Free Write

This week we were told to write a free write blog post and after several hours of thinking about what to write I decided to write about an issue that concerns be today colorism. This morning I was talking to my friend about how light skinned African American are preferred over dark skinned African Americans and we came up with the conclusion that the black community makes it this way. I just wanted to share my thoughts on this matter.

From the beginning to recent times our society has always favored light skin African Americans over dark skinned African Americans due to colorism, a form of prejudice. Colorism, defined as a practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin has become such a controversial topic causing many problems within the black community.

Today, the issue of colorism has not seized to exist amongst the African American community. We see it all around us from the latest music videos to the hit televisions shows playing on our favorite station even within our everyday relationships with our friends and spouses. The world today, especially the media, has seemed to put a standard on what is considered beautiful, light skin. Majority of the “video girls” in the hip hop and rap videos today are light skin females with dark skin females occurring occasionally or in the background while their counterpart is featured in the spotlight. We rarely see someone of a darker skin color playing the main role in television or in a movie and if they are they play the antagonist of the story. The media gives their audience what they want and in our world today light skin is the right skin and is what people want.

“Some African Americans, dark and light, prefer light-skinned mates so they can have a “pretty baby” . Many members of the African American community pursue light skin partners of the opposite sex in the hopes that their children will have a lighter complexion, hopefully with light eyes and “good hair” as well. They disregard potential mates with darker skin tones deeming them “dirty, poor and ugly” and not worth their time. Dark skin males and females are shunned by their own community for something that they have no control over, a physical trait that does not conform to society’s idea of beautiful.

It is detestable that colorism is still a prominent issue amongst African Americans in today’s day and age. As if racism and discrimination from other races isn’t enough the Black community finds alternative ways to put down and further separate each other. In the year 2011black America still defines beauty and an individual’s status based on the pigment of their skin and it is shame. It is a shame that although we have been freed from the chains of the white man, we still have mentally chained ourselves from these discriminating ideals.

-Alexandria Daley