"Post-Racial" Black America.

Our Black brothers are raping our Black sisters,

Degrading them by calling them bitches and hoes.

Our Black sisters are devaluing our Black brothers,

Stripping them of their crowns with statements like “Niggas aint shit.”

Our Black children can no longer remember what a two-parent home looks like.

The vision of an independent, hard working mother

And a lazy, nonexistent father is all that they know.

Our Black princesses no longer wish to grow into Black queens.

They long to be the king.

Strong, in charge, and single,

Because they “don’t need a man for shit.”

Our Black princes no longer know what it means to be a king.

They no longer yearn to provide, protect, and facilitate their future families.

We’re killing each other over sneakers and petty altercations.

We have become stagnant as a people.

Content with the Civil Rights advancements made 50 years ago.

We see no room for progress.

We see no need for it.

We belittle our history,

Choosing to ignore the fight of our ancestors,

Attempting to undermine the contributions they made towards building this nation.

We no longer see the struggles of our Black brothers and sisters as our own.

We try desperately to distinguish ourselves from the color of our skin.

We are embarrassed by our Blackness.

Instead of embracing the physical diversity of our people,

We separate ourselves with comments such as

“I don’t like light skinned boys” or “I don’t like dark skinned girls.”

We have enslaved ourselves by becoming ashamed of who we are.

We are “Post-Racial” Black America.

The Black American Color Spectrum.

Today I woke up to a not so intense debate about light skinned girls. I dont care much about the complexion debate....but i like to argue so i joined in. I guess you can say i was playing devil's advocate.

I grew up not realizing how strongly people truly felt about complexion. I was in no way ignorant, I understood the history of complexion debates, but I thought that it was limited to light and dark skinned. I didnt know that there was an 'in-between' stage when it came to color. And quite frankly, it didnt really matter to me.

It wasnt until I became a student at Hampton University that I started questioning my color. Id always thought I was light skinned...hell Id always been referred to as light skinned. My peers however introduced me to a new term.."brown skinned" LOL, what?? To me this was not a historical term....at all. I mean in the past you were either light or dark....a house nigger or a field nigger. Right?


I believe the term 'brown skinned' has done nothing but confuse us. Who created this color spectrum? If you divide complexion into three parts, isnt it only natural to divide it further? Wouldnt that make me 'dark-light skinned' or 'light-brown skinned' on the Black American Color Spectrum?

And then an even greater question arises. WHO CARES? Ive never let my complexion define me. Why is it that so many people do? I love my skin...i think its the perfect caramel blend of amazingness lol, but it does not make or break me OR the love that I have for myself.

But perhaps this same confusion about my complexion has helped me. Ive managed to maintain my jovial attitude about the whole issue. Peoples comments rarely make me mad. In fact if I do choose sides during a complexion debate 9 times out of 10 its just for fun. I dont care what people say about light, brown, or dark skinned girls because according to the categories on the Black American Color Spectrum, I dont fit into any of these places.

Im somewhere floating in the air between light and brown, in the small section where caramel would be if it were allowed into the debate.

Let me also point out that color issues are hardly just a Black American problem. Sadly this debate is seen in many other cultures as well. In fact in some cultures its not unheard of for ones family to disown an individual for being "too dark". In Indian culture darker people are viewed as stupid and extremely inferior. Dont be fooled into thinking that Black Americans are the only people who are SOC (stuck on color).