Skin Color, Life Chances, and Anti-White Attitudes

Ransford, H. Edward

doi:10.2307/799579

Cited by 34 publications

(12 citation statements)

References 7 publications

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“…This was particularly apparent for Black women who were less likely to marry upwardly mobile men (Brown et al, 1999). Furthermore, using a 1965 study of Black male heads of households, Ransford (1970) found that lighter skinned Black males were more likely to hold better occupational positions and have a higher income than darker skinned males. Scholars have concluded that the socioeconomic inequality between dark-skinned and light-skinned Blacks between 1950 and 1980 was just as large as that between Blacks and Whites (Hughes & Hertel, 1990).…”

Section: Historical and Contemporary Underpinnings Of Colorism: A Casmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skin-Tone Trauma: Historical and Contemporary Influences on the Health and Interpersonal Outcomes of African Americans

Landor

Smith

2019

Perspect Psychol Sci

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Empirical evidence demonstrates that racism is a source of traumatic stress for racial/ethnic minorities, particularly African Americans. Like race and racism, skin tone and experiences of colorism—an often overlooked form of discrimination that privileges lighter skinned over darker skinned individuals, although not uniformly, may also result in traumatic stress. This article proposes a new conceptual model of skin-tone trauma. The model depicts how historical and contemporary underpinnings of colorism lead to colorist incidents that may directly and indirectly, by eliciting traumatic stress reactions, lead to negative effects on the health and interpersonal relationships of African Americans. Key tenets of critical race and intersectionality theories are used to highlight the complexities of skin-tone trauma as a result of intersectional identities on the basis of existing social hierarchies. Last, we present suggestions for researchers, as well as recommendations and strategies for practitioners, to unmask “skin-tone wounds” and promote healing for individuals, families, and communities that suffer from skin-tone trauma. Skin-tone trauma should be acknowledged by researchers, scholars, and practitioners to better understand and assess the widespread scope of trauma in the African American community.

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Section: Historical and Contemporary Underpinnings Of Colorism: A Casmentioning

confidence: 99%

Skin-Tone Trauma: Historical and Contemporary Influences on the Health and Interpersonal Outcomes of African Americans

Landor

Smith

2019

Perspect Psychol Sci

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“…Darker skin color, as evidenced in the above example, is associated with more race‐conscious views and higher levels of perceived discrimination (Allen et al 2000; Edwards 1973; Hughes and Hertel 1990; Ono 2002; Ransford 1970). Among Latinos, skin color is also closely associated with language, where dark skin and Spanish language ability are key identifiers of Chicano and Mexican identity (Lopez 1982).…”

Section: Skin Color and Ethnic Identitymentioning

confidence: 99%

The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status, and Inequality

2007

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Colorism is a persistent problem for people of color in the USA. Colorism, or skin color stratification, is a process that privileges light‐skinned people of color over dark in areas such as income, education, housing, and the marriage market. This essay describes the experiences of African Americans, Latinos, and Asian Americans with regard to skin color. Research demonstrates that light‐skinned people have clear advantages in these areas, even when controlling for other background variables. However, dark‐skinned people of color are typically regarded as more ethnically authentic or legitimate than light‐skinned people. Colorism is directly related to the larger system of racism in the USA and around the world. The color complex is also exported around the globe, in part through US media images, and helps to sustain the multibillion‐dollar skin bleaching and cosmetic surgery industries.

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“…Indeed, any individual with even the slightest connection to a racial subgroup is often forced to endure the burdens of a society stratified by race. Many studies have illustrated the significance of lighter skin color within the African-American community (Freeman et al, 1966;Ransford, 1970;Silva, 1985;Tidrick, 1973), finding evidence that "improved black life chances are correlated with lighter skin color" (Telles and Murguía, 1990:683). Such a reality raises powerful questions, however, as to whether discrimination varies within the Latino community as well.…”

Section: Introductionmentioning

confidence: 99%

Latino Phenotypic Discrimination Revisited: The Impact of Skin Color on Occupational Status

Espino

Michael

2002

Social Science Quarterly

171

144

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Objective. We reexamine the issue of phenotypic discrimination against Mexicans in the U.S. labor market, originally studied by Telles and Murguía (1990) and later by Bohara and Davila (1992). We also seek to explain this topic with respect to the Puerto Rican and Cuban populations in the United States. Methods. Instead of using household income as a dependent variable, we use occupational ranking scores computed by Hauser and Warren (1996) in combination with data from the 1990 Latino National Political Survey (LNPS). The occupational rankings more accurately reflect the level of labor market discrimination faced by individuals. Furthermore, the use of the more recent LNPS allows us to update the work of previous scholars and extend the analysis to two previously unexamined Latino groupsPuerto Ricans and Cubans. Results. Our findings indicate that darker-skinned Mexicans and Cubans face significantly lower occupational prestige scores than their lighter-skinned counterparts even when controlling for factors that influence performance in the labor market. However, we find no conclusive evidence that skin-color differences impact occupational prestige scores for Puerto Ricans.

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Skin Color, Life Chances, and Anti-White Attitudes

Cited by 34 publications

References 7 publications

Skin-Tone Trauma: Historical and Contemporary Influences on the Health and Interpersonal Outcomes of African Americans

Skin-Tone Trauma: Historical and Contemporary Influences on the Health and Interpersonal Outcomes of African Americans

The Persistent Problem of Colorism: Skin Tone, Status, and Inequality

Latino Phenotypic Discrimination Revisited: The Impact of Skin Color on Occupational Status

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