Colorism, many are not familiar with the term but they surely have experienced it. It is a type of prejudice when a person is being judged and discriminated against based on how light or dark their skin tone is. Ironically, the people discriminating and the people being discriminated against mostly belong to the same communities. Colorism in South Asia can or cannot be blamed on the period of the Sub-continent’s colonization.
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Hundreds of
years ago, the British came to the Sub-continent and colonized it. They were
seen as the superior ones, called the ‘white ones’. When they left the
Sub-continent, with problems that were already prevalent in the region, they
left behind huge problems, including colorism, that are still deeply rooted
here till today.
The blue fact is that people of South Asia have themselves
passed this problem on through decades. They are not completely to blame of
course, if we take a look around at what the societal standards especially the
beauty standards are, we will observe that all of them are Caucasian
features.
Individuals with light skin in our society are seen as more privileged and attractive while those with a darker complexion are degraded regularly. Even what we see on our screens, it is obvious how colorism is endorsed, the light-skinned person is often portrayed as the one with an astounding successful character and the pretty one, while the dark-skinned person is shown as the less confident one.
Throughout childhood, a
light-skinned kid receives compliments about their skin color while a
dark-skinned kid rarely gets any, rather, they get to hear toxic comments
reducing their self-esteem, implying that being ‘fair’ skinned is being lucky,
and being dark-skinned is unfortunate.
For decades, generations have grown up feeling insecure due to this narrative of being ‘fair and lovely, and it is being encouraged by not only the industries but as well as one’s own families is not going to help eradicate it any sooner. It is like there is little to no diversity in role models to look up to regarding being inspired and having good self-esteem. Skin-complexion bias has significantly divided communities globally and the South Asian community is not an exception.
It has given rise to bullying, low self-confidence and insecurity, self-acceptance, inferiority complex, mental health, and real-life problems in maintaining personal as well as professional relationships.
They don’t enjoy this behavior nor does it sit okay with them
but they face it due to how normalized it is, which is wrong on so many levels
but our communities have failed to call it out from the beginning and someone
expresses how offended they are, they are labeled as the ‘butt hurt’ or
‘sensitive’ one.
It feels like there is a controlled hierarchy according to which
an individual can be viewed as one belonging to a higher or a lower class
merely centered on the color of their skin. How can it be eradicated? The
solution might sound easy and simple but as the saying goes, “It is
easier said than done”.
Colorism highly affects our society’s legal system, political
affairs, educational system, health care system, crime, and aggression as well
as the mass media.
It is going to take a lot of courage, bravery, and integrity for
it takes courage to speak up and stand up to such issues in front of groups of
friends and family and decry the act of colorism. Being honest about it is
another important thing because if one is not honest about what needs to be
fixed then how will they be able to fix anything? We need to be truthful about
the skin-complexion bias, the insecurities and prejudices due to this bias, as
well as one recognizing the privilege that comes with being fair-skinned if
they are.
Since colorism is a social problem, it cannot be ended until
societies work together to get rid of it. Whole families and communities must
come together and embrace who they truly are and where they belong without any
prejudice against the ones different from them and teach self-love from homes.
If you have come this far, you want to put in the effort to end this curse. If you see someone engaging in any colorist behavior, always take a stand and call them out on it. Do not let it be something like a norm and be persistent about it as long as you can.
The most important thing that will
separate someone who wants to actually do something about this issue and
someone who just wants to discuss it is who stands up against it in real life.
God has created all of us the same, no matter what the skin color, if you cut a
black and a white person they both bleed the same.
This article is written by Syeda Hafsah Zainab, one of the contributors at the School of Literature.
