We are a human race. That's not to say that there are not notable differences between the cultures and historical difficulties experienced by certain races of people. It's just that pointing out those differences and, in some cases, presenting them as a basis for placing one race in a category as "better" than the other really grinds my gears.
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On Satoshi Kanazawa's comments: Beneath my anger about Dr. Kanazawa's comments is probably a layer of hurt. I felt like his "scientific" study was a direct jab at me... and my mother, and my grandmothers, and my aunts, and my cousins and some of my friends who are all BEAUTIFUL Black women. Knowing that my little cousin may come across this article someday and, no matter how many times I've told her she's beautiful, take some of it as true... hurts. Beauty is not scientific. Beauty is an opinion. And I don't care how many surveys you take or graphs you make, I am a woman of African descent and I am stunningly attractive -- because I say so.
In his article for Ceasefire Magazine entitled "The Anti-Imperialist -- The Whitewash of Black Beauty," Adam-Elliot Cooper discusses rather eloquently the pivotal role that Black Feminism plays in combating these theories of black inferiority. “Black feminism allows us to really say; discussing black women, women in general, as vessels of aesthetic pleasure is not enough. Basically we need to start discussing women as entire beings— humans.”
This brings me to my next point....
On the Dark Girls Documentary: I can remember learning in my undergraduate film class about the "tragic mulatto"-- the person who fit into neither the white race nor the black race, but was the descendent of both. He was often characterized in early film and literature as depressed, and even suicidal, as a result of this lack of acceptance by either community. When I saw the trailer for the Dark Girls documentary, the feeling that I felt as I sat in my sophomore film class came rushing back to me. Why are these people only characterized in one way? Are there really no content dark-skinned women in America? Is dark skin the new tragic mulatto?
I don't believe that every mixed-race person in the 20th century was sad and suicidal. And, as a dark-skinned black woman, I also don't believe there is anything tragic about my exquisitely brown skin. I never cried about the color of my skin or wished that my mom would bleach me. In the summers I'd swim for hours and smile in the mirror at the deeper, darker shade of brown that resulted from the sun's sweet kiss. My skin is my birthright and I wear it with pride.
My hope is that somewhere in this documentary, there are women like me.... because I love everything that the melanin in my skin represents. And, in doing a documentary on women with dark skin, one would be remiss in not including the good along with the bad. Additionally, I hope that at the end of the documentary there's a message about how intelligence, confidence, integrity, honesty and positivity are the things that make people beautiful, not the hue of their skin.
Because even if my skin was orange, or purple, or turquoise there would still be nothing tragic about me.
View the Dark Girls Trailer Below:
Dark Girls: Preview from Bradinn French on Vimeo.
