Dark days for black women
Latasha Edwards
Issue date: 12/3/07 Section: Opinions
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A walk in the life of a dark-skinned female may seem to have the most difficult pair of shoes to fit in. With black men dating more white women each day and the percentage of black women who are married declining in the United States from 62 percent in 1950 to 36 percent in 2000, according to http:// freerepublic.com/focus/news/715758/posts, where does the dark-skinned female stand in relationships?
With music artists such as Lil' Boosie and his great love for "red bones" and the lack of dark skin females seen in music videos, it seems as if the world is not liking the dark skinned female too much. Â
People are conditioned to think that dark skin is ugly. This goes back to the slavery when people thought that light skin was better because it was closer to white.
You can look at any music video and you can see the lack of dark-skinned women. Some may say this is a good thing because dark skin females are not degrading themselves, but it's still negative because America is telling everyone that the dark-skinned female is not pretty enough to be a video vixen.
When you look inside beauty supply stores, mostly dark-skinned females are seen on the cover of perm boxes. Are people trying to say that dark skin women need perms the most because they have the nappiest hair?
TV doesn't like dark-skinned females, point blank.
They put tons of makeup on black females on TV just to make them "suitable" to society. It seems as though the media doesn't want these black females to have any traces of dark on their faces.
Since when did Beyonce turn from caramel to the looks of an Asian geisha?
Dark-skinned women also lack leading roles in major movies. A prime example is the roles that Angela Bassett and Halle Berry play. Some may consider Angela Bassett a far better actress, but since Halle Berry is lighter, she will get more leading roles.
If you are having an image problem or if you have a problem with dark skin, you should go to counseling. Take a trip to Sunshine Manor.
Some please slap anyone who says that the black community needs to avoid conversations on dark skin and light skin.
Society is still living in 1965, and there still is a separation between dark and light-skinned females. Don't let history repeat itself.
Latasha Edwards is a junior public relations student from Houston. She can be reached at famuanopinions@hotmail.com.
Viewing Comments 1 - 10 of 24
Kimberly A.
posted 12/22/07 @ 2:57 AM EST
OMG! Girl, hit it on the spot!
I am in love w/ your essay.
I am glad someone that understands what darker-skinned females have to go through on a daily basis. (Continued…)
James
posted 1/10/08 @ 6:47 PM EST
Great essay. Being a White male, I'm about as far away from having to live this situation as it gets, but for the record, I find the darkest of dark skinned African American women the most beautiful of any on Gods Green Earth. (Continued…)
Doc Ock
Vocal Mojo
posted 1/11/08 @ 3:37 PM EST
It's unfortunate, but true. I attended a radio conference in South Beach seven years ago when videos began trending more towards latin/mix/european women and the overall question from the women in attedence was, "Where are the dark-skinned ladies". (Continued…)
nationwyde
Vic
posted 1/14/08 @ 4:59 AM EST
Somewhere along the line since the Black Pride Movement of the late '60s, we have allowed ourselves to fall back to the same old notions of "light skinned" vs "dark skinned. (Continued…)
Elle
posted 1/15/08 @ 5:20 PM EST
Very thought-provoking essay. So heartbreakingly true. We have gone from Black is Beautiful in the late sixties early seventies back to what one brother on line called the "plantation mentality" imposed on us from slavery times. (Continued…)
La'Toya Banks
posted 2/15/08 @ 10:36 PM EST
Wow Tasha you hit the nail right on the head Im sitting over here with tears streaming down my face everything you said is right on point im a dark skin sista and I really understand everything you stated in your article, my mom is a few shades darker then me and she's JET BLACK but she is sooo beautiful but its weird how people react to that thought for some reason they think she's from Afirca and I from India wtf?? but anyways your article was very thought provoking we as a race have so many other issues to be working on who would have ever thougt we would be so ignorant to segregate inside our own race!!! Wow Willie Lynch was a powerful man we really are still stuck!!
Hilarious
posted 2/19/08 @ 3:41 PM EST
Please don't think that my tag is being insentive to the subject matter. In my opinion, I did not get a real sense of "dark days" for black women in this article. (Continued…)
1love
redrattler09
posted 2/20/08 @ 4:29 PM EST
You would have to be the most ignorant and stupid person I know. Tasha had a purpose for this article, it reached out to darker skinned women and opened the eyes of some of these young men who are "Color Struck". (Continued…)
Erin
posted 2/22/08 @ 3:35 PM EST
Honestly, I do agree with "Hillarious." While I do understand the intention of the author, I believe the article lacked the strength to stand on it's own without the mix of emotions thrown in. (Continued…)
steff
posted 2/22/08 @ 9:22 PM EST
INTERESTING BUT AS A BLACK WOMAN I LOVE ITALIAN MEN THEY ARE PROBABLY THE CLOSEST TO A BLACK MAN AND I GET APPROACHED BY ALOT OF THEM JUST BELIEVE IN YOURSELF
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