Colorism
Hi Friends!
Welcome to Week 11 of this newsletter! This week’s topic is Colorism. Colorism is not just an American phenomenon limited to our society, it is pervasive throughout the world and a facet of various cultures and ethnicities. At its most basic definition, colorism is the practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin. Today, I will be focusing predominantly on how colorism operates in the context of America, influenced by this country’s history of chattel slavery, but will also mention how it presents itself across the globe. Let’s get into it!
Key Terms
Colorism: Prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their color
White Beauty Standards: When whiteness is the default and becomes the cultural ideal for beauty. Some examples are: straight hair, fair skin, large eyes, slim nose.
Passing: When a person classified as a member of one racial group is accepted ("passes") as a member of another. Historically, the term has been used primarily in the United States to describe a person of color or of multiracial ancestry who assimilated into the white majority to escape the legal and social conventions of racial segregation and discrimination.
Let’s Get Into It
Because we often conflate race with skin color, sometimes distinguishing between racism and colorism can be tricky. In present-day society, skin color becomes a loaded signifier of identity and value. In the 21st century, as America becomes less white and the multiracial community—formed by interracial unions and immigration—continues to expand, color will be even more significant than race in both public and private interactions. Why? Because a person’s skin color is an irrefutable visual fact that is impossible to hide, whereas race is a constructed, quasi-scientific classification that is often only visible on a government form. It cannot be overstated that if America was not founded on racism, a discussion about varying skin hues would simply be a conversation about aesthetics. But that’s not the case. The privileging of light skin over dark is at the root of an ill known as colorism.
I spoke about white beauty standards in America on this podcast a few weeks ago. Here’s a brief summary:
In the 1700s, Slaves being brought to the Americas had their hair constantly referred to as “wool”, this is when the phrase “good hair” starts making its way into the lexicon to describe hair that is softer, longer, straighter, easier to style, less coarse and spiraled. Slaves that were in the house were often given wigs or had their hair styled in a similar fashion to their masters. Most often, these slaves were “light-skinned”. House slaves had better clothing, food and housing. Slaves that were in the fields often wore head coverings not unlike durags to protect their hair from the dirt and heat. Field slaves were of a darker complexion. One of the most disturbing elements of this division between light-skinned and dark-skinned slaves was that often light-skinned slaves were treated somewhat better because they were direct descendents of their masters, with rape being rampant, such as with Sally Hemmings who was repeatedly raped by Thomas Jefferson and bore many of his mixed-race children.
Racial theorists beginning around the 1800s published tons of literature praising the Caucasian race as the most beautiful. Christoph Meiners, an early practitioner of scientific racism focused on the Afrocentric features of Black people that made them ugly and the fabled physical aspects that made them less intelligent, more promiscuous, and unable to feel pain. Scientific racism stems from the idea of chattel slavery, the necessity to see a Black human as an animal or object not unlink a pet or a chair. This “science” had the goal of proving Black people were less than human on a genetic level to continue perpetuating the industry of chattel slavery.
As Black people were integrated into society when slavery ended, they (understandably) wanted to assimilate as much as possible. By the early 1900s we have relaxers and hot combs becoming more popular to straighten Black hair.
Though the Civil Rights movement celebrated natural hairstyles, Afrocentric features and all complexions , mainstream media continued to champion Black people with lighter complexions and straightened hair. This continues into modern day.
Another crucial element of “beauty” is the idea that it is often a proxy for wealth. Maintaining flawlessly smooth skin, straight hair, straight teeth requires an individual to have the money for cosmetic products, surgery, braces etc. I think this is an important thing to remember. Not only is America founded on systemic racism, but capitalism.
Although colorism affects both men and women, the most prominent and researched examples I could find were those of cisgender women. This is something I’m going to continue to investigate as I learn more about colorism.
Colorism permeates pop culture and mainstream media, but this is about more than just seeing yourself represented on TV — though that is absolutely important. Colorism leads to results like this Harvard study that shows light-skinned individuals have a 40% chance of being arrested, while dark-skinned individuals have a 65% chance. A quote from the study states:
“Put bluntly, while being black (and poor) may already predispose one to have a higher probability of contact with the criminal justice system and harsher treatment…being perceived as blacker intensifies this contact further and may increase the harshness of one’s treatment by the [criminal justice system] as an institution,” - Ellis Monk
Within the Black and Latinx community in the US, it’s not uncommon to be told by your family to date someone light-skinned, with good hair. Watch this video to learn more about how colorism affects those communities on a daily basis.
Outside of America’s struggle with colorism, this issue is ingrained in many other countries and cultures. In Africa, Jamaica, India, and throughout the continent of Asia as a whole, lightening creams that promise lighter complexions fill beauty store shelves. YouTube is flooded with before and after videos of individuals praising their lighter skin, but most often, harming themselves with the usage of these harsh chemicals. Many people make homemade concoctions with hazardous materials that cause permanent damage to their skin in hopes of making the right blend to bleach away their Blackness.
There is so much we could cover when it comes to this topic, I hope you keep learning as I do the same!
Resources
This week, I’m going to leave it up to you to decide the next newsletter! I’ll have a poll on my Instagram stories and see what you’re interested in. Feel free to comment below or send me an email if you have any areas of interest. See you there!
