Colorism within the black community: Why?

From a documentary on colorism at Texas State University, these black women share their experiences behind the phenomenom known as "colorism".

'I'm biracial, but I only claim my white side'

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From the depths of the self-esteem cesspool, Tyra Banks has done it again, this time managing to find the equivalent of a self-hating black girl trapped in the superiority complex-feeding ethos of a white girl, trapped in a black girl. In a lot of ways, it is simply fail.

Offensive image of Michelle Obama is back

An offensive image of First Lady Michelle Obama is back atop Google images as Dec 10. The image, which morphs Mrs. Obama's picture with that of a monkey, was removed by Google on Nov. 23 after criticism reached the company's Mountain View, Calif., headquarters.
Google issued an apology for the incident, saying, "We apologize if you've had an upsetting experience using Google." The company then went on to say that it would not only take down the image but ban the web site that posted it. "Sometimes our search results can be offensive. We agree."
But is Google over its head this time? Google surely can't keep up with its image inventory, based on the sheer size of the Web's operation. Billions of users can post billions of pictures. If a group of people with an ulterior motive--which is clearly the case here--wants to post insulting pics, Google will not be able to stop them all, and certainly not in a timely fashion.
As for the wife of the leader of the free world, they may have bigger issues.

Ethnic Wars: Does 'Black' Even Matter Anymore?

with the January inauguration of President Obama, you'd think this "post-racialism" thing would cool off by now and normalcy would reign.
But racism, racemongering and racialism are all alive and kicking this year -- one would argue that from recent headlines this has been the most racial summer since the civil rights unrest of the 1960s.
Not only are we seeing the true colors of "progressives," "conservatives" and the like, but even African-Americans are acting out.
Four hundreds years after coming to this country, there is still a turbulent debate on what "black" even is.
Obama (and to a lesser extent Tiger Woods) has helped usher in a whole group of people who assign themselves to both black and white, or neither.
It's a great debate, but the question is does it even matter ... anymore?
What's black, what's not black, and who really cares?

'I Want to Be Like You'

Spurred on by nothing more than the slow wheels of progress, there has been a paradigm shift in the thinking of racial archtypes (note I didn't say stereo) in recent years.
While as little as 10 years ago, many African-American women who looked a certain way, wore their hair a particular way were fashioned as trying to be "European," nowadays it's just as easy to see Caucasian women emulating the styles of black women.
This 'I want to be you' commune is not new: Take a youth, any youth, and surround him with positive, strong role models then you will in effect create a positive, strong role model.
Does that mean that we are post-racism in society? Noooo. It means that we can no longer afford to subconsciously judge a person just on race.
Take a young girl and surround her with diverse friends and exposure to different cultures, and it's likely you'll create a person that emulates the best from various cultures, styles and faiths.
It's natural: 'I see you' 'I understand you' 'I want to be you'.

'A Girl Like Me' struggles with modern race and skin tone issues

Is it still called racism if it's self-inflicted? The ground-breaking short film by a teenaged Kiri Davis a few years ago shows us how far we've come ... and how little has changed. The 3:38 mark will absolutely break your heart.

When is the right time to explain racism to a child?

This story is old hat, but the issue remains current. When your 7-year-old points out the label on your new couch, you know something is wrong.
"She's very curious and she started reading the labels," Moore explained. "She said, `Mommy, what is nig ... ger brown?' I went over and just couldn't believe my eyes."
The labeling on the chocolate-covered sofa set actually said nigger-brown as the color of the furniture.
"Unacceptable" in this day and age, Moore said.
Moore went on to tell her daughter about the word and it's origins, adding, "It was tough, because she really didn't understand," Moore said. "She'd never heard that word before and didn't really understand the concept of it."
This raises an interesting issue though, when do you explain racism to children? When they themselves become a victim of it, or do you take them aside and inform them/warn them when they are school-aged?