African-Americans (black people): dark skin vs. light skin?

Question

there are these two guys in my algebra 2 class that fight over who is better. one is african and the other is black. the black guy always calls the african a n....., because is dark, and he always says that he is "black as s...". but the thing i don't understand is they are both dark, just the african guy is darker. but i know a lot of black people that feel the same way about africans, but i don't understand why, since they are part african, and if their ancestors had not have been slaves then they would be in africa and they would be darker, because of the lack fo mixing.

anyway is the normal? i am not saying that all balcks are racists against africans, but do you think it is just their ignorance that makes them hateful or could it be deeper?

please don't take offense to this, and i KNOW all black people aren't like this but many that i know are and i have lives all over the US

Answer 1

Unfortunately this is a sad example of colorism but it is not only a Black issue like someone above me said it was, it is a common thing in any race that has darker and lighter complexions from Indians (Who live in India) to Latinos and etc. But I think we all need to learn that in the end we are the same and should not belittle one another to make it seem like we are better in some way because of our skin color and that goes for any race not just Black people.

Answer 2

Black people in America and in Africa have learned to have a problem with the black condition and to put each other down using different sub-criteria.

Some Africans/Carribeans put us down saying they were not slaves well we were. Not totally true actually if you consider the abuses in the Congo, South Africa, and etc. Or, you consider how blacks arrived in the Carribean. Isn't ignorance wonderful ?

More importantly the light/dark dichotomy -- loving lightness and disrespecting blackness -- is a world thing. Filipinos, Arabs, Hispanics, East Indians, and East Asians are full of it. So, this is not just black folk or black men.

ColorQ has a story posted of an Asian woman who put other Asians down because she had a white husband and they did not. What does that tell you.

Answer 3

Believe it or not, some Africans think they are better than Blacks. Some are real superior with this. I don't know why because like you said they are both Black. I guess it's the same way that some Europeans don't like Jews. At one time there was a rivalry with the light-skinned Blacks against the dark-skinned Blacks. It seems there will be always be some kind of dispute like you said because of ignorance and it"s being past down to generation to generation.

Answer 4

Unfortunately this is normal. It's called colorism. I did a bit of research on it a few months ago.

Blacks have this thing where if you're light-skinned, you're prettier and if you're darker-skinned you're either not as attractive or just butt-ugly. The blacks got this from the whites who treated light-skinned blacks better than dark-skinned blacks back during slavery and segregation times.

There were actually parties in the past that were for light-skinned blacks only with good hair. If your skin was darker than a paper bag and if you couldn't run a comb through your hair without it getting stuck, you weren't allowed into the party.

So yes, there is some serious colorism going on within the black race. I find it absolutely ridiculous because in the end, light-skinned or dark-skinned, you're still black.

Answer 5

In Africa, there is no discrimination based on skin color among the Africans on real issues (business, employment opportunities etc). People do not seem to mind men color but women are preferably lighter skinned by a lot of people. We do not see much difference between white and African American cultures.

Answer 6

This are one of the reasons why black people aren't taken serious. Some of us are always busy with stupid,ignorant and dumb things. Why do we seperate our own race? I mean wasn't it white vs dark but suddenly it is light skin vs dark skin. I have never ever heard a white men saying : Hell no I am not dating her she is tanned or I'm not dating her she is pale or I'm not dating her because she is from Europe. We should not complain if we are not taken serious because this example you showed us tells how stupid we can be sometimes.
light skin,honey skin,caramel skin,middle brown skin, dark skin,chocolate skin what does it matter we will be all viewed as BLACKS in the eyes of a white men. We should SHUT UP and start working

Answer 7

Even though technically we are the same, there seems to be some prejudice amongst black ppl & African ppl. Our cultures are so far removed that many don't identify with each other.

You have to remember that for African Americans most of their culture, history, & all ties to Africa were lost during the slave trade so Africa is as foreign to us as any other American.

So with saying that, Africans...though they look like & are black ppl....are foreigners to many African Americans.

Answer 8

People hate on me all the time because Im lighter, (Im Mixed with black and white) the girls of a darker skin tone, always make comments and they are very mean to me, but Oh well............

Answer 9

i agree with qwerty. some black people feel that light skin is better, and dark skin is ugly, but not all of them are like that

Answer 10

since you're not black it would be hard for you to understand but it goes both ways ....Africans do not consider American blacks to be like them because of our culture, they look down on us (rightfully so) because we take for granted the advantages we have in this country. American blacks have tried for many years to distance ourselves from our African ancestry ( not counting the Afro-centric period in the late 60s early 70s and another revival in the late 80s ie: Public Enemy, black medallions) and that has led to insults aimed at Africans, bottom line its a lot of stupidity.