Skin Deep: How Race and Complexion Matter in the "Color-Blind" Era

Book Overview

Shattering the myth of the color-blind society, the essays in Skin Deep examine skin tone stratification in America, which affects relations not only among different races and ethnic groups but also among members of individual ethnicities. Written by some of the nation's leading thinkers on race and colorism, these essays ask whether skin tone differentiation is imposed upon communities of color from the outside or is an internally-driven process aided and abetted by community members themselves. They also question whether the stratification process is the same for African Americans, Hispanics, and Asian Americans. Skin Deep addresses such issues as the relationship between skin tone and self esteem, marital patterns, interracial relationships, socioeconomic attainment, and family racial identity and composition. The essays also grapple with emerging issues such as biracialism, color-blind racism, and 21st century notions of race.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1929011261
• ISBN13: 9781929011261
• Release Date: July 2003
• Publisher: Inst Research on Race & Public Policy
• Length: 256 Pages
• Weight: 0.85 lbs.
• Dimensions: 9.0" x 0.7" x 6.0"

Customer Reviews

This Accessible Book Also Grapple With Emerging Issues Such As Biracialism,...

".....Skin Deep addresses such issues as the relationship between skin tone and self-esteem, marital patterns, interracial relationships, socioeconomic attainment, and family racial identity and composition. The essays in THIS ACCESSIBLE BOOK ALSO GRAPPLE WITH EMERGING ISSUES SUCH AS BIRACIALISM, color-blind racism, and 21st century notions of race in the U.S. and in other countries." [from the book of the back cover]

Now Is the Time

I am not afraid to look the reality of colorism in the eye and acknowledge that it does exist within the black community. It is my greatest hope and dream that someday the dark skinned black and the light skinned black will be seen as the one family in the future. I want so much to love the lightskinned sister and brother as my own reflection and not be divided from them or made to feel that one is treated better than the other, but sadly, that day is not here and this book bravely and powerfully illustrates that point to the fullest. I am a medium brown colored woman, my mother was very dark skinned and I have witnessed the evils of skin color prejudice all my life. In most situations, it was Black Men who were prejudiced against myself and the women around me beccause of our coloring. These men felt no shame or limit in their racist intra-family prejudice and measured their entire lives by how many light skinned or white women they could attain and how light brite their children could come out. It's everywhere and anyone who denies it is both a fool and a liar. That is why I highly recommend THE BLACKER THE BERRY by Wallace Thurman. There is no truer portrait of the self-hatred among our people than the one extolled in this book, and what makes it even sadder is that this book was written in the 1920's. So that only shows how deep this kind of evil runs. Lately, I have become very interested in this subject and I have searched for other books that explore this subject with intelligence, honest, beauty and wisdom and I have found several that I consider to be classics on the subject of Colorism. (1) MARITA GOLDEN'S book "Don't Play In the Sun" is definitely the most modern up to date book of the bunch. It expertly weaves the story of her life experiences in the 1960's Black Power movement with the current struggles of women like Serena Williams and India Arie to find their way in the world, even in the midst of being shunned and ignored by the black community itself. The book's analysis of the Hollywood casting system and the "Mulatto Follies" of BET and MTV is priceless. (2) "The Bluest Eye" by TONI MORRISON is by far the most riveting and painful book that I have read on this subject of colorism. I believe that her book, more than any mother, gets to the psychological and historical root cause of the problem and exposes the mode in which we pass the problem on generation to generation. The destruction of an innocent black girl named Pecola Breedlove will leave you heartbroken and shocked as you see the bold naked truth unfold right before your eyes. You can't ignore this book, because the story being told is the one that you are all too familiar with no matter what color you are. (3) "Flesh and the Devil" by African novelist KOLA BOOF is another deeply powerful book that examines colorism, but not out in the open. This book is unique in that it focuses on a very enchanting love story between a Black Prince and Princess and follows their

Exploring the stratification process

Collaboratively compiled and edited by Cedric Herring (Professor of Sociology and Public Policy, University of Illinois - Chicago), Verna M. Keith (Chair of the Department of Sociology, Arizona State University), and Hayward Derrick Horton (Associate Professor of Sociology, Albany University-SUNY), Skin/Deep: How Race And Complexion Matter In The "Color-Blind" Era is a collection of informative and informative essays concerning the very real and entangled issues of race, judgement, and the question of why skin color remains a determining factor of economic success and quality of life in America today. Exploring the stratification process, cause and effect chains, emerging issues such as biracialism and color-blind racism and a great deal more, Skin/Deep is a highly recommended contribution to Contemporary Social Issues reading lists and offers a wealth of persuasively argued and deftly presented viewpoints.