This is the third installment in a series of articles on what it means to have bold conversations about race.
The Winters Group is sponsoring a new feature at The Forum on Workplace Inclusion called Bold Conversations: Calling the Race Card. I started the series asking if we are ready to have bold conversations about race. The second piece explored the complex definitions of race and posited that it is really color rather than race that matters. This week I want to explore the idea of colorism. I think the background that these articles are providing will give us useful background on how to have bold conversations about race.
The amount of melanin in one’s skin matters. Colorism, a practice where those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those who are darker, manifests inter- as well as intra-culturally. Behavioral scientists have conducted numerous studies globally that show both whites and blacks are more favorably disposed toward people with lighter skin, rating them smarter, wealthier and happier. One such study showed participants 60 photos, including some pictures of the same person that were altered to make their skin look darker. Both whites and blacks gave lower scores on intelligence to people with darker skin.
In 2012, Dr. Donnamaria Culbreth founded the Intraracial Colorism Project “to investigate and report the existence and occurrences of colorism within Asian, black, Indian and Latino communities throughout the United States and abroad,” as well as to educate people on the effects of colorism and how to eliminate it. The project intends to focus on areas such as economics, social acceptance and psychological effects.
Historically, lighter-skinned people have been associated with higher social statuses, darker-skinned with laborers and working class. In Latin and South America, light skin is seen as more attractive. In Mexico, light skin represents power. Media images from the United States, India, and Brazil, favor lighter-skinned actors, actresses, and models. Skin-lightening is a multi-billion dollar industry in Asian countries, where 4 in 10 women in Hong Kong, Malaysia, the Philippines, South Korea and Taiwan admit to using such products. The skin-lightening cream market in India has been growing at 18 percent per year, and in China, it comprises 71 percent of the total skin care market.
A 2006 University of Georgia study showed that employers prefer light-skinned black men to dark-skinned men, regardless of their qualifications. The study found that a light-skinned black male with a Bachelor’s degree and typical work experience was preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an MBA and past managerial positions.
A Law Professor at Vanderbilt University conducted a study of over 2,000 immigrants from around the world and found that those with the lightest skin earned on average 8-15 percent more than similarly qualified immigrants of darker hues. He concluded that the primary reason for the difference was discrimination.
Bias based on colorism is real and as irrational as it might seem to many of us, it is a crucial issue as we unpack the complexities of race.
The Forum on Workplace Inclusion is also offering a session on day 3: The Intersections of Labels, Identity and Colorism: Emerging Trends, Their Impact and Implications for the Workforce.
