"When it is dark enough, you can see the stars"
-Charles Austin Beard
Have any of you ever heard of the term "Brown Paper Bag Test"?
What about the term "Yellow Wasted"?
How about the "Flashlight Test"?
Any of them sound familiar? Never fear, my dear, if you haven't, allow me to fill you in.
Brown Paper Bag Test: The "brown paper bag test" was a ritual once practiced by certain African-American and Creole sororities who discriminated against people who were "too dark." That is, these groups would not let anyone into the sorority whose skin tone was darker than a paper lunch bag, in order to maintain a perception of standards.
Yellow Wasted: The term "yellow wasted" refers to a light-skinned Black person who possesses African facial features. As if God wasted that light color on someone without giving them the small nose and lips of a European person, and what you people like to call "good hair".
Flashlight Test: The "Flashlight Test" tested a person's side profile, to make sure their features measured up, or were close enough to those of the Caucasian race.
Is that not the silliest shit you've ever heard? It shouldn't be because even though those specific forms of color discrimination are out of date and rarely spoke of, colorism is still blaring loud and clear throughout our community.
There is a group-based social hierarchy based largely on colorism, which is the phenomenon of lighter-skinned people discriminating against darker tones within the same ethnic group. Actual research shows that a light skinned African American male with a Bachelors degree and mediocre experience is more likely to be hired for a typical job than a dark skinned man with a Masters in Business Administration and past experience in the field. The (light to dark) hierarchy within the African American race is one that has existed since the time of slavery, but its problems and consequences are still VERY evident. Darker skinned blacks are more likely to have negative relationships with the police, less likely to have higher education or income levels, and less likely to hold public office. Darker skinned people are also considered less intelligent, less desirable (in women mostly), and are overall seen as a lesser people. I was told I can't speak on this because I am light-skinned and people may take it the wrong way but this is MY damn blog and I speak on what I want.
Continuing on.
Studies have shown that when measuring education and family income, there is a positive sloping curve as the skin of families gets lighter. This does not prove that darker skinned people are discriminated against, but it provides insight as to why these statistics are recurring. Lighter skinned people tend to have higher social standing, more positive networks, and more opportunities to succeed than those of a darker persuasion. Scientists believe this advantage is due to not only to ancestors benefits, but also skin color, which coincides with the belief of colorism affecting peoples lives from past to present. In criminal sentencing, medium to dark-skinned African Americans are likely to receive sentences 2.6 longer than those of whites or light-skinned African Americans, and when a white victim is involved, those with more "black" features are likely to receive a much more severe punishment, reinforcing the idea that those of lighter complexion are of more "value."
Get it?
Unfortunately, this thought process has led some of our brothers to commit some fuckery of the highest order. In the quest to conquer a fair-skinned woman (like being dark is unfair-skinned), some of you fools end up with broads that may pass the paper bag test, but probably should be wearing paper bags over their heads in public. I have talked soooo many Black men that would love to have a little light-skinneded thing on their arm. Long hair? That’s a bonus.
Sometimes you're like "DUDE…she’s not cute…she’s just light-skinned." Then comes the justification (commonly known as, “But she got [insert large, estrogen-induced body part here]!”)
I have captured MORE than enough attention and sometimes I know it was based on my skin tone and hair flowing to my ass (Don't get excited, I cut it all off). As a fully grown woman, I appreciate the men appreciate women of all hues, shapes, etc. As they say, there's a pot for every lid.
Skin color was and remains a touchy subject, yes? Yes.
What if there was a way to manipulate the genes of embryos to ensure that a child has light skin. To be clear, this is not possible to do right now. But the technology may soon be available especially since we now can look at the genetic makeup of an embryo and determine whether it has a disease like Cystic Fibrosis, Huntington’s and Tay-Sachs. This would be tougher to do with skin pigmentation but, let’s say it was possible. Should it be done? Would you do it? Does skin color still matter that much?
Media Involvement
I am indeed QUITE light-skinned but I'm not loving the "lighter is prettier" message that Hollywood is sending. Beyonce had a magazine ad out with L'Oreal in 2008.. but there was something different about our beautiful Bey. Yeah, something was not quite right. Something like, oh I don't know, the fact that her skin is a good three to four shades lighter than it appears in real life. At first, when I saw this, it sickened me that any magazine would ask their photo editor to change a woman's skin tone to make her appear whiter. But then, the real thought that sickened me is that they only do stuff like this because they're selling US what WE want to see. In fact, I wouldn't be surprised if they focus group tested Beyonce's face with consumers and found that they were more likely to purchase the magazine where the cover girl appeared more white. That's just one example. "Precious" star Gabourey Sidibe was chosen for last October's Elle cover, appearing quite a few shades lighter than her distinctive dark chocolate brown. A MAJOR issue in American society has been the fact the majority of media outlets (television, movies, advertising, etc.) choose to portray lighter skinned people, because on average, that is the national preference. Look at some of the more prominent male celebrities of color and their significant others. Jay-Z has Beyonce, Nick Cannon has Mariah Carey, The Dream has Christina Mil…er…uh…well, you get the idea. These aren't my views, these are just facts. We even have celebrities BLEACHING thier skin lighter like Michael Jackson (R.I.P. baby boy, we miss you) and Lil Kim's silly looking ass (anyone else think she looks a Geisha now?).. and has anyone seen Sammy Sosa lately??? The people our youth look up to are erasing themselves.
That's ugly. And it's us. We're ugly. It hasn't gone away. It's just a little less obvious.
I love brown and dark skin, the richness of the color.. I love my own skin as well. Are we not all Black? Are we not all in the same race? By race, I don't mean ethnicity, by race... I mean Finish Line. Brown-Dark skinned women should NEVER feel any less beautiful, despite the 'light is right' images swirling all around them. In my opinion some of the most beautiful, downright STUNNING black women in the world are nowhere near the 'national standard of beauty' If light skin makes you pretty, does Tameka Cottle look better than Gabrielle Union? BaHAahahaha.. thought not. Then again some people find Tiny quite attractive so my point is that beauty is relative..there is beauty in all people. Why are we doing this? Why are we acting like this? It's heart-breaking.
In all shades.
