Black is Black
Colourism. It's mad that we already have to deal with racism but colourism is something that has always been an issue amongst Black communities, believe me I've experienced it first hand. To reiterate, colourism is the dislike and unfair treatment of the members of a particular racial group who have a darker complexion than others.
One thing about colourism that has empowered me is that I never took comments like "she's too dark" to heart because I loved the colour of my skin. Growing up in a largely white community I learnt to embrace the fact that I looked different from everyone else. That's what made me, me. I can admit that I didn't experience the worst of it but these comments would come from my own family members.
"Don't go in the sun, you'll get more dark...you're blick". I used to take these remarks with a pinch salt, but it's sad to see dark-skinned people in particularly women, so affected by colourism that they feel like they're not worthy enough. The shade of your skin shouldn't define you and I just want to say to those women that you are beautiful and you are worthy. You don't need skin whitening products, a lighter foundation, skin bleaching or Instagram filters. You are who you are, embrace it.
I have to say it really pisses me off when people think racial fetishism is okay. Racial fetishism is a form of racial stereotyping where the person of attraction is being insulted and admired at the same time. This can be influenced by colourism too for example, "you're pretty for a dark skin girl", "I love your chocolate skin" or the classic "I want light-skin babies". It's not a compliment it just makes us feel alienated. Most of you have probably experienced this once growing up and probably wasn't aware of it at the time. Now is the time for us start addressing racial fetishism and educate those who think it's acceptable.
Another thing that has always bugged me is the lack of representation of dark-skinned women in the media industry. You'll watch the news and see one or two black presenters but majority of the time they're lighter in complexion. It's same thing when your shopping online from brands like Topshop for instance. Sure you'll see photos of Black models, but notice how you'll find a limited amount of dark-skinned models or sometimes you'll see one dark model with minimal coverage compared to the other Black models.
This just reflects how the prejudice of light-skinned women of being more desirable is still very evident in the fashion world.
Lupita Nyong'o once said "Colourism is the daughter of racism", which leads me on to mention that colourism is rooted from the slavery of Black Americans that began in the 17th century. White enslavers favoured light-skinned people over dark-skinned for example, dark-skinned people were given more laborious tasks than light-skinned individuals. Eventually, the hostility against dark-skinned people within the Black community had developed.
This is why Black communities should support each other especially when white on black racism is so prevalent today. Instead of tearing each down, we need to lift each other up otherwise nothing will change.
If you can't accept each other, how do you expect anyone else to accept you? It's the white racists that caused the division, why give them the satisfaction?
