The Skin I M In By Sharon G. Flake

Col·or·ism ˈkələrˌizəm/ NOUN Prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion often among persons of the same racial identification. (Webster) Colorism is consequential in today’s society seeing that it is still prestigious in the fast paced world that we live in today. Colorism concerns everyone; it is a controversy that wreaks havoc among African-American, Asian, Latin American, and other communities. We all go through colorism whether or not we realize it. Together, we can become aware, we can address the situation, and we can end the atrocious social battle. To begin the process, we must alter the way media portrays this societal conflict.
There is an existing beauty standard characterized by skin complexion

With various technological advances made every single day, today’s citizens have become accustomed to having and using smart phones. The Skin I’m In, by Sharon G. Flake, is a book about a seventh-grader, Maleeka Madison, who is tormented by other students because of her dark skin. The book opens the reader’s eyes on how the educational system contributes to the unintentional hierarchy of colorism. Maleeka was bullied, beaten, and treated as she was less than equal.
Educational opportunities and advancement have strikingly dissimilar conclusions when comparing variations in skin tone. Light-complexioned African Americans are found to consistently hold higher educational attainment than African Americans of darker shades. What is fascinating about findings in education is that as attainment increases, skin color appears to lighten. In fact, at each increment of lighter skin (from very dark to very light) there is almost half of supplementary year of education. Hersch asserts that possible explanations of these differences can be traced to the perceptions of beauty held by society. In general, attractiveness is associated with greater economic and educational

Organizations and societies, including churches, would only accept members who passed the notorious "paper bag test." This was the practice of inequality that declared those who were darker than a brown paper bag could not and would not be accepted. It is actions like these that demonstrate the internalization of the skin color hierarchy. As Patton explains, "beauty is a commodity" and thus the justification for these practices lay in the need for social organizations to reflect the standards of the mainstream. This ingroup discrimination has and continues to stratify "Black America." Based on rigorous works of other scholars, it is well established that African-American women with light skin have been socially advantaged for generations. However, it should be noted that these evaluations of complexion were originally practiced by whites in order to prevent
Is the issue of colorism still relevant in the 21st Century? Is there a significant relationship between woman's skin complexion and her self-esteem? To what extent do African-American women distinguish between light and dark complexions? Is skin tone predictive factor for African-American women's social outcomes? The reader should ask themselves these questions when going about their daily