In case you missed it. The colorism show.

Despite the heaviness of the topic (it’s sometimes referred to as black america’s open secret), we had a lot of fun on the air in the chat room discussing colorism, both in the African American community and around the world. We talked about our personal experiences, the role of discrimination in the formation of the “black elite”, the rise in intra-racial complaints at the EEOC and the fact that in other parts of the world, corporations like L’Oreal and Unilever market skin whitening creams in advertisements that overtly link the color of a person’s skin to his or her ability to land a prestigious job or win a mate (check out the video poll on the show blog). In the chatroom we talked about how some of our grandmothers made us stay out of the sun, Whoopi Goldberg’s statement on The View that only black women with long, flowing hair are allowed on television, and how insecurities in people of color can lead to plastic surgery monstrosities.

I was thinking for a little while after the conversation about how this really affects the lives of people and it is extremely sad to me that such a large number of people hold on to these damaging views generation after generation. To me, life is just too short for to put energy into drawing conclusions like that based on a person’s appearance.