Over the last year, our sometimes difficult national conversation on race has spread to include more and more people of all races, and as a people, Americans are learning that discrimination is not a monolith; it can sometimes be subtle and varied.
“Colorism is discrimination, and then of course also privilege, based on how dark or light your skin is. And hairism is discrimination based on your hair texture and/or hairstyle,” said Vanessa Gonlin, Assistant Professor in the Department of Sociology at the University of Georgia. She’s in the process of developing a new course titled, “Colorism and Hairism across Communities of Color”.
Gonlin’s inspiration for developing the course grew out of her students’ conversations while teaching at Texas A&M University. Students from different communities began to see similarities in their experiences with colorism.
“Black people were like we know about colorism in our community, but we didn’t recognize that Latinx also experienced colorism. And Latinx saying the same thingm to Black people in their group,” said Gonlin.
Gonlin chose to create a single course around both colorism and hairism because the two can be difficult to separate, although each can impact individuals differently.
“We have seen how, particularly Black women, but I would also extend this to Black people and then also to people of color more broadly, how oftentimes the decision to wear your hair in its natural form is met with resistance…” said Gonlin. “And so, we’ve seen this in some students, especially Black students, who are sent home from school or not allowed to participate in school events because of the way they wear their hair. And so that's why I also bring in hair texture, but also hairstyle.”
For LaPorsche Thomas, digital content creator and reporter for WXIA in Atlanta, it’s important that hair style is included in conversations about hairism.
“Hair is a big form of expression for Black women. And when we say hairism, it's not just the texture of hair,” said Thomas. “Hairism goes into whether I decided to have long braids, whether I decided to dye my hair blonde, and oh, well, blond isn’t supposed to be on a little black girl, right?”
Connected to hairism is colorism, which has been shown to impact both physical and mental health, educational attainment, income, marital attainment, and much more.
“If you are darker skinned, then you are more likely to be kicked out of school, or to have a harsher prison sentence, or to have a more difficult time getting a house or a job,” said Gonlin. “If you see those trends at the institutional level, then that, of course, has direct implications for individuals.”
For Krysten Long, a doctoral student in the department of sociology at UGA and Gonlin’s mentee, colorism means…
“I associate them with forms of racial trauma in communities of color…” said Long. “We measure ourselves phenotypically, based on our proximity to whiteness. There is this divide of what is considered aesthetically pleasing what is beautiful, what is desired”
And this trauma is literal.
“For me personally I'm very fair skin, very light-skinned, but I grew up in predominantly Black spaces. I am born and raised in Atlanta, Georgia, where typically I was one of the only, if not the only light-skinned Black person in a room,” said Long. “So, for me, it complicated things. I grew up having to fight because of my complexion. It was oh, you know, she light-skinned, she thinks she all that. And me having to defend myself.”
Long says a course like the one Gonlin is developing would have been of interest to her.
“This is an issue that has been passed down; that we have never quite just addressed the hurts associated with complexion. And I think taking a course like this and being able to confront it head-on, would have been beneficial…” said Long. “And I think there is a desire among students of color, to be able to have a safe space and to have a forum so to speak, where you can voice these grievances.”
This is part one of a two-part series on colorism and hairism. Next week, we’ll hear more from Gonlin, Long, and Thomas, and ways for people to advocate against colorism and hairism.
