Racial Classification
Kebo:
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This entire corrupt world revolves around white privilege, which plays down through the many shades of skin tones to mostly affect real Blacks on the ‘bottom'.
This quote reminds me directly of this other quote:
The last shall be first and the first shall be last.
When the revolution comes...
Ayinde:
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please do expand on this point..i find it interesting that many believe that it works the other way around. they look at external effects of prejudice, i suppose, the fact that so many black men are imprisoned, the element of fear and taint of criminality associated with the black male, male crisis in the education system ,lack of achievement etc, etc.. i would like to hear your alternative view.
A Black Woman in western societies experiences the effects of both Race and Gender discrimination. That is a double whammy for sure. And if she is fat, then add to this all the pressures based on Western subjective ideas of beauty.
Listen, society projects before our eyes external trappings that give an illusion that they are making changes to address certain fundamental issues but in reality attitudes remain the same.
So today we see males and females in positions of leadership and the impression that is created is that real issues are being addressed. When one examines the conduct of the people they promote it should not be difficult to see they are the people selected by the same white male attitude to placate the masses. We have the example of Rice and Powell in the U.S. who would think very little today of supporting the conduct of White Supremist.
Of course, there is an external jostle within the male oriented world that carries its battles for male dominance and on that external level the males are often seen as the victims. But under closer examination it is the very system that reinforces the attitude that males are the ultimate breadwinners and females are better off staying home with the children, which drives 'powerless' Black males to steal, and kill to impress females. It should not be difficult to see than in such a male favored system males are the ones who will fill the jails.
Most women suffer in a type of silence and especially so if they are Black and do not carry the western media generated concept of appropriate shape and size. Now if they are uninformed they take this treatment, but when they are informed they find that all the other layers associated with racial and gender discrimination tries to exclude them.
So societies favors, light skinned Black males and females more than they do really Black males and females, and there are subtle degradation of this where added pressures are on Women who are Black, fat and short etc.
These women who do not fit the popular model of size and shape are excluded from making a serious input all around as they are overlooked by both most whites and Blacks. These rare women can have all the academics in the world but they are held in lower paying jobs and are mistreated by males who only see them as a last resort when they cannot get sex from any other female.
These women are generally excluded from all aspects of mainstream society. They suffer stigmatization in their own homes where they are continually pressured to do something about their size and to lighten their skin tone to make them more appealing to an ignorant world. They often end up in relationships with the worst type of Black male that tries to take advantage of the fact that he knows she cannot easily get another male partner; they are considered the 'runt' of western society's litter. Other women even those who proclaim Blackness project their idea of superiority over them based on their cultivated habits of measuring beauty based on skin tone, size, texture of hair etc.
The subtler effects of racism and gender prejudices are experienced from within ones own family, where mothers favour the lighter skinned, straighter hair child over the fatter and or darker child. The really Black woolly haired female struggles with this on a day-to-day level in western societies.
Look at the television and see the type of Black who are projected on all of us daily. They are usually the ones who are more closely aligned to the western standards of beauty. So to even many Blacks the slimmer straight-haired Black is more appealing.
Even in women's movements they try to project the type of female who conducts herself with the same male arrogance, domineering attitude and of course lighter tones and smaller size etc to be cosmetically appealing while the real women with experience are to serve under their projection.
Try speaking to any popular Black male and see if he can define beauty beyond the limitations of western concepts of beauty. See if he can peer through the many layers of popular western definitions of beauty to see a simple real woman beneath.
Well, there are many layers to prejudices based on solely evaluating from within the boundaries of western false values and concepts of beauty that impact on a Black woman from childhood. Take Oprah Winfrey and the many battles she had with her size to try to become more appealing.
Once people chat with I claiming that they like my reasoning, I usually try to introduce them to Women who can reason from their experiences on a higher level about racism and gender prejudices as I have not experienced it on those levels so my evaluations are my own.
Don't forget the elderly, well, that is for another reasoning for another day.
Bantu_Kelani:
I fully concur with brother Ayinde! The situation is indeed bleaker for BLACK women - and while it is true that women are disadvantaged everywhere in this world- it is in many ways WORSE in AFRIKA (and in the developing world) where EQUALITY is ILLUSIVE. State power in Afrika is male power ingrained with male values and point of view. Add in afrikan patriarchy and the western variety that was brought in by colonialism and is reinforced by the very western school system and thought, which diligently ingrain Black men to DESTROY and reject their own, thus the dark skinned women who are a physical remembrance of their pure but Ignorant selves. Throw in poverty and you have a recipe that spells doom and gloom for BLACK- dark skinned women. The road to Equality is long and seemingly never ending….but believe that it is achievable.
What we need is take positive steps to make black women less vulnerable, we can do this by sharing information, educating younger women to eradicate the western brainwashing in their minds aimed at to make them believe that their DARK BEAUTIFUL skin is something to be ashamed. Then they should be EMPOWERED to protect themselves. We can strive to provide better means of protection, better infrastructure to provide a shelter for Black women when it does occur.
Essentially Black women lose out, especially dark skinned women. Women, of all hue and colors, were leaders in AFRIKAN HISTORY before the effects of colonialisation were felt. I believe it can be this way once more and also harbours much optimism to this effect.
Bantu-Kelani.
Nemesis23:
I think he's just basically saying that no matter what your chromosomes say in detailing the wealth of your ancestry, even if it is mixed, you are still seen as a black person and should identify yourself as such.
A related issue would be a person who has both a black and a white parent, can speak of their mixed ancestry and claim with evidence that they are a mixed race person, but they are still seen as black so calling themselves "mixed" is pointless.
Yann:
i think it is more than that nemesis23
to simply say that once you have black ancestry that you are black, is a simplistic way of looking at the complexity of race relations that belies the reality. although africans come in a variety of phenotypes, none of which makes them any 'less ' african, the reality of the situation is that certain physical characteristics of black people yield different reactions and more importantly DIFFERENT PRIVILEGES.
As ayinde rightly stated Quote
Everyone can make the claim to being African today especially because it is an indisputable fact that we all share a common African heritage, but it is Black Africans who have to deal with the worst effects of racism on a day-to-day basis even if many are ignorant of this fact.
as physical characteristics have always been the focus, while 'racially' we are african, 'phenotypically' we are subject to different experiences becasue of our 'degree of blackness (for want of a different term). while many of us would like to believe that all that matters is how we see ourselves, in terms of earthly imbalances it is often how we are PERCEIVED that is given more importance. while it is all well and good to say we are all equally black and african, the reality clearly shows that 'some are more equal than others' and it is how honestly we deal with this reality that will be the true test.
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