Tune into The Ask Avani Show at 3pm GMT - Topic: Colourism: Why is it still so pervasive; even in this day & age, will it ever be eradicated...? #Talk
Avani Rene
UK Singer/Songwriter/Radio Show Producer/Radio Talk Show Host at SoMetro Radio on the Get Global Network - US radio (multiple US internet radio stations)
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Today's show topic will be:
Colourism: Why is it still so pervasive; even in this day and age, will it ever be eradicated, do most black men really prefer lighter skinned partners and when will we as black people become truly united?
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This is a subject that I know, even to this day, is still swirling around and can cause heated debate and long discussions at times.
So, where shall I start?
Ok, let’s do it because you know I like to be open and upfront?!
The topic I want to talk about today is: Colourism.
Wow, yes this is a subject that I know has deep connotations, especially for us in the black community!
This isn’t a topic that some people like to discuss as it makes them uncomfortable but it has to be acknowledged because it is still present in society, even now in 2019.
There are many people, particularly in the black community, who are very sensitive to the subject of colourism.
Especially if they are maybe in a family where they are one of the few, if not the only, people who seem to stand out in their family because of their skin tone (i.e. they may be the only dark skinned person or the only light skinned person).
If your family has made a big deal out of your skin tone being different to theirs, whether it be because you are darker or lighter, then that can cause a lot of self-confidence and low esteem issues for people whether it be during childhood or later on in life, which can have devastating consequences at times.
I mean, even recently I saw an episode online of the TV show Maury where one of the guests had been treating her daughter really badly all of her life; all because her daughter was very light-skinned with lighter coloured eyes and the mother said she did not believe that her daughter was actually hers! Can you believe that?!
It turned out, after the DNA test came back, that in fact her daughter was her biological child. I thought the DNA test would come back positive because the daughter did look like her mother, she had most of the similar facial features but she was just a very lighter skinned person than her mother. Having children who are either lighter or darker skinned than their parents is very common in the black community.
Also, sometimes, family genes may skip a couple of generations and then resurface in children giving them much lighter or darker skin complexions and or features than may have been expected but that is just nature!
The mother also had other children who she had treated better and shown more love and affection to because they had the same skin tone as her and whom she said resembled her more. But it was just so sad to me that the mother had felt so disconnected to her child and treated her differently all because her daughters skintone was lighter than hers.
You're too white to be my daughter!
| The Maury Show - YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?feature=youtu.be&v=PLewMqbDftw
I have to say seeing that this had been an episode on a TV show and was being made such a big deal out of yet again, also irritated me a little bit as well because, even to this day, society still tries to use that to cause division amongst people in the black community.
This all stems back to slavery when slave masters would pick the lighter skinned slaves to work in the house and do jobs with closer proximity to the supposedly elite white occupants, while the darker skin slaves would be put outside in the fields and further away to do the more harder, menial and backbreaking tasks as the darker skinned people were always considered less worthy and lowly.
We in the black community have known this for many, many years but it still seems to be something else that we sometimes use against each other as yet another tool to cause hurt and continued division amongst ourselves.
There are times that we in the black community get really angry and outraged about how society has (and still continues to at times) treat us and, of course, we are justified in our outrage. But I’ve noticed that sometimes that’s as far as it seems to go - we get outraged, we get angry - and then nothing happens to change it and move the old narrative forward.
For the most part, even though this is not everyone but, I have to say, the black community is still, usually, operating under the mindset that “light is right and dark is bad” because this has been the programming that slavery repeatedly drummed into our ancestors and racist people in society have tried to keep alive.
How can we expect others to treat us better if we do not treat each other with respect, more consideration and kindness?
We definitely need to do more to uplift ourselves and each other as black people if we really want to see the changes that need to happen.
That’s how the saying goes, isn’t it?
“Be the change that you want to see”.
We have to start thinking about this properly now because the next generation of children are looking at us and it seems that, right now, things are definitely going backwards on a decline.
Life is really scary at the moment again because there are so many black teenagers and young people who are being killed on our streets, both here in the UK and in America mainly, because of knife crime and gang activity. This has to stop!
I thought, at one point; especially when Barack Obama became the US president, that we were, hopefully, beginning to see the decline in racist and discriminatory behaviour around the world. This is because America has been seen as one of, if not the most, powerful nation in the western world for many hundreds of years and I thought that many other western countries would take note that a black man has become the president and that would hopefully start to bring people together. I also hoped it might make people realise that we have more in common than that which sets us apart.
I wasn’t sure if racism could ever be completely eradicated because racist people will always have their views. But I was hoping that racist peoples behaviour and rhetoric would lessen and societies, all over the world, could begin to get along and everyone would, finally, see each other as what we all are - which is human beings.
Then Donald Trump became US president and it just seems to me that division, ostracisation and segregation became the norm - again - as he started signing all kinds of orders trying to stop people, usually immigrants, but also people who may be US citizens (but who may also hold dual nationality as they were also citizens of another country) from either coming back to their homes in the US or just not getting into the country at all!
It is a frightening thing to realise that the next - not even just one but - two generations who are (and should be coming up) after us could be lost and may never fulfil their goals, dreams and potential because they are dying at such a young age!
I have to say that colourism does not just happen in the black community, but it has been a huge part of the discrimination against black people for a lot longer and still causes a great deal of damage and suffering to this day:
Discrimination based on skin color - Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Discrimination_based_on_skin_color
When I was doing my research, because I wanted to talk about this subject on my radio show, I remembered that there even used to be what was as referred to as “The Brown Paper Bag test”. I had heard about it before and when I first heard about it years ago, I couldn’t believe it!
But, apparently, there are many recollections of people who said that they had to go through that test to determine what so-called ‘privileges’ they would get in society and even what level of education they would be allowed to have!
So, if a persons skin tone was darker than the brown paper bag, then they would not be allowed to do certain things, like go to school, get into certain colleges or even do particular types of work?!
Plus I have to say this; it may offend some people but it has to be done:
Black people don’t support each other enough!
We are one of the worst ethnic groups for constantly trying to tear and keep each other down (most notably with the ‘crabs in a barrel’ mentality) and being negative when another black person is doing well, especially when they are making a lot of money too.
For those people who don’t believe that the area known as Black Wall Street actually existed, then please do your research because it did.
Why can’t we get back to that type of mentality?!
Those residents who lived, worked and prospered in Black Wall Street areas all worked together as a collective, they bought from and sold products and services to each other.
Black people are completely amazing, each and everyone of us, in our own right and we always seem to find new and innovative ways to get things done and become successful!
So, imagine if we actually, consciously and deliberately, decided to stop getting in each other’s way (effectively doing racist societies work for them in their efforts to destroy us) and proactively helped each other by working together to create lasting legacies and generational wealth??
It would be like watching the ancient and lost African kingdoms of old - where the richest African king in the world was Mansa Musa of Mali - and history tells stories about his great successes and immensely huge wealth, rising from the deep (almost like the legend of the lost city of Atlantis too, which apparently was very technologically advanced as well), which would arise again in all their majestic glory!
Now that would definitely be a great story to be able to tell your kids, plus pass down to your grandchildren and keep going for generations to come?!
I am all about (and for) positivity!
I have to say this because it was on my mind, I knew that I wouldn’t be able to ignore this thought and so I had to share it here in this post:
If we, as black people, came together, supported and uplifted each other, then we would – not only be a force to be reckoned with – but completely and totally unstoppable!!
If that were to happen then can you imagine what our lives would be like??!!
Many other races see black people as discombobulated, incohesive, always at odds with and suspicious of each other with the ‘crabs in a barrel’ mentality where there is always a group of people who don’t want to see anyone else around them succeed.
So, a question I need to ask is why are we as black people, supposedly, so afraid to change that into a more positive and productive narrative?
I’m also not naive enough to think that we can, or should try to, ignore something as damaging and discriminatory as colourism.
We definitely need to change the damaging effects that colourism has!
Please speak positive words of encouragement to; and instil confidence into, your children and grandchildren because they are the next generation; the future can definitely be different but the work has to be done now.
We do not need to (and we must not) allow this narrative of colourism, which was perpetuated and emphasised by slave masters during slavery, to keep being a common way of thinking now and in the future.
For over 400 years black people have been divided, oppressed, discriminated against and marginalised!
I mean, we are kings and queens - that is our ancestral heritage and it is a known fact - we exist in many hues as that is how nature intended.
Black, beautiful and proud is how we are, must and should continue to be!
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N.B. Please note the following post contains some articles/pictures with strong, explicit language and innuendo:
(Please excuse any profanity or innuendo that appears; no offence intended, these are the articles/pictures in the original form):
This is a short video but the message is powerful.
I hope this helps whoever needs to hear it, especially any teenage girls and young adults who may be feeling under-confident and self-conscious about how they look.
Please know: You are who you are meant to be, so please appreciate your individuality, love yourself and be comfortable in the skin you’re in!
BBC Three: Dark skinned girls explain colourism:
https://www.facebook.com/bbcthree/posts/10156087494760787/
William Lynch speech - Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/William_Lynch_speech
Willie Lynch letter:
Full text of "Willie Lynch letter 1712":
Beyoncé's father takes on 'colorism': He dated her mother because he thought she was white:
Brown Paper Bag Test - Wikipedia:
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Brown_Paper_Bag_Test
Will Smith 'casting as Richard Williams' sparks colourism debate - BBC News:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/world-us-canada-47468011
Colourism: Do light-skinned black women have it easier in showbiz? - BBC News:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/newsbeat-44229236
Why We Need To Speak More Openly About Colourism | Grazia:
https://graziadaily.co.uk/life/real-life/colourism-what-is-it/
Had to mention this!
“Even just this year alone there have been various moments in the UK that have brought the issue of colourism to the forefront.
Maya Jama and Stefflon Don for example were caught in the heat of controversy earlier this year for their tweets that seemed to mock and ridicule dark skinned women for their complexion. Incidents like this, not only re-emphasised that colourism is a serious problem between white and black but also dominantly within the black community itself in Britain.
The illusion that there is a need for any kind of tension or a differentiation between shades of blackness and the running problem of light skin vs dark skin is plainly illogical and sadly just a result of centuries worth of racism which has corrupted our minds into thinking the lighter the better.
Comments like “you’re pretty for a dark skin girl”, “nah I only date lighties”, “I like mixed race boys but not too dark” or “I want to marry a black guy so I can have cute mixed race babies” are all comments I know I personally still hear way too commonly in my everyday life.”
Taken from the article:
Opinion: Colourism in the UK Music Industry: Why is Light Skin Vs Dark Skin Still a Thing? | News | GRM Daily:
https://grmdaily.com/opinion-colourism-in-the-uk-music-industry
Yes, black British youth are obsessed with light skin and curly hair | gal-dem:
https://gal-dem.com/yes-black-british-youth-are-obsessed-with-light-skin-and-curly-hair/
Light-skinned people must not be complicit in widespread colourism | Varsity:
https://www.varsity.co.uk/opinion/16556
Colourism isn’t just in the entertainment world – it’s an everyday feminist issue | The Independent:
Colorism: Is Kanye’s ‘multiracial women only’ code for only light-skinned black women?
Yes, light skin gets you further – but change has begun:
The Difference Between Racism and Colorism:
https://www.google.com/amp/amp.timeinc.net/time/4512430/colorism-in-america
[Paragraph quoted from article below:
'Colorism' reveals many shades of prejudice in Hollywood]:
When I read this, I knew I wanted to share it on air:
The first part, I did know about but the latter part - about the brown paper bag test - when I first heard about it, I couldn’t believe it!
‘For African-Americans, bias toward lighter-skinned people dates back to slavery. Skin complexion sometimes determined what type of jobs slaves were assigned or if, post-slavery, they were worthy of receiving an education. In later decades, universities, fraternities and other institutions were known for using the "brown paper bag" test: Those with skin lighter than the bag were in.’
'Colorism' reveals many shades of prejudice in Hollywood:
https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.nbcnews.com/news/amp/ncna959756
Film stars tackle colourism - BBC News:
https://www.bbc.com/news/av/world-africa-44482102/british-film-no-shade-tackles-colourism-and-dating
This is really sad!
This artist has gone to a dermatologist for a consultation about bleaching her skin because she says she gets teased for being dark skinned and she thinks it will help her to be more successful in the music industry if she bleaches her skin!
Spice's skin bleaching consultation goes... - Love and Hip Hop | Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/162049037179051/posts/2428848867165712?sfns=mo
'She can't be darker than me': Reality show highlights our never-ending lesson in colorism - theGrio:
Dark-Skinned Babies? 'I Ain't With That': GlocKKKNine, Self-Hate and Colorism in America:
https://thegrapevine.theroot.com/dark-skinned-babies-i-aint-with-that-glockkknine-sel-1827634016
This is sad but, unfortunately, I’m sure this has been the experience of many dark skinned black women at some point or another in their dating lives:
What I Learned When A Guy Insulted My Skin Color On A Date | HuffPost:
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5b635568e4b0fd5c73d78806
My toxic love affair with skin lightening creams | Life and style | The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/08/bleaching-creams-skin-toxic-love-affair
Zendaya On Colorism: ‘I Am Hollywood’s Acceptable Version Of A Black Girl’ | HuffPost:
https://m.huffpost.com/us/entry/us_5ade10eae4b0df502a4e529f
Why dark-skinned black girls like me aren't getting married | Life and style | The Guardian:
https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/08/dark-skinned-black-girls-dont-get-married
Nick Cannon Talks Interracial Dating, Says Black Men With Money Don't Want to Be Told Who They Can Be With:
Jesse Williams, Jay-Z, Umar Johnson and the Allure of White Women:
https://www.theroot.com/jesse-jay-z-umar-and-the-allure-of-white-women-1796924566
Is It a Coincidence That Today’s Most Outspoken Black Male Athletes Are Married to Black Women? (Hint: Nah):
Steve Harvey Show:
Eleven-year-old Kheris Poppin sat down with me to discuss her line clothing brand #FlexinInMyComplexion and being the youngest designer at NYFW.
This young lady is something special:
Lupita Nyong’o’s children’s book ‘Sulwe’ takes on colourism and teaches self-love -
This Is Africa:
https://thisisafrica.me/lupita-book-sulwe-on-colourism-teaches-self-love/
Still I Rise by Maya Angelou | Poetry Foundation:
https://www.poetryfoundation.org/poems/46446/still-i-rise
Avani - Phoenix (Rise Up) - YouTube:
https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=NKrTLSdrgAo
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