Remember the Black White doll test in my previous posts? Well a friend of mine, knowing my fetish for race issues sent me an email on a similar, also controversial study, which was conducted on Black college students. The main focus was on skin tones… light skin or dark skin?
Apparently, this study, conducted by researchers from two Louisiana schools, has confirmed that complexion does matter. Going by history, light skin has been highly valued in the Black community. This is probably because in the early years of the 20th century almost all students at the some of the nation’s prestigious historically Black colleges and universities were light-skinned.
100 Black students between 18 and 19 years old of different color complexions (ranging from light to dark) were interviewed at a predominantly White university in the Midwest. The results? Well you guessed right.In comparison to the Black White doll test where kids picked the white doll as the beautiful one, 96% of the men preferred a medium to light complexion women and 70% of the women picked light-skinned men.
This clearly shows that most African-American college students still seem to find the light-skinned sistas and brothas better looking than their darker counterparts where dating or marriage is concerned.
One of the interviewed students said “I think that people are valued for their light skin. You can take this theory way back to the house slave mentality. I think a lot of people, because that was valued, were taught to value light skin. I think it is still an ongoing type of thing, and society really has not lost that altogether.᾿
Notice the choice of the word … VALUED? So does this mean that the darker skinned individuals are seen as lesser beings or of lesser value? Generally, the students involved in the study felt that the media is to blame for this preference for lighter skin. “When you talk to a guy, he thinks that he wants a perfect girl he sees on the videos. Usually, the women portrayed in the videos are light-skinned and have long hair,᾿ said another participant.
Jas M. Sullivan, an assistant professor of political science and African American Studies at Louisiana State University, also involved in conducting the study said that the purpose of the research was to test whether the color line continues to be a problem for the African-American community.
“We know that there has been a preference for lighter skin in the past as a result of racism, but we really wanted to know whether or not that preference still exists in the 21st century.᾿
Do you believe that the 100 students’ views represent most people’s preferences? And if so, why do Blacks generally tend to prefer lighter skin? Isn’t this ironic given the constant chants of ‘black is beauty’ and ‘color blind society’? And how then are we going to curb this segregation if we Black people apply the age old color conscious concept when choosing spouses within the black mainstream?
[tags]shades of black,color preference[/tags]
Also note, I am an extremely dark male, and as a child I was made fun of for it. I still do have problems with it, but I’m working through it!
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Hey! wow, so many awesome comments! This is an important topic and this post shows that many people do and are moving towards change! I just wanted to say a few things
1) I think this is an imp survey but as a Sociology major I find the sample to be VERY unrepresentative. I apologize in advance if I missed something, but people do have to take into account demographics. African-Americans are not homogeneous and a sample of 100 people from LA will not in any way be the same as NC or a place as super diverse as D.C and New York. I can only speak for myself but I grew up in New Orleans and Charlotte and currently reside near D.C . The socioeconomic and cultural differences of the black populations all differ in each place and that DOES affect attitudes. I am not saying colorism does not matter. It DEFINITELY matters a lot! I am just saying it would be stronger if the sample was wider. Also the notion of “value” and skin tone was a great thing to hit on RIA. We need to talk about it that way more, bc that is the problem.
2) I think colorism within the black race has to be explored with gender as a major factor. StarThai asked a great question about the diff rxns and attitudes of skin tone with black men vs black women. Honestly,i think the sexism intersecting with racism better explains why more emphasis is placed on the female being lighter (lighter is more “feminine” and attributes on women matter more than on men in terms of determining their value) Also darkness is masculine and strong and we like our men that way don’t we?
3) Gender matters, and the anti-dark sentiments affect both men and women for sure!! However, size affects men and women, but women are the ones pressured to be thin and base their worth on how they look. Same with skin. For example, have you watched MOST commercials and seen black women and especially black daughters? No matter how dark mom and or dad are, that girl always ends up looking bi-racial or light skinned. So begins the cycle of brown and darker African-American girls getting subtle messages…
IMPORTANT: Addressing the need for brown and darker women representation or embracing should not be confused with disliking lighter skinned blacks or bi-racial females. Honestly light skin and Euro featured African-Americans should be celebrated as well. BUT when you almost exclusively acknowledge and promote lighter skinned females (as the representation of black women), you send the message that brown and dark skin is not desirable, and that affects the women who are not light and all men who will then decide WHAT they find attractive.
4) I agree that we can not blame society alone! Parents play a big role and the individual black person has to recognize that admitting “the kitchen mentality” existed is not enough. We as dark or light or medium brown skinned ppl etc etc have to stop the blame game and start the healing one. Easier said than done! But like many of u said, we need to take that step!
5) I agree that we in the states should look at West Africa and how brown and darker skinned women are celebrated. But, let’s not forget that TONS of women are bleaching their skin. Like, a disturbing number. And this pattern is directly correlated to people getting more access/interest/influence from U.S media (like BET, MTV and other shows are JUST as popular there now)And I am from there so I have seen it first hand. I am not saying that to be negative but to unite black diaspora and show that we have the same problems. More importantly, I say that to show it is not simply a “personal preference” It is a personal preference directly molded by societal attitudes. So truthbtold, I see where u r coming from, but you have to ask yourself how much of the ppls own rxns to light skin or the ideal proportions of women is in fact affected by society! I do not think tons of Liberians, Nigerians, Cameroonians etc are just NOW changing their mind about their love for their browner and darker women because they think the lighter end is better suddenly! Their influence from media which now plays a more central role in youth lives shows that their perceptions are affected by society.
OK, I hope I did not sound preachy bc I just wanted to share my thoughts. I love the dialogue here. More of it is needed!! Thanks everyone for educating me as well!
:0)
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This is a frustrating topic – but it seems that the answer lies less in psychology than in geography. Think about it – I live in the United States which is led, right or wrong, by a “white majority” – therefore, our vision of beauty is based on what that majority values or desires as they are the ones with the money and power who rule our media and who are seen and held up as examples most often.
In Africa I venture to guess that this ideal is very different.
In Japan very different again.
In Israel too, and Sweden and Brazil -
Each country’s idea of beauty is modeled through the tastes of the majority. It is why, in my opinion, it is all about being even handed and raising our children in a diverse and balanced environment with an open exchange of information about media and political misconceptions.
As for the implicit Association Test mentioned above – it is a very interesting test – I took it (I am white) and I was rated as having a preference toward black people – what I was really surprised to find was that I was among only some ridiculously small percentage (I don’t remember exactly but I think it was somewhere between 2 and 10 percent – in that catagory) the thing is . . . that tiny percentage of people who preferred black people INCLUDED black people. It was rather stunning for me to know that and I felt really bad about that. Here is the link to that test if any of you want to take it – it isn’t JUST about color differences, you can also take it about preference/prejudice for weight, religion, education, etc. -
https://implicit.harvard.edu/implicit/demo/takeatest.html .
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okay you can tell the girl near the top of these posts who called herself “dark caramel WITH LIGHT UNDERTONES” has some SERIOUS colour issues…trying to make herself sound as light as possible. I mean UNDERTONES? When the hell did we start doing 2 shades on one person? Get a GRIP.
Yes, black people are still colourstruck. And yes, dark skin men have it harder than everyone else in every aspect of life except the bedroom…there they are highly favoured…carry more immediate sex appeal…i saw a girl say it up top, and i said nearly the same thing in another post. It’s easy to pass over a very lightskin or mix looking black guy as some pretty guy who is only there to look at and can’t make your toes curl in bed. lol. Don’t know why, just the stereotype. I’ve been proven wrong on that though so I watch my mouth now. lol.
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your comments towards ringo’s statments are interesting but as a black british female, born and raised in london i can completly support his statements..i think the problem is you immediatly judged what came from his mouth as soon as you saw that he was a white male…I never experienced racism until my fianl job in London that was after undergrad, after 5 years of engineering..London is totally a different environment and people for the most part are judged on the essence of their character not on ‘what they do’ or ‘what they earn’ but who they are..
Most immigrants avoid blacks? i have never in my life heard people of African descent referred to in such a disrespectfull way as i have by African americans..part of that is ignorance as people do not travel, also the historical damage we all know about..Many of us ‘immigrants’ came here expecting with the amount of great leaders and political movements you’ve had that you would be way more culturally advanced than for example england and willing to embrace our fellow african brothers and sisters..but its sadly exactly the opposite..i’ve many times had to remind african americans that we came on the same boat and landed in a different destination because they’ve been so busy judgeing me by my accent or way of carrying myself as being too ‘white’ for them!
‘googling london racism’ is not going to tell you about london racism! have you been there? maybe you should take a trip..live there for a few years and then form an opinion..its actually as he said it is..its more based on poverty than it is a racial structure..the working and middle classes live in the same community go to the same schools..our school system is integrated so we are not as ignorant to each others cultures as i find people are here
Another note about immigrants avoiding african americans..when my younger sister came here from london she was 7 years old..the black children bullied her because she was different while the white children embraced her..later on when she was in college and mixed with alot of white kids in a predominantly black school it was frowned upon! but these were the same kids that had been her friends for years when no one else wanted to know…
There are racists in every community rarely will they stand up and say who they are in a public areana..black, white, hispanic whatever they define themselves as
I know totally away from the topic..i just had put in my pennys worth
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I think black people are still color struck in the 21st century. BET (the main network)makes me sick to my stomach with the negative images of black women they put on television. I had to tuned out Hip hop too, because of the degrading and color bias videos they have of black women. Now I know all women light and dark skin are disrespected, but it always bothers me that dark skin women are always placed in the background, reduced to just an ass or breast shot, or always playing the role of a ho or stripper.
I was born in the Caribbean and we have our share of colorism too, but I find that African American men takes it to a level where they make me sick because of the way they openly treat or mistreat women based on skin tone.
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I am a proud dark skin woman. I think it is sad that in our society today African Americans still think light skin is better and darker skin people are not. At the end of the day we are black and their is way too many issues concerning the world today to worry about who has less or more melanin in the skin.
This topic is embeeded in alot of minds from family and friend influence and could only get resolved if people talk and listen to every one story. in certain areas Lightskin people might be viewed as weaker, and easy to run over and other places darker skin blacks are viewed as uncivilized, and hard to deal with. What we forget about eachother is that we are all black and are going through the same political issues. We are all jumpin the same hurdles in life yet we still try to break each other down. Unfortunatley the color issue would not change in the black community that is another bad trait that will continue.
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I am a black woman with dark skin and have never had any problems being desired by men of all races.
I wish I were darker because dark skin is so hot.
I’m beautiful, sexy beyond belief, confident and revel in the darkness of my skin. I can have my pick of men and my skin color has never been an issue.
My preference is black men with very dark skin. I have never dated a black man with light skin. They just don’t move me the way dark chocolate rich skin does. When I’m with a black man with dark skin we are the most awesome, powerfu, hottest couple. We rock and get so much attention.
One last note, it depends upon the sample surveyed, what the data reveals.
Dark skin is beautiful, powerful, sexy.
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im not in college im actually in highschool
but unfortunatly it is the same if not worse,where i am
not that guys are like totally disgusted with dark skinned girls
im pretty popular and have a lot of guy and girl FRIENDS(though i do hang out with more white than black people)
that’s the problem.
while i tend to like white guys (not because i want a “pretty baby”)
but because i just do,i can’t really explain it.
it’s not to say i don’t like any other races becuase i do,i like all types of guys.
but anyway,
while i like white guys most of my friends: white guys and girls
say they wouldnt even date a black person
or if they would,she would have to be light skinned
so they don’t even consider dark skinned girls like me an option.
yet when i ask my black friends almost all of them said they would date another race,and that it doesnt really matter
but that even THEY,(some of them) wouldn’t date a dark skinned girl
sadly,this tends to be way more about girls
because i know plenty of white and black girls who go out or would go out with,or think that a dark skinned guy is perfectly acceptable to be with.
so what i can’t figure out is:why doesn’t the same go for girls like me?
i;m pretty,outgoing and friendly
but when it comes to stuff like that
i get very sad,
because i feel like my skin color is holding me back,
i shouldnt feel that way,but i do
im not the only one either,when i talk to other girls as dark as me they mostly have the same problem.
i don’t think it’s fair,or right.
why does dark skin have to mean unatrative?
and why doesnt the same apply to light skinned girls?
i’ve seen light skinned girls who get away with a lot of crap becuase of there color and hair
and also a lot of them who arent even pretty and yet are very popular and treated specially by guys just becuse of there skin color,to many times.
you know how i know they are treated that way only based on color?
because they have bitchy personality’s
not all,not even most,but some are like that.
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Totally, you got some growing in the mind to do, let me plant the seed for you. There is so much more in life for you to see, experience than you worrying about your dark skin being the bottom of the food chain.
Young people tend to follow the crowd, and it usually transfers into adulthood. Look at it like this, if you saw a pair of Lucky Jeans on the rack, and you thought they were the coolest jeans ever, but your best friend is with you, and she thinks they are the ugliest thing ever created and adds that “no one will ever wear those jeans”. You go to school the next day, no one who’s “popular” wears them, only a few, and people whisper and laugh. That falls back on “beauty is in the eye of the beholder”.
T keep in mind, in the society we are in, visual sets the tone (unfortunately), look at this Taye Diggs, Edris Elba, Denzel Washington, are billed sexy men, all of them are dark skinned and a lot of female fantasy black and white. Samuel L Jackson, not quite billed sexy but a awesome actor, but I can’t find a soul who wants to have him on their pc screensaver. There hasn’t been many dark skinned women in media who has that sort of, goddess quality. Latina actress and supermodels, have their place, mixed race actresses, and models have their place, light skinned actresses and supermodels have their place. Notice not so much dark skinned, Ester Rolle (RIP) exceptional actress, dark skinned, split tooth, she didn’t quite fit the Hollywood Bill as beautiful, but within the black cinema she was found beautiful, same can be said for Cicely Tyson, dark skinned, protruding lips, she played a lot of roles, that held strong ties, to the black race of the 1900’s. Never quite made the bill as sexy but she had her following in the black cinema.
Alek a true african model, dark, sensual, not quite Kimora Lee, or Lidya, but again she has her following. Grace Jones, was the closets to sexy dark skinned, and desireable women in the black culture of today. I don’t know about you T, but last I checked Missy Elliot, dark skinned, big teeth, talented from the tips of her toes, to the top of her head, wealthy. Seems to me, she didn’t let dark skin keep her from living and worrying about who finds her attractive, looks to me she found her self attractive and has made a fabulous career from it. (hint)
Dark skinned does not mean unattactive, dark skinned means, deep beauty. Thats a quality a lot of people would kill to have but can’t posses so they must rely on the outer beauty to get them noticed.
Don’t second guess yourself, because a few people, a small amount in our vast society, does not find you attractive. That’s their foolishness, if they can’t see, who you are. Besides, you’re gonna see a lot more than that in the world once, you step out into it, love the skin you’re in, don’t worry, someone else will love it as well.
I’m gonna let you slide with that “pretty baby” comment, you bloggin with grown folks now, and all babies are “pretty” no matter which color they come from.
T, Black is still Beautiful!
Over did it again!
No Jibberish Replys just a thought!
Over and Out!
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I agree with your assessments Coco and Fala!
Over the pass few years I’ve been invited to 3 different churches. In each case the pastor was a dark skinned man and every wife was fair skinned!
I think it doesn’t matter what shade of the rainbow we are….we should feel good in our own skin.
True ‘beauty’ is in the eye of the beholder!
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SERIOUSLY??? where have I been ? Girls in places I’ve been love dark skin. They think its sexy, honestly. I know I very well do. And to girls with lighter skin, I can tell you that the contrast between it and that of someone like Taye Diggs is just beautiful. Only black girls I’ve seen really discriminate against guys with dark skin, had pretty dark skin themselves and were only a little lighter than the guy in the first place. I find it odd, that the majority of black girls chose the lightest, wouldve expected them to go for the brown or dark one, because girls I know, majority would pick those.
Anyway, I agree with sassfem completely, her assessment is very much on
Black is beautiful, all shades are beautiful, all ethnicities PERIOD are beautiful. Hopefully, one day people will love to appreciate the diversity of ALL the people of this world. I have a special appreciation for dark skinned black women like Gabrielle Union because she and her skin are both so beautiful. I think everyone should learn to love having their own skin and know that noone else’s is better or worse, but just as beautiful. I find it very sad if a dark black girl holds my hand to hers and says how she would like mine, when personally I think her’s is so pretty and don’t see why she would prefer mine.
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It’s sad that this “house nigga” mentality is still ingrained in the minds of many African-Americans today. Why does it matter what your pigmentation is? I’ll repeat the best answer that has been given: The Media. For many of us all around the world, THE MEDIA dictates what is hot and what is not, and since the dawn of slavery up until now, it is considered “substandard” to be black. Unfortunately, even though many try to claim that this is not true, it’s deeply intrenched in the minds of many. What can we do about it? That’s a deep question, and it would require re-vamping society as a whole, including the educational system and social castes based on color. Can it be done? Not likely. So, it looks like we on an individual basis have to give our children unconditional love, tell them that they can be anything or be with anyone they want to be with, no matter what color, and try to reach out to as many young ones (black, white, asian, etc) and fill them with universal love before any of these racial stereotypes set in their young minds. This, short of a miracle,is just about the only thing we can do. Oh, and one other thing: we can teach ourselves to love OURSELVES unconditionally, no matter how we were raised to feel about being BLACK or BROWN or LIGHT-SKINNED – we are all uniquely beautiful.
Oh, and by the way – I have always thought the most beautiful skin in the world is the dark, mahogany/chocolatey skin. I, a golden-brown woman, tried to tan myself to a beautiful chocolate color one summer. How did I end up? Well, let’s just say that lovely golden-brown can turn a pretty hideous brick-red when exposed to the sun for 3 days straight! ALL black is beautiful, from the lightest-honey to ebony dark-chocolate, and until we realize that as a people, no one else will.
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.
Since mention was made of the topic of the ‘house’
and the ‘field’ slave — I just wanted to note that
this false concept that so many people have
– that the lighter-complexioned chattel slaves
“had it easier” or “thought they were better”
than the darker-complexioned slaves -– and
/ or largely “relaxed in the big house” while
the darker-complexioned slaves “suffered
in the fields” — is very much (just like the
infamous ‘Willie Lynch Letter’ Hoax) all VERY
MUCH AN URBAN MYTH (and, is one which,
in nearly every way that’s possible, completely
defies the true historical recorded account).
The historical record shows that
those enslaved people who were of a
lighter-complexion (i.e. mulatto-lineage)
and that were found on the continental
United States during the antebellum
(chattel-slavery) era were actually treated
MUCH WORSE than were those enslaved
people who were of a darker-complexion.
In fact, the record shows that most of the White
people (especially the White women) tended
to look upon the lighter-complexioned slaves
as being mere ‘mongrels of miscegenation’
(resulting largely from the rapes caused by the
plantation ‘Overseers’); in their disgust at the
sight of these slaves — insisted that they
be “banished to the fields”; and also then
purposefully reserved most of the ‘big house’
positions (ex. mammy, cook, driver, etc.) for
the darker-complexioned slaves — who most of
the White people had perceived as being “more
loyal, more docile, less competitive, etc.”, and,
even more important, they were also of a skin tone
which could never cause them to be seen as being
any part-’white’ (and even worse, perceived as
“possibly” also being “a member of the family”
–as it were– of a given plantation ‘Owner’).
And this maltreatment was generally even much
more so the case if the lighter-complexioned
enslaved person was even remotely ’suspected’
(by, say, a wife, sister or daughter — who ran
“the big house”, while a ‘male’ family member
ran “the plantation”)of possibly being the
offspring of a given plantation ‘Owner’
(or his son, or father, or brother,
or any other male found in the
plantation ‘Owners’ White family).
In addition, the few lighter-complexioned enslaved
people that were actually permitted to do any work
in the “big house” were (as a punishment for having
the lowly status of “mongrel” and in order to make
sure that they did not become “too uppity”) kept
under a much more severe work supervision (by both
the White women who ran the plantation household
and also by the darker-complexioned enslaved people
who had been placed over the lighter-complexioned
enslaved people and given various “rewards” in an
exchange for the promise to ‘keep an eye on’ them)
than were most of the (more trusted and seemingly
endeared) darker-complexioned enslaved people.
Books by Deborah Gray White; Paula Giddings; bell
hooks; J. California Cooper; William Wells Brown;
etc. expose the truth about the urban-myth and
show that the lighter-complexioned enslaved
people received NO special treatment and were,
instead (due to being seen as mere “mongrels of
miscegenation”) usually treated much worse than
were most darker-complexioned enslaved people.
The hatred, fear and mistrust that many of
the antebellum and post-antebellum era White
southerners felt toward the people who were
both of a light-complexion (mulatto-lineage)
and were also chattel-slaves, is very strongly
presented in the ‘D.W. Griffith’ racist film
‘Birth of a Nation’– where pretty much
all the trouble, tragedy and dangers found
experienced by White southern families in
the film is falsely presented as being
caused by “uppity” Mulattoes who ‘needed to
be taught “their place” among White people’.
(i.e. they “needed” to be beaten, raped, lynched,
etc. by the “proud” White people who had been
reared to make it clear that they felt
“no connection” to any non-White person).
Anyone who would like any additional information
on this topic can feel free to contact me directly.
Hope this information is helpful
& that everyone has a great day.
– AP (soaptalk@hotmail.com)
Related Links:
http://boards.mulatto.org/post/show_single_post?pid=34070161&postcount;=13
http://boards.mulatto.org/post/show_single_post?pid=34070414&postcount;=14
.
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I wrote a very interesting article about this topic.
http://intermultiracialissues.suite101.com/article.cfm/what_michelle_obama_means_to_beauty_in_america
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This has been an on going topic for how many years!?,people in this case many black people have a complex.They feel that light skin and good hair are the essence of beauty,and the light eyes are a plus,you know how many black woman who are(not just dark-skinned but chocolate dark skinned)I’ve seen that are ABSOLUTELY Knockouts!!,OMG I’ve lost count.
How does the saying go!?Those who have it,don’t want
it,and those who don’t have it wish they did.Now this OBVIOUSLY isn’t in all cases,but,in my opinion
too many.You know how many people wish they had dark skin(they probabaly won’t tell you)but,who wouldn’t want to have beautiful,sexy dark skin
rather then pale,cold,greenish/yellowish looking skin.Just take a look at the photo above(Cocoacutie)
Yeah I know!!.
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Like tupac said the blacker the berry the sweeter the juice, darker the flesh the deeper the roots. my black is beautiful. all black is beautiful whether light or dark.
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This issue is pervasive and it isn’t going anywhere anytime soon. I wish that we as black women could realize our power. Ever black man in this country came from a black mama. People just won’t be happy until my race disappears. All I can hope is that neither of my sons rejects me or our heritage by refusing to date their own race. I hope I have instilled @ least that much self respect and pride in them.
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I am highly suspicious of these kind of case studies and subsequent time wasted on figuring out what this all mean. These studies that ask skin color preferences have proved flawed especially when younger kids are used. Also, light and dark skin color preferences are time sensitive. In the 1960’s dark skin color was preferred and light skin blacks complained that they were being discriminated in black communities. Now there is new evidence to suggest that skin color preferences are individualistic and has little to do with community preferences in America.
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Wow what a controversial topic! Sad that it holds much merit. Self hatred is a terrible thing. This concept is so tired it needs to end. It’s so 1942. After all, it all about angles things like race, skin tone, gender and religion. We are all competing for limited resources. Why would anyone’s skin tone or race even bother someone else? There is always I repeat always an underlying motive always maybe a guy a girl a job notoriety. So always look for the angle. Anyhow, as a chocolate girl I can relate. I look like my mom but I have my dad’s skin tone. My mom (love mom she ‘s so funny) is butter pecan tan lol I always laughed when she and other people said that. Growing up I was constantly told I was a very pretty dark skinned girl by my mom’s side of the family (dad ‘s too but sometimes I think my mom’s grammie stared at me too long she really examined my features they originated in GA and moved to FL). In retrospect I think wow, why couldn’t I just be a very pretty girl?
(especially back in the day don’t front).
Thank you for your persecptive Calif.peach
Thank you darkandproud for sharing your story
Leah I’m confused?
Darklicious thank you also for your story and insight.
Weird I just argued this point with a UK chic who said “ I look Brazilian” (wow broad term) and then stated she “knew her roots”. Which was not Brazilian as a matter of fact. Omg, Anthropology 101 So whatever. I look for the angle. The point is P.S. it’s not just the U.S.
At the end of the day I have a biracial president who at the end of the day who by American standards is judged at black with an *.
On a lighter note who wants to make some more red boned and yellow boned babies with me? I mean duh where did you think they came from
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This topic is really ironic to me because I came from a family who had the ‘color struck’ mentality. Although, by the time it reached into my generation, it was dying a slow death…but it affected my grandmother to the extent of her sharing her experiences with us. In turn, I wrote a book based on her experiences of being the “despised, dark-skinned daughter-in-law”. Although many of her “adversaries” are passed on now, I was surprised to see the awareness and “healing” affects the book had, not only on the family, but outsiders as well. I’m hoping that this book will be an inspiration not only to African Americans, but Americans in general…to understand that “a person’s worth lies within and shouldn’t be judged by the color of their skin.” For all interested, the title of the book is Color Struck by Pamela & Joel Tuck. You can read a 1st chapter excerpt at http://www.pamelamtuck.com. Hoping to inspire change…
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