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The trend for mixed actors, models or television presenters to be deployed as the unthreatening faces of ‘diversity’ can squeeze out other people of colour. In the UK, some people resort to skin lightening products in an effort to try and gain advantages in the job market, or relationships, that they believe will result from having lighter skin.Ĭompanies that promise to lighten baby skin colour reinforce prejudice Interviews and videos featuring black women who use skin-bleaching products make clear that it is insecurities about skin shade that lead them to seek lighter skin, fuelling the multi-billion dollar global skin lightening industry. Women of colour are burdened with an oppressive ideal of what is “beautiful” that often excludes the majority of the world’s population.Ĭolourism is simultaneously exploited by companies determined to turn insecurities about skin colour into financial gain through marketing lucrative skin lightening products. Research in the US has pointed to advantages for people of colour with light skin in education, the job market and relationships. Today, there are still considerable advantages to having lighter skin. In countries with a history of transatlantic slavery, or European colonialism, colourism dates back to the preferential treatment given to people of colour with light skin who were often the progeny of white slave masters or colonisers. Mabanglo/EPA Light skin privilegeĬolourism has evolved in different ways in different parts of the world. According to the BBC, between January 2017 and early June 2018, of the 68 female solo artists in the British Top 40, 17 were of black ancestry and the vast majority had light skin.īeyoncé’s father Mathew Knowles has highlighted the success of lighter skinned stars in the entertainment industry. Grime artist Lioness told BBC Newsbeat that she gave up music for seven years in part because talent scouts made it clear she would have more success if she had lighter skin. When it comes to black females, who are the people who get their music played on pop radio? … Mariah Carey, Rihanna, the female rapper Nicki Minaj, my kids … and what do they all have in common? Mathew Knowles, the father of the superstar singer and actress Beyoncé and singer Solange, has highlighted how light skin leads to opportunities in the entertainment industry: Physical attractiveness, whiteness, and youthfulness have accrued capital just as darker skin colour, hair texture, disability, and ageing have devalued feminine currency. While it affects both men and women, colourism intersects with sexism so that it particularly affects women of colour.
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The Radio 1 DJ and TV host Maya Jama, who is of Somali and Swedish descent and celebrated as “ unquestionably stunning”, was compelled to apologise when an offensive tweet she posted in 2012 resurfaced.Ĭolourism is prejudice involving the preferential treatment of people with light skin within and between ethnic groups.
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There have been some recent incidents where people of colour with light skin have expressed disdain for those with darker skin. People of colour with light skin who are public figures are often viewed as having transcended their “race”, whereas negative perceptions of people of colour more broadly are left largely unchanged. Those with light skin still benefit from the privilege that comes with an approximation to whiteness. However, the outstanding achievements of some prominent people of colour with light skin doesn’t signify an advance for black people, or people of colour more generally. His election was described as a “milestone in race relations,” ushering in a “postracial country” – one that had moved beyond race.
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This parallels what happened when Barack Obama, the son of a white mother and black father, was celebrated as “the first black president” in the US. Some media reports portrayed Harry’s marriage to Meghan, who has one black parent and one white parent, as signifying “hope” for people of colour while others said the match could spark a “royal cultural revolution”. This was the case when Meghan Markle married Prince Harry in May, joining the British royal family as the Duchess of Sussex. When a person of colour with light skin rises to prominence, or becomes the first to occupy a particular position, it’s often heralded as a sign that structural barriers to the progress of people of colour have been removed.