Curbing racism should start in the community

  Adrian Haymond If you’d like to express
your disgust, feel free to contact Haymond at [email protected].
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United we stand, divided we fall.”Â Truer words have
never been spoken, especially as it deals with intraracial
discrimination.

This is a problem that many in the black community are afraid to
discuss, because it resembles airing “dirty laundry.”
However, unless this is discussed, there’s no way blacks can
effectively address racial discrimination against them by the rest
of society.

Because of superficial differences in skin color, many blacks
turn on each other, forming cliques when they should instead be
concentrating their energy on fighting those threatening to take
away hard-won rights. 

Lighter-skinned siblings may become hypersensitive to criticism
that they may not be “black” enough.

It seems that while we decry racism based on skin color, we are
actually guilty of perpetuating it ourselves. But instead of
sweeping this under the rug, we should start dealing with this
unacceptable problem.

Intraracial discrimination has much of its roots in how some
blacks incorporate the European ideal of beauty into their
thinking. I know black women who spend hours trying to straighten
their hair and lighten their complexion, while some black men use
chemicals in their hair to smooth it out.

Some black parents reinforce this view by telling their children
to marry someone with “good hair” and light skin rather
than the beautiful darker sister or brother with
“nappy” hair and full lips. The excuse I have heard
consistently from parents is: “We want beautiful
children” ““ as though dark children are naturally
ugly.

But what makes intraracial preference so heinous is not solely
the perception of beauty, but the false idea some blacks have that
beauty equals intelligence. In my experience, darker-skinned blacks
have been associated with having lower intelligence than
lighter-skinned blacks.

I read an article in which Gwenetta Drewery, a North Carolina
high school junior, wrote in her school newspaper that
“light-skinned blacks feel that she did not know as much as
they did.”
(http://www.jordan.dpsnc.net/fc/feb1999/colorism.html)

If our own prejudices against each other aren’t bad
enough, this country’s entertainment industry only makes
matters worse.

In the movies and on television, black hoodlums are usually
dark, brooding characters. And while such dark black men as Denzel
Washington and Wesley Snipes have also portrayed heroes, the fact
remains that few “bad men” are light-skinned blacks.
Instead, they play the parts of police officers, scientists and
doctors. This also applies to female actors, since the beautiful
black heroine is rarely dark.

Meanwhile, as some light-skinned blacks might feel
intellectually superior, some dark-skinned blacks feel that their
lighter brothers and sisters are less than pure. Although this use
of skin tone as an “acid test” of racial solidarity is
ludicrous, it is nevertheless used quite extensively ““
possibly as a defense against those same lighter-skinned
“intellectuals” who believe that skin color makes them
smarter.

The racist does not need to use a blatant attack to defeat us
anymore; the “divide and conquer” strategy the black
community has used to destroy itself has worked like a charm.
Instead of concentrating on racial inequality, many blacks worry
about being “down for the hood” (if darker-skinned) or
“making it in society” (if lighter-skinned).

Sadly, this division has permeated the nuclear family. Parents
differentiate their children based on skin color, allowing siblings
to pick up and act on their parents’ beliefs.

In her book “The Last Plantation,” journalist
Itabari Njeri tells a story in which Gloria, a dark-skinned woman,
was continually taunted with the N-word by her lighter-skinned
grandmother and cousins; this was the foundation of many emotional
scars.

Conversely, lighter-skinned siblings may become hypersensitive
to criticism that they may not be “black” enough. Njeri
wrote that one of her cousins bought into the Harlem street life to
prove how black he was ““ he was gunned down as a result.

Why is there so much needless animosity between lighter and
darker people of color?

Many black scholars believe that our current feelings regarding
skin color has its roots in the days of American slavery. Those who
were lighter in skin tone were granted certain privileges,
including staying in the master’s home instead of doing
back-breaking labor. We can see how this led to feelings of
superiority among blacks.

The odd thing, though, is that when all was said and done,
blacks ““ both light and dark ““ were considered
three-fifths human.

But it does not matter how dark or light I am. It matters that I
am part of a culture that has accomplished much in its fight for
equality. This is why it makes me sick to my stomach when those who
I consider my brothers and sisters use such a superficial yardstick
as skin tone to determine acceptance.

Blacks must embrace diversity as equally as they implore others
to accept it. As they preach tolerance among those who would
denigrate them, blacks must practice it towards their own,
regardless of their color or views.

We all have something to bring to the table because being
“black” does not mean being a certain color or mindset
““ it means celebrating the many facets that make the black
community a tower of strength.

Otherwise, how can blacks call other people racists when we
effectively practice racism against our own people? To me, this
would make us hypocrites, which is much worse.