Colorism In The African American Community

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Colorism is the prejudice and discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group and it specially affects the black community. It has been taught in society that if you are of a lighter skin complexion, you may not be seen as threat to white people, you are wealthier than a typical dark skin family, you are prettier and seen as peacefully compared to dark African americans who are seen as ugly, dirty and poor. Society simply has taught the youth that “lighter is better.” Many black children and even adults struggle with being comfortable in their own skin if they have a darker skin tone because of what society will label them as. People are suffer from depression, low self-esteem, …show more content…
Slave masters would treat the lighter complexed slaves better than the dark skin. At the end of the day, they were all slaves and none of them had freedom, but there were some instances that some people had it better than others or that is how it seemed.”Color preference is a cousin of racial prejudice, and it is closely linked with the urge to obtain and maintain power over other” (Hochschild 4). It was taught and shown that light skin slaves had more privileges or that they did not have it as bad as the field slaves. This is only a small factor in the start of colorism in the African American community. ”Color prejudice… is a conceit that long predated the existence of slavery in America… However, the color prejudice that afflicts African-descended people in the Americas was seared into their psyches during slavery” (Turner 6). Back then, darker slaves were not seen as beautiful and light skin slaves were only seen as okay because they were mixed and were closer to white at that point. Colorism has been left in the current time period because it has not been addressed fully. “Colorism is a remnant of the traumas of American slavery. It tears down someone's identity and confidence” , (Turner 2) In a general sense, slavery was the starting point of colorism in the black community. It was the beginning of a teaching that has been passed down for …show more content…
Colorism mostly affects dark skin women. Black men do not get it as bad but some people do see them as a threat. If you see a tall, dark, black man, most people may be suspicious, maybe even scared of the presence of a black man because of his skin color and height. This is also a problem with the racial profiling within police departments. This is why our young men are being killed by police officers. In society, black men do not get the same treatment as black women. It is a completely different stereotype. Black men are seen as a threat and gangsters. Black women are seen as disgusting. “Black women are seen as loud, ugly and unfeminine”, (Turner 10) . They are not light enough to be beautiful. This is especially hard for women because, “African American women of all hues particularly vulnerable, because in our society woman’s perceived beauty is inextricably tied to her worth” (Miller 3). Mainly in social media darker women are always being compared to light or white women. Young girls try to fit the beauty standard that was set by magazines, social media and television. Colorism has affected African American men, women, girls and boys. It affected girls in particular because they are constantly told indirectly by images that they should look a certain way (Wallace et al. 1316). There is a survey that consist of questions relating to fake nails or
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