Colorism in Hip Hop: Keeping it Real

The phrase ‘keeping it real” was coined by the hip hop world, a genre of music I’ve been known to enjoy. But many of the biggest names in hip hop are consistently guilty of NOT keeping it real. This applies to many aspects of hip hop, but for our purposes, we’re going to examine colorism in hip hop. The following are eight aspects of colorism in hip hop that we must be “real” and honest about.

Listen to Dr. Webb read this post or scroll to continue reading.

1) Colorism in hip hop does exist.

There’s debate about whether or not colorism exists in general, so we can expect controversy when discussing whether or not colorism exists in hip hop. Many have argued that it’s merely a preference rather than a prejudice. Defenders of all things hip hop would have us believe that it’s merely coincidence that so many rap lyrics glorify light skinned women and diminish dark skinned women, that it’s mere coincidence that so many rap videos exclude dark skinned women altogether, or that so many rappers choose to partner with light-skinned or non-black women exclusively and openly brag about it.

Well, as Huck said on a recent episode of Scandal, “Two things make a coincidence. Three things make a conspiracy.” Colorism in the music industry and elsewhere is a sign that the conspiracy of white supremacy has been fairly successful thus far. The pattern of positioning light skin and european features as the standard of feminine beauty is too pervasive to not be seen as something more insidious than “coincidence” or “marketing” or “crossover appeal.”

But, in case anyone still has doubts, just remember that hip hop stars have explicitly expressed their colorism. They can’t argue “coincidence” when rappers are blatant about their prejudice against dark skinned women.

2) Colorism in hip hop is another product of our long history of white supremacy.

I read recently that colorism exists partly because all cultures tend to favor the “exotic.” If this alone could explain colorism in our world today, we would see more dark skinned or mixed race people in European fashion shows. But we don’t. It’s hard to find even lighter skinned women of color on runways around the world. The exotic argument is related to the idea that colorism is nothing more than trivial preference or coincidence.

Really, there is a carefully built system that’s been strategically maintained (though weakening with time) which allows certain people to monopolize various forms of power. When you can convince an entire group of people that they are inferior to you, there are less obstacles to gaining and maintaining your power. And while that group is preoccupied with destroying itself by self-segregation and infighting, you’ll have a lot less competition. You can pull the wool over their eyes because they’re focused on their “inadequacies” rather than your injustice.

3) Colorism in hip hop has a negative effect on society.

Colorism affects us all, no matter how light or dark our skin is, because it’s an element of the racism that undermines every society. It reinforces racist stereotypes that have substantive effects in people’s lives, including employment opportunities, criminal convictions and prison sentences, marriage prospects, harassment and abuse, and more.

While hip hop is not solely responsible for perpetuating these stereotypes, it currently has one of the most significant roles in doing so. Hip hop spreads its colorist message around the globe, and it’s heavily marketed to highly impressionable youth, which leads me to the issue of low self-esteem in girls.

Some might argue that girls shouldn’t expect the media to build their self-esteem, that self-esteem should be built at home, or that girls should build their own confidence. That’s no excuse, however, to ignore direct attacks against the image of an entire group of people. If we don’t accept hip hop as a vehicle for building self-esteem, we most certainly should not accept it as a vehicle for tearing down self-esteem.

4) Artists have power to do something about colorism in hip hop.

There may be varying levels of power based on how long an artist has been in the industry or how important an artist is to a particular company. However, there are countless instances of artists in all genres exercising creative license in their videos, influencing the direction of their videos, and sometimes generating the entire idea themselves.

The idea that hip hop artists can’t do anything about casting in their videos is not only false, it also perpetuates the sense of helplessness that’s plagued our communities for far too long.

Kendrick Lamar By Jørund Føreland Pedersen

Here are a few examples of rappers who have directly affected the casting in their videos. Please note that this list does not represent an endorsement of the artists, their songs, or their videos. It merely illustrates the level of control rappers can have over their work. It also shows that rappers themselves are also aware of the level of colorism in the industry.

British Rapper Tinie Tempah said he choose all of the models for his video “Trampoline.”

2Chainz Colorism in Hip Hop Keeping it Real — 2Chainz by WealthRangers

Kendrick Lamar made a last minute switch for the casting of the leading lady in his “Poetic Justice Video.” And he directly stated that his intent was to represent more dark skinned women.

2 Chainz was also outspoken on more than one occasion about purposely choosing to feature darker skinned models in one of his videos. He even pointed to the fact that his mom was dark skinned, suggesting that he has a reason to appreciate dark skinned beauty.

Finally, there’s no excuse for what rappers say in their music. While it may be easy to blame casting directors for the lack of diversity in video models, who can they blame for the colorism in their lyrics? If anyone has the power to stop perpetuating colorism through lyrics, it’s the artists themeselves.

5) Fans have power to do something about colorism in hip hop.

For us fans, it all comes down to money and support. If we stop spending money on them and stop supporting them, rappers will quickly learn that colorism shouldn’t be profitable.

6) Most don’t do anything about colorism in hip hop because they’ve been conditioned by white supremacy.

When people have power but don’t use it, it’s for one of two reasons: they don’t know they have any power, or they simply don’t want to use their power. When it comes to hip hop and colorism, most people, fans and members of the industry included, are complacent because they believe lighter and whiter is better. They don’t protest the existence of colorism because many of them agree with it. It’s a hard reality, but we won’t make progress on the issue of colorism unless we admit that our communities are filled with people who think it’s okay to privilege one shade of skin over another. We have to know where we stand. If a fan agrees that light skin is better, of course they’re going to attack you on twitter in defense of racist rappers.

7) Colorism is not just in Hip Hop.

Colorism leaks from the society at large into every genre of music that we create. It’s just more obvious in hip hop because the majority of the artists in that genre are people of color.

R&B has gotten away with a lot of colorism because the genre as a whole has less of an image problem, but it exists there too.

I point this out not to let hip hop off the hook, but to make sure we’re considering the issue holistically as well. We must address the issues in hip hop, but we must also address the issues in homes, schools, runways, churches, movie screens, magazines, boardrooms, and wherever else it needs addressing.

8) Although colorism in hip hop may seem overwhelming, we must continue to speak and act against it.

Social progress through out history shows us that change is slow, painful, and contentious. Some of us may not live long enough to see the full fruits of our labor, but we must labor anyhow.

Let’s be critical consumers and spread media literacy. Let’s create and and appreciate more constructive images of diversity. We don’t have to ban hip hop altogether, but let’s be real about the problems that exist within its culture.

October 29, 2013March 18, 2024

Are You Doing Enough to Help Your Child Deal with Colorism?

black girl with plaits via blue skyz media on flickr; help your children deal with colorism

“I always tell my daughter she’s beautiful,” said one father in response to our discussion about colorism. He, like many parents, believed that she was too young for any discussion beyond that. Like many parents, he thought that this vague show of affection was enough to ward off the world’s animosity toward dark skin and Afrocentric features. Yet despite his regular proclamations of his daughter’s beauty, she herself actually saw very little beauty or worth in dark skin. I could see it, but he was clearly in denial. If you really want to help your child deal with colorism, it’s time to stop relying on the easy excuses.

Why merely telling her she’s beautiful isn’t enough

The typical human mind processes negative feedback more deeply than positive feedback. It’s said that for every instance of negative feedback, it takes 5 to 6 instances of positive feedback to balance the negative. I first heard this in an intro to psych class in undergrad, and I’ve never forgotten it.

There’s a lot of negative messages about dark skin and Afrocentric features floating around our communities, institutions, media, family, and other places that our children frequent. Research shows that even if we told our children that they are beautiful every day of their lives, it probably won’t be enough to balance out all of the negativity that says otherwise.

Then there’s also the idea that a parent’s love is blind, that parents believe their children are beautiful because they’re theirs. For some children, the fact that you’re their parent may limit the effectiveness of you telling them they’re beautiful.

Finally, telling your child that she is beautiful doesn’t necessarily communicate to her that you think dark skin and Afrocentric features are beautiful in general. Remember that eradicating colorism is about more than individual self-esteem—it’s also about being able to see beauty in all its shades and forms. So even if telling your daughter that she’s beautiful causes her to really believe that she is, that doesn’t automatically mean that she’ll be able to appreaciate dark-skinned beauty in others. I’ve met a lot of dark-skinned girls over the years who see themselves as beautiful, yet believe that they are an exception and that light-skin is generally more beautiful.

Why you can’t wait for her to be the “right” age

Studies show that children can recognize differences in skin color, hair, and other features as early as six months old, and that by age four, many children have already begun assigning positive and negative traits to those differences.

My own mother often tells the story about how I was able to verbalize my awareness of colorism at the age of five. At age six I had already been called a “black n****r,” and was told by a playmate: “I like your sister better than you because she’s white and you’re black.” At age nine, a girl in my dance class said, “Eeww! You’re so black!” And those were only the blatantly stated messages of hatred for dark skin. Consistently throughout the years there were countless other messages about skin color, hair, and other features.

Many parents make the mistake of waiting until their child is old enough to have intellectual conversations, possibly even as late as adulthood. But the evidence points to the need for parents to intervene as early as possible before attitudes solidify and are thus harder to change.

As far as not saying or doing anything, just remember that ignoring an issue is the same as condoning it. Imagine what message you’re sending to your child when they can clearly see discrimination, but for some reason they’re parents act like everything is normal.

What it really takes to help your child deal with colorism

Courage. It takes a tremendous amount of courage to talk to our children about any tough issue, whether it’s drugs, sex, death, or racism. But the tougher the issue, the more they need our guidance as parents. Better they learn from us than from the media, or peers, or other sketchy sources.

It also takes honest and direct conversation. We must be honest about the fact that colorism and racism do exist and that they cause a lot of pain. We must not skirt around the issue or make our children think it’s such a taboo topic that they can’t talk to us about it. In order to let our children know that they can come to us, we must first go to them.

Finally, it requires proactive effort.

We must be careful with our comments about the attractiveness of others, including ourselves. If you always tell your dark-skinned daughter she’s beautiful, yet she never witnesses you acknowledge the beauty of other dark-skinned girls and women, what message are you really sending?

We must be mindful of how we treat others. Even without words, children can recognize preferential or unfair treatment, and they will recognize whether there’s a pattern based on skin color or hair texture.

We must also be mindful of who and what our children are exposed to. Limit their interaction with people you know are color-struck. Expose them to a wide diversity of skin tones, races, features, languages, etc. Limit their viewing of general media, and increase their viewing of racially diverse media, especially media that affirms the beauty of darker people.

In the end, you’re not doing any more or less than you would normally be doing as a good parent. For example, you’re probably already buying books for your daughter. Now just consider the kind of books you buy.

What do you do to help your child deal with colorism?

September 10, 2013March 31, 2024

Colorism vs. Racism: What’s the Difference?

Because many people have not heard of colorism and may be unclear about how it relates to racism, I want to explore the particular definitions and the relationship of colorism vs. racism.

Defining Colorism and Racism

Colorism- prejudiced attitudes and/or discriminatory acts against people based on the color (shade or tone) of their skin

Racism- prejudiced attitudes and/or discriminatory acts against people based on their actual or perceived racial status

I want to highlight the fact that people of different races may have the same skin tone. See the three women below.

sonam kapoor racism vs. colorism difference between racism and colorism — Sonam Kapoor via Muckster

alyssa milano racism vs. colorism difference between racism and colorism — Sonam Kapoor via Muckster

And people of the same race may have different skin tones. See the two women below.

nicole ari parker colorism vs. racism difference between colorism and racism — Nicole Ari Parker via Sharon Graphics

rutina wesley colorism vs. racism difference between colorism and racism — Nicole Ari Parker via Sharon Graphics

In cases of racism, two people of different races but identical skin colors will be treated differently. In the movie Pinky, for example, Pinky is a black woman who looks white. Despite her white skin color, Pinky is still mistreated and discriminated against just like the other blacks in her community.

In cases of colorism, two people of the same race but different skin colors will be treated differently.

This is how each operates on a fundamental level. Of course there are additional factors that may complicate each case, for example, other group identifications that could trump race or color in specific situations such as family, nationality, gender, occupation, or wealth, etc.

The Relationship Between Colorism and Racism

The relationship between colorism and racism has been explored by others before. The consensus is usually that colorism is a product or symptom of racism.

Societies with widespread issues of colorism also have long histories of colonization and influence by european countries. In these societies, european features such as white skin, straight hair, and light colored eyes were overtly promoted as the standard of civilized existence, intelligence, beauty, wealth, and power. In these societies, rights and privileges were also restricted to people of european decent. In places like the United States, one’s european bloodline had to be “pure,” meaning not mixed with any other races, in order to retain the rights and privileges reserved strictly for whites.

In contrast, those of other races were often forced into servitude or slavery, denied citizenship and protection under the law, classified as property along with inanimate objects and animals, labeled subhuman (3/5 human in the U.S.), denied education, barred from public places and certain jobs, and abused in any number of ways.

Colorism among people of the same race is also considered a form of internalized racism. After centuries of being conditioned to view white/european as superior and their own race and culture as inferior, many people were broken and eventually believed in and acted according to that dichotomy.

It’s under those conditions that people of varying races came to view european ancestry and european phenotypes as superior to all else and as a means to a better life. People try to acquire more european features and traits and encourage their children to “improve the race” (mejorando la raza) by marrying people who are as light or lighter and producing offspring with increasingly european phenotypes.

Colorism is a manifestation of the idea that even if one isn’t white, their worth may be determined by how closely they resemble a white person.

The woman at the beginning of the video “Negro: Colorism and Mejorando La Raza” makes the controversial yet not uncommon argument that internalized racism is more harmful and thus a more urgent concern than outside racism. Others are outraged at the idea. They call it a case of blaming the victim and insist that we can’t overcome internalized racism until we defeat external racism.

I think the battles are one in the same. If we internalize racism, we lose our will and our ability to fight the external system of racism. If we don’t value, respect, and love ourselves, why would we put up a fight when others don’t either. If we believe that white people are superior, then we won’t bat an eye at the disparities in education and wealth. However, it’s the external system of racism that teaches and enforces white supremacy, and there’s a strong case for arguing that dismantling that system would curb the level of internalized racism.

So what is the difference between colorism vs. racism? Is one issue more important than the other?

Many disagree, but I say that there is no difference. Internalized racism (colorism) and external racism are so interwoven at this point that we can’t attempt to extract one without addressing the other.

If you’re looking for a speaker or facilitator for your next colorism event, learn about Dr. Sarah Webb’s colorism keynotes and workshops.

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August 12, 2013March 18, 2024

Colorism in Social Media: What Can We Do?

cropped phone screen with multiple social icons colorism in media technology social media

Colorism in social media can be seen as merely a reflection of what goes on in the world at large; however, the very nature of social media has actually transformed the ways in which we experience colorism in modern society.

Listen to Dr. Webb read this blog post or scroll to continue reading.

Throughout history, colorism has always been perpetuated in large part through various forms of media, from ancient stories and texts that equated dark with evil and light with good, to prejudicial casting in Hollywood films.

But social media has a few characteristics that make it unique from other, older forms of media. Social media:

allows people to be anonymous or create personas, therefore allowing them to say things they might have never voiced otherwise.
allows people to organize around common interests and easily connect with like-minded people.
creates a false sense of importance that prompts us to publicize all of our thoughts as if each one is breaking news being fed to an eager audience of adoring fans or concerned citizens.
keeps a record of what we say, tracks our online behavior, and informs us of what’s trending in certain areas.
is searchable, making it easy to find people and what they’re saying on any given topic.
is a more accessible form of media, a forum where more people can be seen and heard.
makes the world seem smaller by providing access to more people than ever before and by facilitating connections across societal and geographic borders.

These aspects of social media impact our experience of colorism in three basic ways:

Increased Conversation
Greater Alliances
More Control

Increased Conversation

Most of what people tend to discuss when talking about colorism in social media are the destructive conversations. Many folks post negative and stereotypical comments about people with certain skin tones, they brag about their prejudices, and they promote activities that perpetuate division and competition. Because I want this particular site to be as free of the negativity as possible, I’ve decided not to do the typical screen capture of some of these destructive social media posts, but if you’re curious or feel like you need to “see it to believe it,” a simple Google or twitter search will get you there.

But through social media, we’ve also had more constructive conversations about colorism, mainly to talk directly about stopping it, healing from it, acknowledging the detrimental effects, and affirming one another. On twitter, I’ve started a list that I call “Anti-Colorism Advocates.”

This is what’s beautiful about social media to me. People can reach out to one another in love, even to people they’ve never met. I want to encourage all of us to post, retweet, share, like, or pin more of the constructive conversations.

Greater Alliances

You might have heard of “alliances” like #teamdarkskin and #teamlightskin, which have seemed to create more division on the whole. However, social media does make it more simple to form constructive alliances. It’s relatively quick and easy to reach out to someone and receive instantaneous feedback. There’s potential for, and already much foundation being laid, for a global coalition against colorism (which I first mentioned in this post). This is the kind of alliance that could change the world for the better.

It wouldn’t be the kind of league that pits “us against them” in a battle against humanity. Quite the opposite. It would be a coalition of humanity working to dismantle the harmful ideology or white and light.

These constructive alliances also go a long way in letting young people know that they are not alone in their hurt and struggle, that there are others enduring the same thing, that there are others who’ve overcome it, and that there are others willing to help them do the same.

More Control

The mere fact that this site and others like it even exist and the fact that people like you are reading them is a testament to the more democratic and accessible nature of the internet.

This benefits us as we work for change because we can seek out, create, and disseminate content that heals us and others. Part of healing the world from colorism is letting people of color know that just like we have control over how we design our profiles, who we follow or friend, and what we post on our social media accounts, we also have control over our healing. We can be proactive in nurturing the best in ourselves. We have the power to undo any self-defeating patterns we may have. We are not helpless and hopeless in the face of a long legacy of racism and colorism around the world because we also have a long legacy of triumph. And social media is the new tool that can help us sculpt a better world.

Let’s put out enough love and affirmation that we nullify the existence of colorism in social media.

August 6, 2013March 18, 2024

Who Says Colorism Doesn’t Exist? And What Should We Say To Them?

In our efforts to combat colorism, there’s pushback from people who flat out deny that colorism is real. They claim that colorism doesn’t exist, that it’s just a make-believe issue, just jealousy, just a coincidence, etc. So just who are these people that would make such an outrageous claim?

Who says colorism doesn’t exist?

Scholars too blinded by “the research” to see what’s really happening

I witnessed this kind of denial when Soledad O’Brien’s Who is Black in America? aired on CNN. A couple of prominent black American scholars pointed to the lack of historical evidence to prove that things like the paper bag test ever existed, and so they totally berated the entire discussion of colorism.

Although there’s lots of evidence to suggest that these practices did indeed go on, it doesn’t matter. As I tweeted to one of these infuriated scholars: How can you listen to and watch young children express such disdain for dark skin, many of whom are dark, and not acknowledge the problem? How can you listen to and watch children express that light skin is more worthy simply because it’s close to white, and not acknowledge that there’s a problem?

Attention All Scholars: No matter the historical research, there’s plenty of empirical evidence that proves colorism is a contemporary problem around the globe.

People who think their experience is universal or have to “see it to believe it”

A few years back when I first ventured into open conversation about colorism, a dark skinned girl I knew in high school got ticked off with me. She cited her own experience as a dark skinned woman as the reason she doesn’t believe colorism exists. According to her, she’d never been treated differently, and people like me are simply looking for something to be angry about.

People make the same arguments for why racism in general is made up. They say, “Well I’ve never been discriminated against” or “I’ve never witnessed discrimination” as proof that it isn’t real.

Well, I can think of all sorts of bad things I’ve never experienced or witnessed (kidnapping, for example), yet I’d be pretty misguided to assume that those things are made up.

Those who refuse to own up to their complicity or give up their privilege

I never realized it until I was talking with someone who was conducting research on colorism for her doctorate. After telling her about the people who get angry when we talk about colorism, or who flat out deny it exists, she explained that those people usually benefit in some way from the existence of colorism, and so they block any conversations about it to maintain the status quo. It is probably often a subconscious thing, but it makes sense because most humans do this when we feel like our relative power is being threatened. And the people who directly or indirectly benefit aren’t always who you’d first suspect.

Dark skinned people who don’t want to be cast as the victim

Again, this is a similar form of denial that people express about racism in general. They see any talk of colorism as an “excuse” that holds people back. They put all the burden on the individual to “just get over it,” and they refuse to acknowledge the role of any structural, institutional, or social factors. Usually these types have achieved some level of relative success and think that if they’ve “made it” then it must be the individuals who are defective and not the society.

Folks who lack the courage to be honest

We may be brave in one aspect and cowardly in another. We all have a seed of cowardice and a seed of courage within us, and it’s up to us which one we nurture.

There are many people who are actually afraid to talk about race and colorism. It makes people uncomfortable and even angry, and the people-pleasers don’t want to upset anyone or lose any friends.

Regardless of what they really feel and think on an instinctual level, they’ll act like everything’s fine. They simply want to fit in, and that means not having controversial opinions.

What should we say to them?

Nothing.

That’s right. I wrote this entire post just to say that we should say nothing to those people who are willfully ignorant. We should be spending our energy where it counts: helping each other heal and stopping colorism from being passed on to future generations.

We should say nothing to them because actions speak louder than words. We say all that we need to say by continuing our conversations on colorism in very public and global forums. They throw verbal fire at us to get us to shut up, so by not shutting up, by continuing to speak on the things that upset them, we’re essentially saying: Colorism does exist, and despite your attacks, the anti-colorism movement presses forward.

August 2, 2013March 18, 2024

Opposing Colorism in Hip Hop Videos

While Hip Hop has many other problems (drugs, violence, homophobia, sexism, etc.), its standard of female beauty has long been a hot topic. Regardless of what we think about Hip Hop in general, it’s been labeled as part of the colorism problem; therefore, I think we should include Hip Hop in discussions about colorism remedies. In this post, I’ve been inspired by a particular artist to discuss opposing colorism in Hip Hop videos.

Music videos is one of the first issues brought up in discussions about colorism in America. This is an obvious place to start when you consider Hip Hop’s ubiquity and massive influence around the globe along with its infatuation with light skinned females and sometimes outright disdain for dark skinned females.

Most rappers and singers either proudly own their prejudices or make excuses and blame casting directors and modeling agencies. You’ll often hear them say, “That’s just the way it is.” or “There aren’t any dark skinned girls to choose from.”

There’s one young artist, however, who exposes the truth. Artists are not helpless. They can exercise control over their videos if they want to.

Kendrick Lamar made the conscious choice to replace a lighter skinned leading lady with a darker skinned leading lady for his “Poetic Justice” music video released several months ago. Lamar discussed his decision in an interview with Miss Info and reemphasized later on twitter that he doesn’t have a preference for any skin tone, but he’d always noticed there was disparity in casting and that he wanted to create some balance and promote equality.

So, Lamar has set an example, a rather courageous one. Not only did he make the choice on set, but he spoke about it openly and explained what he did and why, which is as important for opposing colorism in Hip Hop videos as the casting itself.

I’d be surprised if this brand of activism ever catches on the way more frivolous Hip Hop fads do, but it could. This is a start. It’s something.

I’m sure that even if casting improves, many will still choose not to watch certain music videos for other reasons, and I don’t blame them. But we can’t deny the fact that millions of children and youth watch these videos every day and are thus constantly subjected to the latent message that certain skin tones, hair textures, and features are unworthy of being seen, while others are the “gold” standard.

So whether or not we personally watch Hip Hop videos or allow our children to, it’s a medium that we must address if we’re going to fight colorism on a global scale.

Kendrick Lamar shows us that the industry is not utterly impenetrable. If fans and paying customers continue to support artists like Lamar who do the right thing on any number of issues, and (dare I say it?) curtail their fanaticism and support for artists who promote “light supremacy,” we might be able to make some progress.

July 28, 2013March 18, 2024

Age Appropriate Discussions on Colorism

I stumbled upon a useful article on Parents.com titled, “Talking About Race, Age-by-Age.” Although it’s not specifically about colorism, I think it’s extremely relevant since we have to talk to children about colorism in the context of race in general. Discussions on colorism and many other topics are often difficult for parents, especially the part about gauging how much children know or should know at certain ages.

The author of the article, Kara Corridan, uses the research of Dr. Rebecca Bigler, who breaks down the developmental stages of racial perception and understanding into four different age groups.

6 months – 1 year: Children can recognize differences in skin color and hair texture. At this age it’s important for parents to expose their children to diverse races and complexions.

2 – 3 years: Children become more vocal and may start commenting on skin color. Respond directly and calmly, gently correcting or affirming. It’s also fine to bring up differences in skin color, particularly during activities where differentiation is already occurring (i.e. “This woman is wearing blue. This woman is wearing red. This woman has brown skin.”)

4 – 6 years: At this age children start to assign positive or negative traits to people based on their cultural group. This can occur intraracially (within racial groups) as well. Children may make comments like, “Eww! Her skin is dirty.” The best thing to do in these cases is to again respond directly and calmly, correcting the error and affirming the worth of all skin tones.

7 – 8 years: Children in this age range become more open to the idea that we’re all different yet alike at the same time. Stress this fact whenever possible.

The advice stops at eight years old because many studies show that by this age attitudes and perceptions about race tend to stabilize, not solidify necessarily, but stabilize, which adds urgency to the idea of having discussions on colorism and race sooner than later. It’s never too early to start making an impact on this aspect of your child’s life, but it’s never too late either. Have the courage to get the conversation going.

To read the original article by Corridan, click here.

July 23, 2013March 18, 2024

When Should Parents Discuss Colorism With Their Children?

Because of the nature of this site, I’m making the assumption that the audience is already convinced that they should talk about colorism, so I’m merely exploring the question: When Should Parents Discuss Colorism With Their Children?

I have no conscious memory of this, but my mother often tells the story of when she first heard me vocalize my awareness of colorism.

I was five. Some women were complimenting my sister about how beautiful she was, and I whispered under my breath that they were only saying that about my sister because she was light skinned.

I tell this story as part of this piece because most people assume that a five year old is too young to understand that people are treated differently because of race and skin color. But research says that children can recognize racial differences as early as six months old and can vocalize and express racial awareness and even bias as early as three years old. I have no doubt that if I was able to verbalize that comment at the age of five, then I must have been aware of colorism before then. That just happened to be the first observable moment of my awareness.

Too many parents underestimate their children’s ability to understand the politics of skin color, but small children are perhaps, as a matter of necessity and survival, the keenest observers of their social environments. We talk about how toddlers are sponges and pick up on the most subtle clues from their environment. If you’ve ever seen your child mimicking adult behavior and it surprised you, then you know how true this is.

And it’s not just you they’re learning from. They learn from other adults, siblings, playmates, relatives, teachers, media, etc. With that in mind, it’s easy to see how they could be picking up on patterns and making inferences about skin color as part of their developmental process.

There are a lot of research based resources about how and when children learn about race that I want to apply to colorism.

A short piece in The University Record published by the University of Michigan says:

“Children are not color-blind. Nor is their understanding of racial identity superficial. Children as young as age three have a complex understanding of the way in which society constructs racial categories, and that understanding goes well beyond surface appearances.

Simply telling kids that race doesn’t matter isn’t going to be very effective, since they obviously think it does in a couple of non-trivial respects.

To combat racism, we need to understand its basis. It’s not just a problem afflicting a few bigots. It’s a way of thinking about the kinds of people there are in the world that goes far beyond surface appearances and gives rise to invidious comparisons. And it’s a way of thinking that preschoolers have already begun to develop.”

Another relevant piece, “Children are Not Colorblind: How Children Learn Race,” written by Erin N. Winkler adds to the conversation:

“Children pick up on the ways in which whiteness is normalized and privileged in U.S. society. What does this mean? Consciously or unconsciously, middle-class white culture is presented as a norm or a standard in the United States in terms of appearance, beauty, language, cultural practices, food, and so on. Tatum (1997) argues that this message is so prevalent in our society it is like ‘smog in the air. Sometimes it is so thick it is visible, other times it is less apparent, but always, day in and day out, we are breathing it in’. For very young children, this ‘smog’ comes in the form of picture books, children’s movies, television, and children’s songs, which all include subtle messages that whiteness is preferable.

The lesson for caregivers of young children is: Do not shush children or shut down the conversation. Instead, engage in open, honest, frequent, and age-appropriate conversation about race, racial differences, and even racial inequity and racism. Research has shown that such conversations are associated with lower levels of bias in young children (Katz, 2003). Let go of the notion that you are “putting ideas in their heads” by talking about race; as we have seen, research shows that young children notice race and draw conclusions about difference on their own.”

While these reports are about race in general and not specifically about colorism, I think the concept is easily transferrable. I’m a real-life example of a once young girl who probably could’ve benefited from a few discussions of colorism at the age of five, four, or even three. It’s clear here that I’m advocating for talking about colorism sooner rather than later, but in the end, it’s up to parents to decide.

July 13, 2013March 30, 2024

Colorism Historical Roots and Routes

historical roots and routes of colorism in white text over faint image of massive roots. history of colorism.

The most common explanation you’ll get from Americans about colorism roots and routes has to do with American slavery. During slavery in the Americas, blacks and whites bore children of mixed ancestry, but according to the law, any trace of black ancestry meant you were black (one drop rule), and children took the status of their mother, which was slave in many cases.

As a result, the spectrum of skin tones among slaves and others who were legally black, grew wider. Slave owners often granted more privileges to the lighter skinned slaves, saw them as smarter and more capable because of their white ancestry, allowed them some form of education or training, and occasionally granted them their freedom.

Even after slavery ended, similar advantages were given to blacks whose appearance was closer to white, such as first consideration for certain schools and jobs.

The preferential treatment served to create division among blacks. Simultaneously there was resentment for this preferential treatment and the desire to acquire and take advantage of it.

Some might think that explaining the origins of colorism in the Americas is as simple as pointing to slavery. But it’s deeper than that. Colorism is the result of white supremacist ideology, which is ancient compared to slavery in the Americas.

Social hierarchies based on nationality, religion, class, gender, education, race, and color have existed for millenniums. I want to attempt a less conventional (though not unheard of) approach to colorism roots and routes.

Roots in Biblical & Religious Texts

One story that’s historically been used to justify racism, colorism, and slavery is the so called “curse of Ham.” That’s the story of Noah’s youngest son, Ham, who saw his father naked, then told his brothers. Noah was angry and cursed his son Ham, who the scriptures say is the father of Canaan. Noah’s curse said that Canaan would be the slaves of Ham’s brothers (Gen 9:20-27).

So where would color come in to play for those who use this story as the basis for practicing racism?

It’s a stretch, but here’s the “logic”:

Since Ham is the father of Cush (Gen 10:6), and Cush is sometimes used synonymously with the regions of Nubia, Ethiopia, Egypt, and Sudan; then Ham and his decedents must be associated with dark skin. If Ham is associated with dark skin, and he’s the one who committed the disgraceful (some say sinful) act against his father, then dark skin must also be associated with disgrace and sin. Even though it was Canaan, not Cush, that Noah said would be enslaved, slavery was still somehow associated with black skin.

Then there’s a later reference in the bible to skin color that further connects Cush to skin color: “Can the Ethiopian (Hebrew Cushite) change his skin or the leopard his spots? Neither can you do good who are accustomed to doing evil” (Jer 13:23).

This interpretation of Ham’s story shows how human pathology causes people to defy logic in order to believe in their own superiority and to justify their oppression of other peoples.

An additional trope from the bible that people point to as one source of how people view skin color is the distinction between darkness being bad or evil, and light or white being good, pure, clean, and holy. (I trust that you can do your own search on this if you’re curious.) While the majority of these references don’t specifically refer to skin color, the distinctions between black/dark and white/light is a symbol in many cultures that has been generally applied to many subjects.

But it’s not just the Judeo-Christian bible that carries such symbolism.

History of Colorism in Indian, Greek, and Roman Texts

In this amazing documentary titled “Shadeism,” by a young woman who’s family is from Sri Lanka, she explains how colorism existed in regions like India even before colonialism . . . long before.

In the ancient Indian scripture of the Ramayana, there’s a scene that depicts a fight between a noble, fair-skinned king from the north, and an evil dark-skinned king from the south. According to an explanation of the Ramayana published through UCLA, this tale may date back as far as 1500 BCE.

A blurb about Benjamin Isaac’s book, The Invention of Racism in Classical Antiquity, states:

[Isaac] considers the literature from classical Greece to late antiquity in a quest for the various forms of the discriminatory stereotypes and social hatred that have played such an important role in recent history and continue to do so in modern society.

Isaac’s book is said to disprove the belief that ancient Greeks and Romans only held ethnic/cultural prejudice but not racial prejudice.

Colorism’s Historical Roots and Routes Around the Globe:

History of Colorism: Colonialism & Pigmentocracy

Whether or not colorism was present in cultures before colonialism, there’s little argument against the fact that it became ubiquitous as a result of colonialism.

Pigmentocracy describes a social structure in which status, class, education, occupation, etc is determined by skin color. It’s existed in various forms all over the globe, and some pigmentocracies throughout history have been more operational and institutionalized than others. Pigmentocracy involves all races, unlike the common notion of colorism, which is that it functions among the people of one race.

The United States is an example of one of the pigmentocracies that have existed around the globe. While not precisely broken down by exact skin tone, it’s generally true that this country has granted the highest status and opportunity to those of the lightest skin, and denied that status and opportunity to those with the darkest skin, with varying degrees in between.

To trace the routes of Europeans around the globe during colonialism, is to literally trace the roots of colorism. The spread of colorism is a direct result of the spread of white supremacist ideology.

I still wonder what’s the initial source of white supremacy.

In thinking about those ancient texts like the Ramayana and the Bible, I wonder how humans began to equate light with good and dark with bad.

Was it as quotidian as one random person who had a strange thought and then went and shared his ideas with friends and neighbors? Or was it as strategic as some ancient government plotting to brainwash the masses so that they could gain power through some arbitrary characteristic?

Why didn’t the tides of history end up spreading black, brown, yellow, or red supremacy? Not that any of those would be right.

Do we have to rehash every detail about the roots of colorism every time we have a conversation about it?

Maybe we should explain the historical roots to those who claim to have never heard of colorism.

But for the converted, for those of us who generally understand the who, what, why, when, and how of colorism’s roots and routes, can we finally begin to have productive conversations about the present and future?

I guess my biggest question is: Where do we go from here?