Mystic to Misery
Being Brown Skin in The Caribbean
Facing the Issue of Colourism
By Krystal Penny Bowen
It is ironic that people who despite their many shades are categorised by other races as Black while within the group of Black people there is a persistent issue of colourism.
So how Black are you?
In the colonial Caribbean, particularly in Barbados, the tone of your skin determined what friends you had, the places you could live, what job you had and desirability by a potential mate. Controversial? Yes, but true. Today, this interracial discrimination still exists as every day someone who comes from your same “race” judges you on your status and worth in society (ever so subtly) based on nothing more than the tone of your skin.
From childhood, if you are caramel, bronze colour, you are brown skin, if you are colour is lighter, you are known as Reds or Yellow. Confusing….there is also classifications within these tones, the lighter you are, you may be thought of as “pretty”, great”, “special” or even “sometimish” or “unmannerly/unmarley”. If you are have deep brown or dark skin, you are now “darkie” and your attractiveness may diminish.
This is not a Caribbean issue or African issue but a global issue which was further complicated by slavery, colonialism, education, its histories, media and fashion industry as to what is considered accepted notions of beauty. Soyini Ayanna in “In the Castle of Our Skins: Darkies, Brownings and Red Woman” summed up a reality Black people specifically women face in society. She stated that “One of the things that colorism [sic] enables is the separation of some people from their trace blackness, as well as systematically serving the role of helping people to distance themselves from blackness as a whole and the legacy of that association”.
Writer, Mary C. Waters in her book, “Black Identities: West Indian Immigrant Dreams And American Realities” wrote that the “social construction of race in the Caribbean has historically been different than in the United States”. Also she highlighted the similarities of Hispanic Caribbean to English Caribbean where both sets of societies recognised shades of colour between black and white.
Since independence of most Caribbean nations from colonisers and the civil rights movement in United States, some Black people have seen an improvement in their lives through education and work opportunities. However, many continue to be victims of poverty, leading a life of crime and drug abuse. Psychologically, the legacy of the plantation and European caste system still affects our society with many people particularly women opting to wear European weaves and bleaching their skin. As many people of colour continue to face discrimination and racism at a national level, dealing with the issue of colourism with the race is rarely addressed as this further divides this group of people. Presently, there are two camps of thought, those who embrace African styled natural hair and those who use hair extensions and bleaching creams to identify with European aesthetic. In Black. music, news reporting, fashion magazines, there is the whitening or lightening of the Black person. It is even more evident in Spanish speaking or South American countries. E.g. replacement of 2016 Brazil Carnaval Queen Nayara Justino who has a dark skin tone.
Noting this, there is a need to improve race esteem since the rules about colour which determined a person’s worth and position in society are systematically erroneous and without merit.
