Daily Times

I would rather die than marry someone who judges me by my skin color. All my life, I have been called many derogatory names that mean “black” said Anila, 33. Colorism is a part of racism, not all of it but part of it. It is a societal ill that exists all around the world. For eras, discrimination over skin color has become a feature of our society. People recognize that the use of the words ‘fair’ ‘white’ and ‘light’ suggest a singular epitome of beauty. It was intensified by colonialism and a practice by the British rulers of giving priority to light-skinned people for government jobs. British ruled the sub-continent for more than 200 years, where “white” was the ruler and “brown” natives were the ruled. This led to realization of supremacy and command of the “white” skin and subordination and helplessness of the “dark skin”.

People of colour are being persecuted by white supremacist for periods. In the West, poverty prevails in people of colour, and they cannot get cozy jobs; they get lower wages as opposed to white people. School drop-out is highest among them, and they are more likely to be killed by the police and imprisonment rate is also higher among them. They are treated less fairly in stores and restaurants, when applying for loan or mortgage, seeking medical treatments and promotions. Right after the brutal murder of African-American George Floyd, people over the continents are degrading Americans for racism and discrimination on the baisi of skin color. “Black Lives Matter has set a profound impact in the West, while in South Asian states on the issue of skin color it is still a long way to go. Pakistan is not an exception in this regard. People in our society are quite judgmental; they judge others through a number of markers but skin color is the prime one and is noted foremost.

Colorism finds its origins in slavery. Alice Walker is the person most often credited with first using the word “colorism”. In his book “In Search of our Mothers Gardens” Walker defined colorism as “prejudicial and preferential treatment of same race people based solely on their skin color” Great social pressure exists in Pakistan to seek light-skinned spouses. Sheikh Akram, 61, a contractor, placed an advertisement in a newspaper in which he sought a tall, good looking bride for his son. In Pakistan parents felt pressure within their social circle to find brides for their sons who look “gori”.

People with dark skin in our society are being continuously traumatized by episodes of prejudice. Friends and family members tell them never to wear black. People are called derogatory names, make jokes about the way they look and continuously compare their complexion with nasty things. They are incessantly advised on which skin lightening cream to use and in anxiousness they take desperate measures just to look light-skinned. Every day their dignity and self-esteem are reduced to the color of their skin. Students of dark skin are frequently bullied in educational institutes. When it comes to marriages, preference is given to light-toned skin over dark. In some particular jobs like modeling, entertainment and hospitality, there is only one thing which is required and that is to be fair-skinned. Pakistan’s film and drama industry contributes to augment these prejudices. Objectification of women can be observed through TV and social media ads, where girls get jobs or ‘rishtas’ because of her look and fairness of skin. Dark-skinned cast can’t be seen in dramas and movies. Newscasters and anchors are also selected on the basis of this notion. Skin color is an impediment for their social development. They feel less value in society because of the color of their skin. In lieu of confronting this odious notion, they yield and decide to live their harsh reality in silence.

Many people perceive that lower caste and outcast people are darker. This rogue perception stems from the fact that people believe that lower caste people do menial jobs which often perform under the sun that makes their skin darker. Although social scientists and historians say that there is no connection between skin color and caste.

People with dark skin in our society are being continuously traumatized by episodes of prejudice

Eminent writer and scholar Shankar Vedantam wrote a book “The Hidden Brain ”. He told the New York Times, “Ample research studies have shown that skin tone and other racial features play powerful roles in who gets ahead and who does not. These factors regularly determine who gets hired, who gets convicted and who gets elected”. Miss Nina Davuluri, the first India-American who won the miss American pageant in 2014, has been working to fight colorism. She said that he woke up the next day right after her victory in the beauty contest and read a headline in Indian newspaper: Is Miss America too dark to be Miss India?

Miss Raheela has spent her adult life struggling with the concepts of beauty and role of the skin. When she lived in Karachi, people gave her voluntary advice all the time on how to look lighter skinned. Once she met a guy on Facebook who was a little lighter skinned than her. They chatted online for months and finally decided to meet him in person. They went to lunch, they shared laughs, they talked about future plans and a cordiality grew between them. After this meeting when she was heading towards her residence the guy texted her that if she could do something about her dark skin. Raheela, now 46, immediately ended the relationship.

Such attitudes of our society towards people with dark-toned skin instigate huge demand for whitening and bleaching products. According to a report published in 2017, worldwide spending on skin lightening would be estimated to 32 billion dollars by 2024. In Nigeria 77% women in the country and in Togo 58 % use fairness products. Skin lightening creams contain medical lightening agent hydroquinone which is a carcinogenic agent banned in many states and mercury which suppresses the production of melanin (skin natural pigment). Mercury absorbs from skin and accumulates in the body and eventually causes damage to the kidneys and brain cells. Shelves of departmental stores are crowded with creams, serums, oils and soaps promising for lighter skin and most of them are manufactured by the world’s biggest cosmetic companies. America’s intense discussion on race, in the wake of the killing George Floyd, seems to have some impacts. Few days back, several international consumer brands are confronting allegations that they are endorsing racist outlooks. Finally, multinational brands said that they would remove labels such as ‘light’ ‘fair’ and ‘white’ from their skin-lightening products.

The writer is a freelancer