Colorism
As W.E.B. DuBois predicted, color would still be a problem in the 20th century, but now this self-hatred is a result of Colorism. Colorism is defined as the attitude among African Americans discriminating against other African Americans because of their skin complexion, for instance being too light or too dark. This form of separatism dates back to slavery and has been systematically passed through various elements of our culture. Colorism implies that lighter skin and straight hair are better, and successful men should marry women who fit this standard. Colorism plays a large role in the low self-esteem of Black America, from individuals, then relationships, and in the status society.Colorism exists as an intercultural form of racism. As cultural identity refers to one's sense of belonging to a particular culture or ethnic group, it is a companied by social and personal identities. Within the cultural identity exist the social and personal identities which are aspects of culture that make Colorism possible. Our text categorizes the creation of cultural identity within three stages of a process, which are unexamined cultural identity, cultural identity search and cultural identity achievement (Lustig). As the stages are defined
Beginning with slavery, lighter blacks mainly worked in the master's homes, where they received better treatment compared to darker blacks, who worked out in the fields. In this exploration one is able to identify strengths and weakness of his or her culture and find acceptance of one's culture and self. Colorism places the impression that straight hair is more attractive than thick, frizzy hair, leading to Bell Hooks theory in the article "Straightening Our Hair. The principles of Colorism can be defined as the changes an individual will go through to fit the idea of beauty in the eyes of white America, from their hair to their clothes, even to the extent of skin bleaching. Colorism remains a painful topic that blacks would rather not discuss. Black women are taught to hate themselves and emulate the white women's scale of beauty. White women were a more appealing female group or that their straight hair set a beauty standard black women were struggling to live out (Hooks). Blacks go to such lengths because they know whites do most of the hiring. " To some, straightening hair is a form of imitation, but to other women it is a ritual, a passage from childhood to womanhood, concluding, to look like a white woman would make the black female more of a woman, proving that the ideology of Colorism, "lighter is better," is a larger part of their self-worth than it is comprehended. org/html/FRONTalView/ArticlesPapers/Crawford_RacismColorismPower. The self-esteem of black individuals is damaged by the criteria set by Colorism. The ideas of Colorism go beyond the self-esteem of black individuals, creating feelings of inadequacy within the relationships between man and woman as well as man to man. The relationships, whether woman to man or man to man, have been bruised by the pressures of Colorism, and also affecting the way blacks are seen in the white world.
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Acceptance Essays
