Jonel C.

Carbonel Grade 8 - Mariner

*Additional Activity

Black is Not a Color

One of the most toxic cultures in our society today states that a whiter
skin means beautiful and a black or darker skin is always underrated.

We cannot deny the fact that one of the standards of beauty is the
color pigment of the skin – there’s discrimination to color or race – and
that’s certainly bad!

If you’re whiter, you are beautiful. A Korean-glass skin means you live
like a local celebrity or a K-Pop. A browner, kayumanggi, skin means you
are a full-blooded Filipino. You belong to the Asian royalties. In the contrary,
a darker skin is always attributed to be African Niger! Probably, this is one
of the most toxic stigma and misconceptions every black or brown skin
people receive from the society.

I believe that not all blacks are Africans. For me, black is gold. Africa,
where among its Afro-Asian states were Liberia South Africa, Sudan and
United Arab Republic, is always underrated when it comes to race or skin
color. From what I know, on different SNS or socmed, there are misleading
facts and misconceptions about them. “They are black and they are ugly.
They have odd look than other people. They have different taste and they are
cliché’”. Why do other people always compare them to the standards of
beauty, wealth and trend? It seems to be unfair!

I made a thorough research and interviewed one of my relatives

working in South Africa. I feel convinced and absolutely believe that Africans
are one of the most beautiful faces in the world. Not only had they won the
most prestigious title of Miss Universe (South Africa) several times but they
also live like any other people in the third to first world countries. They
speak not only one language but they have over 2, 000 languages and they
converse well in English. When it comes to technology, I love the fact that
Africa is the fastest region in mobile growth with an estimated 67% of the
population have mobile phones and access to internet. Africa is also known
as the Rainbow Nation because of the diversity when it comes to matters of
skin color – white, brown, dark, and black. We must also admit that
majority of countries on the continent are peaceful and full of welcoming
people. On 2016, Africa has been ranked among the most corrupt-free
nations in the world by Transparency International. Africa has also the
richest deposit in gold, crystals and diamond in the world.

I take the view that not all dark skinned shouldn’t be attributed to be
Africans. We have different skin pigments and different shades for the
different tribes and different regions. Black is not out. Black is indeed gold.