Colorism In African Americans Essay

The Fight Against Colorism in African American Communities Colorism is defined as a practice of discrimination among African Americans against other African Americans because of their skin complexion, for instance being too light or too dark. Colorism plays a large role in the low self-esteem in the African American community, from individuals, relationships, and employment. Colorism can cause psychological effects. Children are more affected because skin biased develops at a younger age. This form of racism dates to slavery and has been passed through various elements of our culture. Since the American slavery, darker skinned African Americans have always received harsher treatment than those of lighter complexion. Differences in skin color,

A study indicates that dark-skinned African Americans face a distinct disadvantage when applying for jobs. Matthew Harrison, a doctoral student at UGA undertook the first significant study of "colorism" in the workplace. He found that a light-skinned black male can have only a bachelor's degree and typical work experience and still be preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an M.B.A. and past managerial positions, simply because expectations of the light-skinned black male are much higher, and he doesn't appear as “menacing' as the darker-skinned male applicant.” This finding is possibly due to the common belief that fair-skinned blacks probably have more similarities with whites than do dark-skinned blacks, which in turn makes whites feel more comfortable around them. (Harrison

Imagine being judged and looked down on because of your skin complexion. People should pay attention more to a person's character rather than the shade of his or her skin. Colorism has always been an issue for the black community. People should promote the beauty in all shades and not one over the other. The solution is for the communities that we live in to not accept the standard that society places on beauty, promote self-worth and happiness. Colorism is something that's rarely publicly addressed, it is time to take a stand. We need to come together in order for a changes to be made. It does not matter where a person falls on the spectrum of color, because their still black consider