Friday, February 27, 2009

Light Skin Vs Dark Skin

I don't know if you guys know about William Lynch and the letter he wrote in 1712 to keep African American slaves down but.. If you haven't read it. This is a direct quote from the letter. "You must use the dark skinned slaves vs the light skinned slaves, and the light skinned slaves vs. the dark skinned slaves. You must use the female vs. the male, and the male vs. the female." So for those thinking I'm just pulling this theory out my ass, I'm not.

Where I'm from, light skinned females always had to prove their "toughness" to other females but was always liked by all the guys. Dark skinned females weren't considered pretty, they were "cute to be dark skinned". The reason I'm sticking on females is because I see it more with women then men. Some light skinned females have the ugliest attitude, like their better then everyone. Its only some though who in turn fuck it up for the cool ones. Dark skinned females are often insecure because they aren't considered beautiful or attractive so that causes problems between the two. In school it was always light skinned vs dark skinned. ALWAYS! If it wasn't light skinned vs dark skin it was two light skinned females fighting for no damn reason, just to see who's tougher. Light skinned girls in one click, dark skinned girls in the other click.

I know of females who have complained that they were discriminated because of their skin tone. I can't even front, light skinned girls are considered a hot commodity by most guys. Idk why, just is. All women are sexy to me though, shit =D!!! Any who.. We racially profile our self and I just wanted to post about it because a lot of females are in denial. Its usually the light skinned females who don't see it. Why? Because they reap all the benefits of it.

Things are getting a lot better then what they were. Hell, maybe they aren't. What do you think about it though? Do you think its getting better or staying the same?

33 comments:

Skye J February 27, 2009 at 1:55 PM  

i feels yu.
and im sick of this light skin vs dark thing, its getting old.
-Skye Naomi

T February 27, 2009 at 2:14 PM  

this is true theres always this thing between the skin tones and it started long before we were born. I think its getting better as there are more darker female celebs. Its never been as big of a deal for males because they are all focused on females, on off the advantages of being one tracked minded lol. good post bro

Rai February 27, 2009 at 2:36 PM  

lol. I knew this blog was coming.
At the end of the day it always seems to fall back to stereotypes or what "society" said.

It's sad that African Americans especially are so PREJUDICE towards their on Race... and it shows.
But it's also an issue in the Latino and Indian community.

It's only and always will be "Light skinned vs Dark Skinned" because you want it to be like that.

I love my complexion, but it does not or NEVER WILL defy who I am as a person or how "I'm suppose to be."

Issues aren't as bad as they were years ago, still bad though nonetheless.
People need to move on(not forget) from the past because it's clearly interfering with them focusing on the present.

Jasmine Nicole February 27, 2009 at 2:43 PM  

"Light skinned girls in one click, dark skinned girls in the other click."


the hell? never heard of that one, I'm dark skin and the majority of my friends are light skin ...and same goes for a lot of other ppl i know .

as far as the whole issue goes, some ppl are just color struck and some have their own preferences.
The issue will never go away or become less of one because there's always going to be that one ignorant person who just doesn't know any better .

Unknown February 27, 2009 at 2:58 PM  

uhm, personally i've always went to predominantly white schools so i wouldn't now about the light skinned girls fighting and these cliques based on skin color but i will say i used to see all light skinned girls hanging out together and all dark skinned girls hanging together. but it's not really like that anymore. i hang with whomever is cool to me. i don't even think light skinned girls are such a hot commodity anymore, i think it's more of that exotic looking chick that's a hot commodity nowadays.
i think ppl are starting to let the stupid shit go now, but some ppl do still self-segregate and/or chill with whom they feel they can identify with more whether they're basing it on skin color or whatever.
nice bloggg. =].

NiKKi February 27, 2009 at 4:04 PM  

It is getting better! Or maybe it just doesn't matter as much as it did in middle/high school. I think now it depends on your preference.

C i a . February 27, 2009 at 4:44 PM  

Yeah I did know about that letter. So anyway I have lighter skin and I definitely see it. Although it is improving, maybe because I'm older and it was a thing of the past or because people are making it known to embrace the skin your in. Whatever I was always discriminated against. Even now. I have Aunts that say I think I'm better because my skin complexion is lighter. They even tell me I'm going to marry a white man and have mixed babies. /= Its stupid though because I use to want darker skin and I'm attracted to males with darker skin tones because I actually believe browns, even blacks are beautiful. Skin is skin though and I don't discriminate agaisnt anyone . I know how it feels and of course its old. That Willilam Lynch guy was ignorant and so we're the people that followed his command. Just plain stupid. And anyone else who thinks it should still be like that. Assholes.

C i a . February 27, 2009 at 4:46 PM  

I meant were*

Ashley February 27, 2009 at 5:04 PM  

I don't think this sterotype/discrimination will subside any sooner than racism will be completely eliminated from society.

I heard about that letter back in ninth grade and it is pretty sad because they used that same theory during imperialism and apartheid in Africa.

I think that as long as we let others of other races influence how we see ourselves and how we will love ourselves and our people, we will stereotype and discriminate against our own.

It is very hard for dark skinned girls and their self-esteem. I see it everyday in my family even though I'm light-skinned. But it'll take time for us to reverse and/or erase what colonists and imperialists did to us as a people and as an entire race.

Devon February 27, 2009 at 5:09 PM  

i loveee your post and you have made good points that all technically sad but true!!! i never understood the whole dark vs light thing..out of all my friends i hang with i am almost if not always the lightest one in the group..not by choice or anything its just like that and i am a firm believer and i know this might sound cliche when i say it but its really whats on the inside i dont see color i also must say that dark skin is innn lol and i love dark skinned guysss..not saying i dont like light skined guys either but thats just what i prefer, some of the most beautiful people in my eyes are dark skinned!

i do know what your talking about when you say dark skinned girls hang with dark skinned girls and light skin girls hang with light skined girls its like that ALOT where im from and its sad because there are friends because of how they all look so they feel they have to stick together..it so sad but true i am not like that i dont see color when i look at people! and i wish people woulg get pass that because its merely a low case of prejudice in my eyes!

Muzik N' Lyrik February 27, 2009 at 6:56 PM  

When I saw William Lynch I knew I had to comment. This nigga was smart....yea u read correctly, he was.That's because the things he did and promoted still has an effect on us black people. As far as this light-skinned, dark-skinned battle I agree is still holds true. Hell I can't even lie I used to be one of those dark-skinned gurl who couldn't stand light skinned girls. But after doing a lot of maturing I realized that it was just plain dumb. Now my bestfriend and singing partner is one of the many light-skinned gurl I couldn't stand.

p.s (lol) if any of u who read this have never read William Lynch's letter YOU SHOULD I promise you'll never see the world the same again... especially if your black

&& love, briit February 27, 2009 at 8:39 PM  

def agree. the light skin dark skin thing is gettn better in my opinon.
i think now its the mixed, dark skinned with pretty long hair-
or exotic, cultural chicks
getting all the attention

but its def a issue in society.
it sickens me
but it's pretty damn evident.

monroestacks - February 27, 2009 at 9:22 PM  

honestly, i think that society is going to always portray the "lighter skinned" image better as opposed to the "darker skinned". me myself, i am not the lightest & not the darkest but i am comfortable in my OWN skin. and i think thats where most of the depicting lies. beneath your OWN skin. we have a unrelenting esteem factor that begins with OUR own opinions thn comes the "outside world" & what they have to say abt it. its also the stereotype that "darker skinned" females are more "stronger" mentally wise & the lighter skinned ones are more "ditzy" & what not. ugh i agree with Skye, ths shts getting old.

Anonymous February 27, 2009 at 10:03 PM  

You know...if you're talking about it;it has remained the same.When I was a little,my cousin was showed favoritism over us because she was high yellow.little girls as babies are showed more attention if they have funny colored eyes and are light skinned.Coming up in school,the light ones did get into it a lot with dark girls because of jealousy.Sometimes it was the light one startin it,but most times it was the dark ones that was the producer of that drama.From early learning,to high school,it has been that way.It will always be that way because females are competitive and petty.I have a daughter that's a owner of both "light skinned girls" trait of the pretty eyes and yellow skin.Upon entering junior high,I warned her of the troubles ahead of her because of the color of her skin.How confusing that is to a child,to be judged by the color of their skin by their own damn kind.We fail to realize the glory in being able to come in all shades of beautiful black skin.I did not raise her to think she was prettier than the next girl,just have enough confidence in her "self" to be herself. My daughter has one of the darkest girls as her best friend;and when I say dark,I mean a FEW shades past chocolate.I believe its all in how that little girl was raised and treated that turns them into the the competitive,petty people they become.As the group Earth,Wind and Fire sung: "A child is born with a heart of gold, the way of the world,makes his heart stone cold"...Ladies love each other and lets stand united as The Spirit of the Muse.Eric,that's the name of that African art that I have of the 4 different shades of black women and their different hair textures and styles.The sad thing is,they will never change.It was like that when my mother was a young girl and she had to fight because she was light.She found the darkest man in the neighborhood to make a family and hoped her kids would come out in between.
As a woman,I saw the same thing with men,but strangely enough,we tend to like dark men,go figure.This conversation will be a topic in your kids lives as well...watch!

Naomie February 27, 2009 at 11:23 PM  

prejudice is still around. i feel it'll always be around b/c it's been around for so long & there is always someone out there that has to talk shit.

but i agree with what you said about the light "stuck up" females and the dark "insecure" females, not to say all of them fit into that particular category, but i've seen it a lot growing up

way i see it is people just need to accept the way they were born & stop making a big deal out of nothing b/c honestly it's whack & played out

killuh™ February 28, 2009 at 12:31 AM  

honestly; i think alot of it has to do with men, i think they're at fault for a lot of it. i'm puerto rican, but the majority of my friends are african-american, black, wudeva yu wana call it. and they come in all shades, my best friend is dark-skinned and she's BEAUTIFULL; but alot of times, we meet guys [black guys] and if they're not trying to hit on a hispanic chik; he's going for the light-skinned chiks.

even my own guy friends will say in front of her (about other girls) "i don't like her dark ass" clearly forgetting she's dark too, and its offensive.

maybe more men should see the beauty in all women, every color, shade, shape, & size & women won't feel the need to prove themselves.

--i'm confident in myself. but that's no thanks to any men, i did that myself ;]

killuh™

killuh™ February 28, 2009 at 12:39 AM  

oh; and ONE MORE THING..
that's a problem in many cultures.
i'm hispanic, but i honestly look like a white girl. i'm not tanned and i was born with blonde hair, so i'm called "gringa" and what-not and family & friends tell me i'm a fake puerto rican. and so i just find it rediculous that the majority of the issues come from our own people :[

JAYFENDii February 28, 2009 at 12:52 AM  

i had a feeling a post would be made on this topic sooner or later. just didn't know which blogger would be the one to post it. anyhow.. this was a topic on tyra and i watched it with my mother and she didn't believe me before when i explained to her the inside hate of "black community" the racial profiling and what not.. she didn't quite understand why i didn't like being the skin tone i am.. or even around ppl of the same or darker skin tone(female wise)..

to be honest, light skin females have it waaaayyy better.. it's get better than it use though. and also, i didn't experience this until i lived in la.. the hate between skin tones.. bc here in atl red bone, yellow girls, or brown girls are treated all the same.. but i think thats just Atlanta..

theres my comment.

Anonymous February 28, 2009 at 6:32 AM  

I totally agree.Being that i am darkskin i used to feel somewhat insecure, but that was only when i was younger. I know im beautiful though and my darkskin is a compliment to my inner beauty, and I appreciate that every time I look in the mirror.

Anonymous February 28, 2009 at 7:25 AM  

"The blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice. I say darker the flesh then the deeper the roots."

I've come across A LOT of gorgeous dark skinned women around my way and they pull just as many guys as the light skinned chicks. I personally fall in the middle and am comfortable with my complexion. I actually like my golden tone.I think the darker you are, the richer your skin looks (if moisturized, lol), but that's just my opinion.

I'm not going to lie, I used to prefer light skinned men over dark skinned men. It was just a phase I was going through in my younger years. But then when I got to college, I let that go because some dark skinned guys looked better than the lighter ones. Skin tone doesn't matter, it's all about confidence and character.

BLACK is BEAUTIFUL

Lo0vely MzTasher February 28, 2009 at 3:40 PM  

;; OMG! im glad someone realizes this. it's sadd that people think this way and this stuff still goes on in our society.
We have been Brainwashed in this country to beleive that light is better && there is a such thing as "good hair" ----WTH!! I wish everyone could just just be equal enjoy being BLACk && PRoud!

DKNY OH MY IM JIGGY February 28, 2009 at 4:19 PM  

Say It Loud...Im Black And Im Proud....

LMAO

Ummm im sorry but i think its still an issue with toys R Us Chicks (I dont wanna grow up i just wanna have fun)

Its time for them to grow up and get over it

I have Asians, Jamaicans, Dark, Light, Middle eastern, I Love PEOPLE, ALL PEOPLE. Time to grow up ladies.

I Blame Young Berg' And His "Dark Butts COmment...fuckin Fag

Thats what Katt Williams meant when he said "Bitch Niggas"

Rai February 28, 2009 at 5:30 PM  

LMAO @ blaming Yung Berg!
This has been an issue way before his existent. hahaha.

Anonymous February 28, 2009 at 9:46 PM  

I don't think it's close to being over, I just feel like people have found a million and one more things to hate a bitch for.. if it's not her skin, it's her hair, her body, the way she looks, how she dresses, who she's with etc...

I wish the light skin v. Darksin thing would finally go away. Im tired of guys cussin me out because I don't wanna holla back because obvious reasons..such as they're lame, or ugly, or have nothing of credit..yet they swear it's because im light skin.

For real, when I get dressed in the morning and im feelin' my fly shit, Being light skinned has never been on the checklist.

plus! I can't do anything about it now. 21 years into!! What do black folk expect us to do? lmao! I mixed.. so I just tell people that throw the skin tone debate in the mix to tell ya mama get with a white guy like mine did..and dont hate! Lmao!

Rai March 1, 2009 at 8:23 AM  

lol. All "mixed" people do not come out light skinned...

Larose March 2, 2009 at 10:33 AM  

Okay, my feel on this is personal because I used to be really really light skin as a child. But with my eczema people see me now as "brown".

Growin up, I was raised around my family and on my moms side, they are all the same complexion and there came me, high yellow. When I would look at family pictures I would honestly feel left out and I asked my ma if I was adopted because I didnt know how I came out so light skin (Later on, when I was about 10 I met my dad father and he was light skin so thats where I got it from).

But my mom told me that her dad liked me the best out of the grandchildren because I was light skin and he just favored me more. I dont really remember but I dont doubt that its true because thats how people act here.

I find myself feeling like...only if I didnt have my eczema and I was light skin people would like me more. And ridiculously enough, its true whether people want to admit it or not.

What makes me sick though is that most black people are so quick to jump on white people for stuff they dont know ANYTHING about yet they hate on each other and dont see anything wrong with it! We are all black people and we have been through so much as a race. I dont understand why people want to have so much hatred toward each other. I really dont. And yeah I mean, certain white people have wronged us as a race but please back up what yu say with facts instead of what yu heard because ignorance is not cute. whatsoever.

And when I hear girls arguing and using skin color as a segway to hurting the other person (ex: yo krispy black ass") dh yu mean by that? wth are you ? medium-rare ?


idk this is such a broad topic i cant get all my opinion out. This is what I have to say about it though. I was raised around all different races. White, filipenos, blacks, mixed raced people, and I really dont care. You are a person and what yu are mixed with doesnt phase me. Unfortunately for society, it does matter. And im hoping that will change.

Miss Daja March 2, 2009 at 11:17 PM  

im a victim..
i hate it but its true!
but things are better now than they were

Anonymous March 3, 2009 at 4:24 AM  

Like Mixed Girls Having To Prove Their "Blackness" A mixed Chick I Used To School With Went Through It. White Ppl (her co-workers) Were Saying Some Rcaist Type Stuff, She Stepped In Black Peoples Defense They Said "Yeah Well You're Not A REAL Black Person" Lol. Wth Is That? Just Throwin That Out There.

And Uuuuum Aside From being Light or Dark...
Hair Is An Issue. Whats THAT About?

Beautiful Q March 10, 2009 at 1:59 PM  

Unfortunately this dumb ass stuff is still around! Of course when I was a shorty I thought that light skin was better due to society. Although I'm in between, I was categorized as dark skinned. But when I got old enough to formulate my own opinion...I saw skin tones don't make u pretty! I LOVE my Tan Brown Complexion lol!

Monique Famous March 11, 2009 at 9:38 AM  

Until black people on a whole accrpt themselves the internal battle with always continue. I don't hear too many arguments about the light brights and the dark as nights, but the looks, and attitude is still there. Personally I love the skin I'm in and it doesn't make me my personality does. Hopefully black people will soon realize that at the end of the day were all in the same struggle because we share the same bloodline, were the creators of man kind so why are we fighting?

Nice entry.
-Nique

Tashur Raquel March 15, 2009 at 3:31 AM  

I think its getting better. People are now throwing that whole complextion issue out the window. People still have their mind sets and prefrences of what they like, but as far as the whole discriminatiion against. I think thats calmed down a bit.

Anonymous April 4, 2009 at 5:15 PM  

SiNCE i AM DARK SKiNNED i UNDERSTAND EVERYTHiNG. ONLY THiNG i DiDNT GO THRU WAS THE CLiQUES..i HUNG OUT W/ GiRLS OF EVERY SKiN TONE. THE JOKES ABOUT BEiNG DARK NEVER ENDED BUT WHEN iT CAME DOWN TO iT, iT WAS ALL IGNORANCE. NOT ALL LiGHT SKiNNED GiRLS ARE PRETTY BUT WHEN YOU'RE DARK U HAVE SO MUCH MORE TO PROVE BC UR NOT CONSiDERED `PRETTY ENOUGH`. PERSONALLY i LOVE BEiNG DARK, WISH MY FACE WAS THE SAME COLOR AS THE REST OF MY BODY THOUGH LMAO. BUT ON A SERiOUS NOTE iF U DNT HAVE THE STRENGTH && CONFiDENCE THE TAUNTiNG iS ONLY GNNA BRiNG U DOWN. i KNOW iM BEAUTiFUL W/ OR W/O iT BEiNG SAiD.

Why is it? May 5, 2009 at 11:41 AM  

There is actually no such thing as race, it's just a family trait thing. I'm Mostly Spanish and European, but I have Filipino tan skin since my grandma was filipino. Plus to add to your ass pulling, its like saying if animals could talk, we'd be vegetarians, you dig?

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