The irony of colorism.

I have talked about colorism before, mostly referring to blacks, but this one is more of a general post.

Colorism is racism within a racial group. So instead of it being two different racial groups against each other, its people with the SAME race, who dislike each other for the skin color (light or dark).

Colorism can be found in almost every race. India is notorious for it, and to a lesser extent, the African American community. And to an even smaller extent, it can sometimes be found in the white community (this is where the whole pasty white vs tanned comes in).

The irony of colorism is that it divides people within their race, when the reality is, people of other races do not see nor classify anyone of that race with colorism.

Meaning, to white people, black is black, no matter the shade or mixing in each person, a black person is still black.

Its easy to shrug off colorism, especially when you are on the "better" end, and its even easier when you do not usually have to deal with it. Or when you are in an environment where you deal with more racism than colorism.

Colorism tactics are nothing more than a way to keep a united front from being made. Lets face it, if a group is too busy in fighting, than the enemy could swoop on in and annihilate them much easier.

While it is true that some go with the flow when it comes to colorism because they were taught and raised to see it that way, its obvious "divide and conquer" still exists, because this is a problem that many know a little something about, that could easily be addressed...but isn't. One could easily start getting on the path to fixing it, but no one seems to really want to. Its obvious that many in society buy into it in some form or fashion, otherwise, someone would be finding a solution for it.

But colorism is always going to be ironic and a conundrum. It is amazing how many of us see racism going on...and want to stop it. But we all stand idly by with colorism, and don't seem to realize how colorism actually makes dealing with racism harder.