#colourism

[newsfromstolenland]

I was reading apparently focused labour of South Asians is real bad in Hong Kong. Also racism against them. And they get treated like criminals, heard stories of brown people Hong Kong being spat at, being denied service of taxi cabs and being neglected at hospitals. And other stuff.

Is racism against South Asian people widespread, in East Asian communities? Like beyond Hong Kong. Is it mostly colorism?

I mean yeah, colourism is a big issue in Asia, including in the majority brown countries

like for example, within India darker skinned Indians are looked down on. there's a few factors, one of which being that it implies your caste. people who live on the streets or work in the fields end up spending their days out in the sun so they end up with darker skin, so in India dark skin carries an association with poverty, and lighter skin is seen as more beautiful. most Bollywood stars that are known for being considered attractive are very light-skinned, especially the women

I've heard Chinese people call Indonesian people monkeys, I know Japan historically had it's own version of nazi race science, and those are just a few examples

in Asia overall, partially though not entirely because of european colonialism and beauty standards, there is a general belief that paleness = beauty and class. which kinda happens everywhere, but one thing that is especially prevalent in Asia is the skin whitening industry.

you don't want to get me started on skin lightening because I can rant about it for hours, but in short it's a massively profitable multi-billion dollar industry that involves products and procedures to lighten people's skin in the name of beauty. the beauty industry overall is predatory and harmful, but this part of it is especially insidious. it's people getting rich off of the insecurity that white supremacy has created in the minds of people of colour- specifically women of colour. and these products and procedures are often dangerous! at the very least it's bad for your skin, but it can also contain mercury or cause blood poisoning and cancer

ANYWAY, all this is to say that colourism exists everywhere, including all over Asia. and I think each region of the world and each culture has its own manifestations of colourism

[what-shitfuckery-is-this-ew]

Tiktok white women mad that a brown girl could play Rapunzel cause "it's a German story"

And like lets ignore the racism (because if y'all think she'd be a great Mother Gothel but not a good Rapunzel because of her melanin especially after Mother Gothel is already a racist caricature ...) and focus on the fact that the Brothers Grimm went all around the world collecting stories which had been passed down orally and shared between cultures.

Rapunzel is not just a German story first, Even the Brothers Grimm got it as a French story. Rapunzel is an Italian story before that, and before that Rapunzel is a Persian story.

By the logic y'all are using Jasmine should be Chinese, Cinderella should be Egyptian Snow White should be Malay and Pocahontas should be 9 (and not in love with John Smith for god sake she was a real 9 year old girl)

[leikeliscomet]

“But We Love Martha Jones!” - The Doctor Who Fandom’s Selective Memory of Racism

Be aware that this article contains explicit examples of anti-black racism and misogynoir.

**Contents** Intro 1. Everybody Hates Martha 2. Utopia-ish 3. Martha vs Bill 4. Martha Triumphant?

Intro

To say being a Martha Jones fan from 2007-2017 was hard would be an understatement. The fandom claimed she was too clingy. Too jealous of Rose. Too bitter. Too bad a companion. For as long as I can remember, Martha Jones wasn’t just an unpopular companion - she was THE unpopular companion. So this recent increase in “my issues with [insert companion of colour here] isn’t about race. Everybody loved Martha Jones!” has me raising an eyebrow. Freema Agyeman as part of Ofcom’s Diversity In Broadcasting Event answered a question on her time as Doctor Who’s first Black companion. She describes her time as “good and bad”. She handled the criticism of Martha as a character “but the racism… yeah, yeah couldn’t rationalise that” as she pauses in the video. In the silence we get a clear answer - Freema Agyeman did not have an easy time as Doctor Who’s first Black companion. So when I see comments about how much she was loved, or how no one knew what Freema was going through when speaking out about the racism she experienced, or “My sus posts about Ryan & Yaz aren’t racist! I loved Martha!” I, and many other Black/mixed Black fans and other fans of colour have bad tastes in our mouths. We remember the real history of how Martha Jones was treated - and her history wasn’t a kind one.

Chapter 1 ->

[i-3at-s0ap]

WHY IS HE WHITE

[butchnavi]

also fuck you to every lightskinned north indian who has the audacity to think I'd be a good sounding board for their barely concealed colourism because im a fairly lightskinned south indian that's my entire family you're talking about btw. "south indians can have light skin why do we only see dark skinned south indians in movies" firstly tell me you've never watched a south indian movie without telling me secondly geeeeeeee I had NO idea now name three dark skinned indian actresses quickly

[bi-dykes]

Come on now

[violet-moonstone]

looking for photo references of skin tones for writing and uh...

sorry, what?

tag yourself, are you "normal" or "exotic" ???

Love that the "dark" example is lighter than me, and I'm not even very dark. I think whoever made this graphic would freak out if they saw someone who actually has dark skin.

[rose-maidenn]

Growing up in a country that is still rooted in colourism (rant)

My first memory of ever feeling like I was a bad person was when once I was so jealous of this fair skinned girl because everyone around her was treating her so well and I desperately wanted attention, she was a okay person but I didn't treat her well and she asked me "why do you hate me sm" and I was so sad that my jealousy had made someone think I hate them but no i don't , I don't I just want what you have the love , the people around you telling you that you're beautiful and cute and pretty and lovable . The experiences are raw while my fair skinned cousin was loved more my immediate family members never even cradled me and shut doors at my face , that's what I grew up with , the school ???? I remember them called me " Kali , Moti, Gendi " , nothing new all dark skinned girls have the experience. They claim they love Krishna and Draupadi and then say slurs to dark skinned people.

Is it in my hands the expression of my genes or the concentration of melanin on my body ?????? Imagine hating your own people now stop your imagination and come to India.

I don't wanna stay in north India, south is way better (probably ive never been to south) . Indian colourism is so bad I can't even find a good foundation shade( I make my own blending contour and foundation) They see a fair girl and loose their minds like fucking be fr the only beauty standard in India is fair skin (laude ka standard ) . I absolutely hate the notion that aww forgive them India was invaded by turks , british etc etc but it's 2025 can this fucking end ? Bollywood representation is fucking dead. I wanna walk around my country and feel pretty not average but when does this fucking end ??????

[nonbinary-sticks-the-badger]

does piss me off how in recent years sonic characters can have a 0.00001% darker muzzle and everyone gets excited theyre actually letting characters have dark skin instead of whitewashing yet another dark skinned character. obviously knuckles, shadow and rouge come to mind but then im also sure there are a few more ive forgotten

[they-them-that]

Don't Buy "Be Fashion Academy" Dolls

I want to put this out there in case anyone is willing to give this doll line the benefit of the doubt.

They're fairly new but they've made several posts already showcasing the dolls in all their pasty glory. They're just ignoring the problem and only replying to comments that point it out rather than making a public post addressing the issue.

Their reason also doesn't fly. Be Fashion Academy should've corrected this mistake before even revealing the dolls to the public, why would you use the white washed dolls at all??? Even if we believe that this is the fault of the manufacturer, Be Fashion Academy still allowed it and put them out to the public the way they are! If they cared about diversity, they should've picked a manufacturing company that did provide other skin tones!

Accurately representing melanin does not get to be an after thought! You can't just say "yeah we're just selling them white for now, we'll add skin diversity later (if you support us enough)". Black and brown girls are being expected to tolerate white washing because their identity is apparently "more work" to portray and Be Fashion Academy does not have the patience for that...

[curvascirea]

If a demographic can change from non white to white in the span of three generations your concept of white is bullshit

[legendofthe3divas]

I finished reading 'Believe' by Leighanne over the last week or so and it's so well written and structured to the point you get a full picture of how her life as a black women has affected her emotionally, mentally and physically. I really enjoyed learning more about her compared to what I already knew. I knew she has experienced racism and discrimination but reading about more deeper things that she has never shared did open my heart and has grown my knowledge on racism, colourism, discrimination and just fighting for equal rights and opportunities as a black women in England really is.

I think everyone should read this book. It doesn't matter if you know who she is, if you listen to any of her music (Little Mix or solo), what gender, race, ethnicity or sexuality you are, you should all go and read her memoir, or listen to the audiobook, or both!!

There is always space to learn more about racism, colourism and discrmnitation towards people of colour that occurs around the world.

[ymustutortureme]

To all the Zionists preaching about how kind and accepting Israel is, remember that aside from their other war crimes and genocide they are carrying out, they also:

Forcibly sterilised thousands of Ethiopian Jews because they were black, and Israel didn't want their population to grow.

Remember those people who were also victims.

[leikeliscomet]

“But We Love Martha Jones!” - The Doctor Who Fandom’s Selective Memory of Racism

Chapter 3 - Martha vs Bill

Moffat took us to a Bristol university in 2017, to meet the bright, friendly, chip-serving Bill Potts, the first Black lesbian companion of Doctor Who. Bill’s entrance wasn’t met with sunshine and rainbows either, with complaints of “PC agendas” and the accusation of her sexuality being “shoved down our throat” following her throughout Series 10. She was often called annoying and accused of being too angry. Her outbursts at Twelve weren’t fully well received, despite them only happening as a response to being emotionally manipulated and being shot and converted into a Cyberman against her will. Overreactions, right? That being said, Bill seems to have a more positive reception than Martha did and this can be pointed towards the writing. Moffat decided S10 would focus on Bill’s race and had the 12th Doctor bravely punch Sutcliff after his anti-black comments about her. This was mostly well received by the fandom and the Doctor was praised for taking initiative. How I feel about this scene and how Doctor Who handles race can be explained in way more detail for later but I can sum it up by saying I didn’t hate the scene: but I don't love it either. The racism Bill receives is barely mentioned again apart from a small comment in Oxygen, plus I see this scene constantly used to shut down any valid criticism about how race was handled in the Moffat era. Twelve is centred in this scene, not Bill. The fact this scene is referred to as “Twelve punches the racist” and not “Bill experienced racism” speaks for itself.

Leading back to Martha, a weird parallel is made between her and Bill. Yes, RTD and Moffat are different people who wrote different people but a parallel is there regardless; A brown-skinned woman expected to defend and save her white male incarnation whilst barely praised for it and constantly compared to her blonde white female predecessor, versus, the light-skinned woman who was actually defended by her white male incarnation. It's not the best look. The show set up the parallel by having Bill reference Martha’s butterfly effect conversation with Ten and the fandom carried this on. As much as I love Bill, her being held up as the Black companion “done right” has always felt wrong because not only are there critiques to be made about Moffat’s handling of Black characters too (Danny Pink anyone?), it reinforces Martha as the “failed” Black companion. “Moffat wrote Bill to do XYZ whilst RTD wrote Martha to do ABC” became “Bill did this and Martha didn’t so Bill was better Black representation!” Bill spoke about racism and Martha didn’t (even though she did in Shakespeare Code and Human Nature/Family of Blood), Bill wore her natural hair and Martha didn’t (even though Freema didn’t control the costumes), Bill did everything right (as if Martha did everything wrong).

Bill being placed on the pedestal of the “perfect Black companion” not only erases the antiblackness her character also experienced but reinforces how her darker counterparts, Martha, Mickey and Ryan, “fail” in comparison and “fail” in their Blackness, over reasons the characters nor actors themselves had any control over. It really begs the question of how different Bill would’ve been treated if she was darker, but I guess we’ll never know. If we’re gonna praise and uplift POC in Doctor Who, specifically Black characters, we need to uplift them in all shades. Only supporting the lightest person in the room whilst saying they’re better than the darker ones is not the anti-racist serve this fandom thinks it is.

<- Chapter 2 Chapter 4 ->

[newsfromstolenland]

Do you think Asian Americans need to work on anti-black racism in their communities? It seems like some Asian Americans are against affirmative action, even though it benefits them too. And some seem happy it was overturned. Which seems a little racist.

oh absolutely, anti-blackness is rampant in asian communities

opposition to affirmative action from asian communities has been a problem for as long as affirmative action has been in place. it's hypocritical, because many implementations of affirmative action have provided opportunities for asian people as well

it also ties in to the whole "model minority" concept, and the extremely racist idea that asians are the good, smart, hardworking racial minorities and that black people are none of those things

when in reality, non-black people of colour like myself have a leg up over black people for multiple reasons. colourism is a huge factor. also, the stereotype of the "smart nerdy asian", while racist in it's own right, does provide an advantage in accessing education and finding jobs. and then of course there's the fact that many black people in canada and the united states are descended from slaves, making them significantly less likely to have family wealth being passed down to them, because their ancestors didn't own property, instead they were considered property. while all people of colour face systemic racial injustice, there are specific and heightened systemic injustices that black people face and that the rest of us do not

and those are just the systemic factors! there's also cultural factors among asian communities, including my community as an indian person. colourism is rampant in asia and among asians all over the world. stereotypes about black people are shared between white people and non black people of colour, and we are absolutely complicit in their oppression

a few years ago it came to light that the government in india had as a part of its education curriculum for children an extremely racist concept floated by the hindu nationalist government. the story that was being taught in schools was that when the deities created the first humans, they constructed them and cooked them over a fire. and that the first attempt was undercooked, and those were white people. then the second attempt was "overcooked and burned", and those were black people. then the third attempt was "perfect" and when they "got it right", cooked the right amount, and that was indian people.

I don't think I need to explain how racist that concept is and how it negatively impacts how indian people treat black people, and is outright claiming that we're genetically superior in some way

when it comes to affirmative action, a lot of asians have bought into the "pulling yourself up by your bootstraps" bullshit, and view it as giving unfair "handouts" to black people. of course, the truth is that affirmative action is nowhere near enough to balance out the injustices faced by black people, and any asian who thinks that it is too much is both a hypocrite and a racist who has decided to side with the oppressor and throw black people under the bus for their own benefit