Culture & Lifestyle / My Colourism Soapbox

My Colourism Soapbox

Culture & Lifestyle May 04, 2015

by Satnaam Mago

The Subject Of Colourism

This is probably the most difficult article I've had to write. In fact, this is essentially the fourth draft of this article. Here goes nothing. I hate colourism! There, I said it as if it was a ten pound monkey on my back.

What exactly is colourism? Well, let's use some terms everybody understands. Colourism stems from racism but isn't exactly the same thing. You see, when it comes to Desi Americans, African Americans, Hispanic Americans, or any other populations that have recent genetic admixtures from various parts of the world, you start having a less-than-homogenous look skin tone–wise. Colourism is the practice of favouring lighter skin over darker skin in socieities where there are visible extremes between lighter- and darker-skinned people.

I have seen it in Desi music, I have seen it in Bollywood movies — every word that refers to dark as evil and light as good. When we talk about light-skinned people, they are sof (clean) with the implication that dark-skinned people are unclean. The caste system in general sets lighter-skinned individuals towards the top and darker-skinned people towards the bottom.

I felt the need to come out with this article now, though, because of everything that's going on in Baltimore. The truth is that we as a community have our own issues with colourism and I wonder, does this keep us from having perspective? I think we can all agree that rioting and looting are wrong. They're basically the opposite of what Gandhi and Dr. King taught. But how does that anger get channelled into something that does need to be discussed? I wanted to highlight this situation in particular because:

It's current
I hear a lot of people discussing the rioting and looting without discussing why people were so mad (you know, the fact that an unarmed black man in police custody was beaten to death while shackled)

Speaking as a turbaned Sikh man who has lived his whole life in America in a nice upper middle class family, I can assure you that class and social acceptance aren't all about your upbringing. People tend to use crime statistics to point to why black people are hated. (Disregarding the fact that 1 gram of crack gets the same prison sentence in America that 18 grams of powdered cocaine does. Who does that law hurt or benefit?) This becomes a justification for indifference but then the people who make this argument refuse to use the same logic to not be racist towards people they think “look like Muslims” (Asian Americans are, including Muslims, a community with among the lowest crime rates in America).

We are the other. We need to stand up for those who are also considered the other. And we need to recognize that our rights as Americans were preserved by the blood, sweat and tears of the civil rights movement. We need to get over this thought process of "lighter is better" and the notion that we North Indians are quasi-white in that alternate universe we call Bharat. Yes, many Punjabis are thought of as whites in India, but we are a long way from India. How do we apply this to our lives? Don't stand for colourism. Speak out against colourism and when you hear other bigotry first-hand. Don't be a coward.

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Satnaam Mago

Author

Satnaam S Mago is a Chicago sports fanatic who loves to watch sports and read a good book, but he most of all enjoys his nights out with friends and family. Educated in business marketing, Satnaam is an account executive for a logistics company...but perhaps missed his true calling as a journa...

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My Colourism Soapbox

by Satnaam Mago

The Subject Of Colourism

Satnaam Mago

COMMENTS

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