The Black Community is suffering from the oppression of history. The issues African Americans are facing today are a direct result from slavery and is a major significance to American society. Slavery, racial discrimination, and Aryan hierarchical mentality, has an effect on the African American community today by causing and influencing negative circumstances educationally, economically, and socially based on skin color, closed minded perceptions of beauty, and skin tone division as a whole.
“Color preference is a cousin of racial prejudice, and like prejudice it is closely linked with the urge to obtain and keep power over others.”(Harvard University). The preference for lighter skin ...view middle of the document...
Howard University, an Historically Black College and University, was accused for incidences of color discrimination by requiring interested students to submit a photo of themselves to the college and if you reached the standard of being a certain skin tone, you were admitted into the school. According to Huffington Post, lighter skinned African Americans also have better access to education. Not only this but in the past there has been a history of black organizations exclusively accepting other African Americans of only lighter skin complexion.
Secondly, slavery of the African race in America left scars on the black community as a whole. Women of African descent are faced with daily changes based on their skin color and grade of hair. Imani McGarrell stated, ‘As a direct mindset that lighter is better… The color complex affects the black community, particularly its females, through the ideals of what is considered “good hair”’ (Colorism In The Black Community,TxState). Having “good hair”, or hair similar to those whose hair is not considerably curly or kinky, is another major issue that has been demolishing the Black Community for centuries. Films like Good Hair, directed by Chris Rock, depict the complex of having hair that is considered to be socially acceptable and includes the personal opinions from the views of Black women across the nation. One woman stated that, “The white deal are interpretations that construct a spectrum of sorts where if I look at you and I can see that you potentially have European blood, I can assume that in comparison to someone who has darker skin, kinkier hair…that you’re better than them.” (UNCP). These mindsets and ideas derive from the times of slavery that stated that if you were closest to white as possible then you were considered loyal, obedient, and even good. Slavery left the imprint of the “House Nigger” and the “Field Nigger”. “During slavery, the report says, people of color with lighter skin often got preferential treatment from slave owners, working in the homes instead of the fields. Stories of the slaves who did work in the house state that their masters would try to take advantage of them and those that succeeded were scolded by their fellow slaves and the mistress of the house. In one incident, a slave that bore one of her master’s children was sent off after his death by his mistress. Hate , jealousy, and anger drove the black woman into a deeper societal trench. House slaves were usually slaves of lighter skin complexion, perhaps even of mixed race and were considered superior to their darker skinned counterparts that worked outside for hours in the heat and the elements. The link of these ideals are current and are infecting the media too. “Now she even sees (Deibel) colorism on Twitter, where she often finds trending topics of “Lightskin V. Darkskin”. She sees it in the media, where white beauty standards are the norm, and light-skinned black actresses seem to dominate.” (Huffington...
