Why Are Only Fair-Skinned Blacks Invited to the Party? A Detroit club promotion was canceled last week because fair- or light-skinned blacks were offered all-night free admission, while dark-skinned blacks had to pay, reports The Boston Globe. For many black women, the tone of their skin color and how they do their hair is a sign of status and identity that affects their self-perception and interactions with each other. “I’m perceived to be aggressive, assertive, attitude-having … a lot of things, because my complexion is darker,” 24-year-old Yasmine Toney, who was furious about the party, told the Globe. Toney thinks light-skinned black women have it easier than their dark-skinned counterparts. “They are assumed to be passive and nice and sweet. I feel I have to do a little bit more,” she told the Globe. Ulysses Barnes (a.k.a. “DJ Lish”) canceled the “Light-Skinned Women & All LIBRA’s” event after he was flooded with complaints from across the country, and he preemptively nixed upcoming promotions “Sexy Chocolate” and “Sexy Caramel” to avoid future problems.
October 20, 2007...1:09 am
Dividing and conquering is an old tactic to be avoided
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2 Comments
February 18, 2008 at 9:50 am
We as black women need to be proud of ourselves whether we are dark skinned or light skinned. I am a light skinned woman and I would never let anyone or anything make me feel like I have to do more to be noticed. That means that you have low self-esteem and that has nothing to do with color. A woman is woman, no matter the color, shape or size. If the name of a party can ignite a fire in you, then you must ask yourself, “Am I comfortable with myself as a person?” I have been to more than enough parties where the slogan was “sexy chocolate or black and beautiful”, so if a club owner honors light skinned women, is he wrong? There was no controversy when the party honored dark skinned women but there is now because light skinned women are honored. Ridiculous, just ridiculous. Black women need to grow up and focus on things that matter. I never thought I would see the day when black women would begin to discriminate against each other. Pathetic, just pathetic. Now, we are not only hated by other nationalities but by our very own black sisters. If anyone should be outraged, it should be light skinned women. We are the ones who get called, white, light bright, white girl, stuck up, think we all that, wannabees and the list goes on. But no one seems to care about this. One party raises this much controversy and it is ridiculous.
February 18, 2008 at 8:57 pm
I agree with you. We have to come together and address issues that are not right for anyone. Social justice, struggles against racism and discrimination are daily battles we all face. We have to work on them together. We all should be proud of who we are and no one should fault us for that. Discrimination is wrong everywhere it is practised. Thanks for your comments.