Have you ever seen a commercial, a movie or even a magazine where a black couple is displayed? The first thought that comes to mind is probably something to the effect of “Well at least there’s a black couple shown, period.” You’re satisfied with the mere acknowledgement of a black couple but the majority of these portrayals consist of a “darker skinned brotha” and a “fair skinned sista”. It’s common knowledge that images garnered from television and other media outlet have significant influences on children’s minds. It could be argued that the first visages of “the” ideal relationship in the mind of a child is shaped by said images.

The problem is that we as African American’s have next to no control over what is fed into our children’s minds through the television. Whether it’s degrading videos, or a Latina host creating the illusion that they couldn’t find a black one (mind you, you wouldn’t see a black host on Latin based networks); the so called “black channels” (ie: BET) portray an even poorer example of our culture to both our own people and the general public.

While this may be a step up from previous decades where “blacks” couldn’t even drink from the same water fountain as “whites”, isn’t it time for a complete release from the control of our “master’s” thoughts on how we should behave? We are being brainwashed into thinking that “lighter is better”. I was witness to a situation where an African American man was taunted by a non-black co-worker. His co-worker told him he was too black… and he actually hung his head lower and named every light skinned/whiteperson in his family concluding that he could therefore never be too black because of all his Caucasian ancestry. This outraged me. How can a black man allow someone who isn’t black tell him his skin is too dark? It isn’t just the non-black community who is guilty of such remarks, we all tell ourselves we are too dark skinned but perhaps this isn’t all our doing.

We need to open our eyes and understand that slavery can never “be over” until we free our entrapped minds, then perhaps our shackles can finally unclench and yeild to freedom.

this blog post was written by IVY

You can skip to the end and leave a response. Pinging is currently not allowed.