Ilhan Omar vs. Colorism

[lpetrich]

There is a common and rather odd sort of racial prejudice, preferring light-skinned people to dark-skinned ones.  Colorism

Ruchika T on Twitter: "I've never had my heart sink and rise at the same time ..." / Twitter

I've never had my heart sink and rise at the same time, while interviewing @Ilhan for @nytimes on her audacious goals to tackle colorism–an insidious and horrific bias that discriminates against darker-skinned individuals. She shared a horrible experience with colorism in her childhood that shaped her commitment to tackling this problem that people rarely talk about. Skin-lightening cosmetics are a $8.6 billion global industry, and the United States makes up 1/3 of the market. Women of color take huge risks for lighter skin: mercury and hydroquinone in these products have been linked to lasting skin discoloration, damage to eyes, kidneys and lungs and, when used by pregnant women, birth defects. It’s a public health crisis, says WHO.

A number of initiatives against toxic skin-lightening products have passed in the House thanks to @Ilhan. $4.7M increased funding for public education on the dangers of skin-lightening products, better enforcement of existing bans on illegal cosmetics & $1M to a CDC study on this.

“Colorism is prevalent everywhere: academia, Hollywood, everywhere in society,” says Prof. Kimberly Norwood, literally the authority on this subject. Read her book! The issue is prevalent in communities of color. Like the “In the Heights" movie which did not cast darker-skinned Latinos in lead roles. Black Americans with lighter skin have higher socioeconomic status and tend to marry people with higher socioeconomic status, one study found. Indeed, the authors concluded, “The impact of skin color or shade was as impactful as race in American socioeconomic status.” Darker-skinned Cuban & Mexican Americans face more discrimination at work than their lighter-skinned counterparts. Darker-skinned African American children are more likely to experience frequent suspensions from school. White and Black kids are biased toward lighter skin. Read the rest of the piece to learn why @Ilhan believes we should all be talking about colorism, how the issue is both physical and psychological and why she’s pushing this agenda in Congress.

 

[lpetrich]

Ilhan Omar Is Tackling Colorism. Here’s Why That Matters. - The New York Times

A number of initiatives in the congresswoman’s fight against toxic skin-lightening products have passed in the House, efforts she hopes will start changing harmful beauty standards.

“From magazines to television shows and movies, fair features have been portrayed as the ideal standard. What kind of message does that send to young girls?”
— Representative Ilhan Omar of Minnesota

Two decades ago, a Somali-American girl named Ilhan overheard a boy at a soccer game explaining to another girl that she would be more beautiful if her skin color were lighter — like Ilhan’s, he said.

“I was embarrassed that I was used in the conversation to make my friend feel less beautiful,” she recalled. “It was painful.”

Then a 16-year-old Minneapolis high school student, that girl, Ilhan Omar, grew up to become a U.S. congresswoman. And that experience spurred her to push an ambitious bill in the House of Representatives to tackle colorism in America.

Then an interview with her.

How did your work on these initiatives come about?

It’s rooted in my experience growing up as a Black woman in a society where fair features are the standard of beauty. We know the beauty industry has sold the narrative that lighter skin is more beautiful. From magazines to television shows and movies, fair features have been portrayed as the ideal standard. Even celebrities like Beyoncé and Priyanka Chopra Jonas have had their skin lightened on magazine covers. What kind of message does that send to young girls?

One analysis from 2019 looked at 19 years of Vogue’s magazine covers and found that a vast majority of them featured white women or lighter-skinned women of color, and that the dark-skinned women could be counted on one hand. Even that data is skewed because Lupita Nyong’o has graced Vogue’s cover four times. What is the effect of this on ordinary women?

There are real-life consequences. In my own community, many immigrant women have used creams and soaps to try to attain these beauty standards. It’s important for us not to only condemn this message but also to understand the lasting health impacts. The industry is heavily under-regulated, and because of this, many of the women are unaware of the health issues.

...
What is the relationship between skin-tone bias and racism?

Externally, there has always been an importing of beauty standards into communities of color by white colonizers. There used to be a history of celebrating darker skins in many of the communities that are now struggling with newer beauty standards. I think it is the impact of the colonial legacy. It doesn’t just impact skin color, it impacts the amount of cosmetic surgeries that are taking place to have more white-adjacent features.

Within many communities, there is colorism and casteism. The fairer you are, the more you might have access to benefits and privileges. All of that is rooted in that colonial legacy.

Then there is racism embedded within these industries that perpetuate these harmful standards.

How do you approach conversations about the preference for lighter skin?

Only with the acknowledgment of what’s taking place, are you able to course-correct. I hear and feel the ways in which people talk to my children and compliment them differently according to their different skin colors. I can now say, “No. That’s their way of thinking. You don’t have to think that way. You are beautiful.”

 

[Patooka]

The inevitable whataboutism this thread will bring is going to be fantastic. *runs to grab popcorn*

 

[Trausti]

The inevitable whataboutism this thread will bring is going to be fantastic. *runs to grab popcorn*

What? That she married her brother? Nah. Not gonna mention it.

 

[Patooka]

Come on Trausti, I know you have better bad faith arguments than that. Apply yourself.

 

[Trausti]

Come on Trausti, I know you have better bad faith arguments than that. Apply yourself.

Well, okay. So she’s worried about “colorism” but divorced her black husband to marry a white guy?

 

[repoman]

Who gives a fuck about a scumbag politician of any race creed or color? They are sociopathic manipulators.

This is crazy.

Why is a genius level intellect like lpetrich simping for this? This is beneath him and I say this without passive aggressive sarcasm.

Why not simp for Joe Manchin and his nepotistic corrupt daughter? If Ilhan Omar sticks around long enough, she can also have a child who uses his/her position for crap like that.

 

[Trausti]

Who gives a fuck about a scumbag politician of any race creed or color? They are sociopathic manipulators.

This is crazy.

Why is a genius level intellect like lpetrich simping for this? This is beneath him and I say this without passive aggressive sarcasm.

It is worrisome that his affection for Crazy Eyes Cortez may be tottering for another member of the Hamas squad.

 

[Derec]

Well, okay. So she’s worried about “colorism” but divorced her black husband to marry a white guy?

Not just a white guy but a kafir to boot.

 

[KeepTalking]

I knew before I clicked on this thread that the mere mention of Ilhan Omar would be triggering for some, but damn people. It's not like the OP held her up as some sort of paragon of virtue, get a grip.

 

[TomC]

Well, okay. So she’s worried about “colorism” but divorced her black husband to marry a white guy?

Not just a white guy but a kafir to boot.

I don't understand why you think that any of these things are important, or even relevant.
Unless, of course, you take racism and religious bigotry for granted and ascribe them to everyone. That tells me more about y'all than Omar.
Tom

 

[Trausti]

Well, okay. So she’s worried about “colorism” but divorced her black husband to marry a white guy?

Not just a white guy but a kafir to boot.

I don't understand why you think that any of these things are important, or even relevant.

These things are funny, Tom.

 

[KeepTalking]

I don't understand why you think that any of these things are important, or even relevant.

These things are funny, Tom.

I know you will never see it, but this just confirms the second part of Tom's post that you so conveniently snipped.

 

[laughing dog]

I knew before I clicked on this thread that the mere mention of Ilhan Omar would be triggering for some, but damn people. It's not like the OP held her up as some sort of paragon of virtue, get a grip.

What is truly fascinating, is their responses are "gripped".

 

[Trausti]

I don't understand why you think that any of these things are important, or even relevant.

These things are funny, Tom.

I know you will never see it, but this just confirms the second part of Tom's post that you so conveniently snipped.

No, no. Saw it. But that doesn’t excuse your lack of sense of humor. You may feel that certain people are sacred and cannot be mocked. I don’t share your Stalinist viewpoint.

 

[KeepTalking]

I know you will never see it, but this just confirms the second part of Tom's post that you so conveniently snipped.

No, no. Saw it. But that doesn’t excuse your lack of sense of humor. You may feel that certain people are sacred and cannot be mocked. I don’t share your Stalinist viewpoint.

You really have no clue about me, do you. No one is above mocking to me, I just think it is a pretty shitty thing to mock anyone for the color of their skin, or their choice in partners of legal age.

 

[TomC]

I know you will never see it, but this just confirms the second part of Tom's post that you so conveniently snipped.

No, no. Saw it. But that doesn’t excuse your lack of sense of humor. You may feel that certain people are sacred and cannot be mocked. I don’t share your Stalinist viewpoint.

You really have no clue about me, do you. No one is above mocking to me, I just think it is a pretty shitty thing to mock anyone for the color of their skin, or their choice in partners of legal age.

To be fair, there was a good deal of mocking Trump for his skin color and multiple divorces.
Tom

 

[Trausti]

I know you will never see it, but this just confirms the second part of Tom's post that you so conveniently snipped.

No, no. Saw it. But that doesn’t excuse your lack of sense of humor. You may feel that certain people are sacred and cannot be mocked. I don’t share your Stalinist viewpoint.

You really have no clue about me, do you. No one is above mocking to me, I just think it is a pretty shitty thing to mock anyone for the color of their skin, or their choice in partners of legal age.

No mocking for the skin color. But hypocrisy is always funny.

 

[Gun Nut]

Come on Trausti, I know you have better bad faith arguments than that. Apply yourself.

Well, okay. So she’s worried about “colorism” but divorced her black husband to marry a white guy?

On the face of it, that sounds rather fair and balanced of her, lol.

 

[Gun Nut]

You really have no clue about me, do you. No one is above mocking to me, I just think it is a pretty shitty thing to mock anyone for the color of their skin, or their choice in partners of legal age.

No mocking for the skin color. But hypocrisy is always funny. ??????

There is a fine line between pointing out hypocrisy, and engaging in whataboutism.. but this was neither.