Years
ago, a strange saying circulated throughout the black community illustrating
the skin politics that lingers from slavery. "If you're white you're all
right. If you're brown stick around, but if you're black stay back." It
may surprise some, but the doggerel poetry originated in the black community
long ago and reflects the unsubtle preoccupation with skin color among African
Americans.
History
Although
skin color among Africa slaves was predominately dark brown to nearly black,
concern about color came about as a direct result of miscegenation. Although
the term is commonly associated with African slavery in the United States, it
came about much sooner than the kidnapping of blacks from Africa as the first
blacks arrived in 1619 as indentured servants. Black and white indentured
servants worked for a specific number of years and were then freed. The lives
of black and white indentured servants were similar at this time. They worked
side by side; they lived together in the same dwellings and fraternized after
their labors. They also married and had children together.[1]
According
to the Merriam-Webster dictionary, miscegenation is defined as During slavery, miscegenation between white and blacks was strictly
prohibited. Although forbidden, instances of sexual intercourse between white
and black occurred and usually without black female consent.
In the United States, whites saw themselves as superior and
all others as subordinate or inferior. This practice was termed hypodescent. During American slavery, the
word meant the automatic assignment of children of a white and union between
members of different ethnic groups to subordinate status. Progeny of these usually
forced incidents became mulattos. However, as the children of forbidden
relations matured there was intermarriage between mulattos
producing quadroons (a person of one-quarter African ancestry and a Caucasian
parent). Octoroon meant a person with one-eighth African ancestry and one
white parent.
Perceptions and Reality
Focus
on skin color came early during slavery as mixed children of slave owners
received better consideration than slaves with pure African blood. The
difference was not lost on unmixed slaves as the children of slave master often
received hostile treatment from regular field hands. The politics of skin came
early for African slaves. Many slaves were children of well-to-do white fathers
and many were recognized and sponsored by their fathers. Once free, Negroes of
lighter skin color came to dominate the free black community both in numbers
and influence.
Because of the better treatment, former slaves often focused on marriage
to a lighter skinned black in order to have a lighter child, which was seen as
an asset in the black community as fair-skinned Negroes seemed to obtain better
jobs and treatment. Even black sexuality did not escape the effects of skin
politics as lighter skinned men and women tended to have their choice of
marriageable partners. Whether it was the benefit of better jobs or prized
romantic interests, skin color has long been an issue in the black community.
Skin Lighteners
Skin lightening or whitening creams have met with controversy in the
black community where many claim that such products lead to confused identities
and devaluations of traditional cultures. With portions of the black community
“skin lightening” is considered to be brought about by a combination of
self-hatred, European ideas of beauty and a desire to be accepted by greater
society to create better opportunities. How much of this is true remains open
to question, but the reality of skin bleaching is tangible and often produces
unexpected results.
The skin lightening industry is a multi-million dollar industry, but the
economic leads many to give legitimacy to the business of changing skin color,
as most creams are a dangerous concoction of chemicals such as steroids,
hydroquinone and tretinoin. The long-term use of these drug cocktails can lead
to permanent pigmentation changes, skin cancer, liver damage, mercury poisoning
and many others.
Yet, the formulations of these products are shrouded in mystery and awareness
of their hazardous effects is low. Nearly 30 per cent of long-term users report
adverse effects as most skin lightening creams contain mainly two chemicals,
hydroquinone or mercury.[2]
Mercury is poisonous and can cause permanent damage the nervous system. Mercury
poisoning is still known today as 'Mad Hatter's disease as it used to be used
in the making of hats. The chemical affected the nervous systems of hatters,
causing them to tremble and appear insane. Toxic levels of mercury can
also lead to
kidney damage and may lead to psychiatric disorders. In addition, it can lead
to severe birth defects. [3]
Other chemicals include topical steroids,
which can hypertension, elevated blood sugar and suppression of the body’s
natural steroids. The
steroid corticosteroid used in some bleaching creams can result in Cushing's
disease, a malfunction of the adrenal glands leading to an overproduction of
cortisol. Other side effects include increased appetite and weight gain,
deposits of fat in chest, face, upper back, and stomach, swelling, slowed
healing of wounds, osteoporosis, cataracts, acne, muscle weakness, thinning of
the skin and more. [4]
Consumers wrongly assumed that all ingredients were disclosed on
labels. “There’s a basic assumption that there’s some truth in labeling,” said
Dr. David McDaniel, a dermatologist in Virginia Beach and a director of the
Skin of Color Research Institute at Hampton University (a historically black
college). “That’s a false assumption for the skin-lightening market.”[5]
Skin lightning is not relegated to the African American community as countries
as diverse as Senegal, India and the Philippines skin lightning is promoted as
a way to elevate one’s social standing. India has a thriving fairness
industry and fairness creams are reportedly the most popular in the unfettered
skin care market. In 2003, Dr S. Allen Counter of Harvard Medical School
reported that the high levels of mercury found in people, but particularly
women, from Mexico, Saudi Arabia and in Tanzania in East Africa related to the
use of skin lightening creams.[6]
Allen also reported that 96% of over 300 patients in the Southwestern United
States that have higher than normal mercury levels were female and all had used
skin lightening products;
likewise 90% of women tested in clinics in Arizona who were Mexican-American
had been using the same products.[7]
Discrimination?
It’s not some fantasy. There is prejudice against dark-skinned
people, especially women in the so-called marriage market. Interestingly,
prejudice often surfaces among members of the same ethnic groups and races. For
the longest, in the African American community light skin was considered more
attractive, better accepted and led to superior opportunities. Fairer,
lighter skin is highly valued in some countries such as Asia and India.
Men
A small percentage of men also use bleaching creams. Former
Chicago Cubs slugger, Sammy Sosa, has a noticeable change of skin color. Sosa,
a Dominican-born American citizen, told a reporter from ESPN that he had used a
cream nightly to “soften” his skin and that it had bleached it, too.[8]
Given that chemical skin lightening has a range of serious side effects,
the best advice would be to stay clear of such products and be happy to be in
your skin.[9]
[1] Linda Allen Bryant, Slavery and Miscegenation in America, The Legacy of
West Ford, http://www.westfordlegacy.com/History/slavedoc.html
[2] Nalini
Ravichandran, Skin whitening creams can
cause long-term damage, doctors warn, Daily News, August 4, 2013,
http://www.dailymail.co.uk/indiahome/indianews/article-2384456/Skin-whitening-creams-cause-long-term-damage-doctors-warn.html#ixzz31yQIvPd7
[3] Dr. S. Allen Counter,
Whitening skin can be deadly, Boston Globe, December 16, 2003, http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2003/12/16/whitening_skin_can_be_deadly/
[4] Lynn Berry, The Dangers of
Using Skin Lightening Creams, March 27, 2008,
http://www.naturalnews.com/022893_skin_dangers_products.html#ixzz379p8lTcA
[5] Catherine
Saint Louis, Creams Offering Lighter Skin
May Bring Risks, New York Times, January 15, 2010,
[6] Lynn Berry, The Dangers of
Using Skin Lightening Creams, March 27, 2008,
http://www.naturalnews.com/022893_skin_dangers_products.html#ixzz379p8lTcA
[7] Dr. S. Allen Counter,
Whitening skin can be deadly, Boston Globe, December 16, 2003,
http://www.boston.com/news/globe/health_science/articles/2003/12/16/whitening_skin_can_be_deadly/
[8] Enrique Rojas, Sosa: Cream has
bleached skin, Sports ESPN, November 10, 2009
[9] Simon Pitman, Medical research highlights dangers of skin lightening,
Cosmetics Design, February 15, 2008,
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