How Colorism Negatively Affects Little Black Girls

Colorism is almost just as bad as racism.

At this point, we are all quite familiar with racism. The protests are ongoing, more people are speaking out against discrimination, the entire world is learning about it today…but, we rarely ever talk about racism’s ever so sneaky cousin; colorism.

Colorism exists just as much as racism. We see it in television shows, we see it in Hollywood, we see it on social media, we even see it in our own communities, yet it is hardly ever addressed in full capacity. Where did it come from and why does it affect the self-confidence of little black girls?

I Was Black, She Was Almost White

I remember it so vividly. I was eight years old when she moved from the United States to our little twin-island country of Trinidad and Tobago, to live at my grandmother’s house. She was my cousin, born to my Afro-Caribbean aunt and her Puerto-Rican father. She had very light-colored skin with luscious, thick 3A hair, dubbed the “good hair.”

I was in awe when I saw her, as was everyone else. Why? Tobago is a predominantly Afro-Trinbagonian community so she stood out wherever she went. She was fondly called “Reds”, which was Trinbagonian slang for a person of “Red-skin”. RED-SKIN (adj) — Light-colored in complexion, brown, light brown, reddish-brown or reddish-white; usually a mixture of European (White) and African (Black).

I was about eleven years old when I began to realize that something was wrong. It had somehow gradually evolved from awe and curiosity to preferential treatment. I noticed how she got treated better than I was by everyone else. How she got sent to a fancy, private primary school while I went to a public one. How she got doted on a lot more than I did.

While in the town with our grandmother, people would stop us and shower her with compliments with nary a word about me. I felt unattractive and unwanted.

This continued even through high school, where she would be pursued a lot more by the guys and was very popular. I saw teachers give her preferential treatment, I even had my crush approach me because he was interested in her. He asked me, “Can you introduce me to your cousin? Reds are really my type.”

Back then, I thought to myself, “Wow, maybe I really am quite ugly.”, but that didn’t seem to be the case. If I was alone, I received compliments but if I was together with her, I was overlooked. I was so confused. We didn’t even look that much different from each other, save for the fact that I didn’t have the “good hair”, rather, my hair was “nappy”, and I was Black whereas she was almost White.

My Situation Was Not Unique

As I got older and more observant, I realized that it was not something that was limited to me. It was an issue within our community. It was a silent monster that reared its ugly head from time to time and no one acknowledged how wrong it was.

It was not uncommon to hear women wishing for daughters of mixed race so that they wouldn’t have to take care of their daughter’s “nappy” hair. It was not uncommon to hear the men saying how much they preferred women of lighter complexion even though their mothers were beautiful black women with dark skin. It was not uncommon to hear Trinidadians bash Tobagonian women because they are less mixed (more Black) than their Trinidadian counterparts.

When I moved outside of the Caribbean, I saw that colorism was even more prevalent in black communities. Light skinned black women are more popular than dark-skinned black women. On social media, the more racially ambiguous the black women are, the more popular they are as well.

Natural hair YouTubers mostly have 3A — 3B hair which results in little black girls looking to chemical-filled texturizers and relaxers so that they may have “good hair” as well. Some even search out bleaching products to lighten their skin. These girls grow up thinking that they are unattractive, and are the least desirable of women because our communities perpetuate the notion of “ The whiter you are, the better you are.” How can we combat this?

Empower Our Little Black Girls

We can start by telling our little black girls that they are enough. They are beautiful enough with their dark skin. They are gorgeous enough with their tightly coiled 4C texture hair. Teach them that their hair is not “nappy” but it is beautiful. Encourage them to learn about their hair textures and help them take care of it. Teach them that they are loved just as they are.

Create media that shows them how lovely their skin color is and that they do not need to be of a lighter complexion to be appreciated. Represent them in television shows, represent them in Hollywood, represent them on social media. Allow them a space to grow and nurture their self-confidence. Teach them that being dark is not a sin.

“The most disrespected person in America is the black woman. The most unprotected person in America is the black woman. The most neglected person in America is the black woman.” - Malcolm X

If we want our sisters and daughters to be respected, we must respect them as well. Our sisters of lighter complexion, please help us in uplifting our little black girls also. Please help us in teaching them that they are beautiful just the way they are. We are all in this together and through solidarity, we can rise above anything.