All Things Black History: BHM, MLK, WHY IS THERE NO MALCOLM X DAY?
In this episode of The BALM: After Hours we discussed why there's no Malcolm X Day, the watering down of Black history and MLK's legacy, why people feel disconnected from Black History Month, and what BHM means to us!
Join us in our first episode of our Black History Month series!
Join us in our first episode of our Black History Month series!
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In this episode of The BALM: After Hours, we talked about what colorism is and how it directly impacts just about every aspect of life including (but not limited to) dating, media portrayal, and troubles in the workplace. |
Join The BALM: After Hours to discuss code-switching, whether or not code-switching will be abolished, and the overall usage of AAVE. |
GREETINGS, IT'S 2021 - COLORISM HAS TO GO
Kyla Lee, January 2021
Happy New Year everyone! In light of the new year, can we as a collective decide to part ways with something that’s been affecting dark(er) skinned people of all races for centuries? That something being the one and only colorism. If you’re unfamiliar with what colorism is, it is the act of prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group. If that didn’t make any sense, colorism is just lighter-skinned people demeaning darker-skinned people even though they’re the same race. Does that make any sense to you? It sure doesn’t make sense to me. But if you happen to be one of those people who don’t believe that colorism is real, or you’ve just never understood how it has happened/works… stick around for the rest of this article.
#1: Socially
For decades, darker women have been seen as lesser in society. Dark-skinned women have been compared to animals, food, and other inhumane objects. And the prejudice starts at an extremely young age too. In elementary school, dark-skinned black kids get teased that “their skin is so dark that it can’t be seen in the middle of the night.” This builds a form of insecurity from the jump, and why? For absolutely no reason… maybe children are just cruel.
Social media is also a place that openly and unapologetically broadcasts the world of colorism. It has allowed for people to express their thoughts very… publicly. For example, most recently, a tweet was made comparing artists Ari Lennox and Teyana Taylor’s facial features to a dog breed, Rottweiler. Both of the extremely talented women are brown skin women, and because they have features that most brown skin women have, the internet decided to dehumanize them in an effort to be funny. On the other hand, lighter-skinned women are openly deemed beautiful or “bad”.
#2: In the Workplace
Darker-skinned people, women specifically, have been historically underrepresented in every single work industry, but the industry that is most talked about is definitely film. Casting directors are known for taking a book’s dark skin main character and making them light-skinned in the movie. Prime example: The Hate U Give. In the book, the main character, Star was described as a dark-skinned teenager, but in the movie, she was portrayed by a light-skinned actor named Amandla Stenberg. Why did the casting directors do this? There’s literally no real reason for it.
Darker-skinned actors/actresses are also known to get cast more as antagonists, slaves, and people who are being portrayed in a more promiscuous light. It almost seems as if casting directors don’t believe dark-skinned people can play light-hearted, high spirited roles.
#3: Romantically
“I only date light skins” has been just one of the many coloristic comments that have floated around for MANY years. While growing up as a young dark-skinned black woman, I was just about conditioned to believe that people would prefer to date a specific skin tone. Newsflash… that’s not a “preference,” that’s colorism. While watching Tee Noir’s youtube video (https://youtu.be/tXi0SkuWcdk), “It’s Not a Coincidence. It’s Colorism,” I learned that romantic preference is presented when people say things like “I like musicians'' but would still date someone who’s not a musician. Preference is presented when people say “I would like to date an athlete” but still date people who aren’t athletes. Seeing as though skin tone is not something that can be changed, nor chosen, it is absolutely ridiculously insane for anyone to think that it can be a preference.
Now that you have a bit of background knowledge on how colorism is presented in today’s world, you may be asking yourself, “How can I make sure I’m not a colorist?”
The answer is simply don’t be prejudiced! Jokes about people’s skin tone AREN’T and will NEVER be funny, so don’t make them. Dark-skinned people DESERVE to be on screen, and seen in the workplace just as much as lighter-skinned people, so encourage it! Skin tone is not and will never be a preference, so please, NEVER EVER make it one! And hey, if you can’t abide by these rules, maybe you need to teleport back to 2020 *inserts shrugging emoji*.
As always, thank you for reading my Ted Talk <3,
-Kyla
#1: Socially
For decades, darker women have been seen as lesser in society. Dark-skinned women have been compared to animals, food, and other inhumane objects. And the prejudice starts at an extremely young age too. In elementary school, dark-skinned black kids get teased that “their skin is so dark that it can’t be seen in the middle of the night.” This builds a form of insecurity from the jump, and why? For absolutely no reason… maybe children are just cruel.
Social media is also a place that openly and unapologetically broadcasts the world of colorism. It has allowed for people to express their thoughts very… publicly. For example, most recently, a tweet was made comparing artists Ari Lennox and Teyana Taylor’s facial features to a dog breed, Rottweiler. Both of the extremely talented women are brown skin women, and because they have features that most brown skin women have, the internet decided to dehumanize them in an effort to be funny. On the other hand, lighter-skinned women are openly deemed beautiful or “bad”.
#2: In the Workplace
Darker-skinned people, women specifically, have been historically underrepresented in every single work industry, but the industry that is most talked about is definitely film. Casting directors are known for taking a book’s dark skin main character and making them light-skinned in the movie. Prime example: The Hate U Give. In the book, the main character, Star was described as a dark-skinned teenager, but in the movie, she was portrayed by a light-skinned actor named Amandla Stenberg. Why did the casting directors do this? There’s literally no real reason for it.
Darker-skinned actors/actresses are also known to get cast more as antagonists, slaves, and people who are being portrayed in a more promiscuous light. It almost seems as if casting directors don’t believe dark-skinned people can play light-hearted, high spirited roles.
#3: Romantically
“I only date light skins” has been just one of the many coloristic comments that have floated around for MANY years. While growing up as a young dark-skinned black woman, I was just about conditioned to believe that people would prefer to date a specific skin tone. Newsflash… that’s not a “preference,” that’s colorism. While watching Tee Noir’s youtube video (https://youtu.be/tXi0SkuWcdk), “It’s Not a Coincidence. It’s Colorism,” I learned that romantic preference is presented when people say things like “I like musicians'' but would still date someone who’s not a musician. Preference is presented when people say “I would like to date an athlete” but still date people who aren’t athletes. Seeing as though skin tone is not something that can be changed, nor chosen, it is absolutely ridiculously insane for anyone to think that it can be a preference.
Now that you have a bit of background knowledge on how colorism is presented in today’s world, you may be asking yourself, “How can I make sure I’m not a colorist?”
The answer is simply don’t be prejudiced! Jokes about people’s skin tone AREN’T and will NEVER be funny, so don’t make them. Dark-skinned people DESERVE to be on screen, and seen in the workplace just as much as lighter-skinned people, so encourage it! Skin tone is not and will never be a preference, so please, NEVER EVER make it one! And hey, if you can’t abide by these rules, maybe you need to teleport back to 2020 *inserts shrugging emoji*.
As always, thank you for reading my Ted Talk <3,
-Kyla
