The fear (dislike) of Black skin by some whites and some blacks

Update June 30, 2011

 

Research study shows that lighter skin Black inmates get shorter prison

sentences than darker inmates, when imprisoned for the exact same crime.

 Click Here To See Study Results. 

 

 

Racism and colorism has continued to marginalize many dark skin people through out the world in countries where whites or light skin people are the dominant culture. As a consequence, we are seeing a continued growth of dangerous skin lightening creams and hair relaxers in these societies, where some dark skin people, based on overt bias and their own insecurities, are trying to assimilate and be accepted by attempting to adopt the appearance of the more dominant culture.

 

Click here to see the Tufts University study on skin tone preference

 

 

 

I have seen white people who are as pale as a glass of milk, yet I have never heard someone white talk about how white and pale another Caucasion is. Yet I have heard a few whites as well as many blacks talk about how dark an athletic, model or celebrity is. (See Study: Whites Prefer Light Skin Black Males)

Some of you may be to young to remember how Negros in college sororities in the 50"s and 60's would be given the manila envelope test. If you were darker than the manila envelope then you couldn't get in.  A recent report by John Stossel on ABC 2020 showed that many producers of music videos primarily select light skin black females to be the devia's and dark skin girls to be the hoochies. On this segment, young black boys indicated their preference for light skin girls. It's apparent that white racism has lead to colorism among most people of color as evidence by the below clip.

Our kids are to young to realize that they are the victims of brain washing. Ask the average African American teenage boy to describe a beautiful girl and you will see what I'm talking about. By having so few dark and brown skin Black women who are displayed as beautiful in magazines ,commercials and movies, this allows someone else to impose their standard of beauty on you. What makes it worse is that so many people of color globally have internalized this racism keeping us at odds with one another.

Here's a recent example of How We Have Internalized This Colorism Sickness On A Global Basis largely promoted by multinational companies who use subversive advertising to promote skin whitening creams and to foster social and economic societal preferences based on skin color.

 

Comments

[Ed]

I remember back in the 60's in college all of the AKA's were so fair skinned as to look white, like they were "passing"; it was a requirement to join.

[helen]

february 6 2006

i live in a town called quincy...i have lived here for over 32 years...i have never liked this place...a nice place for raising children..there are african americans here not a lot though...this town has always had predjudiced over tones...still does...it has gotten maybe a tad bit better..but not much...once in a while there might be one person working in a bank...a few on the police department..finally more than one on the fire department...it was not easy getting people of color working at these jobs...now and for a few years from time to time there have been blacks working in the news and weather department....i say "now and then"...because they never stay...very long i can probably understand why...there is nothing for younger people here ....they keep building banks and houses that the average people cannot afford...a retirement town....sounds good especially and usually whites...come to live here....most blacks work in factories that are still here the naacp has no pull...the city finally put up signs with martin luther king's name on 8th street in town....a lot of whites did not like this idea...but somehow...it went into effect...one thing....there are a lot of bi-racial children here you see white women with a lot of bi-racial childen but now black fathers around!!!interesting....isn't it...i am older i live here but i have never liked here but i had no choice...you don't really see blacks in city hall either if any maybe one....there is a lot of nothing here...no black businesses whatso ever...i don't think this place is ever going to change...this is a german/old quaker town of old.....

[Tre Millyanz]

It's all about Black images in the media like my man said above. The socially constructed image of beauty doesn't make room for dark-skinned women of the world. Once in a while you'll see a darker model or something that everyone loves (i.e. Naomi Campbell), but it's rare. It's crazy....I realize that we're being brainwashed, but I still find myself preferring light-skinned women. I didn't even realize I was doing it until recently. We've got to start showing more dark-skinned women in the media as images of beauty so our kids don't get screwed up like we are.

dangerousNegro.com - Black Empowerment Apparel

[Oldahus]

Society is not ready to see the typical black features as beauty. Yes the dark skin, but not that combined with kinky hair, broad nose, big lips, and body type. Even some the of dark women who are on television and magazines have features similar to Caucasian women. (If it's not the hair, it's something else) I still applaud them. It's a step up but not typical black features.
That won't come until we have more black women who are in positions where they can be admired for more than just their physical features. People who are in high positions, well-respected, or have money dominate the media (thus why the Caucasians are there now).
Once we as a people move up in knowlege, positions of power and influence, and positivity, while at the same time, carry ourselves in natural form, then we will be seen as the image of beauty.
It's hard, because right now it's the other way around.

[John In SoFla]

Hey I am a white guy and I comment on pasty white folks usually just women. I have also seen it with my family members and other white people. I have a friend who is Cuban with a white complexion and his Cuban birth certificate states his race white. He also makes comments about pasty white people.

South Park (whose writers are white) aired an episode called Ginger Kids
(Episode Number: 136 Season Num: 9, 1st Aired: Wednesday November 9, 2005)

The story line was about Cartman (white kid) dislike for kids with red hair, freckles and pasty skin. You can read details here.
http://www.tv.com/south-park/ginger-kids/episode/561203/summary.html

I wrote this in response to your comment "I have seen white people who are as pale as a glass of milk, yet I have never heard someone white talk about how white and pale another Caucasian is."

Just wanted to let you know, now you have.

[Victoria]

Christ was a black man but there is more to it that you know. Christ is an Isralite and most of us are but we don't know it. Please go to www.thecomforter.info.com and learn the truth in the real word of God and the scriptures proving that Christ was black and we are his people.

[Stacey]

In reguard to the comment about knowing white people as 'pale as a glass of milk' i am one of these ppl, despite numerous visits to sunbeds, these are in vain. And my skin colour is constantly commented on. Only by other white people. So it would seem some white people struggle to accept people no matter what shade of what colour they are!!

[Michael]

i am hispanic, but look white. besides being the "white" sheep of my family, i was also the outcast in my "brown pride" neighborhood because the color of my skin. but because of the times, the 70's in southern california, i always felt more comfortable around white and mexican stoners and hippies where color didn't mean a thing. and there was always plenty of talk if someone was too white or pale because we had plenty of sun and beaches to remedy that. i've never known anyone who didn't like darker skin. i think it's what's under the skin that people don't like. brown is beautiful. hatred is not.

[simon cyrene]

im white and most of my life, as a kid ive been a victom of black on white crime. i have a mixed daughter, her father is a crack head, and he seems to miss all his visits. there is hatred every where, on every side. why do people hate someone else for something they cant help? i dont know...but what i do know is that Jesus is a man of color, so is the rest of the world (whites too), he just has more color then most. its just that white folks for got that they used to be dark too, before the curse on us for our shame.

[Summer]

Yeah, every race comments on skin "shades." I am a pasty white girl and I got it all the time.

There are a lot of beautiful black models...
Naomi Sims
Alek Wek
Naomi
liya kebede
etc. etc.

[kim colbert]

I am a beatiful brown skin sister in have lots of peoples makes comments of how pretty my skins is i have brown eyes and they would ask me are those contacts.I truely feel that brown in even dark skin woman are more beautiful than light skin. I am very comfortabble in my skin wouldn,t change it for no one.

[Greg]

Are you that ignorant?

I'm really white and have been told that several times by more than a handful of every ethnicity I've come across. I get it from white people the most but it is probably because white people comprise the majority of people I've met.

And honestly just some thoughts on the site, Jesus was human just like everyone else but if we wanna pin an ethnicity on him, there are only two possibilities-Arab or European. If he was of African descent, it would be North African and thus would be Arab. Or he may have been of Roman descent, since the empire controlled the region during his life. Seeing as his mother had a Roman name, not an Arab name, I think he was most likely of Roman descent making him appear European like how he is popularly described. But I guess you could argue that maybe the people that made him white changed his mother's historical name, but we can never prove or disprove that.

The hair of wool thing does not imply he was African. I'm white but my hair is very rough when I grow it out. I think it's kind of racist to assume that means he was black. Especially since in that time, everyone's hair probably had extensive sun damage and didn't have the ability to wash it very often making most hair become matted. And the way he is described, he doesn't seem like he would be one to worry about his physical appearance and probably didn't brush his hair.

But let's not stress on the race, I think people may have written that he was the son of God so we didn't place him in a specific race so he could be the savior of all mankind.

[Greg]

Oh btw some of the comments on here are kind of offensive. Most of all, white people aren't cursed. Man, for a website that should preach equality, there seems to be an awful lot of prejudice. For a long time growing up, I felt guilty for being white. I felt that we were to blame for all the bad things in the world, but no. Evil is not colorblind. White people are not the only ones capable of evil acts, just like all other races aren't the only ones capable of good acts.

If you need to have Jesus resemble you in order to be empowered then by all means, but you should really only focus on the fact that Jesus symbolizes the good there is in all of us, and that in and of itself should be enough empowerment anyone ever needs.

[BlackJesus.com]

Greg you are entitled to your own
opinion but not your own facts. Both
the Bible and National Geographic say
that Jesus couldn't have been white.
That's the point of this blog. We can
debate till the cows come home
shades of blackness. I can probably
show you a few of my Black cousins
who look like you.

Black people come in all colors and scientists
indicate that 25% of whites have a large percentage of
Black dna. By the way first man and Adam and Eve
were Black since scientists have proven that human life
began in Africa.

Which bothers you most Greg, the fact
that Jesus wasn't white or that he was
a dark skinned man? If Black people
could embrase and love Jesus as a
white man despite the facts, surely
you can do the same, now knowing
that he couldn't have been white. Peace

[Greg]

What offends me most is that the race of the man even matters.

Fine Jesus was black, but why is there all this stuff about white inferiority on this website? And why do you cite educated sources but still say white people can be up to 25% black?

If we all come from the say origin, then we are all 100% human. If the first humans came from Africa, then we are all 100% African. People aren't a percent of a color, if we are going to base it on ethnicity then we are all African.

I just don't believe that supremacy of any race is acceptable, and some of the things on this website come across as black supremacist.

Oh and this is just a side thought, not to be taken as I am speaking a fact or not but if we all come from Africa, how can any of us be white? And if it is possible for us to slowly become a lighter color 2000 years after the time of Jesus, is it possible that people could have become a lighter color 2000 years after the time of the Israelites?

I don't believe the Bible ever describes SKIN COLOR, and I would like you to point out the widely accepted anthropological evidence that clearly defines the race of Jesus. You do realize that there are theories based on "scientific evidence" that Jesus was African, Jesus was Persian, Jesus was Arab, and even that Jesus never existed. So I don't know what all-knowing sources you are looking at, but excuse me if I don't just believe something that proves the point I am trying to make.

I am merely questioning theories based on what I have learned about the region, its history, and the history of humans. If there was a theory out there that was proven entirely factual, it wouldn't be considered a theory anymore.

I have no problem with Jesus being one way or another because at the end of the day, it doesn't matter. You however do have a problem with it which is clearly exemplified by this website and the fact that you provide popular theories as complete truth.

I'd like to ask you a question, that hopefully you answer with well documented sources and provide me with the links to those sources... so here it is: how can Jesus be black when the area he inhabited is surrounded by Arabs in a 500 mile radius?

This is just my point of view but I believe he was Arab given the demographical information available today and the inability to travel great distances back then. Not white, not black, not asian, but at the end of the day still our Lord and Savior.

[Greg]

"Which bothers you most Greg, the fact
that Jesus wasn't white or that he was
a dark skinned man? If Black people
could embrase and love Jesus as a
white man despite the facts, surely
you can do the same, now knowing
that he couldn't have been white. Peace"
^^^
And it's crap like this that shouldn't be tolerated. Just because I disagree with your opinion, suddenly I have some type of racial issue with it? I have a factual issue with what you are saying. I would feel the same way if I wasn't white.

The fact that you instantly try to cut down my opinion by stamping me as racist is completely unreasonable.

And if you want to be all scientific about Adam and Eve, explain why the original story of the Garden of Eden comes from the Babylonians who lived in the Fertile Crescent. Did you even know that? Or did you only research enough to prove the point you were trying to make?

There's a lot of information out there, and you can make a case for just about anything. Since you can, don't try to sell your case as complete truth based on some carefully selected facts.

[BlackJesus.com]

Greg,

Here is your question:

how can Jesus be black when the area he inhabited is surrounded by Arabs in a 500 mile radius? This is just my point of view but I believe he was Arab given the demographical information available today and the inability to travel great distances back then. Not white, not black, not asian, but at the end of the day still our Lord and Savior.

Here is my answer:

Like so many who are misinformed,
you have a television view of Arabs
gotten from the movies made by Caucasians.
I have presented you with facts throughout this site.
As I have said, there are those who still won't
believe. But Greg you must have come here
by you or someone your know typing in the
words "Black Jesus." You join 500,000 people
a month who in typing in those words,
are looking for answers. I commend you
for it and I wish you well. Peace.

[Greg]

I am sorry, but what view do you have of Arabs? Have you been to the Arab world? Were they black? Or did they have the skin color of Anwar Sadat, Muammar Qadafi, Hosni Mubarak, Abdelaziz Bouteflika? Even Bedouins that inhabit the southern areas of the North African Arab countries are not black. You can say all you want about me being misinformed, but I know that I am not. However, you are delusional, and I am sorry that no amount of reason I can provide for you will ever change that.

I am not misinformed, the ones that you have believed throughout your life are and have misguided you to the conclusions you have arrived at. I am not here to argue that Jesus was white, because based on facts about the region, he was most likely Arab.

You can believe whatever you want and tell others what they should believe themselves, but you cannot change the truth nor silence the truth that is out there. I applaud you in your efforts, although they are misguided. God bless you, whatever race you want that God to be.

[BlackJesus.com]

Greg I have yet to see a blond headed blue eyed picture of man or woman drawn on the walls of the pyramids or described in the old testament. Yet that is the false image that
has been held up as the son of God. As I said before, you are entitled to your own opinion but not your own facts.

[Greg]

and likewise, i have yet to see a black man drawn on the walls of the pyramids or described in the old testament.

you just need to accept that you are wrong, because there is only ONE description of the physical appearance of Jesus. and it came from Revelation 1:13-16.

1:13 - And in the midst of the seven candlesticks [one] like unto the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the foot, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
1:14 - His head and [his] hairs [were] white like wool, as white as snow; and his eyes [were] as a flame of fire;
1:15 - And his feet like unto fine brass, as if they burned in a furnace; and his voice as the sound of many waters.
1:16 - And he had in his right hand seven stars: and out of his mouth went a sharp two edged sword: and his countenance [was] as the sun shineth in his strength.
(KJV translation)

Revelation was written by John of Patmos. beginning in the 2nd century AD, this John was believed to be the same John the Apostle and the author of the Fourth Gospel. that concept was a product of Justin Martyr, although there are scholars that dispute the concept and believe that the two men were not the same.

its obvious that you support Justin Martyr's concept because then the author of Revelation would have seen Jesus himself. its not proven because its disputed but its clear that if you believe your concept then you would believe that. but i ask you this, why is there no other physical description in his entire Gospel if it is the same man?

oh and just so you know, that description of Jesus was him in his HEAVENLY FORM according to the Bible. do you know if his EARTHLY FORM is the same as his HEAVENLY FORM?

and again i dont see any description undeniably PROVING that he was black. so basically we have a guy with coarse white hair, bright red eyes, brass feet (which is closer in color to arabs not blacks), and a sword for a tongue.

so either the whole description can be interpreted, or obviously the HEAVENLY FORM is not the same as the EARTHLY FORM.

what do you not understand about this?

[BlackJesus.com]

And Greg I'm sure your also are one of those
confederates who believe that the civil war war about states rights and not slavery.
I suggest you set up your own blog and you can perpetuate all the lies you learned in school. Peace.

[Pianki]

I took my daughter and her son to Ghana West Africa. He made friends with a young man from Nima. My grandson loves the Ghanian children who are all dark complexion.

[plus.google.com/109864051343899674730]

My husband is an African-American.

The adoption-agency folks say that we cannot adopt a child because we are creepy, transgendered homosexuals.

But we all know it's because of the color of my husband's skin.