Fifth Week Blog Post

 Colorism

Colorism and racism go hand-in-hand, especially in the media. Because of internalized racism, we often believe that White culture is superior. This directly plays into colorism, as many people of color try to appear whiter. The media has supported this belief by constantly praising light toned skin and playing into harmful stereotypes. Dark skinned actors are often pushed aside for lighter skinned actors. An example, even though she never accepted the role, is Amandla Stenberg in Black Panther. Amandla recognized that dark skin actors are rarely on screen and declined her part in the movie to allow for more dark skinned representation in the film world (Staff, 2018). Similarly, Zoe Saldana, an actress with lighter skin, was cast to play Nina Simone, a dark skinned African American. Another example would be Halle Berry cast to play a Kenyan with dark skin in X-Men.

There are many different ways that we learn to endorse colorism. While colorism is endorsed across genders, the beauty industry has a huge impact on women. For example, in Wilder and Cain’s article (2011), one of the women interviewed, Amy, discussed how her mother encouraged the use of skin lightening products (p. 588). While Amy’s mother believed she was “[protecting] her daughter” (p. 588), she was actually unconsciously endorsing colorism (Wilder, 2011).

Families often keep colorism alive in unconscious and conscious ways. Encouraging skin lightening, like in the previous example, putting pressure on the darker skinned child, and expressing harmful beliefs on the skin color of potential significant others all perpetuate colorism and have huge impacts on everyone involved. Another woman in Wilder and Cain’s study (2011) stated how her darker sister was often yelled at more by their mother (pp. 587-588). This is an unconscious example of how the simple fact of skin color can have an impact on the way families operate. These teachings are often passed down through families and have long lasting effects on the way youth see themselves and live their lives. This can affect self confidence and keep the idea that “lighter is better” alive.


References

Staff, W. (2018, March 2). Actress says she passed on 'black panther' role because she's a 'biracial, light-skinned American'. TheWrap. Retrieved February 10, 2022, from https://www.thewrap.com/amandla-stenberg-black-panther-role-light-skinned-biracial/ 

Wilder, J. A., & Cain, C. (2011). Teaching and learning color consciousness in black families: Exploring family processes and women’s experiences with colorism. Journal of Family Issues, 32(5), 577–604. https://doi.org/10.1177/0192513x10390858 


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