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Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 3185
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 7 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 04:13 pm: | 
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GOING PUBLIC WITH THE HIGH YELLA BLACK
by Lee R. Haven
From Evergreen Review #102, Winter 1999
The black black versus the high yella black. Writer Alice Walker calls it
colorism. She says it's a major problem in the black community--so much
so that just as DuBois predicted that color would be America’s main
problem of the 20th century, Walker believes this insider struggle of
different hues would be black folk’s chief burden of the 21st century. To
give an example of colorism’s power, Walker points out that, in matters
of what she calls black black women wondering if prominent black men will
chose one of them, "it is sometimes everything we think about," she says.
I remember a girl in my high school--still today, one of the most
attractive females I've ever seen--who was also very, very dark. A dark
popular guy said he would "ask her for the go" because she was obviously
fine, but you know he also had that dark thing to contend with,
especially the combination of both being nearly literally black. I don't
think I'd ever seen someone wrestle so hard about anything. You would
have thought he had a legitimate dilemma.
It may be hard for some to picture this now, but it was pretty much
standard fare to say it was very possible to be too black, the same way
it was a kind of compliment to say someone was dark but pretty, or a
pretty black girl. Many blacks wondered about the fashion sense--if not
the mental state--of a black black person, and especially a black black
woman, who wore too much white. She was also to avoid dark red, light
red, yellow, black, and, come to think of it, I don't think I ever heard
what color she was supposed to wear.
A high-yella women was supposed to marry a high yella man, of course, but
exceptions could be made if the man was very successful. And they had to
be very careful about the exceptions because there was always the matter
of wondering what kind of hair the children would have.
This colorism is perhaps the dirtiest of black people's soiled laundry,
dirtier than black-on-black crime, which is hardly on the down-low
anymore, although reasons implicating the majority society certainly are;
the color game is the dirty laundry black people really don't want whites
to know about. It's embarrassing, for one thing. Here you are complaining
that whites assume certain privileges because of the lightness of their
skin, and you're doing the same thing in your black world. It also
questions--dramatically--the Movement assumption that blacks are morally
superior to other, read that white, people. Black people take their
morality business seriously when engaged in struggle with whites. They
could use it, for example, to explain why blacks can take so much
punishment from white folks. Anybody can hit somebody back, but a man,
in a kind of revisionist definition of the species, is bigger than that,
the assumption goes. It was a moral one-up-manship that, thanks to all
those television cameras showing how law enforcement officers abused
black demonstrators, played a large role in shaming America into passing
civil rights laws. Blacks could wallow in that aspect of morality without
having to answer another aspect of their struggle that smacked of
immorality, and that is the game of color they played among each other.
Clarence Thomas is a traitor, true; that's easy to call. But have you
ever heard his stories from back-in-the-day in Savannah (yes, the
traitor is technically a homeboy) when he was disparagingly called ABC--
America's Blackest Child--by other blacks?
Black communities in Southern cities especially--like New Orleans,
Charleston and, my old stomping ground, Savannah--built little societies
around color. In Savannah during the turn of the century, to give you an
idea of how bad the situation was, there were allegedly two Episcopalian
churches for African Americans--one for light African Americans and the
other for dark African Americans.
Whites profess ignorance or confusion about this black phenom, and they
probably are confused on one level since they see blacks primarily as
blacks, whatever their literal color. White enmity, however, is not that
democratic. To the contrary, whites play an integral role in determining
the black color-caste system. If the lighter you were as a black the
better your chances for gaining employment, guess who, as a byproduct of
running the country, was doing most of that hiring? And a great deal of
the black color-caste fell into the white blood-is-thicker-than-mud
department since most of the high yellas were the offspring of white men
who, while not looking out for them as they would their white children,
still looked out for the yellas on some level. Many of these men, for
example, built several of what we now call black colleges --then called
"colored colleges"-- for their mulatto offspring, according to Atlanta
historian Skip Mason. A black historian in Savannah--a man who also runs
one of the funeral businesses in town--said that, in a weird kind of
exchange program, white fathers in Savannah would often send their
mulatto offspring to Charleston for friends to sort of look out for, and
vice versa.
But because black was discovered to be beautiful in the mid-60s on, those
attitudes changed. Or at least people have enough sense to not verbalize
it. Of course, you would never guess that in Atlanta, a municipality in
which you hear guys still saying things about looking for “redbones.”
But then, this town on a hill does other things as if the black power
struggle never found its way up here, or that if it did, tired out from
the metaphorical climb, or got the heck out of Dodge, er, Atlanta, after
running into these reactionary cultural altitudes. But there were always
the nasty reminders, even outside this city. People saw on TV that the
love interests of those brother singers in the videos were almost always
light, even if they weren't pretty, or fine, which was, after all,
supposed to be the point.
Successful men still married, for the most part, women who were lighter
than them. Alice Walker's informal survey during the '70s revealed that
even the most militant of the black power guys (even Marcus Garvey) had
light mates. She contends that Malcolm X, a high yella brother, although
closer to the dirty-red variety, is so loved by black women because he
married a black black woman.
Anyway, with all this mess of a history, is it any wonder why blacks
still harm each other day in and day out; those brothers who actually
kill each other are simply the extreme of an ongoing larger, but not as
literally murderous, self-hate.
So what to do about all this? There's probably very little to be done
unless material conditions are changed--that is, when blacks appear to be
winning. No, make that when blacks are winning, or getting back what they
lost when brought over here and other parts of the western hemisphere as
free laborers--when they return to controlling the space they occupy.
I think Clarence Thomas said that, as a youth, he saw blacks as being
such chumps, and that is why he did not wish to associate with them.
We're always on the outside begging folks who have historically kept us
out to let us in, he said.
It's easy to see how he could see that, although the sentiment hardly
forgives the life he has chosen to lead as an adult. It is as if folks
have to come up with a new set of rules to deal with us, and we with
them, when in actuality we don't. (As in what's with all the civil
rights bills when you’ve got a Constitution?)
It's probably cool that Malcolm cooled out a lot of sisters with his
marital decision, but his greatest achievement is that he elevated the
black struggle to a human struggle. You don't want any special treatment,
he said. Nor should your oppressors receive any. He said handle your
business, or your struggle, as anyone else would in your circumstances.
It wasn't going to be easy and you may be surprised what you have to do.
But he guaranteed us this. You won't have time to play skin--or any other
kind of--games.
http://www.evergreenreview.com/102/articles/haven1.html |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 735
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: 
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 04:38 pm: |
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Oh God! Here we go again! More pathetic intra-group race baiting by skin color crazed instigators. This post is an example of the simple minded group polarizing mantra that serves as a catharsis by jealous haters and those with deep skin color insecurities and issues. Is there an end to this divisive toxicity and what purpose does it serve?
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Brownbeauty123
Veteran Poster
Username: Brownbeauty123
Post Number: 1061
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 04:40 pm: |
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You're right. Now let's go visit another thread and discuss something less divisive, shall we? |
Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 1550
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 04:41 pm: |
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Yeah Toxic Tonya. I second what NTFS said. Why are you reposting old subjects that have already been discussed. Or are you simply instigating because you have nothing better to do??? |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 737
Registered: 10-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 04:56 pm: |
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"You're right. Now let's go visit another thread and discuss something less divisive, shall we?"
Ok...... Sounds good to me.
"Why are you reposting old subjects that have already been discussed. Or are you simply instigating because you have nothing better to do???"
I think you just answered your question. She reposts the same tired weak racially polarizing trash in order to feel good about herself and to make a trivial and pathetic attempt to drive a wedge between blacks about an issue that no human being has any control over. What does they say about her?
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Mzuri
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Mzuri
Post Number: 1551
Registered: 01-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 05:03 pm: |
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My questions were rhetorical. This is the topic that went up in flames a while back. Remember? |
Tonya
AALBC .com Platinum Poster
Username: Tonya
Post Number: 3186
Registered: 07-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 2 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 05:11 pm: |
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I WOULD AGREE WITH YOU BUT I AGREE MORE WITH MY FOREFATHERS:
NO JUSTICE, NO PEACE. |
Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 100
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 05:37 pm: |
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The whole colorism thing confuses me anyway. It seems that even people who I consider fairly light skinned like
Sanaa Lathan
Gabrielle Union
Mary J Blige
Erykah
Jill Scott
are actually considered "darkskinned"
So I don't even know what darkskinned or lightskinned means anymore. Which might be a good thing.
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Brownbeauty123
Veteran Poster
Username: Brownbeauty123
Post Number: 1064
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 05:41 pm: |
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Gabrielle Union is "lightskin" to you??
Mary J. Blige was significantly much lighter back in the early 90s, which I think was due to them slathering on makeup that was 10 shades lighter than what she really was. Now, she is much darker. |
Brownbeauty123
Veteran Poster
Username: Brownbeauty123
Post Number: 1065
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 05:42 pm: |
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Same for Janet. She is so dark now--but if you look at her during the Control/Rhythm Nation days she was lighter, like a carmel complexion. |
Igbogirl
Regular Poster
Username: Igbogirl
Post Number: 103
Registered: 09-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 05:53 pm: |
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Seriously, I've seen Gabrielle Union in person and I consider her lightskinned. She is a couple shades lighter in person than on the screen and so is Mary J Blige who I have also met. I have not met Sanaa or the others I listed. In person, both Mary and Gabrielle look caramel and they are pretty much the exact same complexion.
On the other hand, Foxy Brown and Lauryn Hill are both quite a bit darker in person than they look in pictures or on TV. |
Brownbeauty123
Veteran Poster
Username: Brownbeauty123
Post Number: 1067
Registered: 03-2006
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 06:19 pm: |
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Gabrielle is brownskin/darkskin--she says she used to slather on sunscreen so she wouldn't go from brown to darkskin when she was younger.
There's no way she can be lightskin in person, she has too much dark coloring for this to be true.
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Shemika
Regular Poster
Username: Shemika
Post Number: 198
Registered: 02-2006
Rating: 
Votes: 3 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 07:02 pm: |
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Great post Tonya, keep up the good work. If it weren't for the few blacks left who advocate awareness like you and Kola, all we'd ever hear about are the woes of ww on the Montell Williams show and Oprah or whatever else whites are concerned about. Simpleton blacks don't even have sense enough to want to solve their own issues the way the Jews and everyone else does theirs, they'd rather be like whitey and sweep anything harmful to black folks under the rug. The solution for our people has always been to just grin and bear it. |
Renata
Veteran Poster
Username: Renata
Post Number: 1343
Registered: 08-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 09:15 pm: |
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Everytime I read something like this, it reminds me of a guy I knew not too long ago. He said that he hated how he looked and how ugly he is....and I felt (and still feel) like crying. So, GOD HELP ME, I cannot understand how in the world he could look at that face everyday and believe that.
He was quite fucking LITERALLY the most beautiful face I have seen in my life and had teeth that you would swear he'd had braces on (but he hadn't).
There's a new rock song called "when you were young" where they say "he doesn't look a thing like Jesus". Every time I hear it, I just think, "but, he could probably replace Jesus". |
Ntfs_encryption
"Cyniquian" Level Poster
Username: Ntfs_encryption
Post Number: 739
Registered: 10-2005
Rating:
Votes: 1 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 09:15 pm: |
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”Simpleton blacks don't even have sense enough to want to solve their own issues the way the Jews and everyone else does theirs,….”
Brilliant! I agree. But instead of accepting the responsibilities of their self destructive actions and behavior, they would rather indulge in hatin’ whitey and finger pointing at the system. It’s much easier to blame someone else for our personal negligence and failures. So you’re right. We don’t solve our problems like Jews and Asians. We’re too dependent on others (e.g. the government, welfare, etc) to define and make choices for us.
” …….they'd rather be like whitey and sweep anything harmful to black folks under the rug.”
Hmmmmmm….that’s interesting. I've never heard anyone attempt to sweep the reality of rampant illegitimacy, violent gang infestation, black on black crime, drugs, excessive school drop out rates, black men abandoning their children, poor health life styles, etc, under a rug. These issues are plane to see for anyone who has eyes. It's certainly not a secret. And only black people can do anything about any of it. NO ONE ELSE CAN DO IT!
”The solution for our people has always been to just grin and bear it.”
Really? Well, I can honestly say I’m not aware of that. I’ve never heard anyone suggest black people should grin and bear the pathology and dysfunctional issues they face. Where did you hear this?
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Renata
Veteran Poster
Username: Renata
Post Number: 1344
Registered: 08-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Sunday, September 24, 2006 - 09:16 pm: |
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"he doesn't look a thing like Jesus, but he talks like a gentleman, like you imagined when you were young....." |
Nels
Veteran Poster
Username: Nels
Post Number: 545
Registered: 07-2005
Rating: N/A
Votes: 0 (Vote!) | | Posted on Monday, September 25, 2006 - 12:28 am: |
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Well, since not all blacks are "really" black (considering the invalidity of the ODR), this thread is really moot. |
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