For so long, the dark-skinned blacks in this country have been put down and denied common courtesy because they are darker, and the light-skinned blacks have been pampered -- earning the job, and later the nickname, of "house niggers." Not only that, but the ridicule that many darker blacks in this country had to face was harsh, and often happened at the hands of their lighter counterparts. Clearly, this mistreatment is wrong, and, as many have noted, this mistreatment is a reminder of the mental chains that slavery still has on us. But in recent years, I have seen a decline in the amount of light-skinned black citizens mistreating their fellow dark-skinned citizens, and more of the emotionally battered dark-skinned blacks picking on their light-skinned brothers and sisters.
I have constantly heard that "just because you're light-skinned doesn't mean you're great." The comments come from all over the place. Twitter is always filled with the tweets, and retweets, of the statements like the one I just mentioned. Without even knowing my favorite subject, these people have torn me down into less than a person, a shell, judging my whole outlook on life on the color of my skin. I have never believed that the fact that I am a "redbone" makes me beautiful or better than any darker black person. I am tired of being attacked emotionally by people who automatically believe that I believe I'm great. I do think I'm a great person, but not because of my skin. I believe that I am great because of all the things underneath my skin. All of my quirks and fears and achievements make me great, not my skin.
It's an interesting perspective you bring up Cynt. It sort of reminds me of when smart students picked on the less advanced ones, and how now smart students or nerds are being picked on. The issue of race, of course, is more severe. Although we attempt at denouncing the superficial race issue, (the black vs white one) there are those race problems that also need to be exposed and talked about. Problems such as the one you mention, of internal prejudice within a race or among ethnic groups. I for one am aware of Latinos judging and insulting other Latinos because they are not from the same country. Nice job letting your feelings out!
ReplyDeleteWow.....what a powerful blog! Your emotion, passion and frustration really comes through.
ReplyDeleteYour use of a shell as a metaphor is awesome!
It is so interesting to hear that as groups within the black race, we feel the need to tear each other down based on what "white society" told us way back when.
It is sad to hear that you are made to feel like a "shell."
Your points are clear and emotion filled. I really enjoyed reading this blog.
Great job!
I really enjoyed this blog. I think it's always interesting the kinds of projections people make around skin color. While I think there is still some degree of color obsession, what's more insidious are the assumptions about character that come along with it. Dark-skinned men are more masculine and viral, light-skinned men more soft. Dark skinned women more "exotic" and light-skinned women more "pretty". I think that where the intersection of color and gender is concerned it shows that we have a long way to go to shed stereotypes. Nice, thoughtful, reflection here.
ReplyDeletesometimes people get confused with the appearances of people. For example, in my first year in the Cathedral Scholars Program everybody thought that i was Mexican only because of my appearance ans skin color. whenever they talk to me they said, "you from Mexico right??" i was really pissed of because they assume the place where i was from but whole time they were wrong.
ReplyDeletei enjoyed reading your blog !!!