Should Dark Skinned Black People Decide Who Is Black?

A recent Clubhouse room titled ‘Darkskin Black People should be the Gatekeepers of Blackness’ was a true education into racism and colorism and how debates on colorism are policed.

‘Stop policing colorism debates’

Photo by jurien huggins on Unsplash

The debate advanced the argument that as per the title, dark skinned people should be the ones to say who is black, what is black experience and be allowed to tell black stories. Not necessarily exclusively, but they should be centered as they are already at the center of what it means to be black.

Oftentimes, you will have heard colorism debates being policed and censored with phrases like ‘biracial people are black too’, ‘don’t be divisive’, ‘light skinned people are being attacked’, and ‘this isn’t a light-skinned vs dark skinned thing’.

Such phrases are unfortunate and often really about making people feel comfortable — making oppressive people feel comfortable — which undermines the debate itself. Being respectful in your argument, avoiding hate speech and personal attacks to individuals is usually the rules for all debates and sufficient for colorism debates as well. Why do they need extra policing? Why do dark skinned people need to have these extra limitations imposed on their expression?

‘Field hand vs house slave’

Photo by British Library on Unsplash

Being light skinned is relative in my experience. To my Caribbean family, I’m not light skinned. In West Africa, I’m light skinned, but not ‘yellow’ (think Rihanna), and not ‘white’ (think Vanessa Williams). But I’m definitely not dark skinned anywhere for disclaimer.

Black people at the opposite ends of the light-dark spectrum will often have vastly different experiences, unequal treatment and life outcomes. It’s been proven through history, and this was the main argument of the Clubhouse discussion. The field hand vs house slave dichotomy. The people who are experiencing blackness to its fullest degree are darker skinned people so they should get to set the parameters and the content of debates on colorism and racism. For example, I have ‘suffered’ colorism — unkind remarks about not being light skinned enough and not…