What is Colorism? Colorism is a practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin typically within the same ethnic group, but not always. This practice is a product of racism in the United States, in that it upholds the white standards of beauty and benefits white people in the institutions of oppression (media, medical world, etc.). If you do not believe in white beauty standards, take some time to look up “gorgeous women” you will probably see a majority of white women. Now, I am not saying at ALL that the women who popped up are not gorgeous. I am implying that representation matters especially since the media controls our society today which has a big influence on the youth, and without representation on a subconscious level, you probably will think you don’t matter as much. It should be all different representations of beauty and women of color, so youth can know that who they are is just fine.

You may think to yourself why does this even matter it’s just the color of your skin. Colorism yields real-world advantages for individuals with light skin. For example, light-skinned Latinos make $5,000 more on average than dark-skinned Latinos, according to Shankar Vedantam, author of “The Hidden Brain: How Our Unconscious Minds Elect Presidents, Control Markets, Wage Wars and Save Our Lives.“

A Villanova University study of more than “12,000 Black women imprisoned in North Carolina found that lighter-skinned Black women received shorter sentences than their darker-skinned counterparts.” Research by Stanford psychologist Jennifer Eberhardt found that “darker-skinned Black defendants were twice as likely as lighter-skinned Black defendants to get the death penalty for crimes involving white victims”

It has also been found that whitening creams continue to be best-sellers in the U.S., Asia, and other nations. Mexican-American women in Arizona, California, and Texas have reportedly suffered from mercury poisoning after using whitening creams to bleach their skin. “In India, popular skin-bleaching lines target both women and men with dark skin.”

“Colorism is very real in Asian culture. I can’t really think of any other ethnicity that heavily rubs in your face that you need to be pale to be considered beautiful,” a Chavez student stated.

I personally have never experienced colorism, but I am fully aware that it’s happening throughout the black community throughout all communities. Not only that, but I have family members that have talked about them being named called things like “blackie” which is very heartbreaking to hear especially from my 11-year-old cousin to see the sadness on her face because she’s getting made fun of for her skin tone something she was born with, and she is beautiful but some people can’t see that because their minds are so corrupted and in reality, everyone is beautiful just the way they are no matter the skin tone or race.