Hey everybody, it's Shortcake finally checkin' in. Great to meet everyone and thanks for following my girl's blog. Anyhoo enough with the pleasantries.....
My Black people....how I love you but I've had about enough! Seriously....when will we get over the light skin/dark skin controversy? Yes in past it was a huge issue and yes it exists as an issue today. But not necessarily because of what "other" races do to us but primarily because of what we do to ourselves. WE perpetuate the stereotype and keep it alive. EVERYTHING has to be turned into a light skinned/dark skinned debate. I am so sick of this mess. Seriously, I enjoy reading blogs as much as the next person, but invariably, someone will make a comment about someone being "light skint." WTF? Is it really that deep? Why must we continue to hurt ourselves the way we have been hurt in past? This whole issue is played out. I swear we seem to keep ourselves down more than any white person could. At one point in time, we used to stick together. Now because I'm light skinned I gotta be looked at sideways by folks? GOOD GRIEF give it a rest please! Not everything is a skin tone issue but somehow we always manage to make it one.
Where did this come from? Well for one thing I've noticed that the comments have seemed to increase now that we have a light skinned rapper out and about and making waves (Drake for those of you who don't know). Every time his name or something comes up, some ignant azz person has to make some comment about people liking him or whatever is somehow related to the fact that he's "light skint." Whenever I see that I just want to scream out loud. Since does skin color have anything to do with talent or looks (personally I feel that Drake looks like someone left the Stay-Puft Marshmarllow Man next to a heat lamp but I digress....). I read a commentary by some dude who pretty much tore the movie apart. And in it he made mention of the fact that the movie upholds the stereotype about light skinned folks being "good" and dark skinned folks being "bad." Really? Cause that's what the movie is about (she says dripping with sarcasm)....Get a life please!
I can hear someone now saying "she must be light skinned so that's why she's saying this." Yup you are damn hell straight. I am light skinned and proud to be light skinned. Not because it affords me any special privileges mind you...as a matter of fact I was teased relentlessly due to my skin color. It was awful. I mean truly awful. I've had comments made to me about being cute cause I was light etc. This made me really self conscious for a while. But no matter what happened, I never stopped loving my color despite people's efforts to make me hate it or feel ashamed (okay so maybe the pale legs are a bit too stark but digressing again....). Did this make me hate dark skinned folks? Nope. So when I hear people talk about how they hate light skinned folks because of whatever reason (e.g. they got teased for being dark by a light skinned person, or all the boys liked the little high yella girls) I want to scream over and over again. I had a "friend" who used to sit and blast "high yella hoes" and "yella bitches" etc....but her best friend next to her was this funny looking white chick. I never quite got that....
We don't ask to be born a certain color or tone. We have to work with what we have and realize how beautiful we all are. It all the various and beautiful shades of Black that makes us all such a unique and wonderful race and people. Just think how much we could accomplish if we would all just stick together and stop tearing our people apart for superficial reasons. To be honest with you, I'm sick of a lot of things that go on in our community and only serve to divide us more. This was just on my mind (I hope it made sense I was a little heated while writing). Until next time....SMOOCHIES!
Hello Shortcake. It is nice to meet you. :)
ReplyDeleteI feel you on this blog post. The light skin/ dark skin divide was my sister (dark skin) and me (light skin). When we were young and immature we used this issue to cut each other down...(I am not proud.)
In addition to the skin color teasing(My ex-boyfriend used to call me snowbunny and light bright.), I have dealt with teasing comments about my personality traits that according to some make me a "vanilla oreo" (Yes, I have been called that before.)I talk "proper" or "white" as they call it and have so called "white people interests". I would always be teased by both friends and family. According to them, I wanted to be white and was ashamed of being black... which was not true in the least little bit. In my opinion, I am just a product of my childhood environment.
"I swear we seem to keep ourselves down more than any white person could."
I agree! I have always been sensitive to these issues. I still deal with it every single day...
SweetT
wow, babe. first, thanks for finally dropping by and writing a post. well, written (as i knew it would be). second, i am so tired of this light/dark debate i don't know what to do. it's so damn silly. we have bigger problems in our community than some damn skin tone.
ReplyDeletei'm glad you wrote this and got it off your chest. again, thanks for stopping by and i'll talk to you soon.