Africa: Where black is not really beautiful (BBC article) (speak, features, people)
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I have never heard of anyone mention that Rhianna bleaches her skin. There have been some very ignorant and racists comments about her features right here on CD. I personally think her features are amazing. I find African features to be beautiful, so I am biased in that regard. There is nothing wrong with light skin if that is one's normal tone. The problem is when people with darker complexions harm themselves with toxic bleaching agents in order to feel more approval, acceptance, love from those around them, or society at large. Celebrating light skin while degrading dark skin is the problem. It would be great to simply celebrate them both. Maybe then, a person like Sammy Sosa would not have felt the need to destroy the complexion that he was born with in order to lighten his skin. A lot of dark skinned men bleach their skin too. Most don't want to talk about that.
I agree with you regarding the bleaching and that it should not be encouraged, but I have seen plenty of people claim that Rhianna bleaches, when she is simply a mixed race woman that was born with very light skin and quite African features.
Someone mentioned its dark skinned people who try to shame mixed race light skinned people,but its actually the opposite.
Some light skinned individuals have always shamed blacks for being darker.
It has been happening for the longest. See W.E.D Dubois shaming Marcus Garvey for being "black".
I am aware there are some naturally light skinned tribes in Africa with African features.
There are also tribes with very dark skin but European features,still others have Asian features.
The Ethiopeans are dark,but very beautiful.
I know this may sound foolish,but most Americans believe the light shades of skin among them are from European dna,and while it is true,fo the most part,light skin of African Americans could have also come from Africa.
then the author points to lighterskin black women with euro features as being hotter. and people wonder why i am depressed and slit my wrists all the time
Someone mentioned its dark skinned people who try to shame mixed race light skinned people,but its actually the opposite.
Some light skinned individuals have always shamed blacks for being darker.
It has been happening for the longest. See W.E.D Dubois shaming Marcus Garvey for being "black".
"It was all because of the color of his skin, his mom, Gail Rodriguez said. He was often the only light-skinned student in his classes, which were predominantly black. Ryan, who is half white and half Puerto Rican, was called names like "stupid white cracker." Kid bullied to leave school because he wasn't 'black enough' - Connecticut Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseygal4u
I am aware there are some naturally light skinned tribes in Africa with African features.
There are also tribes with very dark skin but European features,still others have Asian features.
The Ethiopeans are dark,but very beautiful.
I know this may sound foolish,but most Americans believe the light shades of skin among them are from European dna,and while it is true,fo the most part,light skin of African Americans could have also come from Africa.
The reason people assume that light skin not just among African Americans, but any person of African descent that is born in tHE Americas; as evidence of racial mixture, is because in the vast majority of cases, that is precisely the reason for the light skin and thinner features.
The parts of Africa where almost all slaves were taken from was not from what today is Ethiopia (and DNA test have proven that Ethiopian in general are the product of centuries old mixture with Arabs), or from the bushmen in southern Africa. The vast majority were from northwestern Africa, and despite some modifications in appearance in certain areas of the western African coast where whites settled; for the most part, the pure Africans are quite dark. And guess what? The typical Jamaican or Haitian is much darker than the typical African American. There is a reason for that, considering that all three groups basically originate from the same northwestern areas of Africa, but the first two have much less admixture than African Americans.
Also, current DNA studies have proven that European admixture is quite present among African Americans, much more than in a typical subsaharan African or even some "New World" Africans, like Haitians or Jamaicans. These last two are being proven by DNA testing to be among the most purest African peoples in the Americas.
Quote:
Originally Posted by jerseygal4u
Rihanna and Beyonce aren't mixed,not in the traditional sense.
Mixed means having a parent from 2 different races.
Afaik,both ladies have black parents.
So you are wrong,neither is mixed.
I will simply quote other sources because I have things to do and can't waste my time with this. LOL
"The question of Rihanna’s racial background is more complicated. Ri’s father, Ronald Fenty, is of Barbadian and Irish ancestry, while her mother, Monica Braithwaite, is Afro-Guyanese—meaning she descends from black inhabitants of Guyana, a country on the northern coast of South America. Rihanna is of mixed ethnicity, in other words, which might explain why she posses an exotic beauty known to start club brawls." Rihanna’s Ethnicity: What Is It? | Celebrity News & Style for Black Women
"While appearing in the new ads for the L’Oreal foundation True Match, the 30-year-old mother of Blue Ivy cites her mixed racial background of “African American, French, and Native American.” She notes that her skin’s combined mixture is the reason the patented technology behind the foundation works so well." Beyonce and the Myth of Black Beauty - The Daily Beast
Quote:
Myth number 2,all mixed people don't come out light skinned.
Tatiana Ali,who is dark skinned,IS mixed.
I've known that, but no one here is talking about dark skin mixed people, but rather those that are light skin with strong African features and what appears to be an attempt to shame them for being who and what they naturally are.
People shouldn't immediately assume that a person like Rhianna or Lionel Richie bleach their skin. If you see a person like that in the street or in a shopping center or anywhere, the prudent thing to do is mind your own business and if that's not doable, then assume they are mixed. Its simply wrong to assume that any light skin person with strong African features is bleaching and put on them all the shame that comes with that.
Its wrong because they were born like that and people shouldn't be mocked for things they had no control or say in.
"It was all because of the color of his skin, his mom, Gail Rodriguez said. He was often the only light-skinned student in his classes, which were predominantly black. Ryan, who is half white and half Puerto Rican, was called names like "stupid white cracker." Kid bullied to leave school because he wasn't 'black enough' - Connecticut Post
The reason people assume that light skin not just among African Americans, but any person of African descent that is born in tHE Americas; as evidence of racial mixture, is because in the vast majority of cases, that is precisely the reason for the light skin and thinner features.
The parts of Africa where almost all slaves were taken from was not from what today is Ethiopia (and DNA test have proven that Ethiopian in general are the product of centuries old mixture with Arabs), or from the bushmen in southern Africa. The vast majority were from northwestern Africa, and despite some modifications in appearance in certain areas of the western African coast where whites settled; for the most part, the pure Africans are quite dark.
Also, current DNA studies have proven that European admixture is quite present among African Americans, much more than in a typical subsaharan African or even some "New World" Africans, like Haitians or Jamaicans. These last two are being proven by DNA testing to be among the most purest African peoples in the Americas.
I will simply quote other sources because I have things to do and can't waste my time with this. LOL
"The question of Rihanna’s racial background is more complicated. Ri’s father, Ronald Fenty, is of Barbadian and Irish ancestry, while her mother, Monica Braithwaite, is Afro-Guyanese—meaning she descends from black inhabitants of Guyana, a country on the northern coast of South America. Rihanna is of mixed ethnicity, in other words, which might explain why she posses an exotic beauty known to start club brawls." Rihanna’s Ethnicity: What Is It? | Celebrity News & Style for Black Women
"While appearing in the new ads for the L’Oreal foundation True Match, the 30-year-old mother of Blue Ivy cites her mixed racial background of “African American, French, and Native American.” She notes that her skin’s combined mixture is the reason the patented technology behind the foundation works so well." Beyonce and the Myth of Black Beauty - The Daily Beast
I've known that, but no one here is talking about dark skin mixed people, but rather those that are light skin with strong African features and what appears to be an attempt to shame them for being who and what they naturally are.
People shouldn't immediately assume that a person like Rhianna or Lionel Richie bleach their skin. If you see a person like that in the street or in a shopping center or anywhere, the prudent thing to do is mind your own business and if that's not doable, then assume they are mixed. Its simply wrong to assume that any light skin person with strong African features is bleaching and put on them all the shame that comes with that.
Its wrong because they were born like that and people shouldn't be mocked for things they had no control or say in.
rihanna was bullied in elementary school but as she got older the bullying went away. in the long run her light skin tone is a privilege. she also was very popular with the boys, won a beauty contest and is now one of the biggest pop stars in the world. there are many black women who would kill for her skin tone including me, i'd give up my right leg to be as light as she is
as a darkskin person the bullying never ends, and you never get a chance to benefit from white privilege.
then the author points to lighterskin black women with euro features as being hotter. and people wonder why i am depressed and slit my wrists all the time
If you split your wrists all the time, nyanna, you wouldn't still be alive.
rihanna was bullied in elementary school but as she got older the bullying went away. in the long run her light skin tone is a privilege. she also was very popular with the boys, won a beauty contest and is now one of the biggest pop stars in the world. there are many black women who would kill for her skin tone including me, i'd give up my right leg to be as light as she is
as a darkskin person the bullying never ends, and you never get a chance to benefit from white privilege.
You need to get over it. There are plenty, and by plenty I mean PLENTY, of dark skin people that have accomplished a lot in their lives in Africa, in Europe, in the USA, in Latin America; pretty much everywhere! They didn't let their skin color stop them, they pushed through and made it on their own two feet. They didn't conform to the standards of the world, they made the world conform to their own standards.
These people didn't get to where they are now by lamenting themselves for being dark:
Celia Cruz, one of the greatest singers to have ever come out of Latin America:
Kofi Annan, he made it to the top of the United Nations and the world had to give him respect for that:
Do you think Chris Rock felt sorry for being dark? Heck no! He confronted the world and got what he was looking for, success and fame!
There are hundreds of other examples. These people didn't sat around feeling sorry for themselves, they got up and made their own path in life.
I guess the old saying is true:
"Discouragement often comes from within."
And don't fall into the trap of believing that life is easy for most people, because it isn't. Everyone has to carry their own heavy cross... This is why people look up to successful people, because its not easy regardless of how anyone looks.
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