I know there's many rant books similar to this, but I wanted to join the bandwagon. Plus I think I have a lot to rant about. So get ready to talk about controversial and relatable things.
Colorism- prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group.
I'll mainly be talking about colorism in Hollywood and how the token black girl for every tv show and movie is a light skin Black girl.
The start of colorism was in the 1700s during slavery. The Willie Lynch theory was a letter explaining how white slave owners could control African slaves. To get control of the enslaved Africans the white slave owners would separate the African based of skin complexion. The darker the enslaved African was that means they'll be mistreated A LOT more than a light skin enslaved African. Many white slave owners raped African women and then had mixed race babies; majority were fair skinned. With that came separation (Ex: the lighter you were you'd be a in the house taking care of the children and the kitchen, while if you were darker you'd be in the field picking cotton)
As the decades passed colorism was still prominent in Black families households and in television.
- In the late 30s Dorothy Dandridge graced many Americans tv screens. She is known to be one of the most famous Black actresses in Hollywood. Ms. Dandridge was also the first Black woman to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress. She is also lightskin, and not saying that disregards anything she does, but that may have been a big factor as to why she was nominated.
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During the 60s-90s there was what I think pretty good representation for light/dark skin Black women on television. I do think that some shows and movies during this time definitely played into the negative stereotypes, but for the most part is was good.
Example of negative:
- 'Martin' was a popular show in the early 90s and most known for the core characters Martin, Gina, Pam, Tommy and Cole. The show was hilarious and is considered one of the best Black led comedy show. The main problem I see that is because of colorism is how Martin constantly mistreats and at times dehumanizes Pam (Gina's best friend that is dark skin) on the show, while glorifying and praising Gina (his girlfriend that is lightskin.)
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