Preview

Margaret Hunter's Color Stratification?

Good Essays
Open Document
Open Document
1277 Words
Grammar
Grammar
Plagiarism
Plagiarism
Writing
Writing
Score
Score
Margaret Hunter's Color Stratification?
Color stratification has been a part of American History since the days of slavery. During slavery light skinned Blacks were freed earlier than dark skinned Blacks. These lighter slaves were able to obtain education, better jobs, and property due to their white ties. Research has shown that before and during the 1960’s color stratification was still prevalent but due to Black Pride this thought took a change for the better. Several studies done by Blackwell (1975); Drake and Cayton (1945); Davis, Gardener, and Gardener (1941); Dollard (1957); Frazier (1957a, 1957b, 1966); Myrdal (1944); and Landry (1987) have all stated that in past generations , higher status Blacks tended to have light skin toes than theier lower status darker skin tone counterparts. It is also noted that a lighter skin tone was an important criterion for attaining prestige within the black community. Due to this color stratification relies on racism …show more content…
Lizzie Life: Wannabe white!
From a symbolic interactionist viewpoint color stratification among blacks is something that they live with everyday because light skinned people are viewed as beautiful. Due to their lighter tones they are able to receive some of the advantages of white privilege but never able to “pull the race card”. Margaret Hunter believes that because lighter tones are associated with beauty and beauty operates as social capital for people especially for females.
Some people view the typical dark skinned African American female as loud, annoying, “easy”, lazy, having trust issues, and comes with plenty of past baggage. These notions are stereotypes which are seen in some dark skinned African American females while light skinned females are seen as having class, nice, pure, being the crème de la crème. This is what we perceive and others chase after because these qualities are more appealing. They may not be true but at first glance you feel that they are the best choice. Internalized oppression? Very much

You May Also Find These Documents Helpful

  • Good Essays

    This inferiority complex is still present in today’s society and still has a negative effect on the self esteem and self perceptions of Black people. This is why I wasn’t surprised nor shocked at the representations of beauty because I experienced it firsthand which was detrimental to my personal self esteem and self…

    • 905 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    African American women suffered through so many injustices over years. Their bodies were degraded, their spirits were crushed, and their self-esteem lowered. Society didn’t care for their well-being, and continued to oppress them. For a long time Black women wasn’t able to value themselves, because they felt worthless and broken. However, the “Black is Beautiful” movement officially change this, by encouraging African American women to embrace their beauty and their talents. Black women for the first time felt comfortable in their skin, and wasn’t willing to accept any more disrespect and abuse because of it. June Jordan’s “Poem about my Rights” and Lucille Clifton’s “Homage to My Hips” both illustrate the major shift in the way African American…

    • 123 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Discrimination can take many forms and exist every aspect of society. After many years the fight against discrimination is still an ongoing process and for many it’s a daily struggle for many. The short documentary “The Color of beauty” examines the “blatant racism”(00:20) and discrimination that occurs within the fashion industry. The film revolves around Renee Thompson, an ethnic model trying to overcome the racism that exists in the fashion industry in order to make it on top. In today’s modernizing fashion has become a powerful driving force. The film, argues issue that Caucasian models are preferred over colored models, which is evident with the ratio of colored model to Caucasian models in most fashion choice. The film also points out that the difficulty colored models face due to a biased standard that the fashion industry has on beauty. It argues that more often or not, if a colored model is chosen, it’s due to his/her “unique” future. These so called “unique”(02:33) feature is common feature that many Caucasians. Elizabeth St. Philip, the director of the film, utilized a combination of logic, credibility, and emotional devices, in arguing and persuading an audience on the issue presented.…

    • 1193 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Black women have qualified as being brash women, cheap, and ghetto. The significance of being white in America means you are pure, guiltlessness, beautiful, and more privileges. Case in point, Trayvon Martin case reminds me a later form of the Emmett Till case. Trayvon and Emmett were both slaughtered in the south. The two murdered as a young kid. Martin and Till death were across the nation news. Relationships between the boys passing in respect to the South and its past and also who draws the limits that division us as an overall population. Emmet Till over his limits shrieking at a young white lady. Trayvon Martin crosses his limits passing a new neighborhood. Trayvon killed for being categorized as a thug for wearing a hoodie. Also, the principle of design for this artwork is contrast because light and dark values. The light helps us to characterize spatial connections. Specialists occupied with controlling light. Typical and manufactured light create different impacts on the encompassing environment altogether. These distinctions thus influence the way we see our…

    • 877 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    The horrors of slavery is one that should not be made light of. The dehumanization of blacks during this time, forced our ancestors to endure the most devastating genocide in human history. On one episode of the tv show, Saturday night live, Host and cast member Colin Jost and Leslie Jones discuss the actress Lupita Nyong’o being named as People Magazine's “Most beautiful person”. Jones questions the standards that defy beauty by comparing America today to America in slavery times. Although Jones's rant is seemingly subversive because it emphasizes the fact that black women are undervalued, while simultaneously challenging the standards of beauty, Jones reference to a sensitive topic in our county’s history in order to prove this point-…

    • 724 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Dark Girls

    • 991 Words
    • 3 Pages

    Colorism is the prejudice or discrimination based on the relative lightness or darkness of the skin. The documentary takes a look into the trend of black women all over the world investing in the multibillion dollar business of skin bleaching creams. Duke and Berry also examine how black women are trying to look more Caucasian, while white women are trying to look more ethnic by using tanning booths and botoxing their lips. Colorism appears to be more of an issue within ethnic groups. Within the black community, it is preferable to be “light skin”. The “paper bag test” is, holding a brown paper bag next to your skin, if you are lighter than the brown paper bag then you are considered beautiful and smart, if you are darker than the bag then you are considered unattractive. This discriminating method was once used to admit people into groups or organizations and even to get jobs. When interviewing black men on the street, they found that many said they prefer to date light-skin women because dark-skin women are “mean spirited, angry and unapproachable”. It was also found that a dark-skin women dating a dark-skin man is less common and even sometimes considered taboo compared to one individual in the relationship being lighter than the other. African American women are the least coupled group in the United States. Statistics show that 41.9% of black women in America have never been married,…

    • 991 Words
    • 3 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Better Essays

    Women have, since the beginning of time, been bogged down with stereotypes. African American women have been faced with their fair share of these stereotypes as well. The main focus of the article, “White Stereotypes Control African American Women”, by Maria del Guadalupe Davidson is four stereotypes that white people have forced on African American women. While under the thumb of Mammy, the Matriarch, the Breeder, and Jezebel, black women have fought for generations to rid themselves of these stereotypes.…

    • 893 Words
    • 4 Pages
    Better Essays
  • Powerful Essays

    It was reflected in the past and present, from discriminating against skin color, how they look, being uneducated, etc. In the “Coming of Age In Mississippi” skin color is an issue that African Americans deal with and racism inside their own community. For example, Raymond’s mother, a mullato doesn’t necessarily care for Anne Moody’s mother because she is dark-skinned and when Anne Moody was considering applying to Tougaloo College although her roommate informs her that you need to be light-skinned and rich to attend, she immediately refused that decision. This internalized racism affects Anne Moody’s identity because she didn’t consider herself having the privilege the lighter skinned African Americans had because she is dark skinned, she puts herself down and questions well if I wasn’t dark-skinned, maybe I would be able to have the joy in doing things my own race could do. The article, “Skin Tone and Stratification in the Black Community” by Verna M. Keith and Cedric Herring discusses the difference in skin tone in the black community and how it makes a difference in the opportunities given in society. The article states, “ Fair-skinned blacks had higher levels of attainment than darker blacks on virtually every dimension of stratification. During the 1960s, however, blacks experienced unprecedented social and economic progress. Racial differences in…

    • 2507 Words
    • 11 Pages
    Powerful Essays
  • Good Essays

    According to Collins, African American women have been stereotyped throughout history as mammies, matriarchs, welfare recipients/mothers, and hot mamas/Jezebels/whores. She states that these stereotypes stem from slave era and were created as a form of manipulative domination by the white elites. She states that “these controlling images are designed to make racism, sexism, poverty, and other forms of social injustice appear to be natural, normal, and inevitable parts of everyday life”. To this day, Collins believes that objectifying black women allows white people to treat them as inferior and also keeps the black women mentally subjected to the white elite’s domination.…

    • 1112 Words
    • 5 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    Although blacks gain equality towards the end of the twentieth century, they are still not equal to whites. The majority of victims of discriminations are blacks. In a research by the University of Rochester, the “slavery effect” accounts for the 15%-point difference in party affiliation. Racism continues to be a problem in politic. According to Loury,…

    • 281 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    From the start, there have always seem to been a contrast in differences between the upper white class and the upper black class. Beginning from centuries ago and still to this day, black and white upper class has been through many transformations and been placed into various status groups. These lifestyles that each group were living, were determined by their wealth, education, their occupation, and families background. Past decades there has always been a difference in status between how the upper white class and upper black class stood together. As these parents also wanted to make sure their children were understanding about their past and having many standards to fulfill. Between the black and white upper classes, there have been many assessments about how each group obtained and maintained their living standards.…

    • 1264 Words
    • 6 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Satisfactory Essays

    It was assumed that the slave with a lighter-complexion were more likely to be of mixed race and therefore better in some way or superior to the darker slaves. Even now in the 21st century where there are more…

    • 248 Words
    • 1 Page
    Satisfactory Essays
  • Good Essays

    Although some poor white men can rise above poverty, the truly disadvantaged individuals are poor people of color, as they must combat both racism and classism in order to succeed. Tom, Daisy’s husband, invites Nick to his apartment to spend the afternoon with him and his mistress. They are later joined by her sister Catherine, a feisty redhead, who has “a complexion powdered milky white” (Fitzgerald 30). Catherine’s decision to lighten her skin is directly influenced by Eurocentric beauty standards, which favors caucasian features, such as pale skin and high cheekbones, over ethnic ones, such as dark skin and wide nose. This is a nod to white supremacy, as whites are considered the dominant and superior race at the time. Since they shape and control society, a member of the white race automatically has advantages over non-whites, known as white privilege.…

    • 370 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    In the essay "How It Feels to Be Colored Me" Zora Neale Hurston recalls her upbringing in an all black town, and her move to a mostly white town in the heart of racist Alabama. The author is exposed to racism and through the interaction school of symbolic interaction; she feels above the ignorance of society and negotiates her sense of self as a woman rather than as a colored person. The interaction school describes how the author has an active role in deciding who she is. When colored people Hurston knows are shaping his or her sense of self around their perceived race identity, she doesn't follow their lead and shapes her own identity.…

    • 643 Words
    • 2 Pages
    Good Essays
  • Good Essays

    Your construal of the second week’s materials breaks down the color line’s problems. This sensitive problem is generated by racial smog that infiltrates throughout our society such as Latinos referred to institutions of higher education as a “white space”. For example, your fairly sheltered life caused some early misconceptions until the participation of several school sports proved otherwise for your African American teammates. The reason as to why is because she built a nice rapport into a more equal playing field, regardless of subsisting in a predominantly white area. By and large, this biologic myth in genetic differences are just bursting with falsities or allusions that can easily dismantled by understanding, social interactions, and…

    • 116 Words
    • 1 Page
    Good Essays