Colorstruck Ideas

[Wonderful1908]

Greetings fellow greekchatters!!

I have a situation and would like some help on. As many of you may know I am a high school teacher specifically ninth grade social studies. Today I was talking with my students about Africa and their stereotypes of the continent, etc. At any rate the topic of color came up and I had three young black males tell me that they could not think of one attractive dark skinned woman! One even told me he would rather date an ugly light skinned woman with long hair than a beautiful dark skinned woman with an afro. I was floored, I left my class and marched them down to the library and my intentions were to assign them some type of research on black women but we began discussing this topic with three of my black female co-workers who were equally disturbed and the bell rang. I understand we all have prefrences and in no way am I trying to dictate to them what they like, however they truly were looking at me like I was crazy at the notion that a dark complected woman could be beautiful. It doesn't help that I am light with long hair, they just think I am "tripping", one boy in particular is constatly referring to how dark skinned woman are not attractive. Any ideas on what I can assign them or suggest they do in order to expand their horizons? I don't want to punish them just educate them.

[Exquisite5]

Maybe if they read Carter G. Woodson's The Miseducation of the Negro they will see how we have be systimatically mind-fu@%ed and it will be easier for them to understand how that extends into our formulation of beauty.

[Confucius]

Many young black males feel the way that your students feel about what is considered beautiful.

[ljkelly]

Maybe if they read Carter G. Woodson's The Miseducation of the Negro they will see how we have be systimatically mind-fu@%ed and it will be easier for them to understand how that extends into our formulation of beauty.

I agree...explain to them the origin of this way of thinking and maybe that will give them some prospective.

[RedefinedDiva]

Originally posted by Exquisite5
Maybe if they read Carter G. Woodson's The Miseducation of the Negro they will see how we have be systimatically mind-fu@%ed and it will be easier for them to understand how that extends into our formulation of beauty.

I agree. I am also willing to bet that some of these students that express these sentiments are not the most fair-skinned students in the bunch. I have the same issues in my class. Soror Wonderful, aren't you from the New Orleans area? (I could have you mistaken) If you are, you may know that here we have a different type of skin color challange, like with the whole Creole, passant-blanc, and other foolishness we deal with.

I would suggest that they research the history behind the issue of African-American skin color. Let them research the field vs. house negro issue that seems to pop up in skin color discussions. May I even suggest that they research "paper bag tests." Here is a good article from ABCNews Maybe they can research the "Black is Beautiful" movement from the 1960s.

Good luck on this one. It's hard to "unlearn" this particular prejudice, but it is not impossible. Keep me posted!!

[honeychile]

Please forgive me for crashing, but I just finished reading Cane River by Lalita Tademy, which is a family history but fictionalized. This discussion completely reminded me of the conflicts the women in the book faced and overcame. Maybe it could help? I would hate to see yet another generation of women of color defining themselves by the shade of their color!

[MissMonika]

There are a few of good books on the subjest one is:


Don't Play in the Sun: One Woman's Journey Through the Color Complex by Marita Golden


another is:

The Color Complex by Kathy Russell. This book has a well defined definition of the Color Complex in the first chapter.

also

The Isis Papers by Dr. Francis Cress Welsing


Hope this helps.

[Wonderful1908]

Originally posted by RedefinedDiva
I agree. I am also willing to bet that some of these students that express these sentiments are not the most fair-skinned students in the bunch. I have the same issues in my class. Soror Wonderful, aren't you from the New Orleans area? (I could have you mistaken) If you are, you may know that here we have a different type of skin color challange, like with the whole Creole, passant-blanc, and other foolishness we deal with.

I would suggest that they research the history behind the issue of African-American skin color. Let them research the field vs. house negro issue that seems to pop up in skin color discussions. May I even suggest that they research "paper bag tests." Here is a good article from ABCNews Maybe they can research the "Black is Beautiful" movement from the 1960s.

Good luck on this one. It's hard to "unlearn" this particular prejudice, but it is not impossible. Keep me posted!!

Soror, I went to Southern so I was in the New Olreans area alot. However I am from California originally. I know the New Orleans mentality though. I may have them read some books but that would require READING which to these students is like kryptonite...but thats another issue. I mean I can see it in the media where they get this crap, but come on this is the year 2005. I think the house v. field negro research might do them some good.

[Jill1228]

I also second the book "The Color Complex"

I would LOVE to read the book "Don't Play in the Sun"...
If I had a dollar for everytime I heard that one...

However, I was too hard headed to listen

[skywalker20_99]

Wonderful 1908,

I've been having similar thoughts about color issues. There is a very dark-skinned young lady that attends my church (around age 14). I can tell that she has probably been teased a great deal about her skin color and suffers from low self-esteem. During a fashion show at church last week, when the commentator mentioned how beautiful she looked, she shook her head as if to say, "that isn't possible." In my opinion, this young lady is absolutely beautiful - in fact she is probably model material. I've been wondering what I can do (other than paying her frequent compliments) to help boost her self-esteem along with other young ladies that I encounter with similar problems. I just think its an absolute shame that people fail to appreciate beauty in all forms.

[ARTIC-U-LATE]

Interesting. I just finished reading Don't Play In the Sun ,I enjoyed it. Its not academic at all, but rather a perspective on her life as dark skinned female.

As a male, I am disappointment at the lack of appreciation/admiration/interest for darker females of our race. We can most definately attribute some of this madness to BET (Blacks Gone Wild) and poorly informed parents and authority figures. As the son of a dark skinned woman, my first image of beauty came from my mother...as a result (in my case) I prefer darker woman.

I guess it's just a preference with historical influences.

[laidbackfella]

Wonderful1908

Please do not give these young men books to read.

The only thing that you can do is parade a multitude of very attractive dark skinned women through your classroom or in their presence.

If they've never seen or agreed that a dark skinned is beautiful then giving them a reading assignment will not help.

Their minds have been molded by larger society and you WILL NOT change their perception in the duration of a school semester.

Especially as they will go out and receive the same reinforcement that they've been getting before.

The only thing that you will be able to do is plant seeds.

You'd need to be able control every bit of their outside input if you wish to change their attitudes.

[AKA_Monet]

What your young men have stated does not surprise me. They have been indoctrinated at an early age to hate their own skin they are in and to hate women, generally. There self-hatred may have been inflicted by their family's own self-esteem issues of the concept of being "colorstruck".

I don't know if books or pictures will hone in the concept that dark complexioned women of African descent are beautiful to these men, they are a lost cause at 9th grade. They have already have found what physcially attracts them sexually and it is not women with Afrikan-centered features.

Maybe if you do a series of 2-3 week lectures of slavery and the de-feminization of the African women and then show the movie "Sankofa" they MIGHT get a clue. But I skeerioussly doubt at this time they will find any use to that logic.

But, this is all understandable utamaawazo from Marimba Ani's book, "Yurugu" and doesn't blow me away...

Modern women with dark complexions? Lauryn Hill, maybe; Kelly from Destiny's Child--who knows?

However, there are many women in the past are the epitome of beauty--like in "The Eye of the Beholder"...

[K.O.T.S]

i have been around plenty of men (and still am) that judge a womans beauty by her skin color. they go crazy over a "yella" no matter how funny looking she may be and overlook a dark-skinned lady no matter how attractive she may be. many black men are attracted to light skin(maybe b/c they were conditioned to or maybe legitimately). however, i am around many African women right now that are dark but beautiful. this has changed my perception since i grew up with low self esteemed dark women that knew nothing about being attractive (maybe b/c the way men were treating them). show them beautiful black women of all shades and let them see beauty in all of its forms. it may just work.

[The Original Ape]

in time.
These are young brothas may be victims of naive peer pressure, and influenced by their sisters, mothers, aunts, and grandmothers' efforts to "get ready" before they go to church, or clubbin'. They watch yall put on all that make-up, get those perms, and do whatever else yall do to get yall stuff right before yall go to the mall or wherever yall rollin' to. Yall work so hardSO HARD to look like somethin' YALL think is pretty; and just look at each thing you do to achieve that. ...and yall wonder why the little bruhs are stuck on light-skinned, long-haired chicks?

LAIDBACKFELLA had it right about assigning books to read---for now. His idea to parade some attractive women in your class may make a difference too. I think this will surely get their young minds to thinking!

Some of yall suggested some good books to read. There are also movies and television shows wherein this topic is addressed. Seek them out and show your class these movies. Let them see the impact certain times in this country had on the way we think.