The Root of Our Evil in the African American Community

Colorism.

Colorism is the root of our evil as a culture, society, race, etc. It has become sort of an social hierarchy.

You may be wondering "What the hell is that?"

Here's your definition...

Colorism is one form of racism. While racism is being dependent toward the social status of race; colorism is the dependence of social status on just skin color alone. Enacting in colorism will result in the differential treatment not only based on racial categorization, but from the social values placed on skin color.

Colorism is dividing, hindering, and holding the African community back at a time when it should be united.

Before I venture any farther into this topic, I would like to make one thing clear...

We are all minorities, we are all African American- and  regardless of your skin tone or shade, you will get treated the same way outside of the race.

The classifications and stereotypes made based off of skin color are shameful and all of the "light skin, brown skin, dark skin" talk needs to end.

These distinctions based on skin tone creates a widespread mental set back in away that one thinks they are only as good as the skin they are in-this also creates the faulty allusion that the lighter your skin is, "the smarter you are, the better you are, or more attractive you are", which is largely an issue with the younger generation.

This portion of colorism may have some dealings with Europeanization. Many African Americans associate traits such as speaking proper, being smart, rich, and or successful as being "a white thing" and that the lighter you are the closer you are to having those traits.

If values such as these are instilled in our young ones, generations of ignorance will be reoccurring. A race can not strive in parts, it can only strive as a whole.

Some of you may find this next sentence I am going to type inconceivable, but...

It is possible for an African American to be intelligent, wealthy, and or successful, regardless of the varying shades of skin tone.

An understanding needs to suffice: You are what you make yourself out to be by your actions and your character, success, credentials and or value is not predetermined by your skin tone.

There are enough stereotypes surrounding our race as it is, why make it more difficult for each other by attaching stereotypes to our different shades?

Colorism for the African American community, is like cutting someone's neck open to stop a nose bleed. We are still being compared to slaves, which is an insult to the entire race, so why hold on to a practice that dates back to the plantations?