More than two million people in the US self injure a day, privilege for those with lighter skin is still being granted, and a woman’s natural hair is still not fully accepted in American culture, but isn’t black America still a part of America? From the year 1619 until present day, the social and mental disconnection between Whites and people of color have been nearly impossible to resolve. The social construct of pigmentocracy and colourism have caused women in minority groups to devalue themselves in ways that made white standards of beauty appear to be the only kind.
Pigmentocracy is a social or class distinction ranging from the darkest to lightest skin color based on who dominates society. White people dominate the modern world only because they had an advancement when it came to how they traveled, their weaponry, and the value for what they chose to build and trade. While everyone had animals for transportation, Christians who were a part of the Roman Empire held possession of ships. They were more technologically advanced and, and obtained more wealth than most countries. After obtaining the proper tools that they needed they were able to build their own countries.
Realizing that help was needed they went over into other foreign countries to initially trade goods for human laborers, and eventually abusing their power to get the amount of slaves that would be needed to would build what is known as America. Colourism began in the United States during slavery. Slave Masters tended to favor those of lighter complexions. They had a higher chance of receiving an education, they worked inside of the house instead of the field, and received better treatment than African Americans who were of darker skin. African Americans seeing his treatment, began to envy and despise those of a lighter shade, which in turn resulted in their demise of darker skinned African Americans. There are four different types of self injuring. These four include being, impulsive, major, Stereotypie, and compulsive. The one group of people who are most likely to self harm are African American teenagers, and African American girls are more likely to harm themselves than white girls. They also receive the least amount of treatment. This problem is also the least spoken about among African American families.
Because of this a lot of people feel a sense of relief, or power when they harm themselves, whether it be by burning, punching, or cutting themselves. It is important to understand that these acts are not always suicidal. Sometimes they are genuinely a cry for help. Even though during times of slavery African Americans with lighter skin were treated more fairly they are still subject to the same types of scrutiny. They still experience lesser pay than their white counterparts. In the 19th century “Black wealth was only 20% of white wealth, but mulattoes held nearly 50% of whites’ wealth” (Bodenhorn, Ruebeck 1).
Many people believe that the gap is solely based on the shade of one’s skin, but it goes deeper than that. Mulattoes were able to get an education that went further than what was available to people whose pigmentation was darker. Conversely In 2015 black women only earned 70% the hourly wage of white educated men even if they obtained the same degree. Equity was not and is still not currently displayed. Throughout history man and his accomplishments are mentioned, and women did not have a role to play in the foundation of society. Women were not recognized as the backbone to what is known as the modern world.
Their main responsibility was to raise the family that was given to them whether it was what they desired or not. That made women feel useless and left to stand in the shadows until enough women stood together to demand their rights, and even then they were only granted to those who by this time fit what was said to be socially acceptable. Suppression is easy to force upon a group or individual who feels and is perceived as less than. Morrison writes “The death of self-esteem can occur quickly, easily in children, before their ego has “legs,” so to speak” (page 11).
The African American race has been an infant to society not being able to walk their own paths because their growth has been forcibly stifled by the privileged people of this world. Trying to get out of that place has been tremendously difficult for the suppressed and the suppressors. People are usually not fond of dramatic change, and it takes a certain amount of time for changes to become effective. Overtime the family of African Americans became obscured. The emotional scars that originated from generations past started appearing within a couple’s offspring.
In Machination, Medication, and Mutilation Josephine writes “If a child is raised with adults who are emotionally inept, she never learns how to deal with emotions. That child, incapable of healthy emotionally expression, allows emotions to build up to a point where it simply cannot be contained anymore” (45). The men in these families were being stripped away from their loved ones whether it be physically or mentally. The women, due to physical and emotional abuse began neglecting their children, which in turn forced them to figure out how to grow and function themselves.
The only figures that were available to take after were the people who were seen in magazines, on billboards, and who prevailed in life. It is natural to want and attempt to modify parts of yourself to become more acceptable in society and in your own eyes. In the bluest eye “Adults, older girls, shops, magazines, newspapers, window signs – all the world had agreed that a blue-eyed, yellow-haired, pink-skinned doll was what every girl child treasured” (Morrison 39), happened to be what most people tried to mold themselves into being, regardless of the unlikeliness that their attempts would be effective.
In the late 19th century Garrett Augustus Morgan invented the relaxer in the late 19th century for both African American Men and Women. It was discovered that the less apparent the features of an African American were, the more likely it was to be accepted into the assimilated culture. The “taming” as so many call it of the natural kinks and curls of so many by relaxers, then later protective styles such as wigs and weaves made it possible for African American Women obtain mainstream job titles.
In the year of 2014 the United States Army released a revised policy on grooming and appearance that blatantly targeted African Americans. By this time many African Americans were accustomed to wearing their h styles to protect their natural hair, and in the policy twists, and other similar styles were banned. Offensive words like “matted and unkempt” (Henderson) were included in the original document. After much deliberation it was decided that they would make the policy more acceptable for women of color to show that they are seen as equal.
Even though the Army and Air Force agreed to and changed the policy’s making it more suitable for all ethnic groups, the Navy did not comply. They still refuse to allow dreadlocks, even though twists are acceptable which poses speculation that they are performing discriminatory acts. Unlike the advancements that our Army and Air Force have made, our media still lags behind. It is rare to see African American women wearing their natural hair on television, especially on shows that present news. Majority of the time it is masked by relaxers, or wigs.
In 2016 Actor and Singer Zendaya Coleman was criticized for wearing faux locs during the Academy Awards by Fashion Police’s Giuliana Rancic. She made the comment “I feel like she.. she smells like Patchouli and weed”. This incident further solidified that there are still stereotypes, and ignorance that is extremely prevalent in society today. The stereotypical nature of the comment was not only offensive to African Americans, but also to other various groups of people, and that is something that a national apology does not fully solve.
Skin lightening has been around for centuries, and was heavily popularized in the late 1900’s. ” In the late 1960s, 60% of urban African women reported using skin lightener formulations, making these formulations the fourth most commonly used household product” (Davids 24). The skin lightening industry has become a multi billion dollar company over the 19th and 20th century. The tactics used to get women of color to buy these products contribute to the lack of self esteem that so many women had.
The industry knows to target women who desire to have a better chance at achieving greater success in their social life, work field, and sometimes even for marital purpose. They use chemicals that are very harmful to the skin, and that make it nearly impossible for users to stop adding in the product into their beauty regimen. Once an individual attempts to take skin bleaching out of their diet, their skin becomes burnt. The problem that it declared to fix then comes back into their lives even more than what it was before. The only way that skin bleaching will diminish is if darker women become the face of popular brands.
In Toni Morrison’s The Bluest Eye, she cleverly incorporated these social issues, and more to bring awareness of the stereotypes, stigmas, and lack of growth in America. She is what is called a novelist. She excels in writing literary works particularly about African American female experiences. Although she incorporates political aspects her work holds multiple layers, and it makes the reader think about many different aspects of an individual political or social issue. A political writer in itself is said to be “one dimensional, simplistic, reductionist, peachy, dull” (Foster 110).
