Still a NI**ER
The year is 1712, Willie Lynch (a west Indies native slave trader) is standing proud and tall on his soap box delivering his infamous, “The Making of a Slave” presentation. This open letter was designed for slave owners to learn how to manipulate and almost hypnotize the black slaves into inferiority (If that's even a word.) The plan was designed to keep slaves in this mental trap for 300 years. Do the math, this year makes it 306 years surpassing the Willie Lynch theory expectancy. Although the legitimacy of this “letter” remains a historical debate, it makes some valid points.
Directly from an excerpt of his speech,
“You must use the DARK skin slaves vs. the LIGHT skin slaves, and the LIGHT skin slaves vs. the DARK skin slaves. You must use the FEMALE vs. the MALE, and the MALE vs. the FEMALE.”
It is the year 2018 and we are still having the debate about who is superior among African Americans, the light skins or the dark skins. I don’t feel it necessary to give a history lesson regarding slave hierarchy but here’s the condensed version. Light skin slaves were typically house N words, and the darker skinned worked the field/farms outdoors. Since the 1700’s, we were trained to believe fair skinned were superior, more attractive, intelligent. We were also taught that darker skinned were not as intelligent witty or attractive. This ideal was all apart of the Willie Lynch model. The concept was to make them hate one another distrusting anyone who looked like them. Meanwhile creating this ideology that master is loving and the only one who can be trusted. After all master feeds you leftover slop, gave you poor living conditions, and ripped families apart. But, hey trust thy master. Whether the letter was real or a myth, it was systematically and strategically carried out.
Fast forward centuries later. My favorite Spike Lee movie hits theaters, “School Daze”. Controversial, raunchy, and a masterpiece if you ask me. The story of colorism, class-ism, and division on an HBCU campus was before its time. Spike Lee’s thought process was truly artistic. During filming dark skinned, and lights skinned actresses were separated and given different living conditions during filming. This helped to create the necessary tension and animosity among the cast creating what we saw on screen.
Fast forward again to the 1990’s little Samantha fair skinned, long naturally curly hair. Sam you think you white, you think you better than me because you light skin...blah blah blah. My mom always said they’re just jealous. My response was always why, jealous of what? I’m pale, I’m fat and awkward what's there to be jealous about? I still to this day never got why anyone would feel that way. This is my light skin P.O.V. I always thought darker skinned girls were so pretty, their skin tones were rich. In fact, I was jealous because I knew no matter how much I stayed on the beach to tan I would never have brown skin. It hurts me to know people have this preconceived notion about me because of my color.
Vice versa I understand how darker complected girls and women feel slighted based on their complexions. Point is we’re black. We’re all BLACK. On paper, on checklists for jobs we’re all black. I’m not dismissing the feelings and struggles of my darker skinned sisters but understand, light skinned women have struggles you all don’t quite understand where we stand on this issue of color ism. To me, I take my heritage my culture seriously, I try to stay out of the #TeamLightskin V. #TeamDarkSkin because it's disrespectful and after 306 years we’ve still made no progress. We are still divided, not necessarily by our economic status, demographics, or education but how much melanin one has or lack thereof. I’m sure at some point when I was younger I felt differently on this matter, because it seemed light skin and cute were synonymous with one another. Let's be clear there are some not so attractive light skinned people lets get that out the way.
After 306 years of this systematic oppression, when is enough enough? However I am so glad to see my dark skinned ladies embracing their chocolate complexions. I applaud you for loving yourself in a world that doesn’t always appreciate your beauty. Keep loving yourself embracing your natural hair, and dewy skin. The point is for all of us to realize how we have allowed history to continue to dictate our relationships with one another. Take back power in your complexion no more teams, no more division. No matter light skin or dark skinned to them you’re still a nigger.
TAKE BACK YOUR POWER LADIES!
From the Willie Lynch Letter: THE BREAKING PROCESS OF THE AFRICAN WOMAN Take the female and run a series of tests on her to see if she will submit to your desires willingly. Test her in every way, because she is the most important factor for good economics. If she shows any sign of resistance in submitting completely to your will, do not hesitate to use the bullwhip on her to extract that last bit of [b----] out of her. Take care not to kill her, for in doing so, you spoil good economics.
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