|
Picture courtesy of Google |
I have heard many black people say that it is different and that it is not the same thing. Colorism was born from racism to accomplish the same goal of establishing superiority based on a sense power over those deemed inferior solely based on skin tone. When black people decided to participate in colorism (the idea that the lighter black person is the better black person) it negatively altered how all black people felt about themselves and what they could do for themselves within their own race. I will never understand a black person participating in this behavior considering the damage inflicted on all of our lives because of racism.
The idea that colorism is only regional in the United States is laughable. As if it is so impossible for colorism to majorly exist in more than the much talked about Southern region of the United States and not the others. And considering the fact that we have allowed our popular culture to shape our views in very destructive ways we should all know that it is everywhere. Southern people ain't got nothing on America as a whole.
I have seen colorism in all of the regions from many ethnic groups (as designed) and it at times seems unbelievable when you experience it even though you know it exists. Spending the second half of my formative years growing up in Northern Louisiana put me in a position to experience colorism often but not so often that it was able to damage my views on the issue. It was frustrating to hear older people, boys, girls and even family members discuss the lighter skin/darker skin issue in a way that gave it more importance than it should have had.
Colorism is something that I hate more than I hate racism because it is coming from not only the people that benefit from racism but it is also coming from the people that experience being negatively affected by racism everyday. Black people destroying themselves with the very thing that their ancestors fought against is the definition of sad. Wouldn't they be so proud that their sacrifice has brought about our slow and (at this point) certain destruction?
We feed the monster, our current societal power structure, with our lives by choosing to support anything or anyone that tries to make this okay. It is not okay for a person's self-worth to be defined by their skin color and for that skin color to be seen as anything other than God's plan for a beautiful and diverse society.
What do you think? Is colorism and it's damage different from what racism creates? Is colorism among black people self-hatred in practice?