One of most self-abasing thing a black person can do is to try to lighten his/her skin. This is brought home to me on a daily basis, because when I look at the white people around me and how much lighter their skin is than mine, I cannot imagine a day when I should pass for one of them.
This means that when people lighten their skin, it is in pursuit not of a certain goal, but, but of a marginally higher (or lower, depending on where you stand) rung of a ladder whose end they will never see. You can never bleach yourself enough to pass for white. Even if you do, your nose and lips will give you away.
I think this skin lightening business is the clearest sign of our identity crisis. If you are black, why would you want to be white when you know the history of the interaction between black and white people? I understand trying to learn from him. The white man knows many things – not nearly as many as he thinks he does, perhaps, and his knowledge is not always honestly or honourably acquired. But he knows many things. But however much I admire his knowledge, I do not want to be him. I do not want to look like him. What is the point of it?
I have just discovered an essay about this by Larry D. Crawford. I do not know to what extent I agree with it, but I thought it was worth passing on. You tell me what you think.
Here's an except that will take you to the article:
Enjoy.
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