How Can We Rid Ourselves Of The Whitemans Brain Washing.

Is it not the same thing?

all i know is that i refuse to let the whiteman or anyone else to  brainwash me. black is beautiful and if there were a way to get darker, i'll do it because i like the way dark looks.

umm., i don't think they brain washed me. i don't try to be like them in anyway like some people do. and my shade has nothing to do with it. if i said i wish to be lighter, than that's different.

Naija diva, the thing is that the White man makes us obsessed with him, some people even measure their Blackness on how "unwhite" they are, it sounds funny, but even people who do that, do so by having  the Whiteman as their starting point/ measuring point.

At the end of the day, the truth is that the Black race comes in all shades, even without race mixing, they tell us that White, and therefore all light shades of brown come from them, thats a lie. Many people believe it to be true, so they associate lighter with White instead of it being within the spectrum of Black skins. Thats a White idea, not a Black reality.

Whether you wish to be lighter, darker, taller, shorter, slimmer, fatter its really of no consequence, the aim is for us to think we should be something other than we are.

Black is beautiful, I believe that, but I see the Black race as a spectrum of colour. I don't see white people as just pale, we all know there are a spectrum of shades and features in all races.

Naija_diva, thanks for such a great contribution. Black and proud.

Naija diva, it so true, and I find frustrating as a light skinned woman. Its obviously wrong for people to insult or abuse anyone on the basis of skin tone, but its to the point that as a Black African woman, I'm being told that its wrong for man of my own race to find me attractive. Somehow somewhere, in the righteous fight against the degradation of dark skin, I'm being told that any attraction towards me either from a man of my race or any other race, is by virtue of a defect and therefore I should reject it.

I don't accept that. I have just as much right to love the skin I'm in as the next person. I'm no less a Black woman than the darkest of women.

I totally agree with you but I think the reason why this even exist is that , in the minds of many "Black" people around the world lighter skin is better than darker skin. To say that it doesn't exist is to deny the truth. I think it has a lot more to do with "Black" men than with "Black" women.

Here is a phrase that I have heard a thousand times,  " She is pretty for a dark skin woman", the funny thing is I have never heard anyone say, "She is pretty for a light skin woman", because it is assumed that a light skin woman is pretty.

I feel media has a role to play in this as well if we look to commercials, videos, movies, etc,  The female will usually be lighter than the male.

I think we all speak from personal experience so I know what you are saying is valid. It is funny that you pointed out that about women sometimes. It is so true that with women many times it is the direct opposite because the brown/dark skin male is held in world society as beautiful in their own right. The same cannot said about the brown/dark skin woman.

I just notice men saying things like that all the time:

It could be something like "She has a good grain of hair", or "You know I only like those light skinned ones", etc. The big one is how I have never heard "Black" men say that "she is pretty for a light skin woman" because it is assumed. As I said, we are all speaking from personal experiences so that is what we all have to mostly go on.

I agree with you that it doesn't matter about complexion and whatever complexion you are, that you are beautiful.

exactly. especially in america when people come from different places. they tend to look down on others. even spanish judge people look at colors. the whiter hispanics like those from south america or mexico, el salvador tend to look down on those that are darker like the dominicans, panamaian, and some puerto ricans. but the puerto ricans don't like dominicans because they think that they are dirty because they are darker and have hair more like black people.