Wishing I Was Dark Skin - More People Need To Talk About The 'Othering' of Light Skin Non-Biracial Black People

Saturday, 4 May 2024

By: TB Obwoge

I will never stop talking about how fucking awful living in Ghana was for me, I have no idea why so many Black Americans continue to promote moving to Ghana.

I've written about the Ghanaian that threw my Bolt foods order on the ground, after 20 minutes of him refusing to give my food to me, thinking I was white. Or when Ghana police and immigration constantly targeted me for bribery money, stopping me on travels and when I was in the car with a Ghanaian. Ghana by far is the most racist and colorist country I've ever lived in. Yes, I am an American.

No, everyday in the US, when I walk down the streets, no one screams my skin color out to me. No one calls me fat, fatty, biggie, big mommy, or says, "we love big fat obese women!"

I am not targeted for scams, frauds or crimes in the United States for my skin color. I've never had people arguing with me when I tell them I am a Black woman. Nope, never!

In Ghana all these things happened and more, a man I paid money to for his services, he told me that no Black American is a real Black person, because they've never suffered like Black Africans. Because they don't teach Chattel Slavery in Ghana. Nor do they teach that segregation in America was until 1954. Basically in Ghana they don't really teach a damn thing about the United States.

Many Africans think Black Americans are no different than white Americans and they don't even care to learn about us either.

I watched an entire video of Jessie Williams, he was speaking about what it means to be light skin. I don't share his life, I am not from mixed race parents, I actually think it stupid for lighter skin biracial people to use terms like "light skin", I mean surely they're not the same as a person with 2 Black parents, and 4 Black grandparents.

Black people who openly made the choice to marry other Black people shouldn't be lumped together with people who made the choice to date outside their race.

Maybe to many this sounds harsh, however there are millions of white people that would not have not married or mated outside of their race.

When a Black person says this there is always an issue. Either way, light skin isn't always biracial skin. Everyone with mixed race aren't always lighter in skin complexion either.

I remember that I have a Nigerian-American doctor, born and raised in the United States, he still identifies as Nigerian. Even though he's been to Nigeria once, 20-years ago.

However he shared with me that his lighter skinned Nigerian mother, was often told she wasn't really Nigerian. He said she's even lighter than I. I am the person in the cover photo.

The fact that many Black people use terms like "light skin privilege," annoys me to no end. I'm not in the music or entertainment industry, I am not being picked or paid more for anything.

Understanding light-skin privilege in relation to anti-Black racism: colourism, racism-induced stress and poor health outcomes amongst Black British women

Light-skin privilege is a term that is often used to describe the relative advantages that racially minoritized people who are socially recognised as “light-skinned” receive when navigating predominantly white spaces compared to their peers with darker-skin. This article considers the relationship between racism-induced stress and poor health outcomes amongst Black British women who self-identify as having light-, medium-, or dark-skin to examine the extent to which light-skin privilege mitigates the negative effects that racial discrimination has on health.

Drawing on interviews conducted with 20 Black British women, I complicate the understanding that light-skin privilege invariably leads to better health outcomes for Black British women with light-skin by revealing how its operation at a systemic level can coincide with individual experiences of anti-Black racism that can, in turn, lead to poor health.

In December 2022, Meghan Markle and Prince Harry released a documentary series detailing their experiences of unfair treatment and harassment from the British press whilst employed as senior members of the British royal family (Harry & Megan Citation2022). This mistreatment and harassment, they argue, was largely due to Markle’s positionality as a Mixed woman in a historically white and elitist institution (Andrews Citation2021a). Throughout the documentary both Markle and Prince Harry infer that this mistreatment reflects a broader issue of systemic racism that has permeated the institution since its inception. Whilst describing her experiences growing up in Los Angeles, Markle argues that she did not experience racial discrimination in the same way as her peers with darker skin because she was socially perceived as “light-skinned” and, therefore, Mixed rather than Black.

Markle reiterates this argument in a podcast interview she conducted with pop-singer Mariah Carey shortly before the documentary’s release where she describes how, unlike some Mixed women who are socially identified as Black because of their relatively “dark” skin, she and Carey are socially identified as Mixed in the US because they have light-skin:

Source Tailor & Francis Online

This entire paper, written by a British person once again uses a biracial Megan Markel as the examples of "light skin" so therefore the world will forever "other" light skin Black people as the mixed race people in the world? I didn't even know Markle had a Black mother, she looks nothing like a Black woman to me.

She also admitted that she basically lived as a white woman. Megan is not raising her children around anyone Black or her Black family. So Megan Markel is a horrible example of light skin Black people.

There are entire tribes in Africa, that are lighter in skin color, they've been in Africa. So now we are to believe that they're not Black people? No one is Black who is lighter in skin color?

Here I am, a person with about 19% DNA from the continent of Europe, so I am to be considered Biracial? This is stupid, so my dark skin cousin who has the same white great-grandmother and possibly the same amount of European DNA is to be considered Black? I will be the forever foreigner in Africa?

Colorism: Raising A Dark Skinned Daughter As A Light Skinned Woman In An Anti-Black Society

As a mother at times it is hard enough to get through the everyday struggles of parenting, and as a black mother there comes a whole host of other obstacles we are challenged with. In society we often discuss black parenting in regards to race, but rarely do we talk about parenting in regards to colorism.

Colorism is an issue that has been present within the black community for quite some time. It is a symptom of racism. To educate those that are unaware or unclear, it is prejudiced attitudes or discrimination based on the tone or shade of one’s skin complexion. Racism on the other hand, is prejudgment against people based on their perceived racial status.

Slave owners engaged in colorism with the practice of separating and giving preference to slaves with lighter complexions. This included allowing them to work indoors and assigning them with less grueling work. Dark skinned slaves were treated much harsher and inferior to their lighter counterparts.

Later on, the brown paper bag test would be implemented within our own community to determine admittance. If your skin was darker than the bag, you did not merit inclusion. Today, the paper bag test is gone but we see reminders of how colorism continues to affect black people everyday

Source Medium Writer & Mother

Another writer on Medium, wrote about how her biracial cousin was always bullied and othered because she's light skin. She wrote about how Black people with light skin are still Black and face issues with racism.

Adding the word privileged is as if light skin people aren't facing racism or discrimination. I can't catch a break all over Africa.

Thank you for reading 🙏🏽 Please consider buying a coffee for Lacey’s House efforts in Gender Equality & Children’s Rights.

©️TB Obwoge 2024 All Rights Reserved