The Study of Racialism

Liana · Guru Joined: 30 Nov 2004 {Posts: 352 }

Did you guys see it?

It was a segment on racism among black people. They characterized it as an "open secret" in the black community that "lightskinned blacks" (I hate that term) are routinely given preference above "darkskinned blacks' - even by blacks.

They cited studies in which participants take psychological tests in which they are shown pix of models who are made to look light then dark - the same person - and for people to rate their intelligence and that routinely among "whites" and "blacks" the ratings are higher for fairer skinned persons.

I took issue with them using the term "lightskinned black" because there is no such thing. They also put halle Berry in as a "black woman" when she is not. Her mother is white

They went on to interview people - some "black" (dark skinned) teens who stated that within their own families that grandparetnts etc treated the "lightskinned" ones better. They stated they had been called tar baby by black kids at school. (What about families in which the lighter one is treated badly because of jealousy? This happened in my family. My mother was jealous of my sister because she had straight hair. My sister suffered immensely because of this.)

They used examples from hip hop videos - and the actreess Wendy Raquel Robinson (Sorry but I had nto heard of her - I frequently don't know actors' names) stated that you will notice that the dark skinned models used are depicted as the "Ho" with the large protruding buttocks. The light skinned ones are the Godessses, the untouchable, the one every man wants to have.

They then interviewded some young teens and some of the young teens were saying "Yeah we like those light skinned ones in the videos. They look good."

Some other multiracial actresses and actors were stating that they are frequently called in to play the "black businessman" etc., while the dark skinned blacks will play some social deviant, more often.

They also used clips from Spike Lee's movie 'School Daze."

What I did not like was of course characterizing anyone with a drop of black blood as black instead of multiracial or biracial - etc. As for hip hop videos, IN GENERAL, the overwhelming majority of them are distateful. This includes how woman in general are characterized - ignoring color. In general most are misogynistic.

I think they also should have pointed to how badly us "light skinned blacks" (Multiracials) are frequently treated by darker blacks. It works in the reverse too and especially when you are a child it is hard to deal with.

This is what I take issue with - the idea that dark blacks are the ONLY people in the world to experience racism. Not true!

B

mixedmom · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 782 }

My grandmother passed away last year in April 2004 at the age of 97. She had a lot of interesting stories to tell about things that happened in her lifetime. Over the years, she's told me about 1st cousins that she's never met and other blond haired cousins that she hasn't seen since her childhood. I'm left to assume that these relatives have disappeared into the white American population which would have been illegal at the time. My grandmother told me that her mother was a "light skinned black" and her father was the son of a Cherokee Indian mother and an Irish immigrant father. From what I'm able to gather, her mother was a quadroon. My grandmother grew up being informed by her family that she was black. She would then go on to shock many people over her life time revealing her incognito black ethnicity to many people who naturally assumed that she was white. I remember an interesting story that she told me about the days that she worked as a cafeteria cashier at Howard University in Washington, D.C. The NAACP was having some kind of convention at the college. When these dignitaries came to the cafeteria to eat, only the light skinned women were allowed to work the cash registers and serve the food. The dark skinned folks had to stay in the kitchen and prepare the food back there. They weren't allowed to be seen because it would be offensive! I was ~ 11 or 12 when she told me this story and it just didn't sound right. I remember asking her if she felt strange about being allow to be seen while her fellow co-workers had to stay back in the kitchen. She told me that that's just the way it was and it was simply accepted as the rules. She told the story in such a way that it seemed obvious to me that she wasn't aware of any resentment nor indignation from her darker co-workers. Is this unawareness some form of "white privilege"? Pretty odd thing for a "black" woman to experience huh? It struck me as freakishly odd that that kind of discrimination would go on at a black college while they're hosting some convention for an organization that promotes the advancement of "colored" people! Anyway, here's my beloved grandmother.

Powell · Guru Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 2460 }

I believe that the myth of the "light-skinned black" is keeping both blacks and multiracials from facing some uncomfortable truths:

1) The "black" is encouraged to use the "mulatto" as a way of expressing adoration for "white" genes and "white" physical characteristics while publicly denouncing OFFICIAL "interracial" marriages and telling guilt-ridden "white" liberals that antebellum white "rapists" forced their "hated" (but adored) "white blood" on them.

2) The "Black is beautiful" fad was an exercise in intellectual dishonesty, for it was never internalized emotionally.

3) The promotion of hypodescent, the "one drop rule" and the myth of the "light-skinned black can only suggest to both blacks and others that something is wrong with "black" genes. You can't make a silk purse out of a sow's ear, and you can't take a racist doctrine and pretend that it's something to take "pride" in. Ask any Jewish friends whether we should bring black the "non-Aryan" racial category and try to promote "pride" in it. They'll look at you like you're insane.

mixedmom · Moderator Joined: 27 Nov 2004 {Posts: 782 }