DARK/LIGHT...SKIN COLOR.........Is this still an issue? Let's be honest Sorors & SF'

[_Opi_]

Originally Posted by southernelle25

Anyone who does not believe black is beautiful should consider a trip to Africa (or the nearest African community ).

Africans have as much colour variations as African Americans. How would a trip to Africa be any different than, say..a trip to a populous African-American community?

[southernelle25]

Originally Posted by _Opi_

Africans have as much colour variations as African Americans. How would a trip to Africa be any different than, say..a trip to a populous African-American community?

Africans have much greater diversity and far more darker skinned varieties of people.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by southernelle25

Africans have much greater diversity and far more darker skinned varieties of people.

Since when? You've never seen beautifully blue-black black folks walking around? I have and not all of them are from overseas.

Are you talking about a larger concentration of extremely darkskinned people in one African nation or culture?

[southernelle25]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

Since when? You've never seen beautifully blue-black black folks walking around? I have and not all of them are from overseas.

Are you talking about a larger concentration of extremely darkskinned people in one African nation or culture?

Of course I have, but those who believe they have not seen a beautiful black person where they are should broaden their horizon. What better place to consider than Africa? It is well documented that African populations are the most diverse in the world, and African Americans are but a tiny percentage of their diaspora. There are countless opportunities to find black beauty there, if one can not seem to find it at home.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by southernelle25

Of course I have, but those who believe they have not seen a beautiful black person where they are should broaden their horizon. What better place to consider than Africa? It is well documented that African populations are the most diverse in the world, and African Americans are but a tiny percentage of their diaspora. There are countless opportunities to find black beauty there, if one can not seem to find it at home.

There's nothing saying these people have to think black people of any color or characteristic are beautiful. It's not a requirement, just like thinking Halle Berry is beautiful isn't a requirement. Going to Africa could make these people look around and say "oh great!! A continent full of ugly people!!" That's their perogative.

[southernelle25]

Lol, good point.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by _Opi_

Africans have as much colour variations as African Americans. How would a trip to Africa be any different than, say..a trip to a populous African-American community?

That's true and that depends on what part of Africa people visit.

Africans, outside of Northern Africa and some other parts where the people are of lighter shades, are assumed to be a less mixed group of people than are African Americans.

[_Opi_]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

That's true and that depends on what part of Africa people visit.

Africans, outside of Northern Africa and some other parts where the people are of lighter shades, are assumed to be a less mixed group of people than are African Americans.

They may be presumed to be mixed, but they may necessarily be not. I am not exactly talking about being light-skinned, but more of a different shades of brown among Africans all over the continent. The image that pops up in someone's head about people of a certain region is a misconception for the most part. I know in Somalia/Ethiopia/Sudan/Eritrea, there was no mixing. They've been this way for generations. And People for the western countries are thought to be "extremely black skinned" but I will guarantee you they have many shades of brown there as well. I've met light, non-mixed West Africans, and dark-skinned North Africans.

Also, you'd be surprised how colour is still an issue even in many parts of Africa.

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by _Opi_

They may be presumed to be mixed, but they may necessarily be not. I am not exactly talking about being light-skinned, but more of a different shades of brown among Africans all over the continent. The image that pops up in someone's head about people of a certain region is a misconception for the most part. I know in Somalia/Ethiopia/Sudan/Eritrea, there was no mixing. They've been this way for generations. And People for the western countries are thought to be "extremely black skinned" but I will guarantee you they have many shades of brown there as well. I've met light, non-mixed West Africans, and dark-skinned North Africans.

We've already acknowledged that Africa is a diverse continent in terms of physical appearance with or without "mixing." It isn't safe to assume that there was no mixing in Somalia/Ethiopia/Sudan/Eritrea. Being a certain way for generations doesn't preclude mixing (but it also doesn't assume mixing). Afterall, many African American families' appearances can be traced back to an era when white men forced themselves on black slaves or when blacks intermingled with Native American cultures.

The fact of the matter is that many people assume that being "straight from Africa" implies that you are less mixed with voluntary or involuntary "white blood" and that your physical appearance is stereotypically "pure African." I've been hearing that eversince elementary school when darkskinned children with defining features were called "African booty scratchers," especially after Shaka Zulu aired.

Originally Posted by _Opi_

Also, you'd be surprised how colour is still an issue even in many parts of Africa.

I'm not surprised at all. "Color" is an issue in almost every society.

[_Opi_]

Originally Posted by DSTCHAOS

We've already acknowledged that Africa is a diverse continent in terms of physical appearance with or without "mixing." It isn't safe to assume that there was no mixing in Somalia/Ethiopia/Sudan/Eritrea. Being a certain way for generations doesn't preclude mixing (but it also doesn't assume mixing). Afterall, many African American families' appearances can be traced back to an era when white men forced themselves on black slaves or when blacks intermingled with Native American cultures.

The fact of the matter is that many people assume that being "straight from Africa" implies that you are less mixed with voluntary or involuntary "white blood" and that your physical appearance is stereotypically "pure African." I've been hearing that eversince elementary school when darkskinned children with defining features were called "African booty scratchers," especially after Shaka Zulu aired.



I'm not surprised at all. "Color" is an issue in almost every society.

There is no such thing as a pure race. Eventually, we are all mixed. However, I guess what I'm saying is how immediate this mixture is. From Colonial days? 500 years ago? Different regions have different experiences. When someone says mixed, I'm thinking like going back maybe 100 years, from a traceable perspective.

lol@color/colour <---canadian spelling

[DSTCHAOS]

Originally Posted by _Opi_

There is no such thing as a pure race. Eventually, we are all mixed. However, I guess what I'm saying is how immediate this mixture is. From Colonial days? 500 years ago? Different regions have different experiences. When someone says mixed, I'm thinking like going back maybe 100 years, from a traceable perspective.

lol@color/colour <---canadian spelling

Exactly.

How immediate it is doesn't really matter. And traceable shouldn't be the guideline because that would negate a majority of people in the African diaspora in most continents including many parts of Africa. Sometimes that's only the difference between consensual mixing and nonconsensual mixing because you have to consider the impacts of slavery and colonialism. Unless the African society wasn't that interrupted and existed in a bubble, and of course some African societies can claim to be more pure than others, I wouldn't be surprised the dynamics going on there.

As an aside:
The average African American family are of diverse shades, hair textures, and facial features. Sometimes these traits aren't apparent based on the lineage that the family knows about and sometimes it comes from way back. Kids used to get teased for taking on the fairer traits of grandmothers or great grandmothers. They were told they're the milk man's baby until their mother said "you look just like my great-great grandmother's side of the family." Many families can't trace their lineage much further back than that.

[pinkies up]

^^^TRUE. I my cousin and her husband (both dark skinned) have 2 babies who are light skinned and one has green eyes. Yeah...my cousin was trying hard to get a DNA test on both of them. Both of them are 99.98% his. My grandmother used to say that the "baby reached waaaay back" to get those features. Whatever color, WE are beautiful people.