Colorism

A few weeks ago I had the pleasure of meeting children's author Pamela Tuck. I picked up a copy of Pamela's Color Struck, a novel based on Pamela's childhood experiences. I was interested in Color Struck because it explores a phenomenon that I'd read about and noticed in my own research: colorism, within group discrimination based on skin color. Some scholars believe that colorism results when people of color internalize racist beliefs that whites have held toward them for centuries.

While I'd read about colorism in scholarly works, I hadn't often come across young adult fiction that addresses the issue.  Here's a synopsis of the novel and a brief interview with Pamela.

Synopsis of Color Struck: "A deathbed shouldn't be the peacemaker in this family." Renee Steele never understood what Pa-Pa's words meant—until a difference in complexions starts to break her family apart. Her only hope of resolution lies in Grandma Bell. The division between her granddaughters causes Grandma Bell to reveal a little family history. Her narrative weaves the past into their contemporary lives, as she begins with her first days of courting Pa-Pa (Buck Steele), against the will of her father. Their secret courtship is exposed and they are banned from seeing each other again. Grandma Bell and Buck decide to elope, without having a place to live. Due to a lack of money, Grandma Bell's married life starts in the home of her in-laws, Mr. Silas and Ms. Emma Steele, as the despised, dark-skinned daughter-in-law. Grandma Bell quickly suffers the blows of hatred and rejection. Something about her stirs up a Steele family secret. She soon learns that her presence does more than anger her in-laws . . . it haunts them! 

What inspired you to write Color Struck?  How close were the events of the story to your own experience?

The inspiration to write Color Struck came from my grandmother's life. Growing up, she would share snippets of her struggles with her in-laws with me and I always held them close to my heart, wondering how she managed to endure. When I began working on another story, I interviewed my grandmother to get her views on a particular part I was writing. Somehow she began retelling some of the events in her life and I took notes, asking a few questions here and there. Once I shared my notes with my husband, we both realized that we needed to write her story and share it with the world, not only as a tribute to her, but as an inspiration for change.

The events of the story didn't directly affect me, but I suffered the "afterglow" of them. Growing up, I witnessed the bitterness of colorism shown as favortism for cousins who were esteemed better than we were because of their physical appearance. I was ridiculed about my complexion when I stayed in the sun during the summer, which caused me to compare myself to others. Fortunately for me, I had a strong family structure to counteract the impending damage to my self-esteem, and I was able to appreciate my physical traits and appearance as characteristics that made me unique. 

How prevalent do you think the issue of colorism (i.e., within group prejudice due to skin color) is today?  Do you think it continues to affect African Americans today?  If so, in what ways?

I believe the issue of colorism is still very prevalent today unfortunately. It does continue to affect African Americans in terms of the concepts of beauty and acceptance of our heritage. It's not uncommon to see public figures lighten their complexions and alter their physical appearance to lose/erase their African heritage. The most hurtful thing about the issue of colorism in the African American community is not the image that these public figures are trying to portray, but the superficial standards they are setting for our children. It's painful to hear of an elementary girl being told she's ugly and that no one will ever want to marry her because she's too dark. Or to hear groups of girls calling each other names that center around their complexions. This tells me that a narrowminded mentality seed has been planted, and unless a wise "gardner" can pluck that weed out, it will continue to grow, fester, and destroy their self-esteem, aspirations and character. I feel it's important to teach children and adults that although people say beauty is in the eye of the beholder, we all need to know where to look for beauty: beneath the skin.

When and how do you think colorism originated? 

It's really hard to say how colorism originated. Some believe it was introduced in America during slavery with interracial relationships of the slaves and slave owners.  It's been said that the mulatto (lighter-skinned slaves) received better treatment than the darker-skinned slaves, and therefore generated "tension" and awareness of colorism. However, lighter-skinned slaves had their share of suffering that darker-skinned slaves never encountered. The mulattos were often rejected by both groups, white and black, and found themselves without a sense of belonging. Although a lot of attention is focused on lighter-skinned individuals esteeming themselves better than darker-skinned individuals, I'm aware of the "flipside" of things where darker-skinned people esteem themselves better than lighter-skinned people. This flipside scenario also happened in my family. Therefore, I tried to address both cases in my book, Color Struck, to emphasize the importance of accepting a person for who they are and not for what they look like. I'll end with a quote from the book: "A person's worth lies within and can't be judged by the color of their skin."

Author's Bio:

Pamela Tuck is a native of Greenville, NC. She was inspired to become a writer after her grandfather, the storyteller in the family, captivated her with his tales. When she was a child, Tuck remembers entertaining her family by recording her own voice and telling “made up silly stories.” She won her first poetry contest in elementary school and continued to write short stories and plays. Most of Tuck’s ideas come from her family and life experiences. She says, “I have such a rich family history. . . it seems that there’s not enough room for it all on paper.” Pamela Tuck enjoys writing for children, from picture books to middle-grade novels. She lives with her husband and eleven children in Boyertown, Pennsylvania.

Pamela is also the author of the award-winning picture book, As Fast as Words Could Fly, published by Lee and Low Books.

Welcome to the 20th Century

I'm finding myself at a loss for words, but maybe this story speaks for itself.  The New Prom

Another "R Word"

No time for a lengthy post, but I wanted to share this article from CNN about the offensive nature of Native American stereotypes in the naming of sports teams and other products. Here's the link: http://inamerica.blogs.cnn.com/2013/04/04/native-american-mascots-pride-or-prejudice/?hpt=hp_c3. I know that I don't often think about this particular manifestation of racism.

Towson's White Student Union

Maybe you've heard about how a group of students from Towson University derailed a conversation about race at the recent Conservative Political Action Conference (CPAC).  It seems a student from Towson's "White Student Union," a recognized student group that exists to promote "white interests" (that's what the founder said in an interview) spoke up in favor of racial segregation and argued that, all in all, maybe slavery wasn't such a bad thing. After all, the slaves did get free food and housing.

I promise I'm not making this up.  Check out their website for yourself: Towson's White Student Union.   The founder (also called the "commander") believes that whites have been getting a raw deal and are now victims of discrimination. The campus group is not exclusive, however. Anyone is invited to join, as long as he or she is interested in promoting white interests. That's what the commander said.

The arguments used by this group are not new, and probably resonate with many whites who wouldn't necessarily join a group like this.  After all, is it fair that white students are excluded from college scholarships that are available to students of color? Isn't that discrimination against whites? And what about Black History Month? When is White History Month? I've heard questions like this from white friends and students lots of times. So, if colleges allow African American, or Hispanic, or Asian student groups, what's wrong with a white student group? When is somebody finally gonna stand up for the white people?

There's something that these Towson students are missing in their argument. It's called history. Their view of race is ahistoric -- in other words, it lacks historical perspective.  We don't live in a vacuum. Affirmative action policies that impact decisions about things like college scholarships were created because of the centuries of racism that debilitated the communities of people of color. The idea was to equal the playing field. Has it been equaled?  Statistics regarding income levels, wealth accumulation, education, housing values, and a myriad of other things tell us that it has not. We are still living with the legacy of racism in more ways than I can recount in this brief space. Are things better than they used to be? Of course. But let's face it, considering our history, the only way to go was up. Yes, we have an African American President. Yes, there's Oprah Winfrey. But come on. A few super-success stories do not make up for the structural inequities that still exist. White history month? As a wise former student (and you know who you are) once said, "Every month is white history month."

However, one of my favorite race scholars, Beverly Tatum, is not opposed to groups of whites meeting exclusively; in fact, she recommends it.  These groups, though, would have quite a different purpose from that of Towson's White Student Union.  Their goal would be to examine members' attitudes about race and work towards ways of developing an antiracist white identity. The value of the groups' exclusively white membership is twofold: first, it allows members a level of comfort to talk about hard issues without fear of offending anyone or of being accused of racism, and second, she says, it may be painful for people of color to hear about white people's struggles with racism. Tatum explains, "Listening to those stories and problem-solving about them is a job that White people can do for each other."*

What about promoting white interests? Tatum also reminds us that racism hurts everyone. Many white people have experienced fear, guilt, and anger over race that creates a tremendous amount of stress for them. Adopting an antiracist white identity, or, as Tatum calls it, becoming an "ally" to people of color is in the best interests  of white folks, too, because it alleviates all the emotional baggage that comes with racial intolerance.


Tatum, Why Are All the Black Kids Sitting Together in the Cafeteria?, p. 111.

On Racial Profiling

During some recent research I did with youth, the topic of racial profiling came up. A group of teens, most of them white, argued vehemently that black youth get followed around by store personnel because they are young, not because they are black. One of them (an African American female) also mentioned that kids get followed around in stores if they "look suspicious." I'm not exactly sure what she meant by this, but I think she was referring to dress and posture.

Here's an interesting op-ed by Ta-Nehisi Coats about an experience that Forest Whitaker, the famous actor, had in NYC.  Whitaker's Experience with Racial Profiling. I guess Whitaker must have looked suspicious.

The Magic Formula

Recently I received two similar requests from two different sources within the span of a few hours.  Maybe there was something in the air, but suddenly people were thinking about race.  A high school teacher wrote to ask for reading suggestions that might help teachers (read: white) to reach African American students.  A short time later a college administrator asked if I would be available to do a diversity training for faculty (read: white).  They had a 20 minute slot available in which to address the issue.

Both of these individuals were well meaning and I'm glad they asked for help. This is not a critique of their intentions. Reading is always a good idea, and 20 minutes is better than no minutes, I guess. (Although it did make me think of Father Guido Sarducci's Five Minute University. If you've never seen it, it's worth a watch -- now that would make for an interesting session.  Marianne Modica's five minute diversity training. Hmm...).

Here's the thing -- both of these requests are based on the premise that somewhere out there exists a magic formula for educational equity. Just say this, do this, repeat this phrase, ask these questions in this tone of voice, maybe learn to rap a little, and your students will magically respond and learn, learn, learn. Sadly, there is no magic formula. Yes, there are some basic concepts that white teachers can start thinking about, such as their own position of privilege and how our educational system is designed to reproduce racial and social inequity.  They can think about creating culturally relevant classroom spaces, and how to maintain high expectations for all students while differentiating instruction to meet the needs of those same students. Most importantly, they can commit to making a sustained effort to equity that will require reflection and a rethinking of classroom policies.

The five minute diversity training approach might make us feel better about ourselves as whites, but will do little to equal the woefully unequal playing field that we've inherited through centuries of oppression.

"What were you trying to accomplish?"

Recently I had an interesting conversation with a white, male friend who had just finished reading my young adult novel, The R Word, which tells the story of a very sheltered, white teenager named Rachel.   Rachel lives in a mostly segregated suburb and, like lots of us white folk, has never seriously thought about race or considered the impact of racism.  She, again like lots of us white folk, believes that we live in a "post racial" society and that it is best to be colorblind. Through a series of fortunate events, Rachel joins an after-school club that meets in the nearby city and, for the first time, makes friends with teens of color.  She begins to see the world through their perspective, and comes to realize her own white privilege and her family's aversive racism.

Ok, back to my friend.  He liked the novel, and complimented me on its writing style.  Then he said, "There's one thing I'm wondering about.  What were you trying to accomplish in writing this book?"

I have to admit I was surprised, because I thought the book's forward and discussion questions made that pretty clear.  I responded, "Isn't it obvious?"

"Not to me," he said, his expression open and smiling, "because I've never really thought about any of this before."

That's the point.