COLORISM

YASMEENA CHAMBERS
OVERVIEW

• What is Colorism? 
• Colorism in Dominican Republic, Jamaica, Puerto Rico 
• Anti-blackness
• Bleaching skin 
• Fashion Industry/Modeling representation of dark-skinned models 
• Effects on self-esteem and the ideal image
WHAT IS IT?

• Colorism is defined as a prejudiced or discrimination against individuals with a darker skin tone, typically
among the same ethnic or racial group.
• "'Colorism' is the discriminatory treatment of individuals falling within the same “racial” group based on skin
color. It operates both intraracially and interracially. Intraracial colorism occurs when members of a racial
group make distinctions based upon skin color between members of their own race. Interracial colorism
occurs when members of one racial group make distinctions based upon skin color between members of
another racial group. (3)" (Cedric Herring).
• We can typically see this within the black community and glorifying "light skin" and seeing it as equivalent
to the beauty standard. 
• It comes with a privilege for lighter skinned people and a disadvantage for darker skinned people.
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC

• An existing Anti-Haitian ideology that designates only that Haitians are of Black or African descent.
• Antihaitianismo contrasts the idea of being Black or accepting it. 
• Skin color continuum. 
• "After all the Dominican Republic is the 'inaugural sit of the African Presence in the Americas' and
the 'birthplace of the plantation, the economic instituition that gave Blackness its modern
significance' ("Meditations," 22)" (Williams 33-34). 
• Santo Domingo freely mixed after being colonized by Columbus and the Spanish, which made them
the first major mulatto community in the world in the 18th century (Williams 35-36).
FASHION INDUSTRY/MODELING IN
DOMINICAN REPUBLIC 
• Lineisy Montereo is a darker skinned Dominican Model. 
• She was skinny with drizzy hair, not the typical European beauty
standard you see in fashion runways or magazines.
• "Vogue, regarded as the bible of fashion, reported in October that the
most popular models currently come from the Dominican Republic.
The headline read, 'Forget Brazil — The Models Everyone’s Talking
About Now Are All From the Dominican Republic.'" (Medina).
• Codero was only the fourth black woman to appear alone on Vogue,
one of the most important fashion magazines in the world. 
• Representation matters. 
JAMAICA

• Prevalence of bleaching skin,  such prejudice stems from its "origins of slavery when slave children fathered
by white planters or overseers- often as a result of sexual violence – were given special privileges" (Altink). 
• Commonly known but rarely talked about or acknowledged
• "Browning", various races that interbred and intermarried. Various skin colors ranging from very dark skin to
light skin sometimes referred to as mulattoes
• National motto "Out of many, one people" sought to help unify the nation 
• Lighter skinned, higher social class
• In Jamaica's beauty pageants you see very few dark-skinned women, its typically light skin women with
Eurocentric features
BLEACHING SKIN

• Bleaching skin has been a way for darker skin people to try to match the unrealistic
beauty standard that has been instilled due to racism and prejudice
• Typically happens in Jamaica and other Caribbean islands as well so that they are able to
get that job or be appealing for a future partner 
• "According to a Jamaican government survey from 2017, about 300,000 people in the
country of 2.8 million bleach their skin" (Chappell) 
• It goes back to when slaves were sold on auction book and one of the determining factors
was skin color and the shade
PUERTO RICO

• "...from the beginning of the twentieth century Puerto Rico has often been referred to as “the whitest of the Antilles”
(Duany, Puerto Rican Nation 247; Roy-Féquière 5) and in the 2000 U.S. census, 80.5 percent of the island‟s residents
categorized their race as white, while only 8 percent reported themselves as black or African American; this percentage
represents a steady increase in the island‟s white population since the early nineteenth century (Duany, Puerto Rican
Nation 248)" (WIlliams 102).
• "'There are people that don’t want to use the word black because they think it’s an insult, and there is still that idea that
we need to ‘better the race,’” Dr. Abadía-Rexach said, referring to mejorar la raza, a popular saying in Latin American
countries that suggests light skin is more desirable than dark skin" (Alford).
• Many Puerto Ricans feel that choosing to say their Black erases their identity and culture (food, history, language).
• This shame of being Black is rooted from the image society portrays of being Black and our education system (always
showed black people as slaves rather than people who contributed to society).
ANTI-BLACKNESS AND SELF ESTEEM ISSUES 
• Typically, we'll hear we want light skin partners so
they can fulfill the standard of having children with
light skin and "good hair".
• Micro aggressive comments such as "you're pretty for
a black girl" or "I like your hair better straight,
reinforces this negative connotation that Eurocentric
features are better.  a privilege. She says "I had to accept that in society’s eyes
• In the Caribbean, the pushed beauty standard
for Eurocentric features and lighter skin has
created an Anti-Blackness. Making it so people feel
ashamed to be black, so they deny it
• Katrina McIntosh, a development specialist in Trinidad and
Tobago speaks on her experience with colorism and how it
affected herself image. 
• Her Indian Boyfriend's parents didn't accept her, this led to
her questioning herself and the beauty within her caramel
skin tone 
• She stated that although she did experience this, she also had
caramel and molasses would never be equal. I had to accept
that my own outlook of what a partner should look like was
skewed"
• Breaking down her internalized colorism & teaching herself
how to love being black
• Having open discussions leaves room for healing and change
QUESTION FOR YOU

• Have you yourself ever felt the pressures of society putting Eurocentric features as the
standard or having lighter skin? Or Have you ever experienced colorism but still
acknowledge you may have more privilege than a darker skinned person? 
• What would you suggest to do to help change the idea of Colorism in the Caribbean
islands? (for example, more representation in the fashion industry or having celebrities
speak up)