[Exquisite5]

I am glad that article was posted because some of us have been lead to believe that color preference was instituted by the slave master during slavery and that white America then left it alone. That simply is not true. Color preferences are used every day in corporate America. It is probably more common that name-profiling.


Just survey the scene you will find far more A.A.'s in high corporate positions of light to brown skin tones.

My mother, who is "light" by almost ALL standards, but was treated differently as a child because she was the darkest girl in her Jennings, LA native family, has openly told me she would not be where she is today (VP of a major bank/investment firm) had she been darker. My mother doesn't even consider herself light, but she is the color of Tracy Ellis Ross. Her sister is about the color of Vanessa Williams and always got the preferential treatment.

When discussing why her boss, a black male, was a Senior VP and she was not (she has an outstanding record...over a million in sales last year) she said it had to do with his sex (banking is a big boys club) and the way he looked. He is VERY fair with the requisite wavy hair. She said while the face of corporate IS changing (SLOWLY) they just still lean towards blacks who look like them.

So while our self-hatred is depressing and infuriating. Please don't be deceived, even in 2003, it is not only self-inflicted.