Skin Tone Synthesis Essay

Skin color is a polemical and highly evaluated physical attribute (Kim,2014) within the black community, as it influences their economic attainment (Goldsmith, Hamilton, & Darity,2006), mate selection (Hill,2002), litigation (Blair, Judd, & Chapleau, 2004). Furthermore, the skin color of African Americans and Afro-Caribbeans has exerted influences on racial socialization, black stratification patterns, and societal attitudes towards the treatment of light skinned and dark-skinned blacks within their communities. Skin tone stratification and has been historically ingrained in the black community for many generations. During the era of slavery, skin-tone stratification had a continuing impact on the black community as lighter skinned African

Americans had a higher socioeconomic stratum than their darker skinned counterparts. Also, positive connotations associated with light skin, resulted in the intraracial discrimination of dark- complexioned blacks and the preference for a lighter skin color. In their book, “The Hidden Prejudice in Selection: A Research Investigation on Skin Color Bias” authors Matthew Harrison and Kecia Thomas explains the preference of light skin within the black community. “Skin color is stratified because in America, and in most western cultures, Whiteness is presumed to be representative of beauty and graciousness; and in contrast, Blackness signifies ugliness and incivility” (Harrison & Thomas, 2009, p.133).
African Americans have a skin color schematic that can vary from “light, medium and dark complexions (Jenkins, 1993)”. Scholar Charles Parrish discovered a preponderance of different colloquial terms (both positive and negative) used to describe the various shades of skin color of African-Americans. These terms include “half-white,” “high yellow,” “light bright”, and “red bone” to describe light skin; and “chocolate,” “dark,” “inkspot,” and “tar baby” to describe dark skin.
There are negative associations with being either “too light” or “too dark”. (Hill, 2002; Elmore, 2009; Wilder, 2010), as both dark-skinned and very light skinned blacks are subjected to ridicule and rejection within the black community. There are dark-complexioned blacks that view their dark skin proudly despite light-complexioned blacks being perceived as more attractive than their dark-skinned counterparts. Although there is substantial evidence of negative bias toward darker skin tones, scholars have argued that light-skinned African Americans also suffer bias (e.g., Hall, 1992; Wade, 1996). Light-complexioned blacks are often belittled because they don’t look black enough and are viewed as not being legitimate members of the Black community. There are dark-complexioned blacks that view their dark skin proudly despite light-complexioned blacks being perceived as more attractive within the community. Scholars argued that skin tone bias can operate both positively and negatively for both light-skinned Blacks and dark-skinned Blacks.

Effects of Skin Tone on Colorism within the Black Community
In their book, “Cognitive Representations of Black Americans: Re-exploring the Role of Skin Tone” authors Keith Maddox and Stephanie Gray (2002) defines skin tone bias through their establishment of the significance of skin color in the perceptions of Blacks.

“Skin tone bias is the tendency to perceive or behave toward members of a racial category based on the lightness or darkness of their skin tone. … this phenomenon also has been referred to as ‘colorism’ (Maddox & Gray,2002).” This term highlights the fact that colorism is a manifestation of a larger system of racial discrimination that has been ingrained in the black community. As it is firmly established in the omnipresent European colonial structure that places emphasis on White aesthetics such as a lighter skin tone and small features. Therefore, the blacks used White physicality as the ideal standard and this Eurocentric thinking perceives light skin and other shades of brown as being superior to dark skin. This hierarchical divide continually stimulates discord, discrimination, and cultural disconnects between Black individuals within the Black American & Caribbean community. The conception of colorism has a pejorative connotation (M. Hunter,2007) that operates both interracially and intraracially. “Intraracial colorism occurs when a member of one racial group makes a distinction based upon skin color between members of her own race. Interracial colorism

occurs when a member of one racial group makes a distinction based upon skin color between members of another race” (Herring, Keith, & Horton, 2003).

Historical background of Colorism
The exploration of the history of colorism demonstrate how society has used skin color to determine the relative position and discriminatory treatment of individuals within the black community. Historical accounts of skin Color bias in the United States originates from racial oppressions that occurred during the era of slavery. The effects of internalized oppression on black individuals have its origin in plantation slave owners commonly using skin tone differences among slaves as a means of creating a caste system (Harvey et al., 2005). Also, blacks were treated inferior to their lighter counterparts and white slave owners based solely on their skin color. In his speech, Willie Lynch Letter: The Making of a slave! British slave owner and speaker, Willie Lynch established this hierarchical divide as a method used to control slaves by subduing them into a cycle of submission to prevent slave revolts and rebellions. (Lynch, 1712). Nevertheless, the foundation of slavery became legitimized by a White Supremacy ideology, a belief system that considered light-skinned blacks and those with Eurocentric facial features to be genetically superior to darker-skinned Blacks and those with Negroid features (Neal & Wilson, 1989; Russell-Cole et al., 2013). This unfounded perception that lighter-skinned blacks were genetically superior to darker-skinned blacks, promoted the vile concept of interracial and intraracial colorism.
In the 1960s and 1970s Black is Beautiful and Black Power Movements promoted racial consciousness within the black community. Darker skin tones were admired with pride and were considered to have more of an authentic connection to African ancestry compared to their lighter-skinned counterparts. The collective racial identity of the African American community was strong due to the surge of black nationalism proclaiming, “Black is beautiful”. When Black pride was promoted and the affirmation of Blackness was revived nationwide, skin tone declined as a symbolism of prestige within the black community. Ultimately, the discriminatory treatment of light-complexioned Blacks and lack of equity between the Black leaders resulted in the abrupt discontinuation of the Black Power Movement. Although Blacks united together to fight injustices and racial hierarchy, the group remain oblivious to the internal hierarchy based on skin tone within the community. Despite this political climate of intense racial pride, light skin Blacks were sometimes ostracized when dark skin blacks questioned their ethnic legitimacy and dedication to Blacks. Nevertheless, during the Civil Rights Movement many young African Americans celebrated a sense of cultural pride and created new meanings of Blackness (M. Hill, 2002).
Although the Black pride movement was effective, the ideology was not long lasting as due to persistent negative attitudes toward and bias against darker skin in the United States. “Even though the ‘Black is Beautiful’ movement . . . sought to eradicate some of the negative notions associated with color consciousness, the phenomenon persists” (Breland, 1998, p. 297). Current research by Monk (2014) based on data from the National Survey of American Life (2001-2003), showed that skin tone has a continuing impact on black stratification patterns such as educational attainment, occupational status, and the skin tones and mate selection. Although, some individuals may argue that the significance of skin color has declined; it is still unknown whether current cultural trends that embrace multiculturalism will lead to less skin tone bias in future generations.

Skin Color and Identity-
According to Kathy Russell, author of The Color Complex, black identity is “a multifaceted and in some ways nebulous concept”. The nature of black ancestry is imbedded in the idea of community and a sense of responsibility for each other (Pinkney, 2000). As the sense of belonging to a collective requires exploring the process of self-discovery and realization of cultural identity:
‘Who am I?’ Is the question of identity, where it is important to understand the nature of one’s humanness.

‘Am I who I say I am?’ is a question of achieving congruence in assessing how our spiritual, cognitive, affective, and behavioral dimensions align with our self-definition. ‘Am I all I ought to be?’ is a question of self-actualization where one seeks to achieve the fullest expression of all one is supposed to become (Parham, White, Ajamu, 2000, p.42).

It is essential that Blacks develop a healthy racial identity to counterbalance the historical racist and discriminatory societal conditions they have endured (Sellers, Smith, Shelton, Rowley, & Chavous, 1998). Blacks who have a strong racial identity can understand the uniqueness of self and invoke racial connotation of subtle interpersonal cues within the community.

Scholars have discovered that even though skin color only influence an individual’s social, economic, and cultural characteristics it is essentially irrelevant to the political views of Blacks. In her book, “The Vanishing Black African Woman: Volume Two: A Compendium of the Global Skin-Lightening Practice author Yetunde Mercy Olumide defines skin color

paradox.

“The skin color paradox refers to the fact that no matter how differently African Americans are treated based on their skin color, their political and cultural attitudes about “blackness” as a form of identity and their feelings of solidarity with other blacks tend to remain consistent (Olumide, Y. M. 2016).”