Research Paper On Colorism

Vitasta Vyas
Dr. Robinson
HUM 312
17 May 2017
Harlem and Beyond
Colorism continues to be the most common topic of study when talking about racism. Its power and values of preferring light complexion over dark complexion has affected many communities, especially the African American community the most. This interracial discrimination is termed colorism, coined by Alice Walker in 1982. Social acceptance according to skin complexion has tormented this community since the time of slavery because the slave owners gave preference to lighter skinned slaves for working in the house, and outside harsh work was given to the darker skinned slaves. Researchers have said that people still have this mentality not only in the white America but also other ethnic communities across the globe. Colorism refers to discrimination based on skin color. It disadvantages dark-skinned people and gets privilege to those with lighter skin. Colorism can also be called color-consciousness, color struck or intra- racism. This is the result of internalized racism and his had impacted majority of the African American community. The white America considered the offspring of white men and black women better than “pure” African.
Colorism has embedded in the African American community since slavery, the light skin slaves were considered to be more intelligent and better suited

Du Bois proposed the term double consciousness during the Harlem Movement. It is a term describing the internal conflict experienced by African Americans in an oppressive society. This term originally referred to the psychological challenge of “always looking at one’s self through the eyes”. In “The Souls of Black Folk” he talked about two-ness of a black folk in white America. He explains how it isn’t okay to be split between "two warring ideals"—one "American," another "Negro"—isn't fun. Meaning how one white folk would see a black folk and how one black folk would see another black folk. In this novel, he