Dark skin is ugly-ask the black girls

Nappy hair is also mentioned!

Me and my light-skinned black friend

http://vimeo.com/24155797 (Sorry, I have no idea why the video is not embedding)

The first time I ever knew of such a concept was a few years ago when a dark relative from Botswana said that she’s ugly because she has dark skin.

I had no clue how strong and deep this thing is-black people preferring lighter skinned girls. Think Beyonce versus Kelly Rowland (Sorry for using a worldly example but I can’t escape the fact that I did watch music and they’re the first example I can think of that we’d all know.) Beyonce would be viewed as more beautiful precisely because she has light skin-more than because of any other extraneous features.

One moment that touched me was a dark woman who went to visit a close friend who’d given birth. While marvelling at how beautiful the baby was, the new mother said something along the lines of ‘Thank goodness she didn’t come out dark!” Now, considering who she was saying this to, how do you think such a sentiment made her friend feel?

I don’t care what the root of this hatred for darker skin is, I care that it still exists. And I care that those with dark-skin feel such self-hatred because of it.

And I’m thankful for my father. The 'affection stopped once my little sister was born when I was 5, but before that, I can distinctly remember him referring to me as his black beauty, his dark beauty, his beautiful mahogany. And then, being the only black girl at a white school for quite some times, I remember the white girls commenting on how beautiful my skin was-though I did laugh at the girl who asked if I tanned for ages to get it that dark!

I don’t know how many of you know Alec Wek. At our high school we had a girl as dark as her who joined the school in the lower grades. Girls that dark are very rare. I thought she was fascinating and beautiful. I really admired her darkness.

I’m thankful that I didn’t have to overcome the same type of self-hatred that so many young ladies have to overcome. I’m thankful that I’ve never heard a man say that they didn’t like a certain woman because she is too dark.

We are fearfully and wonderfully made. Embrace the colour. Don’t bleach it away!

ETA: Thanks to my light-skinned friend, LOL, for sharing this.

PS. For those who don't know. The lighter your skin was (in the US, South Africa...) the better your life was. You had privilege the darker slaves didn't have. The darker folk had to work out in the burning sun while the lighter ones could stay indoors and work inside.

It's sad that though slavery has disappeared, and for some countries like the US, disappeared more than decades ago, yet this concept has been twisted and is still used today.