Colorism’s Impact on the Black women of the 518
ways the community can mitigate the impacts of colorism in Dark skin women and girls
As a Freshman in high school, first impressions matter. In a small town like Schenectady, for young Black girls, your image always mattered.
Nerria Howard, a Schenectady native, recalls how nervous she felt the first day of her freshman year at Schenectady high school. Nerria was a member of the cheerleading team; the team practiced outdoors under the sweltering summer sun. “I was so embarrassed; I was trying to do whatever I could to get rid of the tan because I’m already dark and I was darker”.
These are the experiences that young Black dark skin women and girls face at the hands of not only non-Black people but also from their Black communities. Growing up Black in upstate New York is a unique experience because race is a subject that many, yes even other Black people, actively stray away from.
The conversation on the topic of colorism in upstate New York is oftentimes limiting and tends not to center the voices and experiences of dark skin people who live in white-dominated communities.
To truly transform how dark skin people, especially Dark skin Black women, are impacted by racism there needs to be honest and real conversation on how colorism manifests itself in cities like Schenectady, Albany, Troy, and the rest of the Capital Region.
Colorism is discrimination against people with dark skin tones. Darker skin people have to navigate a world where their darker skin tone negatively impacts their life experience. It is a systemic issue that grants those with lighter skin better treatment and privilege. Although light skin folks face their own prejudice, they gain a certain power by their proximity to whiteness.
Black women in particular have a distinctively unique experience with colorism.
When colorist moments and microaggressions are internalized, they can have detrimental effects on dark skin women's and girls’ mental health. Internalizations of these comments lead to shame for being dark-skinned. Many of these women develop anxiety and depression centered around their skin tone.
J. Camille Hall describes this experience as “gendered colorism” in her 2017 study No Longer Invisible: Understanding the Psychosocial Impact of Skin Color Stratification in the Lives of African American Women.
The study also said “it has been repeatedly stated that colorism has a stronger effect on the lives of African American Women”
In order to limit the impacts of colorism, especially among dark skin Black women, their experiences and stories must be centered.
The way we speak to each other and about each other has a huge impact on how we see ourselves.
When asked about personal experiences growing up as a darker skin girl, Asia Madison, a Schenectady native says “you were a bit ostracized if you weren’t lighter skin”. She also included how she grew up with comments that led her to believe that having darker skin was bad.
“my mom has made comments, till recently like ‘don’t get too dark don’t stick outside in the sun too long’ … she isn’t trying to be like that, but you can tell how ingrained it is …for a while I use to abide by that”
Often, many of those who perpetrate colorist ideologies come from those within the Black community as well as other communities of color.
J. Camile Hall cites and explores the psychological impacts of colorism on dark skin women and what social workers can do to help limit the impact of colorism.
In Hall’s conclusion, she states “listen carefully to complaints about mistreatment based on race, sex, and skin tone and validate experiences of clients who are women of color, particularly because a black woman might minimize the effects of colorism… generate a variety of ways to cope with the pain associated with incidents of colorism…. working with black women lies in helping them to redefine their strength in ways that simultaneously enable them to reclaim historical sources of power and yet reject the exploitation that has often accompanied skin color stratification.”
For community members in Schenectady and the rest of the capital region to tackle the issue of colorism and its impacts on dark skin women and girls, there needs to be a commitment to unlearning certain social cues and ideologies.
According to a 2019 Futurity.org piece named “4 Ways To Support People Dealing With Colorism” Antoinette Landor, an assistant professor of human development and family science at the University of Missouri, was quoted stating these four ways to combat the impacts of colorism.
“- Acknowledge that colorism exists through individual, institutional, and cultural encounters and that it occurs across races.
- Have difficult conversations about the implications of colorism.
- Identify and define words that might cause skin-tone trauma and be aware of how those words might affect others.
- Believe others when they are open about the trauma implications of colorism they are experiencing.”
Sarah L. Webb, an author and Assistant Professor in the department of English and Modern Languages at the University of Illinois Springfield wrote a piece about how to talk to children about colorism. When asked about the ways people can have conversations around colorism, she mentioned “Sort out your attitude/feelings about colorism, Talk candidly about colorism with your children and Give them positive exposure to all skin tones.”
These efforts can be implemented through community events and social gatherings via virtual platforms, discussions, and forums while COVID-19 persists. Community members can foster conversations about colorism and how it manifests itself in Schenectady and the rest of the capital.
It must be mentioned that colorism is a systemic issue and can even impact the job security of dark skin women.
Denia Gaillard, a Schenectady native, currently living in South Carolina mentioned how she was fired from her job during the 2020 summer uprising and how the management included stereotypical angry Black woman tropes as the reasons behind her firing.
“I heard that a manager was saying racist things, so I went to management and try to tell them about it and they were like ‘oh we will follow up’ and then they never really followed up, stopped talking to me and so I had a meeting with the GM and I knew I was gaslit the whole time and [was] called aggressive, and [management] said I had an attitude and I got fired because of that, the whole place was shocked because they know how I work and they know how I am”
Due to Gillard’s darker skin, the “angry black woman” was automatically attached to her. Although all Black women deal with stereotypes, dark skin Black women are more often than not, are assumed to be rougher, meaner, and have negative attitudes
Living in an anti-Black world as a Black person means a lifetime of differential treatment. For darker skin people, the negative treatment is drastically increased. Community members throughout the 518 must protect and uplift dark skin people, especially dark skin women and girls. The community must be committed to unlearning and listening.
This requires centering the voices and experiences of dark skin women and girls in the 518. This requires checking our own biases and prejudices against those with darker skin. This means actively teaching our children the harmful impacts of colorism and how not to further perpetuate it.
It means community members taking the issue of colorism seriously and making a concerted effort in the protection and loving treatment of our Dark skin women and girls in the 518.
