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Literature -
Books
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Monday, 25 February 2008 09:34 |
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 This is the first book by an author in the UK to take an in-depth look at colourism - the process of discrimination based on skin tone among members of the same ethnic group, whereby lighter skin is more valued than darker complexions. The African Diaspora in Britain is examined as part of a global black community with shared experiences of slavery, colonization and neo-colonialism.
The author, Black Britain editor, Deborah Gabriel, traces the evolution of colourism within African descendant communities in the USA, Jamaica, Latin America and the UK from a historical and political perspective and examines its present impact on the global African Diaspora. There are numerous books written by African American authors on the subject of colourism. In a country which exports the concept of the American Dream, it would seem that the lighter and whiter one is, the more attainable wealth and success is.
Study after study provides evidence that individuals with dark skin have lower educational attainment and earn less. It is also a reality that it is dark-skinned blacks who make up the majority of residents in the ghettoes and poorer urban districts. Written from a Pan African perspective, the book looks at colourism and its effect on four regions in the African Diaspora - the USA, Jamaica, Latin America and the UK.
It begins by examining the earliest examples of negative connotations of blackness present in Christian symbolism, Jewish and Islamic texts. It also looks at early examples of colourism during the ethnic transformation of Egypt. Thereafter, slavery is taken as a starting point from which to examine the evolution of colourism in the four studied regions of the African Diaspora and how slavery has left a legacy of skin tone hierarchies among people of African descent.
The chapter on Jamaica features an interview with Donna Mc Farlane, the Director and Curator of Liberty Hall - the former headquarters of Marcus Garvey's Universal Negro Improvement Association (UNIA). Today it is a Jamaica National Heritage Trust site managed by the Institute of Jamaica. Mc Farlane warns that skin bleaching as a legacy of enslavement, has become so widespread that it is not only adults who bleach but children too. A study published in January of this year also provides evidence that a stigma against dark skin still exists in Jamaica with children aged between three and six years old showing a preference for light skin.
An interesting chapter on human evolution and skin colour examines theories on the African origins of mankind and how human skin colour evolved from black to white. A chapter on white supremacy explains how whiteness functions as an invisible mechanism within society conferring privilege and social advantage to people racialized as white, whilst at the same time dominating and subjugating non-white peoples. A chapter on blackness and black identity examines how people of African descent have defined themselves both in historical and contemporary times.
This book will appeal to anyone with an interest in the subject of race and identity who wants to understand why colourism - a psychological legacy of slavery still impacts people of African descent in the Diaspora today.
ISBN 1 4251 3323 1
To order a copy follow this link: Black Britain Books
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