[Sahara]

This was a really big problem for me when I was younger. The suburban area I grew up in seemed to just worship light-skinned people. The only way a dark-skinned girl was considered attractive was if she had long hair.

I remember visiting an elderly woman (my grandmother's friend) who let me & my (light-skinned) cousin sew doll clothes at her house. She always would say to my cousin "you're so pretty" or "you have such pretty hair" (long) and wouldn't say anything to me. I would go back to my grandmother's house and cry (in private). I stopped going to visit her without saying why.
I remember showing family picutures to some of my white friends. My dark-skinned and light-skinned cousins were on the same page. People would say "she is so pretty" about the light-skinned one. I would say, with attitude, that they BOTH are pretty and leave it at that.

I haven't experienced prejudice as blatant as this in my older years, but it is definately still a problem.
Recently, I have had problems with people criticizing me when I wear pink. Pink has always been my favorite color, but I didn't wear it when I was younger because I thought dark skinned people couldn't wear light colors (except the occasional white). I made a consious choice to wear lighter colors and I started with pink.
The haters claim that I'm going overboard with my AKA love, but that's crap! I don't wear pink any more than I wear blue or black! I have enough blue to wear everyday, and I never heard a single comment about it. Also, they don't say a thing when I wear green!