Friday, June 20, 2014

Color: Dark Skinned or Light Skinned is Always With Us

The issue of skin color is an issue in America and while we may not realize it, there is a similar controversy in parts of Africa, India, Asia.  I try really hard not to generalize but when you look around color is a real definer that human beings use against one another.

In the 1980's I remember being at an Indian fashion Show in Liberia and there were clearly differences between the light skinned East Indian women and dark skinned East Indians. The history tells that the darker skinned Indians are akin to Africans.

There are dark and light skinned Italians, Mexicans, Puerto Ricans, and I could go on and on.

I was checking on You Tube for Liberian Music for my Face Book Page because I love Liberian Music and I came across this music video by Jessica Singh. I would guess that she is the mixed race girl of Liberian and East Indian heritage. The tune is catchy but the imagery is the same.  The comments were interesting.

Anyway, here is the video and comment if you dare. I am not judging, just offering this as a discussion piece for rational persons.

My question is why does color still matter? We now know scientifically that DNA, not color defines our ethnicity, and yet we still cling to color. Don't we?


10 comments:

Unknown said...

During the years of slavery in America this dark vs. light method was implemented. Dark-skinned slaves were made to do field work outside.
Light-skinned slaves were allowed to take care of the daily house duties inside.
This approach turned the slaves against each other splitting them into two groups, light and dark-skinned.
Distrust is stronger than trust and envy stronger than adulation, respect, or admiration
– Willie Lynch.
Lynch's proposal was the driving force of a rift, which escalated as slavery grew and become more widespread. His work plan split a group of people who should have been united, but were separated due to distrust and envy all over skin tone. We are the only people that entertain the skin tone game, hell dogs don't even care. Nevertheless, and as a dark skin man I do not entertain such stupidity as it only serves to mislead and cloud my mind. In the end, this song like the light skin vs. dark skin argument does not make much sense.

Curtis 24thRCT-President said...

In many ways my experiences (11 years, 1965 to 1976) was differance from yours which is to be expected since one of my reasons for going to Africa, our motherland, was to support and in answer the call Dr. Kwame Nkrumah's call to African American Freedom Fighters, to help in his struggle to rebuild Ghana and the liberation of Africa.

MY SANKOFA; A three week vacation that lasted eleven years.. (1965 to 1976)

http://www.amazon.com/My-Sankofa-ebook/dp/B006OV0D6K/ref=cm_cr_pr_pb_I

A journey Which was liken to being reborn.

My observation of Africa as a single, adventurous young man, is by no means, meant to trivilized yours. However, given the opportunity to study Dr. Nkrumah's ideology from many of his scholars, enable me and others so privileged, to understand those "divide, conquer, and control straticy that enable foreign invaders to conquer the so called 3rd world.

Change said...
This comment has been removed by the author.
Change said...

My autographed copy of Sweet Liberia, Lessons From the Coalpot is not readily available to me and i became re-interested in reading it again thus i got a new copy via Kindle. Internalized oppression as written by authors like; Franz Fanon in Black Skins White Masks and the Wretched of the Earth should be read by those interested in studying how the oppressed take on the abuse, received by their oppressors, internalize it unknowingly, then perpetuate that oppression in our own and similar communities, relationships of all sorts. Acting out such internalized oppression on ones self takes various forms of addictive behavior; drugs, alcohol, sex, gambling, etc and mental disorders; PTSD, borderline personality types etc. The self mutilation is motivationally unconscious: hair, skin, body but has become big business all around the world with some white people doing what they can to take on non white characteristics and some people of color doing the opposite. There exists lots of research on this topic and its various manifestations.

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