Light Skin vs. Dark Skin

Written By:
Ebony Turner

Published:
Feb. 25 2010

The African-American race has truly seen, and battled, all fronts when it comes down to socially being discriminated against. Yet in more recent times, it seems as though our race has done more segregating to itself then receiving it. Most African-American’s are surely aware of the constant bantering about the differences between having “dark skin” and “light skin”. Whether one is speaking on why they prefer one over the other, or simply making shallow observations on how they are somehow not the same socially, it has been seen and heard. The better question is how did this all even become what it is today? No, it was not when Prince or Morris Chestnut rose to stardom, nor was it when rapper Yung Berg made his famous comment about preferring black women of a lighter skin tone rather than “dark butts”. The Willie Lynch letter, a speech delivered by West Indies slave owner Willie Lynch, wrote a mass letter to all slave owners on how to better control their slaves and keep them under control for 300 years. Lynch began to outline a list of ways to control slaves, first beginning with age, then shade of skin, intelligence, weight, gender, status on plantations (house slave or field slave), texture of hair, and height. Lynch stated that by using these factors to keep slaves against one another and separated, they will be more dedicated to their slave owner. “You must use the dark skin slave versus the light skin slave. You must use the female versus the male slave.” To think that a speech given in 1712 could give methods on how to control African Americans has held some truth is saddening and sickening. How could we allow ourselves to be uneducated, and ignorant for so many years on a topic as irrelevant as the shade of our skin? Last time I checked , nowhere near a job application or even a college application does it ask to specifically ask for the shade of your skin along with your race. So why do we still allow this to be a preference in starting relationships, in the work field or even in stereotypes? We take 10 steps forward, then take 50 steps back when we continue to allow ourselves to become captives of our own mental slavery. There are so many more topics and situations that are exponentially greater and of more relevance than why we would rather date someone of a lighter skin tone simply because they deem as more appealing, or represent someone who is more socially acceptable. Being light skin or dark skin does not mean every female or male is destined by the stars to be attracted to you. Being light skin does not guarantee that you will get that promotion or become a member of that ultra prestigious golf club. Dating someone of a lighter skin tone does not mean anything contrary to what Lil Wayne or Yung Berg would like for us to believe. All it means is that one is ignorant and unable to truly care for anyone for more than their outward appearance. At the end of the day, as an African- American one will still see the same adversities that are present today. Racism and discrimination is not over, and while one would love to believe that other races distinguish between our skin tones the same way we do, that is not the case. If other races do not see the black community with the same differences as we do, then we should do the same rather than flattering ourselves with such skin tone hierarchies. Even the hip hop music videos of today reinstate the seperation between light skin and dark skin females. In most videos the featured or lead girl is almost always light skin with long hair reinforcing a ridiculous standard of beauty placed on African American females. The African American culture has suffered this obstacle that we allowed the Willie Lynch letter to become. One’s efforts everyday to better themselves in the world should not be exclusive to a skin tone, and we should not allow for such obstructions to hold any truth or cause for us to lose respect for one another as a race. We have all suffered the same past but we are not victims, we are survivors. The Willie Lynch letter was a scheme to diminish unity within the African American race, let’s not allow him to succeed.