Avoid This Common Failure of Anti-Racist Work: An Introduction to Corporate Colorism

Anti-racist advocates who ignore or deny colorism are perpetuating the very system they claim to fight against. Anti-racist work simply does not work without an intersectional framework, and one of the primary pillars of any anti-racist work must be colorism.

This post kicks off a long series based on my new ebook, Corporate Colorism: Why Business Leaders Must Upgrade Their Anti-Racist Strategy. If you want to do the readings before class, you can purchase the Corporate Colorism ebook , or download a free PDF resource .

Watch the Live Stream or Scroll to Continue Reading:

I attended a panel on colorism several years ago. On the panel, there was a brown-skinned, Black woman scholar who was well-liked and respected among faculty and students and other academic circles. She had even authored and edited publications on colorism.

On the panel, she said (and I paraphrase): “It’s time to finally put this behind us so we can move on to the real issues and focus on more important things.”

One- She’s brown skinned, not dark-skinned, so that’s likely one reason she’s so easily dismissive.

Two- A lot of people jump on the colorism bandwagon when it’s convenient or when it’s trendy, but they ain’t really in the trenches.

A common and longstanding attitude among many prominent and historic anti-racist leaders, activists, scholars, and practitioners (including many of your faves!) is that colorism is a trivial distraction compared to racism. Many believe that focusing on race alone is necessary and sufficient to dismantle white-supremacist systems of oppression.

Those same individuals find themselves, shocked, frustrated, disappointed, even angry that the movement keeps spinning its wheels in the same old ruts. They fail to realize that colorism, the very thing they toss aside, is actually the lever necessary to gain traction.

A recent report by Catalyst adds to the body of research showing the impact of colorism, with specific focus on women in the workplace. Their findings show that "the darker a woman’s skin tone, the more likely she was to experience racism at work."

As I've said before, as a dark-skinned Black woman, I don't have the privilege of prioritizing racism over colorism because If we "solve" racism without simultaneously dismantling colorism, the distribution of systemic power and privilege in society will LOOK exactly the same as it looks now. People who look like me, even in a world without racial categories, will still be marginalized and pushed to the bottom of the social hierarchy because of colorism.?

Let me say it a little differently: As a dark-skinned Black woman, I don't have the privilege to make colorism a secondary issue. To the extent that someone is dismissive of colorism, consider how they might be positioned in that system and thus privileged enough to ignore it.

Since I started this work over a decade ago, I've recognized that a primary obstacle to incorporating colorism as a key component of anti-racist strategies is the lack of awareness and critical understanding of the issue. The singular goal of this series is to provide accessible knowledge and information for business leaders to grasp the meaning, the scope, and the stakes of colorism within a corporate context.

I frequently encounter individuals who assume they "get it" because of their personal experiences. However, personal perspective is usually insufficient to fully grasp the scope of colorism as a societal system of oppression. While many people reading this will have unique life experiences related to colorism, it's necessary to consider an intersectional, cross-cultural, historical, and global framework supported with research that can be adapted and applied for any business context.

Readers should be aware that colorism is not limited to the examples and research presented in this upcoming series of articles. If you'd like to continue your study of colorism, there are many resources that address the issue beyond business.

The level of awareness and understanding is merely the first step, but it is a crucial and foundational step that mustn't be skipped or glossed over. Designing a strategy for solving the problem requires a genuine understanding of the problem.

If you engage with me throughout this series, you will fully understand why there is no anti-racism without anti-colorism.

The ebook and this series of live lectures cover 22 topics. As each live lecture and corresponding article is published, I will return to this post and link to them so that you can find the entire series in one place.

Corporate Colorism: Why Business Leaders Must Upgrade Their Anti-Racist Strategy Table of Contents

1. Why Anti-Racist Work Doesn't Work Without a Colorism Lens
2. Defining Colorism
3. Understanding the Spectrum of Privilege
4. Identifying Two Types of Colorism
5. Historical Context of Colorism
6. Global and Cross-Cultural Dimensions of Colorism
7. Colorism and Intersectionality
8. Monochromatic Diversity
9. Colorism in the Educational Pipeline
10. Colorism Biases in Hiring
11. Colorism in Wage Disparities
12. Generational Cycles of Colorism
13. EEOC Discrimination Lawsuits on Skin Tone Discrimination
14. Evaluation and Promotion
15. Colorist Microaggressions
16. Health and Wellness
17. Colorism in Marketing and Branding
18. The Visual Rhetoric of Colorism
19. The Verbal Rhetoric of Colorism
20. Colorism in Customer Service and Profiling
21. My Unique Framework for Addressing Colorism and Other Social Issues
22. The 4 Steps to Creating Sustainable Change

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