Brown Skin is Beautiful Skin

Two weeks ago I watched an Oprah episode titled “Children Ashamed of the Way They Look,” which also launched a new campaign to promote self-esteem within younger girls, O Girl, O Beautiful.

There were guests — celebs and a few regular people – who talked about their experiences with beauty within their various cultures.

The story two of the guests, Tangela and her son Najee, resonated with me. Here is their story from the Oprah Website:

As a child, Tangela says she was teased and tormented by other African-Americans because of her dark complexion. Then, when she was 19 years old, Tangela found out she was pregnant with her first child. While most expectant mothers just hope for a healthy child, Tangela prayed for something more.

“I would just say to God, ‘Please don’t make my son dark. Please don’t make my child dark,’” she says. “I didn’t want him to experience what I experienced…being called names, being talked about.”

When Tangela’s son, Najee, was born with dark skin, she says her heart ached for his future. “I saw people looking at him as if something was wrong with him,” she says. “That’s the pain that I really felt, more so than my own darkness.”

When Najee was 5 years old, children started teasing him about his complexion. In kindergarten, he says a female classmate, who was also African-American, made a hurtful remark that he remembers to this day. “The negative comment was, ‘Oh, you’re so black,” he says.

As Najee grew older, the insults continued. “I’ve been called names like darkie, dark chocolate, blackie,” he says. “Most of my negative comments do come from other blacks, and it’s extremely painful.”

Najee says he tries to hide his deep-seated insecurities from his friends and family by pretending to be happy. But deep down, a lifetime of low self-esteem is starting to take a toll on him. “Sometimes I have felt that I didn’t even want to be on this earth,” he says. “Sometimes I wish that God didn’t make me this way.”

His mother says her biggest regret is not understanding how much pain Najee has been feeling over the years. Tangela says she tried asking Najee if anyone teased him, but he never wanted to discuss it.

“I tried to give him books and encouragement and let him know he was beautiful. He had beautiful teeth,” she says. “It almost didn’t matter how much I told him because I didn’t know what was going on.”

Tangela and Najee’s story made me think of how skin color is treated within my culture. I’m Filipino, and my experience with dark skin color within the community is very similar. Most Filipinos consider lighter brown skin more attractive. If you’re a young Filipino girl and you’re running around outside you usually have an aunt, grandmother, or some woman who is older than you yelling at you to inside “before you get too dark.” And if you tan and get dark somebody is going to make a comment about it, and it’s never positive.

My regular skin color is considered on the darker side. I love being outdoors, so when I get tan I get really dark. Several of my close Filipino friends and family constantly comment on the state of my browness: “Karen’s too dark,” “Karen, your skin is sooooooo dark,” and “It’s too bad your dark like me.” I can’t lie - it bothered me for a really long time. I would usually just shrug and try to say something to play off my anger like, “Oh well, what can ya do?”

Last year a close Filipino friend of 20 years made a comment a few days before my wedding. I don’t know if it was pre-wedding insanity but I just kind of snapped. I told her very matter of factly that yes, I was pretty damn brown, but that’s just how I was and that I LOVED MY SKIN COLOR and that BEING DARK WAS THE SHIZZ.

I’ve decided to celebrate my tan fabulousness but I still get a slight touch of anger when somebody makes a comment. Instead of shrugging it off I’ve decided to try to engage them into discussion: Why do you think its okay to make that comment? Have you noticed that I never say “You’re so pale?” Did you ever think that saying something like “You’re too brown” to another Filipino might be hurtful?

I know that talking about it topic with my friends and family won’t revolutionize negative attitudes of the Filipino culture as a whole anytime soon, but it’s a small step.