Yes, When I was younger I got bullied. People made fun of me because I was really dark and really tall. And as a result I use to brag a lot.
They’d be like “You black as hell” “You so black ugh”
Compare me to any black dog they saw walking by.
And I’d be like “Yeah well thats because I was in Jamaica on vacation for winter break while you were here freezing, where were you?” “Yeah well I was in miami at the Ritz Carlton, where were you?”
some people think its funny.. but you don’t know how many people there are out there HURTING because they just want to be beautiful… because they were told that light skin was beautiful.. because they see it EVERYWHERE that the lighter the better.
Its bad enough that racism is something that even exists .. but racism within your own race? how DUMB is that?
I didn’t always love my complexion.. Who likes being made fun of. But I learned and my mother taught me to love myself.. and as i grew up I stopped caring about those ignorant comments.
I’m more than proud to be the complexion i am .. don’t try to fit in.. STAND OUT.
- Justine Skye
Light Skin Privilege and African Americans
herspective1st.comLight skin privilege equals to:
- Being standard of beauty in the Black and Latino community.
- Being called Black based on the antebellum era one drop rule.
- Being racially ambiguous.
- People automatically assuming you are mixed and that is seen as a positive attribute.
- Being allowed to recognize the variety of your racial/ethnic heritage without ridicule.
- Within African American culture being called a “redbone” is regarded as a compliment while being called “darkskin” is considered derogatory.
- Telling you that someone prefers your skin color instead of dark skin is a compliment.
- Having light color eyes and no one assumes they are contacts.
- Can color, dye, relax, or weave your hair without it being seen as an act of self-hate.
- The assumption that your relaxed hair and chemically processed curls are your natural texture.
- Tanning and when the tan fades and not being accused of skin bleaching.
- Going to a makeup artist and having no problem matching your skin tone.
- Not being told that, “You are pretty for a dark skin girl.”
- Not being told to stay out the sun.
- Your skin color being valued by some who purposely wants to erase their ethnicity and hates their own skin color.
- Being able to marry someone of another race because it is a product of love and not being accused of racial disloyalty.
- Be recognized as a symbol of post racism.
- Having the ability to deny that colorism exists.
- Having the ability to deny racism exist because your skin color is proof of it.
- It is assumed that you are race neutral when issues of race are raised.
- It is assumed that you are more enlightened on issues of racism because of your racial and ethnic background.
- It is automatically assumed that you are more intelligent than members of your racial group.
- Not being seen as angry.
- Being considered less threatening by the Eurocentric mainstream based on the color of your skin.
- People not making the assumption that you grew up poor unlike your dark skin counterparts.
- The belief that a dark skin person marrying you is considered marrying up.
- Taking advantage of skin color privilege depending upon the situation. For example, applying for scholarships for African Americans and Latinos and later passing for other than a minority.
- You have a better chance of landing a job than a darker person with the same credentials.
- Your relatives had access to Black sororities, fraternities, and other organizations that promoted intraracism.
- Images are reflected in all forms of Black and Latino owned media.
- People who look like you rarely portray the stereotypical maid, downtrodden, Sapphire, and dysfunctional Black women roles on television.
- You always play the Black and Latino wife on television.
- Being able to be biracial, multiracial, or light skin and still play a Black, Asian, Latino and White person on television when people of a darker hue cannot.
- Not being reminded all the time that you are not valued.
- Not having people in entertainment making songs or comments disrespecting your skin color.
- If you are light skin Latino you don’t have to prove it.
- If you are a light skin Latino it is automatically assumed that you speak Spanish.
- You or your family have much more likely have immigrated to America leaving your darker skin counterparts behind.
- You have better opportunities for education and jobs prospects.
- You will see that light skin Latinos are recognized in every aspect of life while Afro Latinos, who are the majority in some countries, are ignored.
The Issue of Skin Color in the Avatar Fandom
So, this has been bothering me for awhile, but I’ve mostly stayed away and kept my mouth shut. Not because the issue didn’t bother me, but I’m tired of explaining why I feel the way that I feel.
I feel like I went into this enough during the entire Plethora of Korra debacle, and that entire drama just made me tired.
I’m going to try to explain my feelings on this issue one more time. If you feel the need to debate me about this, please do it respectfully. If I receive comments like “WHY DOES HER SKIN COLOR MATTER? YOU’RE THE PROBLEM!!111” I will not hesitate to curse you out and dismiss everything that you have to say. If you disagree with me, please tell me. Talk to me, you probably will not get me to change my mind. But, I will not get defensive.
Yesterday, a post showed up on my dash board in which someone that I followed was attacked for feeling that it needed to be confirmed that Korra had brown skin, instead of tanned skin. “Why does everything have to be about race?” The person asked, “Her skin color shouldn’t matter, I’m tired of seeing this brought up all of the time!”
As an African-American woman, it matters to me. Now, I was born with dark brown skin, skin that I hated when I was younger, because I thought that it made me ugly. The light skin vs dark skin issue in the black community is a huge problem. I was called “Monkey,” and “Darkie,” when I was younger, and I constantly yearned to have lighter skin, like my cousins. You have to understand that most of the time that African-American women are portrayed in the media, it is only the lighter skinned women who are shown and considered beautiful. I’m not making this up, look at statistics of how many people in the U.K, India, and Africa who use skin bleaching agents to lighten their skin. These products are damaging, and yet people buy them in droves because they think lighter = better.
One of the things that I loved about Avatar: The Last Airbender, was Katara’s and Sokka’s brown skin. It made me happy because there was finally a cartoon aimed at children, an action cartoon, where there was a girl with brown skin who was portrayed as a role model, could handle herself in battle, and was considered beautiful. Katara and Sokka aren’t black, but I could relate to the color of their skin.
I loved Jasmine from Aladdin and Pocohantas as a child for these same reasons.
I can count on my fingers how many brown skinned women super heros I had growing up.
When people call Korra’s and Katara’s skin “tanned” it feels like erasure to me. Now, I know that tanned is a skin tone, however, the connotation of the word makes it seem like their skin is naturally lighter. Like they only got their brown skin from being in the sun, and without the “tan” they are actually lighter. Lighting their skin in art makes it seem like their skin is not naturally beautiful the way that it is, and that’s why it doesn’t sit well with me.
I’m not saying this the intention of people who lighten Katara and Korra’s skin in art or call them “tanned,” but this is how I perceive it. I don’t believe that people are always aware of their own prejudices, or how some of the things that they do or say are problematic. However, don’t feel attacked when people call you out on it. We’re attempting to educate you. I am definitely prejudiced, it is an unfortunate bi-product of being raised in American culture, probably in ways that I’m not even completely aware of. However, if I hurt someone with my prejudice, whether it is intentional or not (and it might not be) then I need to prepared for the back lash that I may receive.
