Friday, May 12, 2006

Light-skinned blacks may be more anti-white: According to the GSS, more than 3 times as many light-skinned as compared to dark-complected blacks earn at least a bachelor's degree (28.6% vs. 8.1). (Do you think genes or environment is the better explanation, and why?)

So, all this education integrates light-skinned blacks and helps them identify with whites, right? No it doesn't. Eight percent of dark-skinned blacks said they trust most whites, but none of the light-skinned blacks agreed. While 27 percent of the dark group said they were politically conservative, only 14 percent of the light group identified themselves this way. Evidently, the racial authenticity of lighter blacks is in question, so they are more likely to prove their blackness through distancing themselves further from whites. Two famous examples come to mind. While the black-looking Martin Luther King Jr. reached out to whites, the light-skinned, red-headed Malcolm X was notoriously anti-white.

1 comment:

  1. An American 'light skinned black' is likely genetically white with a bit of African admixture, but they are the full beneficiary of US affirmative action programs. This may create a bit of 'cognitive dissonance'. I've noticed that the American Democrat party seem to prefer light-skinned (ie mostly white) 'blacks', whereas right-wing black Americans like Rice & Sowell could pass for pure-blooded African (and may well be). With US race relations as screwed up as they are, I think completely black blacks are just more comfortable in their skins. Some hardly-black 'blacks' don't try to be culturally 'black', but unless they're very successful (Tiger Woods) there seem to be huge societal pressures against them.

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