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The concept of light-skinned as a sign of beauty is not unique to India although we tend to practice it in a more obvious way through our matrimonial ads or face creams. Unfortunately, African Americans in the United States also face a similar problem. More often than not, this misconception is also found to be true within the African American community. When black girls try to bleach their skin or black kids pick white dolls as a better-looking toy, it is merely a reflection of the societal stereotype. This stereotype unfortunately is continually reinforced.
This short student film, A Girl Like Me (running time - 7:15) by Kiri Davis talks to some black girls on the issue of beauty and how their race affects them. Additionally, the African American community in the US faces an additional burden of being uprooted from their native lands in Africa and now can no longer pledge allegiance or even reminiscence on their historical or cultural roots.
by Patrix | on Thursday, October 19th, 2006 at 12:07 am | 
Observations, Society Culture, United States, Videos . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.
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October 19th, 2006 at 9:37 am reply
Wow. This was an eye-opener. I was actually under the impression that light skinned African-Americans face some kind of bias since they might be perceived as ‘different’. I still think they do but I guess that does not make the desire to be light skinned go away.
By the way…..mucho sad about Desipundit. Will wait for the ‘Return of Desipundit - Back in Brown’
October 19th, 2006 at 10:31 am reply
Bryan, I think that bias exists except it is considered as a positive by the African Americans. On the other hand, being ’smart’ or ‘intelligent’ might be positive but such people are often discriminated against by their peers for trying to ‘act white’. It’ll take a while but I guess, things will even out.
And don’t hold your breath for ‘Return of DesiPundit’…it might be a while.
October 19th, 2006 at 1:23 pm reply
Whoa Trixy, just saw the desipundit post. I’m so sorry, but it did seem to be a LOT of work! Maybe again, some other day at a less-crazy juncture of life huh? We’ll be there!
October 20th, 2006 at 8:18 am reply
[...] On a related note, Patrix has a post on beauty and skin color among African-Americans, and points out to a short student film on the subject. Do check it out at his blog. [...]