Tupac Shakur told us: “some say the blacker the berry, the sweeter the juice!” “I say the darker the skin, the deeper the roots!” What was he really saying here? Perhaps, those with darker complexions were more ancient in their ancestry and had stronger ties to our epoch heritage. Maybe those with dark skin had a more efficient access to our collective unconscious as a people.
For example, when a person looks in the mirror and struggles with self-esteem, self-awareness and a positive self-concept that is in fact a psychological issue, and its roots lie at the heart of white supremacy and stereotypical notions of personhood that have affected generations of Africans throughout the diaspora.
Indeed, American standards of beauty stem from a Eurocentric paradigm and the closer one appropriates that cultural standard the more aesthetically appealing one is said to be. This can readily be witnessed if one analyzes popular culture from the entertainment industry to the political arena; from the corporate board room to high posts in the private sector the evidence is clear. As the saying goes; “if you’re white you’re alright, if you’re black get back!” This mantra is indicative of a socio-economic-spiritual hiearchy.
There are always exceptions to the rule, however one can not deny the pervasive influences of Hollywood and the global fascination with glamour and elegance as perused through the lens of the European world minority accounting for one-tenth of the world population!!! Yet, through policy initiatives backed by its imperial military-industrial-complex this unnatural even unhealthy example of beauty is disemmenated.
To simply discount this fact is denial whether its imagined, perceived, or real. Granted, there are nuances across the world, yet the same color schemas exist, whether its in Colombia, Trinidad, Johannesburg, India, London, Miami or Australia.
Now, here in the U.S. and throughout most of the world people struggle with European standards of beauty. In the U.S. the racialized lines of demarcation are astounding. Read OVERT! Most men are what we call “color struck.” Meaning they prefer a “lighter complexioned” or a European culturally assimilated sister, which in some cases is the same thing though not always.
Sadly, most don’t realize why they have that preference to begin with. The seeds of racial discrimination are sown deep within the subconscious mind of the American landscape. It permeates everything everywhere, yet its so subtle and seamlessly interwoven in the lexicon, and jargin its bearly noticable.
Similarly, when your subconscious mind is subliminally indoctrinated through audio, visual, and print media you aren’t even aware of the offensive committed against your senses. The results are not coincidental, rather by design when society inundates you through every strata of people relations (i.e. internet, t.v., fashion, penal system, sports, education, politics) on & on with standards of beauty that don’t depict your image & likeness (i.e. full lips, broad noses, voluptious round figures, athletic builds, dark skin tones, hair texture, swagger etc.)
But, let’s go a little deeper! Kenneth Clark, a psychologists did an experiment back in the 70’s that took small children (grammar school) and displayed 2 different dolls. One black, One White. When asked whom the children trusted more, whom they thought was prettier, whom they identified with etc. Overwhelmingly, they chose the white doll. What does this suggest? That there are a myriad of things that influence us everyday, although to some “ignorance is bliss.” Unfortunately, these issues tamper with the psychological wellness of people in general, and girls in particular like this experiment alludes.
It’s not until recently this influx of diversity has been evident. (Beverly Johnson & Iman) both dark skinned African-American & African models respectively were the exception to the rule as they are the only supermodels of note 20-25 years ago. Read the “Willie Lynch Letter” for more clarification on the issues of color, age, gender, locale, intra-racial strife etc. on this issue that affected Carribean & African Americans during the 16th century.
The bottom line here is that there are over 100 terms in the English language to denote black as negative. (Blackball, Blackklist, Blackmark, Blackmagic, Blacken, BlackSheep, BlackWidow, BlackGuard) Black, according to Webster’s = opposite of white, dirty, evil, wicked, sad, dismal and sullen.
Now, if white is the opposite of Black then White must be Right. Right? If you see the point i’m making here then you are ahead of the learning curve. If Devil’s Food Cake is Chocolate and Angel’s Food Cake is Vanilla, then what does that tell us about the Devil and Angel’s accordingly. The subliminal suggestion is obvious. God must be white and the Devil must be Black. Then it’s obvious why people of color have low self-esteem and suffer from all sorts of detrimental nuances. (too many to go into in this blog) We will at a later time.
With these color codes and complexes let’s flip the script. On the other hand, we look at the “dominant culture” or the status quo and we see pathology here as well. Why do people tan? In my humble opinion, people tan b/c primarily color is more appealing! Nature shows us this fact! Look at flowers, the most beautiful flowers are the ones that have vivid and vibrant hues. If you see a white elephant. You would call it what it is: A mutant, something rarely ever seen.
Still, the desire to have a “nice” tan (Read: DARK) people will risk contracting melanoma with prolonged exposure to the sun. Or for purely personal reasons they tan, only to further damage their skin from harmful UV light from tanning booth. Either way the ends seem to justify the means as there is no shortage of folks that flock to the beach, booth or salon for that all important “tan.”
You ask any white woman over age 30 her ideal mate (it might be different now) and she’ll tell you: Tall, Dark and handsome. That was the mantra for white American women for hundreds of years.
The reason black men & white women are more likely to hook up openly. During, the enslavement trade or (MAAFA) white women were placed on a pedestal of Virtue, Chastity, and perfection. Which added to the allure of other non-white men (out of ignorance). “You always want what you can’t have.” {Please see Spike Lee’s movie Jungle Fever} Ozzie Davis’ character goes into a lengthy explanation on the title “Jungle Fever.”
On the other hand, behind closed doors white men, even Thomas Jefferson, {key word: Sally Hemmings} would creep with Brown skinned women insatiably! In fact, ask any white dude in the same demographic and older what their ideal woman is? They will describe a woman of color more times than not. Although, nothing is in a vacuum. Women of color are in vogue now as in times in our remote past.
In addition, during the enslavement trade most white men didn’t consider themselves MEN until they had slept with a black woman. It was like a Rite of Passsage or ritual they had to perform at least once in their life time in order to achieve the pinnacle of masculinity. Though, this is also rooted in European male pathology, it manifests through domination, conquest, and control. They did it covertly then, and still do to this day to varying degrees.
In addition, it’s a misnomer that other races have more diversity of features within their women or men than Pan-African people. We produce all the colors of the rainbow: black, blue, purple,reds, browns, creams, olive, white, peach, etc. Simple biology; Brown is a dominant gene and grey, pink, blue etc is recessive gene. The natural brown gene can produce all those other pigments, but none of those pigments can produce brown.
So, I fail to understand the argument that suggests people just seek out “unique physical features in mates” when these same traits can be found in your own background. Is it possible? Yes! Is it that ‘cut and dry?’ Hell to the NO. Now, with that said just “call a spade a spade!” If you like or prefer other races as mate selection: FINE, but don’t mask that with the idea that its “exotic” or “unique.”
For these are “racist” and “divisive” buzz words and catch phrases that have divided the Pan-African family for hundreds of years. Overstand, that when the first European invaders came across the indigenous people in the earth they coined these colorful terms to refer to the people, especially the women as “exotic”, “erotic”, “unique.” It’s this same backwards thinking that had them parade “Sarah Bartman“ aka the Venus of Hottentot around Europe in a cage. So, that people could see this ‘freak of nature’ with the PROMINENT back side that was just so “unique” and “exotic.”
