10.1: Black Psychology - Readings and Media

The selected readings, images, and videos of this module will inform students about various components of Black psychology.

Readings and Videos

The Enduring Nature of Colorism in the Black Community

Novelist Alice Walker coined the term colorism in 1983, but skin-tone bias and discrimination has divided the black[1] community for almost as long as racism has divided America. In the United States, colorism shapes the African American experience in a unique way. Like the legacy of slavery and racism, colorism remains a vital feature of black America's cultural DNA. Colorism is a form of internalized racism that promotes bias and favor for light skin, European features, and "good (i.e. straight) hair" among African Americans. Today, colorism is much more than the elevation of light skin over dark skin in relation to beauty standards. Contemporary social science research shows that skin tone affects educational attainment, household income, and occupational status for black men and women in the 21st century. Further, the academic literature documents that color prejudice intersects many facets of black life—from hip-hop lyrics, family dynamics, self-esteem, and advertising, to employment discrimination, sports and physical education, school suspension, and prison sentencing. Simply stated, color matters.

Our society frequently engages in discussions on the continuing significance of race in a seemingly "post-racial" era. Yet, there is far less dialogue surrounding the pervasive problem of colorism that keeps people of color around the world reaching for an impossible standard of whiteness, whether that is in the form of skin bleaching, hair straightening, or the widespread rejection of dark skin.

Although colorism is a global concern, this essay will specifically address the enduring nature of colorism in black America. The strict racial binary in effect in the United States since the 17th century, coupled with the one-drop rule, creates a unique system of racism and colorism for African Americans. Monumental shifts have occurred in (black) American history—from the end of slavery to the election of the nation's first black president—yet, skin tone differences remain a pressing concern that warrants continued empirical exploration in the 21st century.

What is Colorism?

Colorism is a pressing social problem for many communities of color across the globe today. Similar to racism, sexism, and many of the other "isms" in our society, colorism—defined as the unequal treatment and discrimination of individuals belonging to the same racial or ethnic group—extends privilege and power or oppression and inequality to certain individuals in society. In particular, colorism operates to privilege light skin over dark skin in the same way that whiteness is placed over blackness.

Colorism is a byproduct of racism, and thus shares many of the same qualities and characteristics. For example, colorism, like racism, is deeply embedded within societal structures (e.g. education, politics, the media) and can be institutionalized. Colorism can also operate on the interpersonal or individual level. Colorism can be blatant or covert. It is important to note that while African Americans are not capable of institutionalized racism (they lack the power to do so), colorism however, has been perpetuated and rooted into our societal structures. This is in large part due to the broader system of white racial domination in American society. Black Americans have been responsible for maintaining the seeds of colorism that were originally planted (and still presently reinforced) by this larger system of white privilege.

Often referred to as the "last taboo among African Americans," or even the "dirty laundry of black community," colorism has yet to be formally named within the African American culture.[2] The phenomenon is more frequently referred to as the "color complex," or the issue of "light-skin vs. dark-skin." It has instead found its way into the everyday names and practices used among family, friends, and in social situations that perpetuate and reinforce the discourse of discrimination attached to skin tone. From "high yella" to "blue-black", various skin tones are placed on a continuum from light to dark. For generations, darker-skinned blacks have been made to feel less than, or inferior to their lighter counterparts, and lighter-skinned blacks have been called out on the carpet for not being "black enough."

In the black community, colorism is a sensitive topic that stirs such emotions as anger, fear and pain. Many people within the African American community would rather not talk about, focus, or draw attention to an issue that shames and embarrasses blacks in the face of larger (white) American society. It has essentially been restricted to discussion within the minority community. However, in the new millennium, more and more black men and women—from Lupita N'yongo to Don Lemon to Oprah Winfrey—are opening up about the insidious issue of colorism. Because of a number of societal shifts in how knowledge is shared and disseminated (via the Internet and social media), the dialogue on colorism is now more open and candid.

The Distinctive Nature of Colorism in (Black) America

The history of colorism in black America starts with the history of race in America. As race scholar Joe Feagin explains, "racist thought did not come accidentally to the United States. It was, and still is, actively developed and propagated."[3] Since the onset of colonial expansion into the United States, the history of this nation has rested upon a clear binary divide—black and white. The institution of colonialism brought more than slavery into this country; a racist ideology followed that cultivated a system of language, classification, and domination privileging whiteness over blackness. Using the biological differences of skin color as a justification for the oppression and enslavement of Africans, European colonizers developed a social hierarchy that aligned whites at the top and blacks at the bottom. The inferiority associated with blackness translated into socially constructed ideas about skin tone and phenotype that continue to shape identity, status, and opportunity.

In addition to defining a color line that separated blacks and whites, racist ideology subsequently caused internalized divisions among African Americans. The frequent "mixing" of the races (commonly through the sexual exploitation of black female slaves by white male slave owners) resulted in biracial progenies. In order to prevent any ambiguity in regards to racial classification, and to preclude blacks with white ancestry from gaining the same legal status as full-blooded whites, lawmakers mandated the rule of the hypo-descent, or the "one-drop" rule: even the smallest amount (or drop) of African ancestry legally defined a person as black. This statute set the United States apart from many other societies who operated under more fluid, multi-racial categories of personal and group identification.

Although the enforcement of the "one-drop" rule equalized all blacks in the eyes of the law, in everyday practice significant differences developed between blacks of varying skin tones, hair textures, and facial features. Consequently, colorism become an undeniable social force in the black community that caused division and separation within the race based upon one's proximity to whiteness. While blackness emerged as an inferior social, cultural and political category in opposition to whiteness, lightness and darkness ensued as secondary categories that carried their own sub-system of social, cultural, and political significance within the black community.

Examining Colorism in Popular Culture and Academia

Writers, poets, social scientists, filmmakers, and everyday black people alike have chronicled the distinctive nature of colorism in African American culture for over 150 years; the issue of color prejudice in the black community has graced the pages of many literary pieces and other works of popular culture dating back to the mid-1800s. William Wells Brown, author of the first black American novel, was the first to document the complexity of skin tone in the 1853 classic Clotel. Since then, color consciousness has seeped through the pages of black epics such as The Blacker the Berry (1929), The Bluest Eye (1970), and The Color Purple (1983), and more recent literary works including Our Kind of People (2000) and Don't Play in the Sun (2004); and films such as Spike Lee's School Daze (1988), Chris Rock's Good Hair (2009); and Bill Duke's Dark Girls (2011). This exhaustive body of work indicates the ubiquitous nature of skin tone bias and discrimination over time in black American popular culture.

On the academic front, issues of colorism in the black community have been at the center of analysis and discussion of many black scholars' work for more than a century. Anna Julia Cooper and W. E. B. Du Bois were among the first black scholars to articulate the presence of a skin color hierarchy within black communities. (W. E. B. Du Bois coined the term "colortocracy" in 1903). However, the genesis of empirical research on colorism began toward the end of the Jim Crow era. At this time (the period spanning from the 1860s to the 1950s), colorism—like racism—was blatant, overt, and palpable in the lives of black Americans. Having a lighter skin color and European features provided access to better opportunities; T. Joel Wade explains that at this time, "skin color became a criterion for the attainment of prestige in the African-American community."[4] As such, skin tone and social class became an important focus of social scientists examining aspects of racism and colorism in black society.

Today, in the post-civil rights era, colorism remains a factor in the lives of black Americans that can influence many areas of life. Some recent studies still find an inescapable link between skin tone and social class. The groundbreaking research of Michael Hughes & Bradley Hertel indicates that blacks with lighter skin achieve "higher educational attainment, occupational prestige, personal income, and family income than those with darker skin."[5] Similar analyses by social scientists also find that lighter skin is more advantageous for black Americans in the post-civil rights age; a fairer complexion indicates higher levels of income, occupational, and educational achievement.[6] The more recent work of sociologist JeffriAnne Wilder also highlights that many of the names and stereotypes African Americans today associate with light, medium, and dark skin tones are exactly the same as the language used by black Americans during Jim Crow.

Contemporary research on colorism more carefully documents how black women are more vulnerable to the impact of skin tone bias and discrimination. Race historians agree that in the post-civil rights era, gender does make a difference when considering predictors of physical attractiveness, self-esteem, and self-efficacy. Unpacking the term "gendered colorism," sociologist Mark Hill explains that "skin color has more bearing in the lives of African-American women than of African-American men."[7] This is not surprising given the societal value placed on female beauty. Colorism scholar Margaret Hunter explains that the social construction of beauty is "informed by other societal status characteristics including race."[8] Empirical research on the nature of gendered colorism unveils that darker-skinned black women are at a particular disadvantage in the areas of beauty, mate selection, and self-esteem.

While scholars have examined the effects of skin tone for black Americans, mainstream non-fiction on colorism is still a newer area of exploration and discourse. In 1992, Kathy Russell, Midge Wilson, and Ronald Hall published The Color Complex—a groundbreaking work that squarely addressed the contemporary nature of colorism and skin color politics in the African American community. Their book was monumental because it was the first manuscript to shed light on the controversial issue of color bias in the post-civil rights era. They have since revised this work in a second edition published in 2013. In the 20 years since the original publication of The Color Complex, there have been less than 10 non-fiction books dedicated to exploring skin color politics in black America. All of these works—from Marita Golden's riveting autobiography Don't Play in the Sun, to sociologist Margaret Hunter's Race, Gender, and the Politics of Skin Tone, to Yaba Blay's (1)ne Drop: Shifting the Lens of Race—are important texts that expand our knowledge and understandings of race, racism and its inexorable connections to colorism. More importantly, these works help us to understand the complexities and implications of denying blackness, and seeking whiteness. Although racism remains an important matter of social, political, and scholarly focus, colorism—in conjunction with racism—has been central to the black experience in the United States.

Conclusion: Colorism Remains a Social Force in the 21st Century

Colorism continues to be an issue of great social and cultural influence in the black American community. While many communities of color have to contend with the impact of racism, African Americans are equally shaped by the nature of internalized racism from within the community. As the literature on colorism indicates, skin tone can add an additional layer of oppression and inequality in the lives of many individuals.

By 2050, it is estimated that people of color (black, Asian, and Hispanic populations) will comprise half of the American population. As the demographics of our society changes, and the overall skin tone of American deepens in the new millennium, many scholars are calling for continued dialogue and increased awareness on colorism as some predict that in 50 years colorism will replace racism in significance. For instance, sociologist Eduardo Bonilla-Silva proposes that "colour gradations, which have always been important matters of within-group differentiation, will become more salient factors of stratification"[9]. That is, our society could begin to place more emphasis on complexion and less importance on racial category. Simply stated, colorism could be the "new" racism. Anthropologist Nina G. Jablonski highlights in her 2012 book, Living Color: The Biological and Social Meaning of Skin Color, that there is a recent trend toward colorism in the 21st century and refers to the issue as a "major social force and challenge to human equality."[10] It remains critical to examine the implications of this new racial trajectory, and the specific consequences for black Americans as they are uniquely impacted by both racism and colorism.

Wilder, JeffriAnne. "The Enduring Nature of Colorism in the Black Community." In The American Mosaic: The African American Experience, ABC-CLIO, 2026. Accessed January 2, 2026. https://africanamerican2-abc--clio-c...isplay/1932857.

Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome

A result of twelve years of quantitative and qualitative research, Dr. DeGruy developed her theory of Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome, publishing her findings in the book "Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome – America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing”. The book addresses the residual impacts of generations of slavery and opens up the discussion of how the black community can use the strengths we have developed in the past to heal in the present.

​WHAT IS P.T.S.S.?
P.T.S.S. is a theory that explains the etiology of many of the adaptive survival behaviors in African American communities throughout the United States and the Diaspora. It is a condition that exists as a consequence of multigenerational oppression of Africans and their descendants resulting from centuries of chattel slavery–a form of slavery which was predicated on the belief that African Americans were inherently/genetically inferior to whites. This was then followed by institutionalized racism which continues to perpetuate injury, thus resulting in M.A.P.:

• M: Multigenerational trauma together with continued oppression
• A: Absence of opportunity to heal or access the benefits available in the society; leading to
• P: Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome

Under such circumstances, these are some of the predictable patterns of behavior that tend to occur:

KEY PATTERNS OF BEHAVIOR REFLECTIVE OF P.T.S.S.

Vacant Esteem
Insufficient development of what Dr. DeGruy refers to as primary esteem, along with feelings of hopelessness, depression and a general self-destructive outlook.

Marked Propensity for Anger and Violence
Extreme feelings of suspicion perceived negative motivations of others. Violence against self, property, and others, including the members of one’s own group, i.e. friends, relatives, or acquaintances.

Racist Socialization/Internalized Racism
Learned helplessness, literacy deprivation, distorted self-concept, antipathy or aversion for the following:

• The members of ones own identified cultural/ethnic group
• The mores and customs associated ones own identified cultural/ethnic heritage
• The physical characteristics of ones own identified cultural/ethnic group

The book Post-Traumatic Slave Syndrome incorporates her research in both America and Africa, as well as her twenty years of experience as a social work practitioner and consultant to public and private organizations. Dr. DeGruy first exposes the reader to the conditions that led to the Atlantic slave trade and allowed the pursuant racism and efforts at repression to continue through present day. She then looks at the seemingly insurmountable obstacles that African Americans faced as the result of the slave trade. Next, she discusses the adaptive behaviors they developed—both positive and negative—that allowed them to survive and often even thrive. Dr. DeGruy concludes by reevaluating those adaptive behaviors that have been passed down through generations where appropriate. She explores replacing behaviors which are today maladaptive with ones that will promote, and sustain the healing and ensure the advancement of African American culture.

The Study Guide is designed to help individuals, groups, and organizations better understand the functional and dysfunctional attitudes and behaviors that have been transmitted to us through multiple generations; behaviors that we are now transmitting to others in our environments of home, school, and work and within the larger society. The Guide encourages and broadens the discussion and implications about the specific issues that were raised in the book, Post Traumatic Slave Syndrome: America’s Legacy of Enduring Injury and Healing. The Study Guide provides useful and practical tools to help the reader develop skills aimed at transforming negative attitudes and behaviors into positive ones.

DeGruy, Joy. "Post Traumatic Slavey Syndrome". https://www.joydegruy.com/post-traum...slave-syndrome.