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According to 3 sources, how does colorism affect people with dark skin tone in the workplace, and whose analysis do I find most informative?

WA #7

Draft #3

14 December 2015

Micaja Verna

Colorism in the American Workplace

When studying the history of African Americans in the United States, the topic of racism

is commonly brought up and discussed. Although racism is a prominent issue in the US,

colorism is a serious issue that is often overlooked and mistaken for racism. Colorism is defined

by the Oxford Dictionaries as “prejudice or discrimination against individuals of a darker skin

tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group.” As a young child I was a victim

of colorism; many of the other children in my class who were lighter in skin color made fun and

teased children with darker skin tone. As I got older I saw colorism manifested in many different

ways. There were social parties where a requirement to get in was to be light-skinned, and also

my peers deciding that light skin is more attractive than darker skin.

Colorism has affected the socioeconomic status of darker-skinned Americans. Title VII

of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 (see appendix) prohibits employers from discriminating against

employees based on race, religion, sex, or national origin; despite this law, my research reveals

that darker-skinned Americans have a harder time finding work even when they are more

qualified than their lighter-skinned counterparts. Prejudice against them has inhibited their

abilities to move forward in higher positions such as elected office and office promotions.

Donnamarie Culbreth discusses the origins of colorism in her thesis Employment

discrimination in the 21st century: An Empirical Investigation of the Presence of Intraracial

Colorism Discrimination Among Black Americans in the Workplace. She explains how the

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history of colorism is traced back to slavery and the Civil Rights Movement. In slavery, slave

owners believed that lighter skinned African Americans were more trustworthy and more like

them so these African Americans were put to work in the house and were given less hard labor

work than the dark-skinned slaves. This was the initiation of the disconnect and preference of

lighter-skinned individuals in American history. After the ending of slavery came the civil rights

movement in which all African Americans were searching for work and equality. Despite new

laws on racism, colorism was overlooked and not addressed.

New York Times journalist Brent Staples recalls his upbringing in the 1950s and 1960s

and the advertisements requiring lighter skin as a qualification. “In the ‘situations wanted’

section, for example, cooks, chauffeurs and waitresses sometimes listed ‘light colored’ as the

primary qualification — ahead of experience, references, and the other important data.” Staples

notes that descriptions like this were the norm at that time. Now, in 2015, colorism isn't so

bluntly advertised in the daily newspaper, but it is still something that people in high-powered

positions may prefer. This inhibits darker-skinned African Americans from advancing

professionally.

Colorism is still prevalent, even fifty years after Brent Staples’s experience. Many

studies have been conducted examining the effects of colorism today, from how it affects the

sentencing of African American males in prison to the outcome of public elections. Matthew

Harrison, while in a doctoral program at the University of Georgia, conducted a study examining

the effects of colorism in the American workplace. Harrison gathered 240 undergraduate

students at the University of Georgia. Each student was asked to rate one of two resumes that

came with three pictures of people varying from light skin to dark skin. Harrison described his

results as follows:

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The findings in this study are, tragically, not too surprising, … We

found that a light-skinned black male can have only a bachelor’s degree

and typical work experience and still be preferred over a dark-skinned black

male with an MBA and past managerial positions, simply because expectations of

the light- skinned black male are much higher, and he doesn’t appear as

“menacing” as the darker-skinned male applicant.

Harrison’s results indicate that workplace colorism is a serious and prominent issue which

should be addressed. The darker-skinned individuals are placed in an unfortunate position which

is out of their control. Harrison continues to discuss the implications of his results by examining

the workforce in general. He notes that eradicating colorism may lead to higher percentages of

African Americans in high managerial positions, such as CEOs and CFOs.

Similar to Harrison, Cynthia Sims, chair and associate professor at Southern Illinois

University, has conducted a study exposing the discrimination of dark-skinned workers. She

recruited ten African American adults of different skin tones from the Chicago chapter of the

Black Data Processing Associates. The participants, five men and five women, described their

skin complexion and also heard how others described them. They varied in skin tone from light

to dark, education, salary, employment, and age. Each was then interviewed, once with a tape

recorder and then without it. As their conversation became more casual, interviewees described

specific incidents of colorism they have witnessed:

They believed that light-skinned African Americans “get the benefit of the doubt”

(Participant M), and “are often seen as being more capable” (Participant D) and

“more professional” (Participant M). Participant A, a previous corporate America

employee, said, “If you’re being interviewed for a position, in house, . . . you will

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have . . . basically the same race going for the same position, but . . . most of the

time, the person of [a] lighter shade would get the position.” (10)

Sims allowed for her participants to become comfortable and feel they were in a safe place to

discuss many of the serious issues that they had noticed in their work fields. Her participants

opened up about how these actions of colorism were affecting them. They described feeling

oppressed and stagnant in their job. Although darker-skinned participants felt this way they had

not realized that the same feeling was reciprocated on light-skinned African Americans. They

described feelings of hatred and exclusion from the other blacks at their jobs.

Sim’s study shows that although darker-skinned Americans are discriminated against

more broadly than light-skinned Americans, lighter-skinned Americans, too, feel the disconnect

and lack of communication in the race. The participants discussed a feeling of wanting to speak

out against colorism but being afraid of the consequences.

The potential of darker-skinned individuals has not been fully acknowledged due to many

of the coloristic barriers they face. Colorism affects every field, and darker-skinned Americans

carry it throughout their careers. Professor at Harvard University Jennifer L. Hochschild and her

assistant Vesla Weaver examined colorism in their article “The Skin Color Paradox and the

American Racial Order” and determined “Though it is mostly covert, our society has developed

an extremely sophisticated, and often denied, acceptability index based on gradations in skin

color ().” Hochschild and Weaver continue to address the confusion between racism and

colorism. They explain that the lack of knowledge on this topic has led to accusations of racial

discrimination which have actually been colorism. She continues to claim even that had

President Barack Obama had darker-skin, he would not have been elected.

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Colorism in the workplace has been an issue which for many years and has gone

unnoticed. It has made it harder for darker-skinned Americans to move toward better futures for

themselves and receive full equality. It should frighten people today that many of the ideologies

that originated in slavery are still prevalent today. Darker-skinned Americans have been placed

at a disadvantage and it should concern all Americans that a select group of people face harder

struggles based solely on the stereotypes associated with their skin color. My research has shown

references to colorism as many forms, “Trickle-down racism” and “the other side of racism.”

These terms show the close relation of colorism and racism. Although colorism and racism are

different, their effects on people are the same. They invoke a sense of inferiority based on a

condition that the individual cannot change. Sim’s study introduced a solution to eradicating

colorism. The “Cycle of Silence” she explained as a cycle of “ignorance" and “lack of scope and

inclusivity” has allowed colorism to prosper with the African American community. Sims

believes that once this cycle is broken, colorism will be eradicated and no longer be a mode of

subtle oppression.

Harrison, Sims, Hochschild, and Weaver all presented different opinions and analyses of

how colorism in the workplace affects darker-skinned Americans. My research has led me to

believe that Matthew Harrison’s analysis is most informative, not only as providing a

background on how colorism has been overlooked throughout history but also on his research

about how extensive it is in our society today. Although Sims’s, Harrison’s and Weaver’s studies

were similar, I believe that Harrison’s specifically requesting his participants to hire one of the

individuals presented a more concrete representation of colorism.

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Works Cited

“Colorism.” Oxford Dictionaries. Oxford University Press. 2015. oxforddictionaries.com.Web.

31 Oct. 2015.

Culbreth, Donnamaria. Employment Discrimination in the 21st Century: An Empirical

Investigation of the Presence of Intraracial Colorism Discrimination Among

Black Americans in the Workplace. Diss. Ann Arbor: Capella UP, 2006. Print.

Harrison, Matthew. “Skin Tone More Important Than Educational Background for African

Americans Seeking Jobs.” The Multicultural Advantage. Coverage Media. Web.

28 Oct. 2015

Hoschchild, Jennifer L., and Vesla Weaver. “The Skin Color Paradox and the American Racial

Order.” Social Forces. Dec. 2007. 86(2). 643-670. Web

Sims, Cynthia. “The Impact of African American Skin Tone Bias in the Workplace:

Implications for Critical Human Resource Development.” Online Journal of

Workforce Education and Development, (3)4. 2009.

Staples, Brent. “As Racism Wanes, Colorism Persists.” New York Times. New York Times, 22

Aug. 2008. Web. 28 Oct. 2015.

United States. Department of State. Congress. 78th ed. Vol. Public Law 88-352. Washington:

n.p., 1964. STAT 241. National Archives Catalog. Web.

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Appendix

Sec. 703. (a) It shall be unlawful employment practice for an employer—

(1) to fail or refuse to hire or discharge any individual, or otherwise to

discriminate any individual with respect to his compensation, terms,

conditions, or privileges of employment, because of individual’s race, color,

religion, sex, or national origin; or

(2) to limit, segregate, or classify his employees in any way which would deprive

or tend to deprive any individual of employment opportunities or

otherwise adversely affect his status as an employee, because of such

individual's race, color, religion, sex, or national origin.

(b) It shall be an unlawful employment practice for an employment agency to fail or

refuse to refer for employment, or otherwise to discriminate against, any

individual because of his race, color, religion, sex, or national origin, or to classify or

refer for employment any individual on the basis of his race, color, religion, sex, or

national origin.

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