Nia Dix

English 102-16
Dr. Wynne
April 18, 2017
Literature Review: Colorism
According to Shankar Vedantam, colorism is the unconscious prejudice of the African

American communities minds, shaped by culture and history, which creates intricate hierarchies

that privileges those who are physically and culturally whiter and punishes those who are darker

(Vedantam). The ideology of colorism did not just appear out of thin air, but was cultivated and

taught through the institution of slavery. This began the color divide within the black community

where the light skinned slaves were in the house, and the dark-skinned slaves were out in the

field. This showed the superior and inferior complex that colorism created. As slavery came to an

end, colorism was still engrained in the minds of former slaves, hence they began to pass the idea

onto their children and their childrens children. In the twenty-first century, colorism is more

prominent than ever and has caused social strife within the black community. In order to convey

that colorism is still prevalent, four questions must be considered:

1. Where did colorism originate?

2. Does colorism create social strife within the African American community?
3. Who is affected by colorism?
4. How can coloristic views be healed within the black community?

The following review on literature will discuss where colorism came from, does it create social

strife within the African American community, who is affected by it, and how can coloristic

views be healed within the black community.

Where did colorism originate?

 White supremacy and miscegenation are two primary forces that gave rise to the color

hierarchy in the African American community (Banks, Bonilla-Silva and Craig 27-28). White

supremacy and miscegenation began to push the idea that black was barbaric, savage, ugly, and

evil whereas white was civilized, virtuous, and beautiful (Banks, Bonilla-Silva and Craig 27).

However, white masters continued to have sexual relations with their black slaves, which

resulted in the mixture of African and European genes, creating children of a lighter complexion

than the unmixed slave known as mulattos. However, white masters continued to have sexual

relations with their black slaves, which resulted in the mixture of African and European genes,

creating children of a lighter complexion than the unmixed slave known as mulattos. As these

children continued to be born, legislators declared in 1662 that once born they would gain the

social status of the enslaved mother, which declared them slaves as well. However, many slave

masters began to grant freedom to their mulatto children and as this freedom increased they laid

outside of the social order due to them being neither black nor white. This required them to be

legally classified in their own color class, which started the color caste system and separation of

today (Russell, Wilson and Hall).

Does colorism create social strife within the African American community?

Colorism has created social strife and division within the black community. This

competition between light skinned people and dark-skinned people has affected how African

Americans view one another. Your eyes are blue, but you aint white your hair is fake cause you

pressed it last night, Who likes a Jigaboo? Then go spend your day at the local zoo, they had a

big nappy beast and it looked like you. These two chants came from the movie School Daze

where dark-skinned women faced off with light skinned women and yelled back and forth what

both believed was wrong with one another (Lee). Spike Lee portrayed the strife between African
American women perfectly because often times light skinned women look down upon anyone

darker than them because they believe that they are better than all those around them;

meanwhile, dark-skinned women are automatically considered to be the mad black woman

who is loud with attitude. Additionally, within the dark-skinned womans mind an internalized

prejudice has formed because of the light woman and the belief that they are less because of the

color of their skin. Youre too dark skinned, I could never bring you home to my mother

(Sandler). Colorism has torn through the black communities dating environment by affecting the

way that men and women view and choose one another based on their skin tone. An interview

with my roommate, Breyah Evans, gave a black womans perspective on why she chooses the

men she does. She claimed that it had nothing to do with colorism, but rather having a preference

towards one shade over the other from the experiences that she has had with both shades. She has

found that she would rather date a lighter skinned man because as a child that is who she was

around most and that is what she is comfortable with. Breyah also became fond of the way

lighter skinned men carry themselves and look, and she feels that they act differently than a

darker skinned man (Evans). The same went for a group of men in the documentary Dark Girls

who claimed that they would prefer a light skinned woman or a brown skinned woman because

they say that they carry themselves in a certain way, the way their skin feels, and because of the

belief that their children will turn out just light enough (Channsin and Duke). Dark skinned

women begin to recognize this and start developing self-esteem issues where they believe that

they are not enough or pretty enough, which leads them to being submissive and then possibly

being taken advantage of.

Who is affected by colorism?

 According to Essence, Dear Lupita, I think you are really lucky to be this black, but yet

this successful overnight in Hollywood. I was just about to buy denchers and whitening cream to

lighten my skin when you appeared on the map and saved me (Nyong'o). The letter read above

was from a fan of Lupita Nyongo who had been deeply affected and hurt by the comments and

images that colorism thrives off of. However, Nyongo broke the colorism barrier and made the

young fan realize how beautiful she truly was just from one visual of seeing her on screen.

Youre pretty for a dark-skinned girl a coloristic comment made towards Chelsea Odufu,

which she gladly accepted due to her lack of self-esteem and wantonness to be accepted by her

peers. She began to realize later on that this statement and her acceptance of it created an

inferiority complex in which she allowed herself to believe that she was lesser than because of

the shade of her skin. However, once she took a trip to the motherland she then began to

realize how beautiful her shade truly was (Odufu). These examples portray how damaging

colorism can be. It conveys that darker skinned women are more deeply affected because they

are the ones that stand out in society, they do not fit the norm of what westernized beauty is. The

discrimination made towards the darker skinned woman affects their dating life, home life, and

even their work life because of the stigma that is placed on the shade of their skin.

How can coloristic views be healed within the black community?

The examples given above on those affected by colorism shared one aspect on how they

overcame the negative connotation that was placed on their skin, a visual of someone or

someplace where everyone looked like them. Visuals of every shade within the black community

being shown on commercials, television shows, movies, text books, magazines, music videos,

face to face, etc. is imperative to break the idea that light is right and dark is wrong. Healing will

also have to start at home with parents telling their children that they are beautiful and smart, and
continue to give them love no matter the shade of their skin. Because with their families love and

support, a child can conquer the world. With family love and visuals of people like yourself self-

love will come, which is so important because with self-love no one can tear you down with their

words because you already know how beautiful, intelligent, and talented you are. An instance in

which this formula is true is myself, because as a child my parents filled me with love and

encouragement and made sure that I knew that the skin I am in was made just for me , and that

has lead to me fully loving myself and never allowing anyone to tell me that I am less than.

Therefore, it is a trickle effect when it comes to healing those affected by colorism starting on the

outside to reach within.

Conclusion

Given these points, colorism has been affecting the black community since the start of

slavery in 1619. The sources used conveyed how colorism has only intensified and become more

prominent and damaging. The rift between shades can come to an end, if three important steps

are taken. First, make sure to inform the black community of the history of colorism and where it

really began to make its presence known. Second, showing how harmful colorism has become by

giving examples like bleaching methods or allowing people to hear the coloristic comments

made toward each other. The third and final action that must be taken is to bring all shades to the

forefront of society to prove to the black community and all other races that all hues and colors

are beautiful and do not deserve to be shamed. Then and only then can colorism slowly end.
Works Cited
Banks, Taunya L, et al. Shades of Difference: Why Skin Color Matters. Stanford:
Stanford University Press , 2009. Print .
Dark Girls . Dirs. Berry Channsin and Bill Duke. 2011. Film.
Evans, Breyah. Colorism Affects on Dating Nia Dix. 6 March 2017.
Nyong'o, Lupita. "Lupita Nyong'o's Black Women in Hollywood Speech ." By Essence.
New Orleans , 2014.
Odufu, Chelsea. "How I Overcame Colorism and Learned to Love My Dark Skin ."
Teen Vogue (2016).
Question of Color. Dir. Kathe Sandler. 1993.
Russell, Kathy, Midge Wilson and Ronald Hall. The Color Complex: The Politics of
Skin Color Among African Americans . Orlando : Harcourt Brace Jovanich
Publishers , 1992. Print .
School Daze . Dir. Spike Lee. 1988. Film .
Vedantam, Shankar. Shades of Prejudice . Cambridge, 18 January 2010.