A mainstream news outlet is doing a week long expose on colorism. Colorism, according to Google, is defined as prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group. This is a prevalent issue within the black community and is typically addressed in music but described as a “preference”. Dream McClinton wrote an essay that delivers some facts to back up the truth that dark skin women already know.
Dr. Darrick Hamilton at the Ohio State University along with the results from a 2003 Multi-City Study of Urban Equality set out to determine why so many dark-skinned women who are dating men remain unwed. The point of the assessment was to pinpoint how the imbalance of eligible black males – taking into account high jail rates and limited labor market – affected the marriage market.
The research determined that the lack of black men with higher levels of education, not growing up on welfare and other growing factors that lead to “high-status” mates gives black men complete control of the dating selection process when it comes to black women.
His data concluded 55% of light-skinned women were married while only 23% of dark-skinned women had jumped the broom.
“[Black men] have unnatural power within marriage markets that enables them to bid up cursory characteristics like skin shade,” Hamilton told me over the phone. In other words, the lighter the female, the higher the probability of marriage. “One of the results that we found was that [darker-complexioned] black women who have ‘higher status’ faced a greater penalty in marriage markets than those with a lower socioeconomic status.”
McClinton, D. (2019, April 08). Why dark-skinned black girls like me aren’t getting married. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/08/dark-skinned-black-girls-dont-get-married
For dark-skinned women this imbalance can be felt when looking for a suitable partner but the numbers can be a slap to the face. Whenever a dark-skinned women tries to speak out about the bias she feels in her own community, she is normally dismissed with citing of another reason she was not “chosen”. I believe many men who even claim they are open to dating on the darker end of the spectrum are simply not aware of their bias or justify it with preference.
Turner says she often sees black men pass up perfectly eligible dark-skinned women. “Black men will say, ‘complexion doesn’t matter’, but they might give that lighter complexion woman who is very comparable to a darker-complexion woman a chance, when they wouldn’t give that darker-skinned woman a chance.”
McClinton, D. (2019, April 08). Why dark-skinned black girls like me aren’t getting married. Retrieved from https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/apr/08/dark-skinned-black-girls-dont-get-married
I wanted to share this information to highlight the disparity against women like me, but it is not for pity. It is simply for awareness. I am no longer weeping at the feet of anyone who rejects me or discriminates for the beautiful color of my skin; whether they identify as Black or not.
For other black women who may be reading this: take heed of the data, assess the men in your lives and go where you are celebrated, wherever that may be.