Color in Context: Three Angles on Contemporary Colorism

Abstract

Colorism is a form of discrimination based on skin tone wherein people with light(er) complexions are advantaged over those with dark(er) ones. In this review, we define key terms, explore colorism as an individual and structural phenomenon, and identify some predominant themes in the existing scholarship on colorism. We review three case studies of contemporary uses and ramifications of colorism in order to encourage scholars to engage with this important field. These case studies are skin tone’s impact on U.S. politics, “transraciality,” the appropriation of skin tone, and finally, the global skin lightening industry. While the first two are mostly focused on the United States, the third enables an appreciation of the global dynamics of colorism, and links back to the national and regional contextual politics of skin tone.

Color capital: Examining the racialized nature of beauty via colorism and skin bleaching

“…These dimensions of racism privilege lightness as the core of the racial landscape in the United States (Hunter, 2002) and abroad. Strmic-Pawl et al (2021) emphasizes three gaps in the colorism scholarship: measurement of colorism, intersectional nature of colorism and global expansion and interaction of colorism" (Strmic-Pawl et al, 2021). An additional gap, the dichotomy of racialized beauty, suggests further analysis is needed to understand the matrix of skin stratification and racial capital, which I will explore and work to fill the gaps with my research.…”

Discrimination and social isolation among African Americans: The moderating role of skin tone.

“…Discrimination is associated with many adverse health consequences, including inflammation, hypertension, cardiovascular disease, depression, and psychological distress, and is a significant determinant of health disparities between Black and White Americans (Williams et al, 2019). Furthermore, a compelling body of evidence among African Americans documents within-group disparities based on skin tone due to colorism—the privileging of lighter skin tones over darker ones that results from the internalization of discrimination and stigma toward Black people (Mitchell et al, 2021; Strmic-Pawl et al, 2021). As a result, Black Americans with darker skin tones tend to have worse health than White Americans and lighter skinned Black Americans (Mitchell et al, 2021).…”

“…Emerging evidence finds that the effects of discrimination can be magnified by colorism, a system of stratification that privileges light over dark skin complexion within ethnoracial groups in the allocation of social and economic resources (Perry et al, 2013; Strmic-Pawl et al, 2021). Colorism originated during slavery when phenotype became associated with contrasting symbolic representations, such as Whiteness with goodness and darkness with badness, and was eventually manifested in relationships.…”

“…compelling body of evidence among African Americans documents within-group disparities based on skin tone due to colorism-the privileging of lighter skin tones over darker ones that results from the internalization of discrimination and stigma toward Black people (Mitchell et al, 2021;Strmic-Pawl et al, 2021). As a result, Black Americans with darker skin tones tend to have worse health than White Americans and lighter skinned Black Americans (Mitchell et al, 2021).…”

Racial Bias in Fans and Officials: Evidence from the Italian Serie A

“…We further expect these biases to extend beyond binary categorizations of race. Colourism, or skin tone ‘stratification’ (Keith and Herring, 1991: 760), is a type of discrimination that places additional value on the lightness of individual skin tones (strmic-pawl et al, 2021). Evidence of colourism has linked darker skin with deleterious outcomes in areas as disparate and consequential as household income and wealth (Bodenhorn, 2006; Dixon and Telles, 2017; Goldsmith et al, 2006), educational outcomes (Blake et al, 2017; Keith and Herring, 1991; Ryabov, 2016) and health (Bodenhorn, 2002; Hargrove, 2019; Monk, 2021).…”