Teaching and Learning Guide for: The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status, and Inequality

Author’s introduction Most research on race and ethnicity focuses on discrimination patterns against entire groups, such as African Americans, Latina/os, Asian Americans, or American Indians. The study of colorism is unique because it investigates intraracial hierarchies of skin color. Studies of colorism examine how the actual lightness or darkness of a person’s skin tone affects his or her life opportunities such as education, income, and housing. This is a crucial line of inquiry because a significant amount of race/color discrimination lies hidden within communities of color. Investigating colorism also exposes centuries-old colonial ideologies that valorize white culture and white beauty. Many recent studies of skin tone stratification focus on both the historical and contemporary factors that maintain a light-skinned elite in communities of color. Ultimately, colorism research enables a deeper understanding of systemic racism around the world. Author recommends Russell, Kathy, Midge Wilson, and Ronald Hall 1992. The Color Complex. New York, NY: Doubleday. This book was groundbreaking in that it was one of the first popular books on the topic of colorism. Focused primarily on African Americans, the authors provide a journalistic account of the manifestations of colorism and the sociological, historical, and psychological causes of it. This book is a great overview of colorism in the African American community. Rondilla, Joanne and Paul Spickard 2007. Is Lighter Better? Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield. Rondilla and Spickard have written the first book on colorism in the Asian American community. This book is broad and thorough covering topics such as color and identity, mother–daughter relationships and the color/beauty nexus, and the global sales of skin-bleaching products. The book is empirical, historical, and theoretical. Hunter, Margaret 2005. Race, Gender, and the Politics of Skin Tone. New York, NY: Routledge. Hunter creates a persuasive argument that skin color discrimination is alive and well in the USA. She pays particular attention to the African American and Mexican American communities in her studies that cover income disparities, educational gaps, marriage market politics, and cosmetic surgery. The book uses both statistics and interviews with women of color as evidence for its claims. Herring, Cedric, Verna M. Keith, and Hayward Derrick Horton (Eds.) 2004. Skin/Deep: How Race and Complexion Matter in the ‘Color-Blind’ Era. Urbana, IL: University of Illinois Press. This edited volume covers a broad range of topics, including the biracial baby boom, the ‘neo-mulatto’ elite, the Latin Americanization thesis of racial formation, and the persistent role of colorism in African American communities. The contributors are primarily sociologists arguing that the form of racism and racial discrimination is changing in the new post-Civil Rights era. Allen, Walter, Edward Telles, and Margaret Hunter 2000. ‘Skin Color, Income, and Education: A Comparison of African Americans and Mexican Americans.’National Journal of Sociology 12: 129–80. The authors present a thorough analysis of the structural and social–psychological factors that affect colorism in the African American and Mexican American communities. Using two national survey data sets, Allen, Telles, and Hunter suggest that colorism is an ongoing phenomenon in both groups providing the light skinned with significant advantages in income and educational attainment. Brunsma, David L. and Kerry A. Rockquemore 2001. ‘The New Color Complex: Appearances and Biracial Identity.’ Identity 1: 225–46. This article takes up the important issue of biracial identity and its relationship to physical appearance. Moving away from a more traditional stratification model, the authors ask what it means to be darker or lighter as a mixed-race person, and how one’s physical appearance affects his or her racial self-identification. Mire, Amina 2001. ‘Skin-Bleaching: Poison, Beauty, Power, and the Politics of the Colour Line.’Resources for Feminist Research 28 (3–4): 13–38. In this lengthy and rigorous article, Mire suggests that the postcolonial, global phenomenon of skin-bleaching has strong and deep roots in the European colonial experience. She uses a feminist lens to understand why women’s bodies are often the site of poisonous skin-bleaching creams and how the interlocking systems of racism and patriarchy work together to oppress women in postcolonial nations around the world. Online materials ‘Color Coding and Bias in Hollywood’ This video excerpt features Henry Louis Gates informally interviewing a group of African American women actors. They discuss the color line and skin tone in the entertainment industry. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UeGsIuBxDFk ‘Black Students Still Favor Lighter Skin, Study Finds’