Despite the belief that there is not a difference in the treatment or a difference in the way dark-skinned African-Americans are perceived compared to light-skinned African-Americans, it is actually true that dark-skinned African-Americans do not enjoy the same privileges that light-skinned African-Americans do because of colorism. Colorism is the discrimination and or prejudice of one based not strictly on ethnicity but on skin color. In the novel I Am Not Sidney Poitier written by Percival Everett, the main protagonist was a victim of colorism by his girlfriend’s parents. They believed that he was too dark to date their light-skinned daughter. Despite disputing assertions, colorism is a common issue that has had detrimental effects on the
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To this day there is a subtle rift in the African-American community caused by the damaging effects of colorism during the antebellum period. Countless light skinned African-Americans still hold the creed that dark skinned African-Americans are inferior and treat them as such. For example, in the novel I AM NOT SIDNEY POITIER, the main protagonist was treated as if he were inferior to his girlfriend and her parents because he was dark skinned and they were light-skinned. That attitude towards dark-skinned African-Americans can be contributed to the perception that authors J.L. Hoschild and V. Weaver have that state “Dark skinned blacks in the United States have a lower socioeconomic status, more punitive, relationships with the criminal justice system, diminished prestige, and less likelihood of holding elective office compared with their lighter counterparts.” …show more content…
Colorism has had detrimental effects to the entire African-American community. Through propaganda and media America has successfully perpetuated the stereotype of the villainous unintelligent, subordinate dark-skinned African-American. While maintaining that the light-skinned individual is the only African-American who could be elite, genteel, intelligent and attractive. The psyche of an entire subgroup of a population has been put at stake in order to maintain European ideals of racism and inferiority between African-American people. All African-American people must realize that race and skin color are social constructs put in place in order to keep African-Americans susceptible to the trickery that will continue to keep America a white patriarchal society. Colorism, for hundreds of years has and still is single handedly dividing a community that should be working to uplift one another and working to expose the oppressive nature of a systematic force that continues to negatively influence the African-American community. Although the practice of colorism is quite trivial these ideas are expeditiously tearing African- American community apart from the inside out. In the future if these ideologies are not changed it will be because the bigger issue of racism which had a hand in creating colorism was never
To this day there is a subtle rift in the African-American community caused by the damaging effects of colorism during the antebellum period. Countless light skinned African-Americans still hold the creed that dark skinned African-Americans are inferior and treat them as such. For example, in the novel I AM NOT SIDNEY POITIER, the main protagonist was treated as if he were inferior to his girlfriend and her parents because he was dark skinned and they were light-skinned. That attitude towards dark-skinned African-Americans can be contributed to the perception that authors J.L. Hoschild and V. Weaver have that state “Dark skinned blacks in the United States have a lower socioeconomic status, more punitive, relationships with the criminal justice system, diminished prestige, and less likelihood of holding elective office compared with their lighter counterparts.” …show more content…
Colorism has had detrimental effects to the entire African-American community. Through propaganda and media America has successfully perpetuated the stereotype of the villainous unintelligent, subordinate dark-skinned African-American. While maintaining that the light-skinned individual is the only African-American who could be elite, genteel, intelligent and attractive. The psyche of an entire subgroup of a population has been put at stake in order to maintain European ideals of racism and inferiority between African-American people. All African-American people must realize that race and skin color are social constructs put in place in order to keep African-Americans susceptible to the trickery that will continue to keep America a white patriarchal society. Colorism, for hundreds of years has and still is single handedly dividing a community that should be working to uplift one another and working to expose the oppressive nature of a systematic force that continues to negatively influence the African-American community. Although the practice of colorism is quite trivial these ideas are expeditiously tearing African- American community apart from the inside out. In the future if these ideologies are not changed it will be because the bigger issue of racism which had a hand in creating colorism was never