Colorism in Childhood
As I stated in some of my previous posts I grew up being one of the only Black girls' in my class from kindergarten to eighth grade. Though I connected well with my peers and found it pretty easy to make friends despite me being African American and my friends being Caucasian I still felt like I was a clownfish swimming in a school of goldfish. Once I entered high school there was a larger presence of Black girls in my class however since I was accustom to being around mainly white people I was told I acted white and not black. This put me in a perplex state cause not only was I not able to fit in with my white friends and peers I also could not fit in with my black friends and peers. High school is when I started to gain more Asian American friends and they accepted me for who I was and did not try to categorize me into any group. We all bonded over the concept of being a minority in general. Once talking with them I learned about various stereotypes and divisions within their own race community and we discussed how they had theirs and how the black community had race division within our own race as well. We talked about the expectations and characteristics of our races and how we matched them and didn't match them and also discussed the complexity of skin tones within our race. I found out in some Asian cultures such as in China, they prefer to be a light fair skin tone. My one friend didn't like to tan because he gets very dark and that was seen as a negative characteristic to have.
In my own community, I've faced judgment because I am of a lighter complexion. Some encounters I have had with people in the black community about my skin tone are that I am a "lightbrite" "light-skinned (in a negative tone)" "redbone" and even "easy". A lot of people think I am mixed raced or of Latino descent. Black guys believe me to be easy because a common stereotype of light skin black girls is that they have a lot of sex and are willing to do anything. I am not sure where or how this stereotype started but it has put me in very uncomfortable situations. I know that some people of lighter complexion in the Black community try to pass as white and this was very common during segregation days and even nowadays this still occurs. This is very upsetting to me that people are ashamed of who they are and where they come from. I do not like this segregation in my own community. Some people of darker complexion think that people of lighter complexion think that they are better than them because of the passing concept and because White people accept lighter complexion Blacks over darker complexion. I have seen and witness this happen before as well. I've been told that I am pretty for a Black girl and even in the work field I have received better treatment than some of my co-workers who are of a darker skin tone.
Fascinated and intrigued by this concept I decided to look more into this and see others stories in experiences of colorism within their own community. A journal article that I read by an African American woman, Trina Jones, talks about colorism in Vietnam and the colorism she faced growing up in the United States. She speaks to a Vietnamese woman and here are some quotes that she shared with her "When I was a child, I spent a lot of time in the sun and I tanned easily, becoming dark after just a few days. This was not really a concern when I was young, but I remember my mom despairing as I grew up that she let me get too dark" (Michelle 2012).
When Trina herself was in Vietnam this is what she observed, “As I looked around, I also noticed that many women riding on bicycles and motorbikes wore long sleeves and hats and had similarly covered the lower halves of their faces with cloth. Some even wore white gloves" (Jones 2013).
Reading these stories and reflecting back to my childhood I realized how hard it truly is to be a part of a minority community. Not only are you faced with judgment from the majority race group and other races as well but also stereotypes within your own community. This can make one start to doubt their own identity and want to fit into some type of group but can't. It is very frustrating and a huge stressor for both adults and children alike. I am so grateful for the friends I have now and that I am able to discuss these topics with them in an open-minded environment.
In the future, I hope to help other young minority children have an open and safe place to discuss these topics because it is a very important conversation to have. Children need to have a sense of security and comfortably in defining their identity. They shouldn't have to feel constricted to fit into boxes that society, culture, race, and ethnicity gives them.
Here is a chart that I found very fascinating that helps further explain the idea and concept of passing and shows the Tri- Racial system in America
(Bonilla-Silva’s Preliminary Map of a Tri-Racial System in the United State)
References
Jones Trina. The Significance of Skin Color in Asian and Asian-American Communities: Initial Reflections. 2013
https://www.law.uci.edu/lawreview/vol3/no4/Jones.pdf
In my own community, I've faced judgment because I am of a lighter complexion. Some encounters I have had with people in the black community about my skin tone are that I am a "lightbrite" "light-skinned (in a negative tone)" "redbone" and even "easy". A lot of people think I am mixed raced or of Latino descent. Black guys believe me to be easy because a common stereotype of light skin black girls is that they have a lot of sex and are willing to do anything. I am not sure where or how this stereotype started but it has put me in very uncomfortable situations. I know that some people of lighter complexion in the Black community try to pass as white and this was very common during segregation days and even nowadays this still occurs. This is very upsetting to me that people are ashamed of who they are and where they come from. I do not like this segregation in my own community. Some people of darker complexion think that people of lighter complexion think that they are better than them because of the passing concept and because White people accept lighter complexion Blacks over darker complexion. I have seen and witness this happen before as well. I've been told that I am pretty for a Black girl and even in the work field I have received better treatment than some of my co-workers who are of a darker skin tone.
Fascinated and intrigued by this concept I decided to look more into this and see others stories in experiences of colorism within their own community. A journal article that I read by an African American woman, Trina Jones, talks about colorism in Vietnam and the colorism she faced growing up in the United States. She speaks to a Vietnamese woman and here are some quotes that she shared with her "When I was a child, I spent a lot of time in the sun and I tanned easily, becoming dark after just a few days. This was not really a concern when I was young, but I remember my mom despairing as I grew up that she let me get too dark" (Michelle 2012).
When Trina herself was in Vietnam this is what she observed, “As I looked around, I also noticed that many women riding on bicycles and motorbikes wore long sleeves and hats and had similarly covered the lower halves of their faces with cloth. Some even wore white gloves" (Jones 2013).
Reading these stories and reflecting back to my childhood I realized how hard it truly is to be a part of a minority community. Not only are you faced with judgment from the majority race group and other races as well but also stereotypes within your own community. This can make one start to doubt their own identity and want to fit into some type of group but can't. It is very frustrating and a huge stressor for both adults and children alike. I am so grateful for the friends I have now and that I am able to discuss these topics with them in an open-minded environment.
In the future, I hope to help other young minority children have an open and safe place to discuss these topics because it is a very important conversation to have. Children need to have a sense of security and comfortably in defining their identity. They shouldn't have to feel constricted to fit into boxes that society, culture, race, and ethnicity gives them.
Here is a chart that I found very fascinating that helps further explain the idea and concept of passing and shows the Tri- Racial system in America
(Bonilla-Silva’s Preliminary Map of a Tri-Racial System in the United State)
References
Jones Trina. The Significance of Skin Color in Asian and Asian-American Communities: Initial Reflections. 2013
https://www.law.uci.edu/lawreview/vol3/no4/Jones.pdf
Kristen, You have picked a fascinating topic. The subject of skin color prejudices with in one's culture, community or family is not often spoken about but is a reality. I have personally experienced this in my own family. Although both my mother and father are considered Afro-Americans (Black) their skin tones are completely opposite. My father is a deep dark skinned man with nappy hair , dark brown eyes and full lips. On the other hand my mother was very light skinned with reddish hair, petite facial features, and hazel eyes. As a result I have two sisters that are light-skinned and favor my mother, and one sister and myself that take after my dad. My dad favored his two light-skinned daughters over his two darker ones and it was very obvious. We called it "color-stricken". We felt like the "ugly ducklings" in the family. So I can truly relate to you subject matter. Not only in my family was there color bias but I too attend a school with predominantly white students and was ridiculed for the the way I talked and acted (acted white). I find it very interesting that your voice tone, accent, and pronunciation of words can stereotype you as a person too. Just by listening to a person talk people can decide your nationality and make judgements about who and what you are.
ReplyDeleteCynthia Hunt
Hi Kirsten,
ReplyDeleteI really enjoyed reading your post. I am white and grew up in a predominantly white middle class environment. I remember primarily being in school with other kids who were white. When I was 19, I moved to the south on my own (I was in Florida and South Carolina). Although I had not been brought up around people of different ethnicities, I now had friends who were black, and also encountered my first experience having friends who were gay. I never had a second thought to not just accept people as they were and never considered myself racist. I still don’t, although I have come to realize that just because I will easily accept anyone as a friend regardless of race it does not mean I can understand what it is to grow up black or as any minority. I was naïve and realize from your post that I still am. I can’t imagine that blacks discriminate amongst each other over shades of color. I can’t imagine that issue as an extra challenge growing up. There is so much going on right now with BLM that I hope will bring the positive long overdue changes of acceptance in this world. I hope it also brings about the acceptance amongst yourselves that seems like an unnecessary layer on top of the prejudices that need to be changed by all.
Thanks for a very enlightening post.
Susan
Wow Kirsten.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this topic. Growing up in New York City, I never really felt out of place nor did I think of the color of skin was anything other than the markings of heritage. I did not really feel out of place because of my skin color. That changed once I moved out of the city. I am Puerto Rican of Taino Indian and Spaniard descent, and had a particularly articulated way of speaking. I had two instances where the way I spoke and the look about me appeared to offend. The first was in speaking with another Puerto Rican, who nastily asked why I spoke like a white person. The other was a telephone job interview when I was looking to relocate. For all intents and purposes I was to meet with a Dunn & Bradstreet recruiter to finalize the logistics, I arrived and spoke with the receptionist as to my appointment. As I sat and waited I could hear the gentleman saying "I thought I heard Emily, is she here?" Now mind you he looked at me as he walked over, and looked around me to find me, the receptionist kind of leaned back and pointed in my direction, then of course came the whisper. About 3 minutes later, she informed me that the recruiter is in a meeting and could not see me. This was the first time that I actually felt different than others. Not only was I viewed as a poser by my community because I was literate, but my literacy was not enough to offset the color of my skin within a company willing to hire me based on experience and skills. Thank you again for sharing. Not the kind of conversation we see often.
Emily
Hi Kirsten,
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this topic. I also faced the same issue when I was young since I have darker color skin than other classmates.
In Thailand, medias always portray that having lighter skin color mean beauty and higher class. A lot of people got this idea and some try to use whitening cream. Once I came to the US, I have seen lot of diverse in skin colors for the first time. It is such a beautiful things to see every body has their own of beauty. I wish people in Thailand understand that as well.
Thank you for the excellent post.
Sawin Thngloy