McDuffie 1

Devin McDuffie

Kate Rosenberg

English 137

13 November 2016

Not Just Black and White

The start of the 21st century brought about a variety of things: the iPhone, Bluetooth, and

even the first black president. One thing that has continued to stay the same is the idea of

colorism. Colorism is defined as a set of attitudes, beliefs, or negative stereotypes, predominantly

within the African American community based on skin color. Historically, it was believed that,

even within the black community, many people preferred lighter skin colors to those of darker

tones. Not only that, but it can also be reversed in that darker skin tones were more favorable

towards certain things than those of a lighter skin tone. The general belief associated with

colorism is that light-skins are more desirable and beautiful. Colorism carries an assumption

that not only are light skinned people more attractive, but that they are also more intelligent,

trustworthy, and feminine. Meanwhile, stereotypes associated with colorism towards darker

skinned people include: having a longer stamina, sexual prowess, much more strength, and

masculinity. Because of these pre-conceived stereotypes from times before the emancipation

proclamation, when blacks were treated as nothing but garbage, colorism became a large, and

unconscious part of African American history. While in the past colorism was very prevalent, a

shift in attitude caused by the increased visibility of black figures has resulted in a much wider

view on colorism today.

Many beliefs that the African American community holds towards each others skin tones

began during the age of slavery. This was during the time when light-skinned, (mostly racially
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mixed slaves) were not only treated better than darker skinned slaves, but were given better

benefits as well. The biggest difference shown between these two skin colors were the labor

tasks. Many slaves that had lighten skin tended to work near or within the slave masters home.

They typically worked as chauffeurs, repairmen, cooks, and as housekeepers. On the other side,

their darker skinned counterparts were forced to have all of the more difficult tasks. Dark skin

males were seen to be exceptionally suited for doing much more strenuous labor. Darker slaves

were forced to work longer hours picking and harvesting on the plantation while the lighter

skinned would work typically half the amount of time (Jaynes). It soon became more and more

prevalent that light skinned slaves were given much better treatment, and soon, the very first

notion of colorism was seen. It became evident that dark-skinned people started to view light-

skinned blacks as nothing more than pawns by the whites, while light-skinned blacks viewed

those who were much darker than themselves as inferiors to whom they were unfortunately

bound by race and condition of servitude (Jaynes). While these stereotypes did not ring true for

every single slave, it was still a widely popular belief seen by both parties and by most other

Americans. There are two prime examples of black figures who may have had the same outcome

of freedom from slavery, yet experienced two very distinct journeys.

Solomon Northup, a Black-American farmer, musician, and labourer, was born on July

10th, 1807 in Minerva, New York. While his father, Mintus Northup, was born a slave, he

became a free man after his master's death and the will stated that all his slaves be freed. Most

importantly, it meant that once Solomon came into the world, he would be a free black (dark

skinned) man. For the first half of his life, Solomon worked on his fathers farm and ended up

taking care of it after his father passed. However, when Solomon was about 30, a series of

strange and unfortunate events happened to him. In 1841 Northup was approached by two white
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men who promised him work and riches if he went and worked for their traveling circus as a

band member. After catching the circus, Northup was drugged and beaten, waking up to find

himself in the middle of being sold to slave traders (Russell). He was than shipped to New

Orleans, where he was bought and forced to work for 12 years on different plantation fields

throughout the state of Louisiana. However, during all of his 12 years as a slave, he continuously

tried to convince the government that was born as a free slave. In the mid 1840s until the

signing of the emancipation proclamation, it was extremely rare to see free, dark skinned people

(Russell). Many of the dark-skinned Africans were still slaves who worked on plantation fields.

For this reason, it made escaping for Northup not only extremely difficult, but deadly as well. If

Northup were to have been caught and identified as a runaway slave, he would either be sold

back into slavery, or lynched. During his time as a slave, Northup was forced to endure long

hours in picking sugar in cotton on the plantation fields. Because of his darker-complexion and

the stereotype associated with the work ethics of darker skinned slaves, Solomon was often

passed around through Louisiana working back to back shifts doing hard labor (Cole). It wasnt

until 1852 when he met Canadian carpenter, that Northup was finally able to taste a small

amount of freedom. The two of them set a plan in motion to send letters of help to a couple of

Northup's friends who lived in the New York. Within a year, Solomon was able to return to his

family and spent the last 10 years of his life living off of his Twelve Years a Slave: Narrative of

Solomon Northup memoir earnings (Russell).

On the lighter skinned slave side, Ellen Craft proved that though it is still hard to escape

to freedom as a slave, the means at which to escape are somewhat less dangerous. Most slaves

must run away at night, where it is harder to be seen. Yet for Ellen Craft, it was much easier for

her to run away during the day because of her close complexion to a white man. Ellen Smith (her
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maiden name), was born to her Mulatto mother and slave owner. She had extremely similar

complexion to that of her fathers, therefore, while the darker-skinned children were forced to

work with their mothers outside on the plantation fields, Ellen spent most of her days inside

working as a housekeeper and playmate for her father's other children (Fuchs). At eleven years

of age, she was given to one of her half- sisters as a wedding gift who lived in Macon, Georgia,

where she met William Craft, a dark- skinned slave working on the same plantation field. The

couple was married in 1846 and soon after began plotting their escape up North towards

freedom. The couple left for Philadelphia on December 1848 and traveled by train and ferry

through most of the south-east states. The Crafts plan to escape to freedom was ingenious,

creative, bold, and workout with great detail. Because of Ellens very light complexion, she was

easily able to dress up like a white man. She posed as an invalid white male traveling her slave

up north to consult doctors. Ellen cut most of her hair off, dressed in very loose fitting male

garments, and wore glasses, all to hide the even slight possibility of her feminine physique. On

Christmas day that same year, the couple found their freedom, then quickly fled to England after

the Fugitive Slave Law act was passed in 1850. While both Northup and the Crafts found

freedom, it took the Crafts not only a considerably shorter time, but also it was easier for them

to escape because Ellen looked similar to a Caucasian. These are only two examples that show

how colorism was prevalent in the past, and that how these two black figures went through two

very different situations to achieve freedom. While colorism was first seen during the era of

slavery, there was no shift in attitudes after slavery had ended.

When the Emancipation Proclamation was signed in 1893, many people thought that that

would be the end of not only slavery, but colorism as well. People believed that since every

African-American was free, self-hatred within the black community would be almost completely
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eradicated. However, once that fated day came in 1893, colorism still remained a very big part of

the African American community. In post slavery era, specially directly after the signing of the

emancipation proclamation, the black upper class throughout the southern states was comprised

mostly of light-skinned blacks that were the product of salve women and white wealthy slave

masters. Many of these light-skinned blacks had inherited a large sum of money from their

owners or inherited property from their fathers; others were educated leading up to when the

emancipation proclamation was signed. Since racism was still very prevalent, these upper-class

blacks formed their own elite social clubs in Atlanta and other parts of the south. Many of these

members of the elite black status tended to stay away from their middle-working class dark

skinned counterparts. One of the most evident forms of colorism was the creation of the blue

vein society. Admission to the Blue Vein society was based upon whether or not an applicants

skin color was light enough for the veins to be visible on the wrist. Another more common way

of determining applicants was through the paper bag test. In which a paper bag was held up to

a person to determine whether or not their complexion was lighter than the paper bag. If the

applicants complexion was lighter, than they would be admitted, if it wasnt, the rejected

applicant would be subjected to terrible amounts of hazing and harassment (Colorism). The

worst part about these societies was that it was entirely done within the black community and it

continued for most of the 20th century

After the signing of the emancipation proclamation, the 20th century saw a shift in how

the African American community was beginning to see the true form of colorism. Due to an

unprecedented rise in racism, the NAACP was founded. While the NAACP focused primarily on

issues of racism in the south, it also strived to bring all skin tones of the African American

community together. With the help of prominent black leaders such as W.E.B DuBois and Ida
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Wells, the NAACP was able to create platforms the tackle legal issues with regards to people

who were subjected to violent and hateful acts of colorism. While the NAACP fought feverishly

to solve problems of segregation, colorism still fueled conflicts among many black leaders at the

time (Locke). The biggest fight between black leaders occurred between W.E.B DuBois and

Marcus Garvey. Garvey was the leader of his own black organization known as the Universal

Negro Improvement Organization. The organization attracted more than million people and

competed for a moment with the NAACP (Locke). Garvey constantly accused not just Dubois,

but the entire NAACP organization of practicing colorism. He was convinced that because of

Dubois lighter skinned complexion, he would always be in favor more towards those who would

be able to pass the brown paper bag test.

At the time, many people believed that Dubois would be biased to not only people of

light complexions, but to white people as well. Case and point with Walter White, one of the

head leaders for the NAACP. Even though white was of African descent, his blue hair and blue

eyes raised a lot of concerning questions throughout the black community. Controversy of

colorism between the NAACP and Walter White became more evident as the 20th century

progressed. His colorism reflected through the periodicals he wrote which were published by the

NAACP: Crisis Magazine, which was the most important magazine of opinion for African

Americans. The magazine constantly only showed images of light-skinned actors and politicians

of the time. Between 1909 and 1944, not a single dark-skinned woman was placed anywhere in

the magazine (Locke). The idea behind Crisis was to refashion the way many people saw the

African American women, by showing well dressed, college-educated, black women. However,

And because of this, it was seen as portraying colorism. Unfortunately, as the 20th century

progressed and the issue of black oppression became more and more violent, the issue of
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colorism seemed to have almost been swept under the rug. Even when prominent black figures

such as Martine Luther King and Malcolm X tried to speak on the issue of colorism, it was

overshadowed by segregation and racism throughout America. As the 20th century came to an

end, it seemed as though colorism was simply a thing of that past.

Through the first few years of the new millennium, it seemed as though colorism was

never going to be brought up again. There was a monumental shift in where focus was going not

just for the black community, but for everyone in America. After 9/11, the war on terror was and

still remains a top priority in the United States. However, a new shift occurred within the black

communitys view on colorism in 2008. The election of a black president became a monumental

triumph for how colorism would be seen in 2016. A lot of disputes that came from Obama being

elected president was whether or not the outcome would have been the same if he was darker

skinned. Barack Obama continuously argued for the ending of this social injustice within the

black community. It is easy to see that, because the most powerful political position in the world

was help by a black man, every issue that he covered during his presidency was casted upon by a

spotlight, including colorism. It wasnt just Obama during recent years that has spoken out about

this issue. With music, easily being the most popular form of entertainment, it is no wonder why

a large number of black musicians have spoken out about colorism. Platinum recording artist-

rapper J. Cole stated in an interview with BET in 2013, that he wouldnt be where he is today if

it wasnt for the fact that he was light-skinned. Other artists such as Alicia Keys and Kendrick

Lamar have also spoken about colorism. They have both released albums entitled Here and To

Pimp a Butterfly (respectively). Both albums feature songs that highlight the long and ongoing

battle of colorism that has plagued the black community.

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The idea of colorism first came around during the 1800s when slavery reached its

climax. After the rise of prominent black figures during the era of slavery such as Solomon

Northup and Ellen Craft, colorism was almost seemingly swept under the rug due to ongoing

issues of racism in America. After slavery ended due to the signing of the emancipation

proclamation, colorism reached a new prospective. Figures such as W.E.B Dubois and Marcus

Garvey advocated on different sides of this social injustice. Even during the 1960s, when

prominent black figures such as Malcolm X, Martin Luther King, and Rosa Parks, did not seem

to help fight the cause. The rise of black figures not only in the 21st century, but throughout

history as a whole, has allowed colorism to emerge as one of the leading ongoing social

injustices in the United States.

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Works Cited

Cane, Clay. J. Cole: I Might Not Be as Successful If I Had Dark Skin. BET.com N.p., 22 Aug.

2013. Web. 05 Dec. 2016.

Fuchs, Sabrina. "Craft, Ellen and William." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and

History, edited by Colin A. Palmer, 2nd ed., vol. 2, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp.

541-543. Gale Virtual Reference Library, ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?

url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=psucic&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CCX3444700331&it=r&asid=a3af081fbaf684181cc9b9b9057a9955. Accessed 6 Nov.

2016.

Locke, Mamie E. "NAACP." Encyclopedia of Race and Racism, edited by Patrick L. Mason, 2nd

ed., vol. 3, Macmillan Reference USA, 2013, pp. 169-179. Gale Virtual Reference

Library, ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?

p=GVRL&sw=w&u=psucic&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CCX4190600302&it=r&asid=ba00b29fa087b29d53a1fb32e7af9349. Accessed 5 Dec.

2016.

Russell, Thaddeus. "Northrup, Solomon." Encyclopedia of African-American Culture and

History, edited by Colin A. Palmer, 2nd ed., vol. 4, Macmillan Reference USA, 2006, pp.

1657-1658. Gale Virtual Reference Library, ezaccess.libraries.psu.edu/login?

url=http://go.galegroup.com/ps/i.do?p=GVRL&sw=w&u=psucic&v=2.1&id=GALE

%7CCX3444700950&it=r&asid=5c630861a900719e144296c43c94e1b0. Accessed 6

Nov. 2016.