How is colorism perpetuated by Black Hollywood?
Oxford dictionary defines colorism as “the prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group”. Colorism is prevalent within many different racial groups throughout the world and colorism upholds white supremacy by continuing the narrative that lighter skin is more desirable. The favoring of lighter skin tones is displayed to a great extent through media, entertainment and society in general . In the African American community, specifically, colorism has had a great impact on how we view the value of a person.
Dominican singer Dani-leigh lyrics in her 2021 song “Yellow bone”
"Yellow bone that's what he want”
The music industry
The music industry is one of the most influential industries in today’s society. Whether it’s the clothes that musicians wear or the phrases they use, musicians are an influence on what society considers desirable. In the song “The Art of Peer Pressure”, Kendrick Lamar raps “We speeding on the 405 passing Westchester/ You know the light-skin girls in all the little dresses, good Lord”. These lyrics are an example of the overwhelming praise that light-skin women receive over dark skin women. Another example can be heard in the song “One of Those Nights” by Juicy J featuring the Weeknd. He states, “If you talking ‘bout money, we can link up/Bad redbone bitch body inked up”. The term redbone refers to a light skin African American woman that has red undertones in her skin. This phrase is not to be mistaken with yellow bone, which references a light skin woman with yellow undertones. Yeah, it's a very complex idea. These lyrics are just a few examples on how musicians perpetuate the concept of colorism.
Colorism is not only demonstrated in musical lyrics, but it can also be a contributing factor in which artists become successful in the music industry. In 2020, songs by the rappers Doja Cat and Flo Milli both became trending sounds on TikTok. Although both songs became extremely popular on the app, only one artist became mainstream and that was Doja Cat. Doja Cat is significantly lighter than Flo Milli and one can only think that this may have played a part in her career taking off since both artists have somewhat of the same style of music and sound.
Another example of colorism in music is demonstrated with Megan thee Stallion. Megan is an extremely talented rapper, but her talent is often overshadowed by negative comments about her physical features. Megan has been referred to as a man because of her height. However, the biracial actress Zendaya, who is the same height as Megan Thee Stallion, has never been defeminized because of her height.
