also seen it that it's affected the way I   trct but just like uh law enforcement that's also  another separate issue but I always feel you know   just like being darker and just being a black man  I'm going to be perceived as as more so combative   antagonist who's just really looking to stir  up things or cause problems those are mostly   like the tags associated with me just because of  my darker skin I felt like most of my life it's   always been like going against the grain to kind  of prove others that I'm more than just what I'm   represented as or what I look like um most of  the time it's kind of hard to really get past   like that outward image and it's not until I open  up my mouth or standing in front of people in a   certain position or at a certain level for people  to kind of understand and wrap their mind around   who I am something that I think I remember the  most of was just me not being exactly how I look   so one of the biggest stereotypes I remember  often getting was always being so much nicer   than what my presentation look like you know  I'm like 510 dark skinned with like a bunch   of tattoos now but like like growing up I've  always been a little bit bigger hence you know   the whole football thing so you know the first  initial thing that people would kind of label me   with would be like this form of like aggression  when I'm not even somebody that's aggressive at   all I pretty much think of myself as like a  gentle giant or like someone more emotionally   in tune with themsel you're living in like a body  that you don't really you know feel comfortable   and that you don't like that you probably hate  because it's not because that's how how you feel   but that's cuz what that that's what you've seen  and that's what's been imposed on you so you start   to believe that that is correct and I shouldn't  be dark or I shouldn't be black I feel like to   go from so I was probably like four to let's say  I probably didn't Embrace black girl magic till   15 16 that's what like 12 years like that's really  there's a lot of not only just puberty but there's   a lot of psychological development to go 12 years  without really embracing the beautiness of my skin   and really like not feeling like I have a place  that's very destructive um it kind of goes into   you know we have we talk about social identity um  I think even with that it becomes such a problem   and it triggers depression which we just see  a lot in our black community so I just feel   like if there was teaching and acceptance of  self at such an early age we probably wouldn't   be where we are mentally um coming from the  Caribbean we don't immediately I would say we   don't immediately feel how serious it is and and  that has always been an interesting disconnect   because when you come to a different country um  you're the minority right I remember one time my   family came down and they saw me and they're  like w I thought you were going to be lighter   my own family so experiencing colorism was really  hard for me because not only were my friends and   people at work colors to me but so was my family  in Jamaica people are bleaching their skin because   they aspire to be white they they've had a need  to like Pander to to white people and when I say   that I mean like um like for instance growing up  uh my sisters would have to like perm their hair   and you know do things of that nature without  and to be like well you know that's not really   something that we should be doing it's ingrained  in the black community there's so many different   levels to colorism that we still have to fight  whether um even like texturism and that that's   also something that plays into colorism because  it also makes you it's something that people   don't phrase if you have kinkier hair um if you're  darker skin that kind of goes hand inand with each   other they also tear you down if you're lighter  skin with 3B curls they'll like you more if I'm   with my friend who's lighter than me they'll  pay attention to them in disregard me like I'm   not in the picture at all and I feel like that's  because um my friend who's lighter is closer you   know to whiteness and I'm the dark one so they're  going to disregard me we're looking higher up the   scale the lighter your skin is now the better  you are and that is putting us back because we   are not unified if we are if we think that some  of us are better than others at the end of the   day how much can I say and how much can I not say  at the end of the day we'll both get shot by the police it made me more aware of how I move um to my own  people right and that doesn't mean I am trying to   to overcompensate when I'm speaking to someone  who is of darkest skin or of lighter skin it   just means I'm making sure I'm aware of those  biases and of that discrimination that people   may be facing to watch my own words to make  sure I'm not propagating that same idea even   my mom she's lighter skinned than me so I would  look at my mom and be like dang what happened   I be like how did I get so dark and I remember  this is like a core memory in my head I remember   asking my mom like hey Mom will my skin ever get  lighter when I grow up and she said oh it could   and then I was like oh I have a chance the thing  about colorism too is that it's subjective right   like I could be the darkest person that somebody  has met while also acknowledging the fact that   I am not the darkest person like I think we get  into these conversations about like who's brown   skinned who's dark skinned you know whatever but  really and truly like your social setting will   then determine your treatment start putting uh  different skin tones into different boxes where   it's like we all shouldn't be put into a box  we're all different one day um a friend told   me W Pina you're not ghetto and I'm just thinking  huh like why is she asking me that you know cuz I   thought we were cool like like I don't know  where that came from looking back at it it's   because of colorism because I'm dark skinned she  obviously assumed that I'm aggressive and ghetto   which isn't the case darker skinned woman is  considered more aggressive and more Stern harder   to deal with there have been ways in which we  have told darker skinned people exactly how we   feel about them whether it's the brown paper bag  test or it's the way way in which that we have   separated slaves from house slaves to field slave  even in the way that we teach that historically   it's incredibly more nuanced in in the ways it  happened a lot of black men like won't date me   or approach me because I'm dark skinned or they  think I'm too much I haven't told that they're   like you're doing too much they won't acknowledge  me because I'm dark skinned like they won't even   look my way because they see my dark skin the most  evident way in which I see colorism presented and   I think the way that a lot of people are able  to understand understand it is in dating but   I pushed back on that because I think when we  do that it trivializes colorism from something   that is also a political issue to one that is just  purely social I know growing up I was really big   on the lightskinn girl thing that's all that was  on TV that's all that was in whatever media that   I saw so I was big on like lightskinned girls  that was really what I wanted to date that was   the first person I was attracted to I would say  there's a way in which being with someone who is   lighter skinned will Aid in you having social  capital and Social Capital as we know is used   the same way that we use political Capital it's  like my skin like kind of scares them like it's   weird you know like my blackness so they run away  from it in dating that's one huge aspect in which   people will maybe settle for someone who is of  Darker skin uh but are aiming towards someone who   is lighter skin because of the perceived social  hierarchy we're trying to move towards people   using the term deeply melanated because dark skin  tends to have a negative connotation you know dark   in it the word dark within itself has a negative  connotation and for so long we've talked about   we've said dark skin like it like it's a negative  thing and so we're trying to really get people to   move into different language because language has  a lot to do with how we're perceived and how we   perceive each other so we're trying to get people  to move into saying deeply melanated and get away   from that whole idea of dark skin it's going to  take a long time for that I know with men when   they say men are lightskinned they're like they're  more softer they're not as hard or they're more   like uh you know feeling themselves and whatnot I  can tell you like I I've joke with my friends like   hey if I was lightskinned I'd have been a totally  different person like i' have been feeling myself   i' have been that person that was in the mirror  you know like taking pictures all the time and   stuff lighter skinn people I've definitely seen  them be put on a pedestal and they get more favor   if I'm being honest they get a lot more favor  lightskinned men are seen as weo um like they   can't they're not as tough as a dark skinn male  is um don't know how true that is don't think it   is but it's definitely something that we see as a  joke in pop culture but everything in pop culture   I think is a 50/50 when it comes to joking or not  um the idea comes from somewhere and someone's   propagating this unbeliev is it for real to be  putting these things out there just like jokes   made about lighter skinned people jokes made  about like darker skinned people although we   don't necessarily mean them with malice or they  don't like necessarily come from a bad place they   are very much negative stereotypes and they  also further the stereotypes pushed against   us as black people we've come up with this team  light skin team dark skin thing and how even on   social media how they have filters and things  to make your skin look lighter or brighter or   whatever term they choose to use and I see how we  have fallen into the Trap of letting other people   decide for us what beauty is if black people were  being represented in something they were more than   likely black te um cuz that was the best way to  represent us I from what I've seen it's the best   way to represent us and you know allow us to be  like seen as accepted or like hey that person not   fully black but they got a little bit little drop  in there that made them look like that with the   curly hair and stuff and that you know promoted  oh this black person is accept it but we're not   going to accept the dark skinned black person the  Miami is typically a darker skinned larger woman   who is associated As a caretaker as a lover um as  the type of person you run to or cry to when you   need something but it's given nothing in return  um so usually those would be be you know and that   Trope itself comes from black women who used to  take care of and nurse these white women's kids I   always have to be that negative image why can't I  be the love interest why can't I be you know some   of these things that other women are allowed to be  and I think that when it comes to Beauty we have   allowed the outside world to dictate to us what  is beautiful whenever I was looking on TV I never   really saw any representation it was always  their like the sidekick the people that come   in for maybe an episode for comedic relief or if  there is like they have their own stories always   something that's very traumatic they never really  get a good storyline so I never really saw a   good representation this idea that like dark skin  women or bigger women are supposed to be reliable   independent mule esque um with no personalities  though nothing to say nothing to give or offer   the world um only to be be taken from right uh and  taken from without permission and I think that's   also where rape culture comes into play and where  we see a lot of um dark skinned black women being   harmed because of these types of trop I feel like  we are good enough for the struggle but once you   make it over that hunch like you're going to get  a lightskinned wife like look at Steve Harvey his   first wife wasn't margorie Harvey's skin color um  so I just think it kind of makes us black women   feel like dang so it's like things just even  though passing was so long ago I still think   it affects multiple Generations um we're easier to  change our social groups and I think when we talk   about generational trauma how do we recover from  things like that um and so it goes from passing   with skin color to now passing by association  media and when we interact with media creating   these archetypes like the Miami like the Vixen  to categorize black women in very specific and   nuanced ways to create an environment in which we  have only one box to fit in right um so the other   one the Vixen that I mentioned we see a lot more  in hip-hop and popular culture sexy scandalous   hot tamalii that whole vibe uh so when we see  black women actually appearing in media um what   tropes are they being forced to interact with and  who does that benefit the Vixen is someone who is   sexy and appealing to the male gays so they fit  a very particular archetype which is why colorism   then feeds into futurism you'll see very skinny  fit maybe they are large in the back but not in   the front um they fit a very particular mold all  of those women look very similarly exotic that's   that's something that they were looking at at  least in the 2000s but it makes you look like oh   you're mixed with something different you're not  just black you always you're a little bit um more   ambiguous like you can't really pin it down that  makes it more interesting so many of these images   about what beauty is it's the Beyonce it's the Hal  berries it's the and not at Lea Keys it's not to   take away from them they are beautiful women but  so is Viola Davis so is leita nongo so is Angela   Basset you know the these are also women who are  beautiful but they're not being held up as what   the standard of beauty is for us so we have to  begin to say we're not going to allow Hollywood   and the media to dictate to us what beauty is for  us it affects us tremendously one because it's   not hardly talked about it's not hardly named um  because we do and rightfully so um spend a lot of   time talking about racism which again is kind of  you know kind of um intercommunal in terms of you   know I hate to just say black and white because  it's not a black and white issue but thinking   about how um black people in other communities  of color are situated within a white supremacist   framework whereas colorism asks us to kind of  look at ourselves and to look internally it's   definitely a big effect on the black community to  me because of we're because we're perpetuating now   it's not just you know it probably just used to be  white people perpetuating but like now we as black   people we perpetuated we put certain people on a  pedestal because of their color or we enjoy this   person more because of their color we allow this  person more leeway because of their color that you   wouldn't allow if they were a little bit darker  skined which isn't fair to anybody it's something   that we can see in pop culture in general where  although yes we as black people celebrate our   culture and nowadays ghetto isn't necessarily  immediately a bad term it's still evident that   that's the first thought that seems to come into  other people's heads this isn't just social this   is people's lives why are half or more of  the people who are murdered by police dark   categorically dark skinned people why are so many  dark skinned and fat black men being killed those   things are not Inseparable when we talk about  colorism when we talk about racism like we're also   talking about homop homophobia fat phobia we're  talking about sexism like we're talking about   the ways in which all of these things intersect to  give someone an experience in this world so unless   you get an explicit kind of comment where people  are calling um an attribute of yours out you don't   really know where a particular kind of strain  of discrimination is coming from so then it's   like oh well yeah I am a dark skinned woman you  know I do come from a socio a lower socioeconomic   background or I do have you know a disability or  whatever attribute or part of a person's identity   that's Salient because of the way that you know  we live our lives um we we don't always know where   that discrimination is coming from so I think the  way Kimberly kensaw explained it is the perfect   way of saying it it's like you're coming to an  intersection but there's not four different ways   that are going on it's like a thousand different  ways and they all intersect to create your unique   experience um and that's why personal experiences  of colorism colorism or racism or any type of ism   or phobia are subjective in some ways they're  never going to be Universal as you're a woman   you're a black woman you are a deeply melanated  black woman so you're not only dealing with   sexism you're dealing with racism you're dealing  with colorism and the intersectionality of all   of that means that you kind of many times feel  like okay when you I I walk in a room and if I   walk in a room that is we'll just say 75% white I  don't know which of those isms I'm going to have   to counteract I'm Jamaican so like I remember  growing up I'm in a household where it's like   you have your parents telling you you're not  black you're Jamaican and it's like how can   that be said to someone who is Black I literally  look like any other black person but just hearing   that notion growing up and then having these  experiences that I've had made me realize how   much within our community there is that disconnect  intersectionally also plays a PIV role in this   just because being GH and myself um I can imagine  how like my experience has shaped me I can imagine   how an African-American Caribbean Haitian really  anyone at all can have just so many different   experiences just because of the Norms upheld in  their city and their home compared to that of like   a neighboring place or just an entirely different  place so it's very much different and it very much   defines you and also like kind of shapes your  experience throughout your life as a fat Brown   skinned woman I am treated a certain way and those  things also can't be deviated from each other I   can't just say it's because of one particular  thing but I know that all of those things work   for the greater good of white supremacy I'd like  to highlight specifically women because I could   talk to a guy about it and he's like yeah I  joke about lightskins for example but that   doesn't end our life like for us we'll joke about  the light-skinned guy getting girls easier um we   won't say a light-skinned guy is going to get a  job over us but um for women I always noticed it   was a significant deeper conversation like men  don't look at me um men disrespect me people   disrespect me um my boss has certain phrases that  he'll say to me he won't say to my co-workers and   those things those things rang true more often  than not um and so that that disproportionate   effect of colorism on men versus women was  probably the first thing that that sh out to me   when I when I approach we can't just assume that  you know all black people are all dark skinned   black people have the same experience because you  know just using the two intersections of you know   race and color um with socioeconomic background  status you might have a dark skinned black person   who is um come from affluent means and have had  all of the niceties of Life there may be Universal   aspects but one person's experience is going to  be colored by their socioeconomic status how much   were you able to access um what type of education  were you able to get because of your socioeconomic   status and then because you're black what type  of education are you able to get because of your   socioeconomic status which is colored by the fact  that you are black and I feel like this is really   what colorism stems from is really ignorance if  you take the time to educate yourself and really   inform yourself of the people who are around  you and the people who look like you you will   not believe these negative stereotypes or have  these assumptions about people don't be afraid   to talk um a lot of times when we battle some of  the issues that we have as black people we like   to shut down because naturally um the generational  trauma that we Face we like to Harbor it we push   it under and we keep going as if like nothing ever  happened but I think that's what also constitutes   those issues I think I think that's what creates  more problems for us because it doesn't give us   an opportunity to really talk about the things  that impact us or hold us back from being our best   version of ourselves so to those youth of color  coming on and moving forward don't be afraid to   speak out about how you feel when you are being  discriminated against because you may be darker   in skin tone say something I grew up thinking  every POC person knew about colorism which isn't   the case a lot of people actually don't really  know what colorism is or like why they feel   certain ways so talking about it will make people  like more aware of why they act a certain way and   make them more cautious of the things they do so  it's really our duty as human beings to educate   ourselves and just really improve ourselves so  we can provide a better shared experience for   everyone around us and I feel like as black people  that's really what we need to do I feel like we've   really gotten comfortable with the sense we're  so um we're like stagnant we're not necessarily   pushing for these things the way that we should  CU again we wouldn't want this to carry on to   Generations for generations to Generations because  again it's not going to be a good experience for   anyone then so I really think it really all blows  down to like education and information just to   like dispel the misinformation that exists within  the black community colorism is not just like who   you like and who you don't like who's your friend  and who who you're not friends with colorism is   also who is being incarcerated who does not have  the AB ility to meet their needs and so I think if   we start attacking things structurally through  Grassroots movements and more community- based   programming we'll see a large shift in how people  understand each other and how people interact with   each other mental emotional anxiety depression all  that stuff that comes with colorism if you don't   want your children to grow up with that then  you've got to start addressing it within the   family Dynamic and stop the name calling I tell  people we got to stop the name calling even if you   have to polite and I very much agree with being  respectful but even if you have to tell grandom   respectfully grandom we don't talk like that  anymore we don't call kids monkey and Blackie and   red bone and you know light bright darn near White  not we don't do that anymore so we've got to begin   to take control of it within the family Dynamic  so that within our communities it begins to   change and we begin to change it on a global scale  there's so many examp exles around us of um darker   skinned people who have excelled darker skinned  people who are glorious lighter skinned people   who have done amazing things telling yourself that  you're the exception and that you're nothing and   that you're you're not up to par it's it's only  self- sabotage there's people everywhere around   the world who represent that that's not true that  the color of your skin cannot and will will not   Define what you can achieve it's generational we  have to know that it's wrong first of all because   as much as we can try to tell our parents hey this  isn't right they're already grown they're already   stuck in their ways we can't really change I'm  not going to I'm not going to fight a grown man   and try to change his beliefs stop listening  to what people have to say because it doesn't   matter like those people they're hurting they're  hurting deeply so don't let those words hurt you   one of the things Martin Luther King said that he  Dreamed a day where his children be judged not by   the color of their skin but by the content of  their character and we need to be letting our   children know that character is very important  and that you are beautiful children need to be   told that they need it needs to be reinforced kids  are so malleable and they're a spun and they soak   everything up so when we're raising our kids when  we're raising the Next Generation that's the only   way that we can really make the change cuz they're  the ones that going to carry on all of our IDE all   of our ideals from before so you have to start  from the bottom up I can't like I said I can't   start from the top and try to change my parents my  grandparents ideas they they've already made their   decisions but if I start from the bottom and try  to grow from there then that's the only way that   we can really facilitate change to everybody  we're talking about a structural machine that   is ingrained in every single part of our Lives  it's not as simple as like flipping a switch   it's really not it'll take social and political  change and and so that means getting politically   active being active in your community not speaking  for of course but definitely speaking with um folk   who are directly experiencing or have experienced  um colorism um and to never let a comment or an   action or gesture that is colorist to never let  it slide without comment without using it as a   teachable moment colorism isn't just about you  and how you feel at the moment and how you've   been treated colorism is about the structural and  political ways in which people are subjugated to   mistreatment and in the case of black people  death um and we're trying to save lives and so   if we understand how colorism impacts people's  lives literally I think people will take it a   lot more serious and do a lot more personal  introspection and Community introspection to   see some real change my skin is something that  doesn't illustrate who I am but something that   does Define what I am to become different  but still beautiful my skin tells a story   it's marvelous my skin is beautiful beautiful  tasteful it's empowering incredible my skin is   more than a monolith my skin is impactful  my skin is powerful my skin is leadership   my skin is hated but it's beautiful my skin is  resilience my skin is beautiful my skin glows my skin my skin is unique my skin is lovely bro I don't know my  skin I just love it I just I've never I I yeah   I love my skin bro I love it I've never  actually talked about that before you're   ask me questions I've never thought about  I'm really happy to say that I love my skin

Channel: Tabria Snowden

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Id: f8sJneqUHt0

Length: 32min 44sec (1964 seconds)

Published: Fri Dec 08 2023