For those who do not know what colorism is, it is a form of discrimination purely based on the color of one's skin. This type of discrimination is more common around people with a darker skin color. Dating all the way back to the sixteenth century, African Americans with lighter skin were seen to be better than those with darker skin. Even today, the media influences people to believe that African Americans have more opportunities if they have lighter skin tones. By doing this, the media is sending the wrong images and messages that lighter skinned people are more likely to be accepted into the media industry. Prime examples of glorifying lighter skinned African Americans include Beyoncè, Drake, Rihanna, and many others. Another main example of colorism is Michael Jackson's story. Although, he stated that the reasoning for his skin bleaching was due to a disease called vitiligo, many suspect that he felt uncomfortable and discriminated against due to his darker skin color. Although media sends negative messages, there have been many television shows positively portray African Americans such as
The Fresh Prince of Bel-Air and
The Cosby Show.
While reading this article, I felt shocked that media has such a negative perspective on people with darker skin. I believe that society should be accepting of everyone despite what the color of their skin looks like. To me, this feels as if we are going back many years ago when people were prejudice against others for their ethnicity and skin color, which is ridiculous. Although many people feel as if they are treated differently based on their skin color, not everyone is prejudice. Many people in our society are accepting and do not judge others purely based on what they look like.
Article: http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2009/07/10/AR2009071000022.html
Picture 1: http://atlantablackstar.com/2012/10/13/colorism-still-plaguing-black-communities-around-the-world/
Picture 2: http://msmagazine.com/blog/2010/03/28/what-can-we-do-about-colorism/
I like the topic of colorism. When I first read about it I was shocked that there could be discrimination inside of one race. It shows that even though we are all equal a person could be put down and hurt just because of one small outside appearance. We are such judgmental people and need to try to learn that everyone is the same and everyone has value. I look forward to reading more about colorism.
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