The Dark Side of Black The past, present and future of colourism

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Words: Janae Renten

#BlackQueen

#melaninonfleek

#blackwomeninyellow

#NubianQueen

#FlexinMyComplexion

#darkandlovely

These are all examples of trending hashtags people use to showcase the beauty of dark skin. While it is good that blackness is being celebrated- it does seem like there is this constant need for reinforcement that dark skin is attractive.

Which begs the question: Why is black identity perceived to be so fragile?

These hashtags, and similar movements are to counter decades-old perceptions of dark skin. Perceptions not only pushed by society, whether that be through film and media, but also pushed within the black community itself.

Colourism can be defined as prejudice against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group.

Colourism compared to racism is an intra-group phenomenon and its presence is very subtle. But if you know how and where to look for it, you will find it everywhere.

It all goes back to…

The concept of colourism is nothing new. Its history is long and complicated -tracing back from colonisation, slavery and segregation.

During slavery, lighter-skinned slaves were granted special privileges- doing lighter work, receiving less harsh punishment and being granted freedom. All in all, living a relatively easier life than their darker-skinned counterparts. So even though slavery was determined by race,  complexion created significant disparities in terms of privilege. After the abolishment of slavery, these biases persisted through segregation- institutionalizing this concept of racial hierarchy.

In South Africa it was Apartheid.

Even though slavery was determined by race,  complexion created significant disparities in terms of privilege.

Through the Population Registration act of 1950, society was divided into 3 racial categories: black, white and an intermediate group called coloured (consisting of other sub-groups). Till this day South Africans categorise themselves as such. There were different methods used to test someone’s racial identity and the results of these tests afforded them certain privileges or prohibitions.

The ‘pencil test’ is one example of many…

A pencil would be stuck in the hair of a person and they’d be told to jump. The person’s racial category would be determined by the movement of the pencil. The pencil test does not only showcase how bizarre these measures were, but it also showcases how inaccurate and foolish the sheer concept of determining ‘whiteness’ is. People were constantly miscategorised, sometimes even within the same family. So Apartheid did not only cause racial division within a country or a community, but also within families themselves.

Apartheid is just one – arguably more extreme-  system of many segregationist institutions that were developed all throughout the world. In many cases, the systems represented a sliding scale of privilege based on race and colour-  in which the level of privilege grew with the proximity to whiteness itself.

When it comes to colonization, slavery and segregation the notion behind all of this was consistent: European standards are the ideal and everything other, especially African, is inferior. Colourism is then a manifestation of internalised racism that has its roots in decades of subjugation by Europeans.

Today…

“We speak as if Apartheid is over, but that hierarchy is still strong. Colourism for me demonstrates how well people have been programmed”.

 

In Cape Town specifically, racial inequality is a persistent problem. As my friend described it to me at the time- ‘the legacy of apartheid is very visible. You will find that the Manager is white, the receptionist coloured and the staff black’.

And I did find this to be the case.

Yes, progress is slowly happening.  And I do understand that it will take some time to erase the lasting effects of Apartheid. But I can’t help but think about the children growing up in this environment-  seeing this persisting hierarchy in their daily lives and internalising this as confirmation that wealth and status are synonymous with whiteness.

And when they look at the media…

This idea is only reinforced. For decades the media has portrayed dark-skinned women, whether that be through film or music, as unattractive. And while over the past few years significant progress has been made in reflecting diversity in media, there is still a consistent trend of colourism on the big screen.

Derogatory images used to reiterate black inferiority

There is also this tendency to generalize what it means to be black with, sometimes derogatory, stereotypes. This is nothing new. Discriminatory characteristics of Africans were used to justify slavery and later segregation- and some of these have been translated into stereotypes now. These stereotypes have a massive impact not only on how people perceive darker skin, but also on the psychology of those who have darker skin. In a UCT study on colourism one participant described being black as a “constant need to show that you are civilized”.

And another participant connected being black to automatically having an inferiority complex.

It is absolutely heartbreaking that there are people that regard themselves as less than, because of the colour of their skin. It is especially tragic when we understand the historical basis behind this mentality.

Global History, Global Consequences…

“This belief that the lighter your skin is – the better you are,  is a direct result of our history. There was an intentional kind of brainwashing…wherein { they thought us} that all the things that made us uniquely African, is what made us inferior. The closer you approximated the master- the one in power- the better you are. Given the reach of this influence-  this is a belief system that has spread to all people of colour throughout the world. And it is tragic-  that there are so many people around the world that have their own culture, their own customs. Yet they still look at whiteness as some signal of superiority” – Lori Tharps.

Colourism is not exclusive to one continent, country or community. Many people around the world still – consciously or unconsciously- associate whiteness with status, beauty and intelligence.

People in Asia walk around with umbrellas to avoid the sunlight, because dark skin is associated with poverty.

In the Dominican Republic there is this phrase:  ‘mejorando la raza’ -alluding that by being whiter, or marrying someone lighter, you are advancing the Dominican population.

In South Africa, it is still common for some mothers to wash their children’s bodies with skin lightening soaps.

Nayaro Justino, the first black Carnaval Queen of Brazil, had her title stripped away after a wave of critics- even from within the black community- claimed she was too black for it. She was later replaced by a lighter skinned woman.

The history of colonisation was intercontinental and so its effects are so as well. Colourism has found its home in the subconscious minds of millions of people globally. These prejudices have been translated into varying socio-political status- with darker-skinned individuals having to face greater adversity compared to lighter-skinned people.

Whiteness as a commodity…

“I am Xhosa…if you are rich and you’re a black person, we call you umlungu and that’s…a white person [laughter] …we don’t say you are a rich black person, we call you umlungu. And the reason for that has been because the white person is really seen as superior and I think same applies to skin tone. People have always made it a mission for themselves to look lighter because being  white is (perceived as being) better.”

In Nigeria alone, 77% of women are lightening their skin on a regular basis (WHO, 2011)

In Ghana mothers are using pills to bleach their unborn babies – putting the babies at risk of all sorts of health issues.

And in Africa in general, a meta-analysis study proved that about 27% of the population uses skin bleaching measures.

I first struggled to wrap my head around the fact that skin lightening was even an issue in Africa – a continent where the majority of people are black. But this is not too far fetched. Not only are European standards of beauty global- more importantly, European culture is still linked to status and economic success.

The global skin lightening market is a multi-billion dollar industry…

Africa, specifically Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Ghana, South Africa

Arabia

Parts of Asia

The Americas

The Caribbean

These are all places where skin lightening is a persistent problem. All these places share a similar colonial history.

While many countries have tried to regulate the trade, the high demand for these products has led to them flourishing on the black market. While wealthy people have access to pricier, but safer, measures – most people are stuck using cheaper alternatives. These can be laced with dangerous chemicals like mercury, lead and hydroquinone.

Skin whitening cremes openly on display

People don’t only use skin lightening products to appeal to eurocentric standards of beauty- they use them as tools to raise their socio-economic status. So in this sense whiteness has become a dangerous commodity, with companies profiting off of decades of institutionalised and internalised racism.

Progress has been made and more people are starting to recognize the existence of colourism. But there is still a long way to go. This idea that dark skin is bad and white is good, is something that has been ingrained into many societies.

And this is something we need to acknowledge. Our perceptions of black skin need to change and that is why organic representation- through media, politics or business- is so important.

But even deeper than that; we have to change the narrative of dark skin. This, to a certain extent, has to do with the perceptions of the African continent itself.

Broadening the picture: perceptions of Africa…

“The destiny of all black people in the world, wherever they are, is bound up with Africa. And a performing Africa elevates the status of all black people around the world. A non performing Africa continues the situation of how black people are looked at” – Nana Akufo-Addo, the current president of Ghana

While we know a lot about European culture and European heroes and milestones, other cultures don’t receive as much recognition. The history exists but the majority of the history we learn about Africa is in relation to slavery and the later forms of subjugation. So, how do we expect a balanced perception of Africa and its people?

The media still tends to portray Africa as a broken continent, unable to thrive without the developed world. Even though the development of Africa is a separate conversation; this victim- saviour complex between Africa and the West, only reinforces this idea that status is something exclusive to whiteness.

So what now…

Colourism- although it is an intra-group phenomenon- is everybody’s issue. So we must inform ourselves on the topic. We have to be critical.

Critical of our environment.

Critical of the media we consume.

And critical of our own perceptions and biases.

The aim of this article is not to divide or pass blame- It is to understand. And this won’t happen without all of us acknowledging colourism’s past, present – and future.

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