Tameka Raymond’s Color Complex Article (Circa 09) + “She’s Down-to-Earth for a Light Skinned Girl”

While I was tweet hustlin’ I ran across a vintage (not really, vintage, but it’s from 2009) article that Tameka (Foster) Raymond (Celebrity Stylist, Ex-wife to Usher) wrote in the Huffington Post. Titled, “She’s Pretty for a Dark-Skinned Girl…”, the article centered around the color complex in the African American community. This topic has so many layers, it’s impossible to even address it in one piece. Peep a few excerpts from her article….

I am a dark-skinned African American woman with features that reflect my ancestry. Debates regarding Light vs. Dark and other biases have plagued our race for years and continues to impact millions of Black women. The deeply rooted intra-racial contempt that lies beneath this inane “compliment” is the reason I’ve chosen to spark dialogue surrounding the topic of self-hatred in our culture. It saturates every aspect of our lives, dominating the perspectives of our generation as a whole. We culturally are so influential, at times inadvertently, that we affect all with the words we utter and the images we portray. It lends to the theory of systemic racism. Often dark-skinned women are considered mean, domineering and standoffish and it was these very labels that followed Michelle Obama during the campaign for her husband’s presidency and which she has had to work tirelessly to combat. I was appalled when I heard a Black woman refer to Michelle Obama as unattractive. The conversation turned into why President Obama picked her as his mate. No one in the witch-hunt made reference to the possibility that Michelle Obama was smart, funny, caring, a good person, highly accomplished or brilliant. Nor did they mention that she previously was President Obama’s supervisor. If she were fair skinned, petite with long straight or wavy hair, would the same opinions be linked to her? I seriously doubt it. It is believed that for the dark skinned, dreams are less obtainable.

My thoughts? Being considered “light skinned” and being raised by a woman that’s much “browner” than me, along with a grandmother that looked damn near white, gave me a number of conflicting feelings on the matter. I like my color and I happen to also like my momma’s (color). I don’t know how it feels to be told, “you’re pretty for a dark-skinned girl” but I do know how it feels to be instantly judged because I’m “light.” While Raymond explains that she has been described as “dark, aggressive, bossy and bitchy” I’ve received the back-handed compliment that I’m “down to earth for a light-skinned girl.” I’ve also been pegged as being “stuck-up, stand-offish and self-centered” solely based on me being light. In general, it’s frustrating for people to take a look at you and instantly decide who the hell you are and what you stand for. Bottom line: it’s an ongoing conversation that should continue. Peep her full article here and give your two cents!