Hello again UI. It’s funny how a passing thought can become a deep lament that questions you opinions on life and current events. What I mean is this. I was looking at the life of the great Fredrick Douglas, and decided to look at him as a man and not for his accomplishments. We saw this stoic darker skinned man who commanded an audience simply by the fire in his eyes. I was impressed and moved at the same time. I also looked at the great Harriet Tubman the same way.

She was also a chiseled piece of ebony that though had a small frame, commanded respect and attention with the same fire of Frederick Douglas. After that I began to notice that that’s where that particular image ended. It seemed as if almost every “great” African American who was to be spoken f, or had accomplished great feat was of the fairer complexion.

Many firsts for our people as well as many who broke “barriers” were also extremely light skinned blacks. Now this isn’t a “Team Light” of “Team Dark” thing. It’s more to show you all that one is not better than the other, nor does it make a difference in what type of person you become. I had a friend tell me once that it seemed to her that lighter skinned blacks had more of a drive for achievement. She continued to say that it seemed as if light skinned people cared more about the black race that darker skinned people. I promptly laughed at her and asked if she was crazy, then she made the historical proof of men such as Smokey Robinson, Huey P. Newton, Malcolm X, and W.E.B. Dubois, and what people like them have done for the community. I pondered her proof and researched her evidence. What I found was more unsettling than what I expected to find.

hroughout American history, there have been cases of blacks who have been oppressed by whites… Nothing new right? Then I discovered a different type of racism within our own culture which is “Colorisim”. Because of this it really makes me wonder, if we honored the right people when the achievements were made. Here is what I mean.

Rosa Parks is known for her stand by not moving to the back of the bus when asked by a white bus driver. She was honored and received all the glory for this event, and was hailed as a pioneer of black history. What we do not remember nor what we care to honor, was a woman named Claudette Colvin w. ho was a darker skin woman and less palatable to the American public. This fact truly made me question our so called heroes. Were they really the ones behind these great achievements? Or were they the ones that whites would accept as being intelligent, and dynamic? Also you have to remember that education played a large role in all this. The first blacks to attend colleges that were not HBCU’s were also light skinned for this very reason, and were afforded the opportunity while others were not. There have been so many examples of colorisim in our own community that we have even let this explode into the music industry.

We worshiped R&B icons like Christopher Williams, Chris Brown, and Smokey Robinson, but were there any other artists who could have been better than them? Yes, and there were. Here is an example. Howling Wolf is only known to the truly hardcore early rock and roll followers, but his “look” or should I say “skin” rather, was not palatable. Even Mick Jagger who was around at that time was quoted as saying. “Howlin Wolf was one of the greats man. Too bad he was just too black for the listeners, yeah?”

So what is my point in all of this? My point is that although I respect the accomplishments that many black pioneers have made and the leaps and bound that have been taken to advance our community… I question our own integrity because of the colorisim that we have let control our lives. It’s real easy to put someone in front of the camera who looks good and speaks well to be the example. It’s hard however to show the world who you really are. If you disagree with what I’m saying then tell me. If not, what can we do to keep this from continuing to happen? I question everything, especially this. I feel that there were others out there that we simply don’t know about because of not just whites, but PEOPLE not wanting to see a dark skinned black person take credit for anything because it is not visually pleasant to them.

Even our own president is going through it. Although he is lighter skinned, we see him and his dark skinned wife and black family every day, and even that is more than some people can bear as we have seen. He gets it for simply breathing, and I truly feel that this is why. So UI, what do you think? I think I’m right… Then again you might think I’m crazy. Let us know and comment below. It’s your turn intellectuals… Go.