But Not Too Black: Difference between revisions

[[File:loreal 640.jpg|link=Beyoncé|frame|[[Department of Redundancy Department|Yes, L'Oréal lightened the]] [[Unfortunate Implications|light-skinned Beyoncé]].]]

 

 

After a long struggle in gaining visibility and acceptance in the entertainment world, ethnically-African actors and actresses have many more opportunities in Hollywood and on television than they ever had had before. Some have become huge stars in their own right. Unfortunately, as these new opportunities grew, a new dark side of 'racial' bias emerged.

* [http://www.facebook.com/home.php?#!/pages/Dark-Skin/248025271385 Averted with this Facebook Group]

* Averted with [http://arabiguitar.blogspot.com/2007/05/our-world-hirsi-alis-challenge-to.html Ayaan] [https://web.archive.org/web/20120717035713/http://www.moonbattery.com/archives/2007/07/ayaan_hirsi_ali.html Hirsi] [https://web.archive.org/web/20110816203703/http://www.cnn.at/2007/WORLD/americas/10/11/ww.hersi.ali/index.html Ali], who is Somali, and pretty [http://synergistic.wordpress.com/2010/03/22/ayaan-hirsi-ali-is-doing-it-again-and-richard-dawkins-is-on-her-side-battling-fundamentalic-islam/ damn hot].<ref>You may have to scroll for a couple of those.</ref> Also rather [[Hot-Blooded|passionate]].

* [http://gawker.com/5560215/american-apparels-new-standard-no-uglies-allowed Gawker wrote recently about AA’s (American Apparel) looks-based hiring policies], leaking internal documents that discuss AA’s “New Standard”: “Classy-Vintage-Chic-Late 80s-Early 90s- Ralph Lauren-Vogue-Nautical-High end brand.” Their employees are the front line of the brand’s new image, and should represent the company accordingly. So who are they looking for to help represent the new look? The more important question is (and always should be in cases like this), who aren’t they looking for?

{{quote|“None of those trashy [black girls],” said one e-mail from corporate. "We’re not trying to sell our clothes to them. Try to find some of those classy black girls, with the nice hair, you know?"

* [https://web.archive.org/web/20140606130904/http://www.ocregister.com/articles/hudson-288518-size-jennifer.html This] commentary on Jennifer Hudson's weight loss puts recent and older pictures of her side by side. While it goes on at length about how different she looks size-wise, it apparently completely fails to notice that the recent pictures have not only been de-browned but also pinked-up.

* In the documentary ''Afro-Punk'' (a film about black punk rockers, and fans) covered this issue. Some stated that they felt that other white kids liked them for the wrong reasons.

* Racial Identity also can become a issue when this trope comes into play. You'll get people splitting hairs when it comes to describing their ethnicity. Some cultural critics say this is because of a negative racist stigma African Americans have thanks to negative stereotypes. Like negative depictions of blacks in mainstream media such as film, news, and [[Hip Hop]] probably didn't help (especially [[The Scapegoat|rap videos]] ). So it's no surprise that some black folks would like to sub-divide themselves from black Americans and black American culture anyway they can (especially immigrants, and even second gen black immigrants). Making being black a type of [[Mark of Shame]] metaphorically speaking. Of course, white Americans have this introductory ritual where they specify what bits of Europe their ancestors came from and express it in terms of fractions. There's no reason black Americans who have any way of knowing shouldn't do their own versions of this...except that for the majority they really can't know. "Probably somewhere within several hundred miles of the Bight of Benin" does not help.

* It can, and has, been argued that the whole concept of relaxing (straightening) your hair relates to this.

* Averted in a Harris Interactive Poll that in 2001 named Martin Luther King and Colin Powell as two of the top three choices of hero/role model for Americans (the other one was Jesus).

** And Jesus was probably as dark as either of those two gentlemen. If you want to talk about famous people who are "lightened" in most depictions, you can start with him.

 

{{reflist}}

[[Category:Characters and Casting]]

[[Category:Double Standard]]

[[Category:Race Tropes]]

[[Category:Depressing Tropes]]