Essays on Colorism

White privilege is a notion that describes how White people are given the upper hand, when it comes to jobs, education, and social opportunities over those within the same society who are dark skinned. Colorism is a term that is used to describe how people with light skin are given preferential treatment to those within the same group who have darker skin tones within Western societies. Both are different forms of racism that occur within the same ethnic group, and outside of it. White privilege is not something that is earned because of class, or education. It is something ...

H.L.A Hart. “There are two minimum conditions necessary and sufficient for the existence of a legal system. On the one hand those rules of behavior which are valid according to the system's ultimate criteria of validity must be generally obeyed, and on the other hand, its rules of recognition specifying the criteria of legal validity and its rules of change and adjudication must be effectively accepted as common public standards of official behavior by its officials.” Laws are systems that may prohibit individuals to carry out a variety of actions or that may compel an assortment of responsibilities on persons. ...

In the 2012 documentary Dark Girls, a rather uncomfortable scenario is explored – the idea that darker-skinned black girls are often discriminated against, even by lighter-skinned black girls. The colorism inherent in relations among African-Americans is another subtle indicator at the institutionalized racism that occurs even within black culture, and is something that is rightfully exposed as an endemic problem in the black community. Even within the world of nursing and public policy, colorism and the issues found in Dark Girls are extremely prevalent, to the point where action should be taken. I have personally experienced (and committed) this kind of ...

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The documentary film entitled ‘Dark Girls’ is an interesting film that showcases various interviews from most typical to popular personalities about their understanding and take on the issue of colorism. Different perspectives, some of it are admirable and others are irritating, explores diverse attitude and biases among dark skinned women. I admired how Dr. Cheryl Grills, the President of the National Association of Black Psychologists, emphasized that “beauty is just a small piece of a much bigger animal. And until we understand that much bigger animal, we’ll never understand the issue of ...

Race is a social construct that was developed to classify people into huge and different groups through ethnic, anatomical, cultural, genetic, historical, linguistic, geographical, and social attachment. Initially, race referred to people using a common language to identify national affiliations, but with time observable physical traits were used to denote race. The idea of race means that humans are divisible into biologically distinct and exclusive groups in terms of physical and cultural features. The ideology of race is also associated with the beliefs of the superiority of the whites. These beliefs were concretized during the scientific revolution and American colonization that ...

Shades of Prejudice

Thanks to the New York Times, the elephant in the room has finally been acknowledged. Colorism, the unconscious prejudice, has long thrived since by and large it has gone unspoken. The writer gives light to this issue and explores the extent of its effect in society. Colorism is a form of discrimination through which people receive differing social treatment based on their skin color. It is not only an intra-racial problem, with people of the same ethnic group discriminating against each other, but also an interracial issue. Skin tone plays a significant role in who gets ahead and who does ...

In Zora Neale Hurston’s “Color Struck,” Emmaline and John, a couple, encounter significant conflict due to Emma’s colorism. Her jealousy and suspicion that John likes lighter-skinned blacks better than her prevents her from having a good time (and eventually, a life) with John. Throughout the events of the play, Emma is perpetually beset by bad decisions and poor choices stemming from that distrust of different hues of black. Psychoanalytical perspective involves bringing the subconscious desires and prejudices of a person or persons into the light, in order to examine why they do the things they do. Psychoanalyzing Emma throughout the course ...