Strollerderby

          As a black women and  future elementary school teacher this story does not come as a shock to me, still it breaks my heart. I hope the national media  coverage opened the eyes of some of the parents I work with.

This is heartbreaking on so many levels.

Would love to hear your thoughts on this one, Twyla.

The "study" was on 19 kids, all from the same Southern town? That's not a study.

Gather 1000 kids from across the nation and different socioeconomic backgrounds. That's a study.

I can't say that this is heartbreaking, because it's such a small and homogenous sample size.  Perhaps the results would be the same in a true study, but we don't know. "Half of Black Girls Think White Skin Is Prettier" is sensationalism. I don't see how many girls were in the study, but if we assume half girls and half boys, then the headline would be better as "Five of Nine Girls Think White Skin is Prettier".

I think it's heartbreaking to watch that video, even if the study doesn't necessarily represent all black children in 2009.

I thought I heard that in one study, children played more with white baby dolls until they witnessed adults choosing to pick up and cuddle the black dolls. After that, they chose the same dolls the adults paid attention to most. I wish I could remember where I read/heard that.

My mother is white, and I remember thinking that was prettier than brown skin when I was a little girl. I never had a doll that looked like me. It was kind of sad.

I tried to buy a white boy doll for my son to help him understand my pregnancy.  There were white girl dolls and black boy and girl dolls but no white boy dolls.  No Asian dolls at all.

A black doll would not have served the purpose... I needed a doll to represent our expected baby.  Eventually, I bought a girl doll and told myself that my son wouldn't know that pink was meant to indicate female.

Two years ago, a highschool girl decided to repeat the experiment: www.finalcall.com/.../article_2919.shtml - and made a film.

It's just color. Would it be anymore "heartbreaking" if a kid with red hair preferred a doll with blond hair?

Sorry, I don't have an account, but I get so, SO SICK of people going on and on about color as if it's something that actually matters.

Anonymous, are you kidding? You have no idea what you are talking about. Of course it matters. It matters because of the way people treat one another. It's not as if people with red hair face a lot of discrimination or grow up with a sense of otherness based on the way society treats them.

And the reason we still have discrimination is because people, like you apparently, think it matters.

I'm the only person I know that neither exalts nor demeans someone just because of how much pigment is in their skin.

And I do know a little bit about what I'm saying; not academic studies mind you, just actual experience. I'm in college, and ever since I got to college, I've been told, outright told I am a bigot (pesky Southern accent), yet I'm the only one that doesn't get bothered by what my roommates consider "sketchy guys" when we go out. Funnily enough, the only reason they are considered "sketchy" is their skin color. True, a few of them are crack-heads/homeless/etc..., but they're actually nice enough if you chat with them for a bit and share your (tobacco) cigarettes. :)

When President Obama got elected, not a single person I knew celebrated his policies, they didn't even research his policies and they don't even keep up with what he's doing now. The only thing they celebrated, was his skin color. (And before you accuse me of being anti-Obama, I voted 3rd party to begin with, and in my opinion, he's no worse than every other politician.)

Anonymous, what is your race/ethnicity?  Hold on...you're white, aren't you?

I wonder about this because you speak with the voice of authority.  

Just because YOU do not exalt or demean your fellow human beings on the basis of color...doesn't mean that it still doesn't happen.  Racism and discrimination are still real.  Don't kid yourself.  Don't lie to yourself.  Anyone can be a racist, especially now that we have a BIRACIAL president in the White House.

I agree that some people make racism the focus of all the problems in the world, but you need to realize that you really don't know what you're talking about.

I suggest that you actually try to understand the situation a bit better.  Talking to homeless black people doesn't make you enlightened.  It doesn't make you qualified to tell people of African descent that "color doesn't matter".

Yes, there are people who feel discriminated against because of their red hair...but you cannot compare that to what people of African, Asian, Hispanic, biracial, and multiracial descent have experienced.

BTW...I am of mixed race.  I'm very fair-skinned.  I nearly look white.  And all kinds of people discriminate against me.  Black people have a problem with me because I'm too light and "act white".  White people mostly act like I'm invisible, with the exception of my husband and his family.  Hispanics despise me and call me a "nigger" because I don't have perfectly straight hair, nor do I speak Spanish. Most people treat me like a freak because I'm not one of them.

I'm being realistic.  It is what it is.   I think that people who have actually lived in diverse communities and have been treated as "minorities" are qualified to speak on this.  You, on the other hand, are not.  

I don't believe that you are a bigot at all.  But it is clear that you are quite naive about the world.    

It is a bit offensive when somebody (like you) makes a flippant comment on an issue you know nothing about.  Please don't downplay, minimize, or trivialize the experiences of others.

Obviously, you cannot relate to issues of racism and discrimination and colorism.   It is indeed VERY upsetting that young children feel inferior because of the color of their skin.  

You're in college?  I will suggest some reading material to help you realize why color is still a problem:

The Bluest Eye by Toni Morrison

Don't Play in the Sun by Marita Golden

The Black Girl Next Door by Jennifer Bazile

The Color Complex (don't remember the author)

Yeah, I'm white, not that it should matter to you. As for the "voice of authority"... that's kinda like the pot accusing the kettle, right? You certainly have that same tone in your posts. And about not being from a 'diverse community'... my hometown wasn't diverse, no; now I live in an area where non-Hispanic whites are a little over 10% of the population (according to Wikipedia).

And I do realize racism and discrimination still exist - I'm just saying it shouldn't. Trust me, I get that people still think it matters and unfortunately, people still get hung up on it. I'm truly sorry you've felt so ostracized by every group due to race and I hope they get their retribution for it.

And don't you dare talk to me about discrimination, I've felt plenty of it because I didn't go to the 'right' church. Try having your class circle you up, telling you you're going to hell while the teacher turns a blind eye. Try having the principal throw the same accusations at you. Try having your own FATHER back you into a corner, punching the wall around you and screaming in you face because he doesn't like your faith and then banning you from church for 6 years. Discrimination isn't just about color, and just because I'm white doesn't mean my life has been a freaking bed of roses. And actually, based on religion I am in the smallest minority at my university, with the exception of one young man who follows Sufism. And just like with race, I think it's stupid to get hung up when someone is going about their business with their religious beliefs.

As for your sources, I've dealt with Toni Morrison's material before; don't like her. I'll look the others over when I get time.

No one said your life is a bed of roses.  You're all  defensive because two "non-white" individuals have challenged your initial statements.

I'm saying don't talk about stuff you don't know anything about because you have NEVER experienced it.

What does religion have to do with this?

Don't make it about you.  Maybe you should consider the perspectives of people to whom this issue is actually relevant.  Don't be so quick to dismiss it if you haven't actually been there.

I'm sorry that you experienced abuse...I have, too.  I can certainly understand why that memory would be painful and traumatic.   But that has little bearing on the subject at hand.  

You've experienced discrimination based on your faith, whatever that may be.  That is wrong.  You have the right to practice any religion you wish.

However, your faith is something that you have the power to choose.  The color of your skin is not.  That is what you were born with.  

I "dare" to talk to you about discrimination because unlike you, I have experienced REAL discrimination based on physical characteristics that are beyond my control.  Can people tell your faith by looking at you?

Have you traveled the world?  Do you have relatives of different racial or ethnic backgrounds?  I will assure you that I most certainly can back up what I say with actual real-world experience.  

You may not like Toni Morrison's work, but it is helpful in understanding certain issues.  

This is an issue that only women, specifically black/biracial/multiracial women, can relate to.  It has roots in the history of colonization.  That is why I don't understand how a young white guy in college can make the sort of flippant remarks that you've made...when you could never possibly know what it is like to be a woman, let alone a woman of "minority" status.  

You don't know what women of color deal with...being ridiculed, being dehumanized and disrespected.  We are not valued in America.  We are considered inferior to all other types of women.  We are considered ugly.  I, as an exceptionally light-skinned woman of color, still have to deal with extremely cruel forms of racism and discrimination.  

That was the original subject here.  As a white man, what do you really know about black women having to straighten their hair in order to not be perceived as "dirty" and "inferior"?  What do you know about how images of mostly white women being upheld as the most beautiful affects little brown girls?  

I know that your intent was not harmful, but as a person who obviously takes pride in attending university, you need to open your mind to the possibility that this IS a valid issue to people of color.  

Just because you cannot relate to it, doesn't make it unimportant.  There are bigger issues in the world...but this is something that requires careful analysis and critical thought instead of dismissively waving your hand and saying, "Boo-hoo, cry me a river".  

Please try to understand what this is about.