It is essential that I set the stage to this paper by explaining the importance of the topic and how the skin shade phenomenon began. The importance of skin shade mattering within the African-American community is not something that recently evolved. According to Stuart Hall, "in each society, racism has a specific history that presents itself in specific, particular, and unique ways, and these specificities influence its dynamic and have real effects that differ from one to another" (Hall 12). While giving some of the history of this dark skin versus light skin phenomenon within the African-American community, it is important to bring up the conversation of slavery. "The alteration of the black physicality is related to African-American subjugation during colonialism and slavery" (Charles 118). According to Yasmine Saibou, writer for the Washington Post, "African-Americans have been victims of discrimination in America since slavery" (1), and this discrimination is still seen today. African slavery began in the North American colonies in the early 1600s. This means that dating back from 400 years ago, the idea that a person's skin shade can either put them at an advantage or disadvantage has been important. "African-Americans have long blamed whites for all their pain and suffering, but whites are not the only ones to blame. Blacks are victimizing their own people. We've all heard of black on black crime, but there's more; we hate each other because of our complexions" (1). During slavery, whites expressed ideas that they were superior to blacks and managed to instill in blacks' minds that the lighter skin complexion they had, the more power and privilege they possessed. While slavery was extremely traumatizing, these ideas managed to affect the ways blacks viewed themselves along with each other. Although being black inferred that a person was inferior to whites, it also entailed something else. If the person had a light skin complexion then they were placed before dark-skinned blacks but after whites; this essentially placed the light-skinned person at the top of their racial category as far as privilege went. "Light-skinned blacks were automatically given preferential treatment by plantation owners and their henchmen" (Maxwell 2). Light-skinned blacks were given privilege over dark-skinned blacks. "They were exposed to the finer things, and many became educated as a result. Their darker-tone peers toiled in the fields. They were the ones who were beaten, burned and hanged, the ones permanently condemned to be the lowest of the low in U.S. society" (Maxwell 1). This is colorism, the form of discrimination that involves favoring lighter skin over darker skin because of our complexions (Saibou 1). It is important to note that in order for a person or group to have privilege that means another person or group experiences oppression; someone suffers from the other's gain.
The favoring of lighter skin over darker skin exists because of the idea that lighter skin is close to white skin. Not only does light skin somewhat resemble white skin but it also represents white ancestry. During slavery, it was common for white slave owners to rape their black slaves, this resulting in the female slaves bearing the children of their slave owner. The product of this tragic event is a bi-racial child, half white and half black. Bi-racial people typically have light skin, and a thick and curly hair texture. As bi-racial people reproduce, they carry the gene to produce light-skinned offspring and this is how light-skinned African-Americans essentially evolved in the United States. While whites in the past set the stage for the tension between light-skinned and dark-skinned African-Americans, they are not the ones to blame for its continuation. Colorism in the African-American community is discrimination within the same black race. Some people with dark skin view people with light skin as "less authentic;" and not qualified as "black enough." These ideas come from light skin meaning mixed with white. If a person is mixed with white, the black community at times views them as not being a true representation of being an African-American. The frustration that light-skinned people often face is the acceptance from different communities. The white community may view the person as a "black person" who has more benefits and access to resources compared to a dark-skinned black person. The black community may view the person as a "white person" who reaps benefits based off of their physical appearance. These unearned benefits are known as privilege which can range from higher education opportunities to better job opportunities. Light-skinned African-Americans receive special privileges based off of their skin shade.
A sad event that took place back in the 1970s is the "paper bag test." This test was meant to differentiate the line between what was considered to be light skin and what was to be considered dark-skin. African-American fraternities and sororities used this test to determine who was light-skin and would be allowed into their group; these groups discriminated against people from their own race and based their admittance off of skin shade. The paper bag test is a prime example of colorism.
Now that I have given some background information and history of how the idea of light skin being superior to dark skin came about, I now will go into how this phenomenon still exists and is revealed and reinforced by magazines. First I will examine Beyonce 's appearance in the L'Oreal ad.