Complexion Discrimination

1307 Words3 Pages

Paragraph1, The Battle: The issue that many people of color face daily is stereotypes. Dark skinned African Americans are looked at as lower class citizens in society. This is labeled as complexion discrimination. Complexion discrimination is a form of homogeneous group privilege, in which people from the same race use factors such as skin tone to set a social status (Harvard Article, page 1, 2009). Though there are many forms of discrimination and profiling, complexion discrimination is not often discussed, yet occurs just as frequently. In a recent interview with my mentor, I learned how cruel people with the same ethnicity can be even as children. “I would get called names like ‘tar baby’, ‘blacky’, ‘charcoal’ and many other names. Back then, boys wouldn't talk to me because of the color of my skin so they only saw me good enough to be their friend” (Teranesha Newton, 2011). This is an example of the continuing of a cycle of ignorance and inequality. Racial slurs and degrading is something many have suffered quotidian. The comments and remarks that blacks label themselves can be simply harsh, cruel, and extremely offensive. African Americans with darker skin have been said to be less intelligent, lazy, and less attractive compared to those with lighter skin (Harvard Article, page 2, 2009). Dark skinned blacks face this daily in the workplace, in schools, and everyday life in general. Stereotypes have not only a negative effect on adults and children of today, but the ignorance of others is poisoning the minds from generation to generation. In a world full of very diverse people, discrimination is increasing from generation to generation. The skin tones of African-Americans have a strong effect on self-esteem, workplace positio...

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...y tone, shade and complexion. In closing, the simple solution said by my mentor is “accepting and embracing the fact that black is black and black is beautiful (Teranesha Newton, 2011).”

Works Cited

 Harvard University, Impact of African American Skin Tone Bias, Online Journal of Workforce Education and Development, 2009, 8 September 2011. http://ww.scholar.harvard.edu

 Samuels, Allison, the Ugly Roots of the Light and Dark Skin Divide, Newsweek/ Daily Beast Company, 2011. www.thedailybeast.com/newsweek/blogs/the-gaggle/2010/ 28 September 2011.

 Tademy, Lalita, Cane River, Warner Brothers Publishing, 2001, 28 September 2011. Book

 http://www.etymonline.com/cw/mulatto.htm , 13 October 2011. Web

 http://www.bowdoin.edu , 6 October 2011. Web

 http://www.canerivercolony.com/colonistNames.htm 30 September 2011. web

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