Colorism is a phenomenon that claims that media, the workplace and institutions tend to treat lighter-skinned African Americans different than darker-skinned African-Americans. Not only do others treat the two differently, but also at times it is self-inflicted.
The MU African Hub, in collaboration with the Missouri Students Association, Black Studies Department, Gaines Oldham Black Culture Center and National Pan-Hellenic Council Alpha Phi Alpha Fraternity, Inc. hosted a discussion on the rise of colorism and its impact on the African American community.
Stephanie Shonekan, a Black Studies professor, presented her struggle with colorism and facilitated a discussion about the topic.
“Colorism is a social construct,” Shonekan said. “It is a belief that is completely created by society that affects the African American community.”
In order to display how society has perpetuated this concept, Shonekan presented a music video with Nigerian origins that displays the Western concept of colorism. Many students saw the similarities to American videos and commented on the lack of dark-skinned women. The rapper in the video, Olu Maintain, even has a muse that is lighter skinned, confirming the thought that lighter skinned Africans tend to be considered more beautiful.
The next music video that was shown, Ayo, produced by Chris Brown and Tyga, showed the same message: lighter skinned African American women are seen as more desirable than darker skinned African American women.
“It’s perpetuating a stereotype pretty much that dark skinned women are more sexual and that lighter skin women are more pure in a sense, “ junior Kelcea Barnes said.
Shonekan presented the idea that the embodiment of beauty tends to be created by Western society and that there is only one standard of beauty being taught. This standard of beauty is seen through the music videos being made, as well as the beauty products being sold.
One such beauty product is Whitenicious, a popular bleaching cream. This beauty product was produced by Denica, a Nigerian and Cameroonian pop star.
“When I was growing, it absorbs into you, the fact that white to her and to everybody growing up just seems pure,” a student said.
In terms of skin color, Denica believed that white was pure and black was not.
Another student questioned, “Why is this demonized?”
At times the black community didn’t realize that internal racism was occurring, creating an element of self-racism.
Shonaken suggested that, “Most white people that I know don’t know that we break this stuff down this way, so we’re kind of doing it to ourselves.”
Colorism tends to be present in the community and focuses on putting down people for either fitting the societal ideals of beauty or for not fitting those ideals.
“Really in society why we don’t tend see darker skinned as more beautiful is because we see them less in the media,” Shonekan said.
Many conversed about the idea of supporting one another rather than bringing the each other down. This is in order to build a better community that will be able to push for more representation of all ideas of beauty.
How can this be changed? Assistant professor Jeimmie Nevalga said, “If people don’t see it, they can’t become it.”
_Edited by Allyson Vasilopulos | [email protected]_
