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Key points
- Early on, Black girls recognize that others evaluate their bodies, and they may internalize the messages they receive about physical appearance.
- Research suggests that peers assign personality and behavioral traits to skin tone, such as being loud, obnoxious, or conceited.
- Black girls can reject the colorist messages they receive from others. Affirmation from family and friends can help.
This piece was co-authored by Diane-Jo Bart-Plange, a doctoral candidate studying colorism, racism, and stereotyping at the University of Virginia in the Department of Psychology.
In 2018, actress and activist Amandla Sandberg, who is lighter-toned, turned down the chance to play a lead role (Shuri) in Marvel’s The Black Panther. In a subsequent interview, the biracial teen stated, “These are all dark-skinned actors playing Africans, and I feel like it would have just been off to see me as a biracial American with a Nigerian accent just pretending that I’m the same color as everyone else in the movie.” Sandberg has spoken out on multiple occasions about how her “light-skin privilege” has afforded her more attention and opportunities in Hollywood than darker-toned actresses (e.g., Gabrielle Union). In doing so, she has drawn important attention to the realities and consequences of colorism, or the prejudicial and preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their skin tone or skin color.
Coined in 1982 by Black womanist poet and activist Alice Walker, colorism is a global manifestation of white supremacy that affords greater privileges to people of color with lighter skin tones. In the United States, colorism is closely tied to the plantation-based enslavement of African Americans, in that White enslavers offered preferential treatment to enslaved African laborers who possessed more Eurocentric features (i.e., lighter skin tone, straighter hair, and narrower nose).
While Black people (regardless of skin tone) experience bias, discrimination, and racial violence, studies suggest that lighter-toned individuals have more access to educational opportunities, economic resources, and social capital compared to their darker-toned counterparts (e.g., Crutchfield et al., 2020). Over the past few years, researchers have started to frame colorism as a form of historical trauma, noting how it relates to psychological, physical, and behavioral health disparities for Black individuals in the U.S.
How does colorism influence the healthy development of Black girls?
Studies find that Black girls receive colorist messages about skin tone early. For instance, in a 2011 study, researchers found that matriarchal figures such as mothers and grandmothers were often Black girls’ first source of skin-tone socialization during childhood and adolescence. In most cases, family members connected “negativity with darkness,” and equated “goodness with lightness” (Wilder & Cain, 2011, p. 586). Yet, Black girls’ encounters with skin tone bias are not isolated to family contexts.
In a 2020 study of 30 African American girls (12-16 years old), participants consistently reported receiving messages from peers at school that darker-toned skin was unattractive and associated with negative personality traits, such as being loud, "hood," and obnoxious. Lighter-toned skin was considered more attractive and appealing, but also associated with negative personality traits, such as being conceited and arrogant.
This research draws attention to the widespread nature of colorism, as Black women and girls may receive harmful messages about their skin tone from family members, on social media, and in school. It also highlights how messages of skin tone bias (e.g., “you’re pretty for a dark-skinned girl” or “stay out of the sun so you don’t get too dark”) can play an early role in whether Black girls see their own skin tone as an asset or a burden.
In a recent paper, my colleagues and I explored colorism as a form of misogynoir (instances of anti-black misogyny specific to Black women and girls; Bailey, 2021), to highlight how young Black women (18-24 years old) negotiated skin tone bias. We asked the women to talk with us about their experiences with colorism in school. Over half the women in our study reported encountering colorism from peers, making it a common school-based experience.
Here is what their narratives offer us about addressing colorism:
1. Recognize colorism as a form of bullying in school. Women who attended majority Black schools thought that colorism was less of an issue because they were surrounded by Black students with a diverse array of looks, personalities, and experiences. Women who attended schools with very few Black students were less able to disentangle the interplay between colorism and other negative racial events at school. Still, the young women experienced colorism across a range of different school racial contexts.
It is critical that educators are able to identify colorist incidents when they happen. As suggested by Learning for Justice, if a public display of colorism occurs, educators and school officials can make an immediate effort to publicly address and counteract it.
2. Bring Black men and boys into conversations on colorism. Most of the women in our sample were heterosexual, and they were interested in dating boys from their same racial background. Colorist messages from Black boys disrupted their sense of intraracial solidarity, trust, and connection. Several young women rejected the notion that preferring to date only lighter-toned Black women was a “preference,” and instead called out the underlying bias toward white beauty ideals in such statements.
It is important that we bring Black men and boys into conversations on colorism to cultivate more nuanced understandings of sexual objectification, male privilege, and internalized misogynoir.
3. Surround Black girls with supportive networks. Timing matters. The women talked about the harmful effects of hearing such messages during adolescence, when they were still formulating their beliefs about their own perceived physical attractiveness and self-worth.
For some women, colorism felt like less of an issue because they received consistent messaging from parents and other mentors about the beauty and inherent value of their skin tone. Supportive adults can help Black girls develop an oppositional gaze to equip them with the skills to push back against harmful and stereotypical notions of beauty and femininity.
Friendships with other Black women and girls can be a protective cultural asset and a valuable place to receive affirmation. Support from other Black women and girls offered a necessary counterspace where the women could process their shared experiences with colorism and discrimination.
To find out more about colorism as a global issue, click here.
