The Gramblinite

Damn. This old topic again? Wow! Ok. What is the big whoop about now? Why are we still being shocked by the residue/results of 400 years of chattel slavery (Willie Lynch Teaching) and 100 years of JIM CROW? We will continue to have these issues in the black community as long as we continue to IGNORE what the HELL happened to us.

When WE continue to IGNORE the cause and not address it through learning EVERY ugly detail of how we became and/or how we were socially and psychologically conditioned into the divided, self-loathing, people we are today, we will continue to ask stupid questions and be shocked by racism/white supremacy.

WE need Therapy! There is a need for a reparing of the damage that was done to us because of the color of our skin, our race.

Michaela, I love me some dark-skinned sistas with natural hair. As a dark-skinned man, people tend to look at me as if I have said something wrong whenever I say this. The silly myth is that as a dark-skinned man, I am supposed to be head over heels and starry eyed over a very light-skinned woman or a white woman.

I am attracted to Black women of any hue and any "real" and non-chemically relaxed hair texture. However, I just have this special sweet-tooth for the darker, juicier, sweeter berry. Oh, Glory!!!

Rico Rivers, GSU Alum
C/O 1994 & 1996
Ricoinnorthmemphis@hotmail.com
www.Ricosopinionation.blogspot.com
972-639-4442

That is funny. "Light skinned" individuals live this unspoken prejudice everyday. Men and women wanting to date you for your light eyes or your "good hair".

I think black is beautiful. The comment, "Your pretty for a black woman," can simply be rephrased as, "your a pretty black woman," and the problem will be solved.

As a side note, let's not forget the injustice that was done to "light skinned" people from their own people. Now that they have taken a stand, made light skin beautiful and shown a sense a pride after years of ridicule, people are upset.

The bottom line is this: if you seek approval from the world then it simply becomes a roll of the dice. Different generations, different "flavors of the month". In the 70's it was Afro puffs and black fist, the 80's Jerry Curls and light eyes, the 90's dark skin and athletic build, and the 2000's a working black man/woman with money...just the flavor of the generation.

You have to look inside yourself because beauty is in the eye of the beholder, and there is nothing more beautiful than the idea (eye)dea of beauty that you hold for yourself. ---original quote.

Black, yella, red....it shouldn't make a difference. Textured, chemically treated, none...hair shouldn't matter. As Rico stated, this way of thinking is inbred and is still in use. BET, MTV, VH1....rappers, rockers, movies, magazines...they know what they are doing and if they don't they are just as ignorant. The best thing we could do now is inform our young ones...our children, our students. The adults are stuck in their ways, try telling a 20-something black man to date somebody other than that yella-bone he's always looking for. Teach your kids in the house not to judgemental and/or prejudice towards ANY skin color or tone and the flavor of the generation will change...AGAIN.

I think it's a powerful article. It is a shame that this is still a problem among us. We perpetuate it with our words, but even more so, with our silence. How many times have we (I'll use the collective 'we') heard someone spew out ignorant phrases that attempts to erode the beauty of dark skin? In our black on black jokes, many of us make allowances for those who joke because they are that color, or because they are black. The words are still said, and the unsaid exists, smothered in silence.

BLACK MEN...WOMEN WITH WHITE SKIN
By Deborah 'Sunshine' Gibson-Westbrook
Revised 20NOV2009 11:30 PM


Black Men...Women with White Skin...
Is this really for real, or just another passing trend?

In a room filled with Beautiful Black women...
You don't care how she's dressed, or even if she looks the BEST! As long as she's Light to White you say,
"Now that's all-right".

Beautiful Black women; small, tall, short, some fly, some shy... He waltzes right pass her to the Light to White Skin women, why? With her hair all in a mess!
Did I not say she didn't even look the Best? He chooses the Light to White skin woman in her tacky 'Devil in a Blue Dress'. With her fake eyelashes; her fake boobs and fake butt; you don't even care if she's flat in
the back, with an oversized gutt.

Black Men...Women with White Skin...
I thought it was a Dream I was in, until I recognized it in my own kin. The ones; skin brighter, got the most joy out of life... while the purest of the black women got only misery and strife! They seem meaner and pretend, with the sistas born to the dark skin.

Black Men...Women with White Skin...
Why you act like Sistas ain't your closest friend.
Is it because Sistas don't give you credit for you down low stuff? Or could it be Black Men, you just refuse to Trust us? Is it true you would do me in the back of your best friends' car? But the Light to White Skin women, yeah, you take them far. Far beyond the life
we prayed for you to have. And the first sign of success, it's her you take to see the 'Dallas Mavs.'

Black Men...Women with White Skin...
Are you mesmerized? Did you get hypnotized? Do you fantasize? Can you explain yourself? Please emphasize.

Black Men...Women with White Skin...
What is your problem? Are you really that blind? Why do you pass over, Black Women so fine? Why do you ignore our strong educated mind? Is this a never ending thing, or a sign of the time. What can we do? What can we say? How can we convince you ... don't leave ... please stay?

note: this is not the end