'Dark Girls' Doc Tackles Colorism In The Black Community

Is 'colorism' still an issue today? This is 2011, and yet we live in a world where some dark skin people still feel looked down on and belittled. 'Dark Girls' is a documentary set for release later this year, featuring interviews with women about their experiences, not only in the world at large, but also within the Black community.
Check out some excerpts below. What's your take on this, and what has been your experience? - Lou C-D

Tags: Black, Color, Colorism, Community, Dark, Documentary, Girls, Skin

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Comment by Maat on May 31, 2011 at 3:03am: Black is Black... end of story, how about we tackle something like economic empowerment?

Comment by Larry "Grey Eagle" Beaner on May 31, 2011 at 2:36am: If we can't accept ourselves, how can we expect ANYONE else to respect us? It starts with our own mentality. This is so sad, to see the kind of undeserved pain written on the faces of our women. I saw a doc (Black Women on the Dark Thang, Light Thang) awhile back that opened my eyes to the depth that this wound runs, and it isn't healing, ....yet!

Awareness is the first step of growth.

Comment by Bobby Smith on May 31, 2011 at 1:12am: Very good clip and sadly so true of life today. A relative of my wife told us to our faces that we are 'lucky' our daughter has light skin as this is 'the colour that black boys go for'. People have to get past this slave mentality and live in the modern world - where beauty is found in all different shades.

Comment by BklynBadBwoy on May 30, 2011 at 11:22pm: my favorite kind of girls, just saying :)

Comment by The Deacon on May 30, 2011 at 11:17pm: I will need to disagree with my good brothers on some level. I don't see how raising an obvious contradiction when it comes to the issue of skin color is being decisive. I've dated many dark skinned sisters; our business is our business, but what's being raised in the film are things I've heard and witnessed myself. But the color issue is an extension of the colonial mentality. Take China for example, because of the European influence, the need to make the eye round and bleach the skin have become common amongst middle class Chinese. It's the same thing in many parts of Africa. I'm pointing this out to say, the color issue in the black community is a social issue arising from a much larger issue of European domination.
I been called all sorts of yellow Nigga; I can honestly say I never felt the need to knock down a dark skinned brother or sister; just exercising some common sense. And when I hear another brother or sister pointing out that they been mixed with Indian, I tell them I'm a straight up Nigga from Africa. I came up at a time where listening to political Raps was the norm, even the Punk bands were about politics.

Comment by AFROPUNK on May 30, 2011 at 10:30pm: The documentary isn't vilifying anybody, it just allows these women to tell their stories.

This might be really uncomfortable for some at first, but can you make lasting progress on such a deep and long-standing social issue without asking the hard questions and telling it like it is? The uncomfortable moments might very well be necessary in order to make people take a long look at their behaviors/beliefs and over time make a change.

Comment by Aries 2.0 on May 30, 2011 at 9:29pm: NewSoul is right "colorism" (in the south we call it Color Struck) happens to every generation. People now a days are just highly sensitive. Where ever their is a sensitive issue there's an opportunity for exploitation. This has always been an issue in the black community but the people that need to see this film will most likely never see it. The films heart is in the right place most definitely but rather than perpetuating the Dark V.S. Light which is already the problem. Why not resurrect the Black Is Beautiful movement? Something that every black person of every shade can get behind and learn from.

Comment by AFROPUNK on May 30, 2011 at 8:35pm: Well, those women's stories are real. This particular documentary is about dark skin women. They never said this was the only existing form of 'colorism'. It might be the most common, though.

Comment by Newsoul on May 30, 2011 at 8:29pm: BS !!! i AM GETTING TIRED OF THIS STEREOTYPE BECAUSE IT RUNS BOTH WAYS, In the 70's and 90's Dark-skinned Black People were in and I did not hear the complaining when Dark- Skinned Blacks ripped light- skinned Blacks like myself like it was no buisness and it was so much fun taking shit from many dark- skinned kids like..

1. Yellow Bastard

2. The only real 'Black" is a dark- skinned one

3. Half- breed yella nigga

4. Uncle Tom

Sorry fam, but Bill Duke as usual is playing "Black victim politics" that has made me ill since 1995, from the so-called down-low brotha (like there has never been any closeted gay Black men in the world's history) to that awful movie Tyler Perry directed. ( For colored girls who like to play victim for no good reason) Colorsim has always been a part of Black America since Master came into the slave quarters and was fucking "his property" and that was women and men.

Comment by benelson on May 30, 2011 at 8:26pm: Powerful, powerful cinema. Not looking for anwers, only deep, insightful questions about ourselves. Look at what we have become.