I came across a preview of the documentary Dark Girls on Facebook. When I saw it many waves of emotion swept through me. I felt it all just about. Anger. Sadness. Pride. Tons of negative energy all stemming from memories of days past.
You may be thinking, “Um…Kionda, why would this affect you? You’re light skinned.”
Sigh.
Yes…I am.
You see, I also got teased when I was younger…for not being BLACK ENOUGH.
It’s an endless cycle for ALL shades of black. You’re either too black or not black enough. My question is, who the hell makes that distinction? I’d really like to know so I can give that individual a few pieces of my mind followed by a nice swift kick in the ass.
I digress.
Growing up in upstate New York, my hair was long and natural. I was also pretty light back then. Everyone assumed that I was from the islands or something. I was young. I just ran with it. As I got older I started to notice differences in how some black folks were treated. The darker your skin, the rougher it seemed. That grew a ton of resentment that ended up being directed to us light skinned folks. I didn’t like that…at all!
This all continued well into my adult years. I have a sickening feeling that it will continue well past my lifetime. I wish that it wouldn’t.
I have seen or heard of three sources that puts a negative on color. The first, I heard on the radio on my way to an assignment. It was a study done that basically said that black women were found to be less attractive than any other race. What!? Sigh. Utter nonsense.
The second was the controversy with Beyonce’s difference in skin color from her last album and her new one. Skin bleaching accusations are being thrown around every where. They say she’s a Shakira look-a-like. SMH.
The third is this documentary preview. Sigh. There is this adorable little girl in it. In front of her is a picture of, I believe, five little girls. All of the drawn out little girls are different shades of black, from the darkest of dark to the lightest of light. There is a woman asking the little girl questions. Questions like, and I am paraphrasing, “Who is the dumb one?” The little girl will point to the dark one. “And why do you think she’s dumb,” the woman asks. “Because she’s dark,” the little girl mumbles. “Well who is the smart one,” the woman continues. The little girl points to the light one. “And why do you think she’s smart?” “Because she light skinned.”
Broke…my…heart!
For some idiotic reason america is under the impression that lighter is better. No. Not a chance. We all have the same troubles. We all have the same opportunities. No one is better than the other.
All black women are beautiful. ALL! From the darkest of dark to the lightest of light. We are all BLACK. No matter what we are mixed with, we are still BLACK. No matter what part of the world we came from, we are still BLACK. Embrace it people and stop the freaking madness! Stop looking down on our own!
I’m done.