Thread: 2337: Drip-dry
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Old 03-04-2016, 07:25 PM   #2 (permalink)
invader
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Join Date: Apr 2009
Location: Bronx, NY
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Chemda was right when she said; "Maybe its not something for us to decide." Growing up dark skinned in America and in the West Indies (and I'm willing to bet any other part of the world) is strange because you are often marginalized by your own community and even family sometimes. Lighter complexions are sought after to the point where it is almost fetishized. To top it off if you pick a black celebrity at random and look at pictures of them before and after they became famous you'll usually notice they are a few shades lighter. Suggesting that once they make it into Hollywood there is often pressure to "lighten up". Its something not usually noticed by people outside of the black community but it does have a pernicious effect on the subconscious especially on children; "Dark skin is unattractive and unwanted." Nina Simone being hugely talented, successful and dark skinned is someone kids can look at and think; "Hmm being dark skinned isn't bad at all." Not to mention although Puerto Rican and Dominican heritage can be traced back to African roots, they usually don't identify themselves as black and in fact there is a lot of racism between the communities, so it comes off as even more of a slight. I doubt it was intentionally but a big faux pas none the less. It also just goes to show how little Hollywood understands the black community. Not something you want to highlight when making a movie about such a prolific black singer.
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