by
Black Girl With Long Hair
2006 was a great year for Beyonce. Her hit sophomore album B’Day was released and went on to sell more than 8 million copies worldwide. We got hit singles like Déjà Vu, Irreplaceable and Get Me Bodied. But another song released that year has resurfaced online, and has folks accusing the megastar of colorism.
The song is entitled Creole and, I’m guessing, was supposed to be a celebration of Beyonce’s Creole heritage. Though born and raised in Texas, Beyonce’s mother Tina Knowles has roots in Louisiana Creole culture, which is a mix of French, Spanish, African and Native American cultures. In a 2012 L’Oreal campaign, the singer famously defined her heritage as “African, French and Native American”, and in her hit anthem Formation, she refers to being a mix of Creole and Negro.
Unfortunately, the song reads more as a celebration of light skinnedness. Here are the lyrics;
Baby I see you
That look in your eyes
Hips that keep shaking
mysterious style
exotically tempting
familiar to me
That Creole Sexy it’s all over meSo all my red bones get on the floor
and all my yellow bones get on the floor
and all my brown bones get on the floor
Then you mix it up and call it Creole
[Repeat 2x]Creole! When I look real good
Whenever I talk real good
whenever I bounce real good
Just in case you wanna know the secret CREOLEWhen she look that good
whenever she talk that good
whenever she bounce real good
Ladies if you wanna know it’s your secret CREOLEBad bad bad bad red bone
bad bad bad bad yellow bone
bad bad bad bad brown bone
bad bad bad bad to the boneFor all of my brown bones
that make a good broth
And all of my red bones that make a good sauce
the yellow bone flavor is familiar to me
mix it all together it’s a delicacySo all my red bones get on the floor
and all my yellow bones get on the floor
and all my brown bones get on the floor
Then you mix it up and call it Creole
[Repeat 2x]Creole! When I look real good
Whenever I talk real good
whenever I bounce real good
Just in case you wanna know the secret CREOLEWhen she look that good
whenever she talk that good
whenever she bounce real good
Ladies if you wanna know it’s your secret CREOLEBad bad bad bad red bone
bad bad bad bad yellow bone
bad bad bad bad brown bone
bad bad bad bad to the bone
[Repeat 2x]So all my red bones get on the floor
and all my yellow bones get on the floor
and all my brown bones get on the floor
Then you mix it up and call it Creole
[Repeat 2x]Creole! When I look real good
Whenever I talk real good
whenever I bounce real good
Just in case you wanna know the secret CREOLEBad bad bad bad red bone
bad bad bad bad yellow bone
bad bad bad bad brown bone
bad bad bad bad to the bone
And here is the song.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VF6_jxs0j_8
Okay… so let’s set aside the fact that the lyrics are atrocious and the music sounds like it was pieced together from discarded B’Day samples. The song is lacking for other reasons.
Many blacks in America are multiracial. Having existed in this country for hundreds of years, most of us have European ancestry. However, it seems we are most invested in acknowledging this ancestry for what it does to our aesthetic, i.e., lighten our skin and loosen our hair. Beyonce is obviously connected to her Creole heritage, but to distill it down to being “exotically tempting” and a “yellow bone” is reductive and even embarrassing given that Louisiana Creole culture is rich in language, dress, tradition and cuisine.
Having said this, the song is a decade old. Beyonce has certainly grown and developed since then. I would be surprised if she still co-signed this.
Ladies what are your thoughts?
111 Responses
Sorry BGLH, I love y’all, but you’re reaching with this one. First, she mentioned a variety of skin tones in the song, and second (and more importantly) the song is 10 years old. Why is this even “news”?
i don’t see it. she named yellow, red and brown. she didn’t put any above or below the other.
i’m still trying to find the part that “praises” lightskin people??
am i missing something?
it’s bad lyrics from a song that wasn’t even popular xD
like seriously it’s something you’d expect to be given away for free hahaha
Like will us light skinned girls forever be shamed for being proud of what we have? seriously, i’m the same tone as beyonce, and there was one time a group of girls were talking about their insecurities, and it just so happens that i don’t have any like that so i simply said, “nah i actually like myself as i am” or something like that, and wow.. the responses that came after that.. -_-
what are light skinned girls supposed to say?
“oh i wish i was darker like you~” ??
Sorry, don’t see colorism, she was only inculcating her heritage in her music. No big deal. Can’t be so sensitive….
she covered every shade of slang for brown in this song – it’s not at all colorism like do we know what that word means
I loveeee beyonce’s music dont get me wrong on that.nevertheless,she did include all shades of black in the song that was mentioned above,personally i had no problems with the song.What is stricking is that issues with colorism is so volitile that we make something out of nothing.Im brown skin and i have never hated on a girl because she was lighter than me,one of my closest friends is lightskin,not that beyonce bought lightskin because i remember growing up in the 90’s beyonce was brown her skin was never light.In the end all of our shades are beautiful,no story,song or black man can diminish our pride.Stop the lightskin and and darkskin war.
where does she say “i have light skin and that makes more beautiful than if my skin was darker”…where does she say “I have white skin” or “i have black skin”…basically, where does she even discuss shade of her skin. she discusses the color and you make that link to her creole background. ok. but wherein that is connecting to her saying people of lighter skin are better than people of darker skin eludes me.
She’s not the brightest, nor is she alone in this kind of ignorance. I hear it everyday from black people in my workplace. Our internalized racism runs deep. This is a large reason why she excelled past the other Destiny’s Child members. It’s sad.
As a person who grow up in New Orleans I am still confused about what a creole is. From what I can gather it’s an outdated tream for people of any race born in a French territory. I have never met anyone who referred to THEMSELVES as creole. It aways a family member or neighbor never themselves. I was recently asked if I was creole my response was I am not even sure what that really means but I am not Catholic if that’s helps. I am beginning to think this Creole thing is an Urban legion made up by people who could not understand why black people from Louisiana are so culturally different from the rest of the country. I live in Los Angeles and there are cultural differences but that doesn’t make me creole (whatever that is). I can’t speak a word of French.
Louisiana was supposed to be Little Haiti in America until the uprising. Then it was used as a brothel for French men. They were so many light skin Blacks that they came up with names Octuroon etc., White women pushed for the one drop rule so they could put the beautiful Black girls in their place who could marry a successful White man by saying they’re Creole and not Black no matter how Brown. It was like a get out of jail free card.
Creole is a culture, usually creole people speak french and creole, I noticed that americans tend to think this is a race or only lightskin people are creole but it’s not true, there are a lot of creoles in the carribean too, Im part of them actually.
Just tell me when will a light skinned black girl be able to be proud of the skin that she walks in and not be chastised. Being proud of the skin you walk in does not equate to feeling you are superior to anyone else. It just means that in this age of ‘self-love’ you love your whole Self. I’m so tired of this nonsense! White people see us as black! BLACK! And our people reject us. We have no place to call ‘home’. we are not allowed to be proud of being brown because we are not brown enough. Yet we are not allowed to be comfortable in our caramel skin because that automatically means we feel we are superior! Women walk around hating us for our skin colour both black and white! Give me a break here! You think it’s tough being dark skinned? Try being light skinned. It’s not so easy to love yourself because the community will not allow you to. spare a thought for us please. We didn’t choose the colour of our skin and most of us don’t walk around feeling superior. I propose to you that most of us are actually walking around feeling that we must apologise to every darker sister for the fact that we were born a few shades lighter than she was. Bear in mind though that we still don’t get the job, nor the promotion etc because we are black!
Can we just quit this nonsense and embrace each other. My spirit is exhausted!
Untrue. Black is not Black. And pretty dark skin girls do get taken off the market real quick. And a fat light skin girl can have a hard time. Which proves Black is NOT just Black.
I never wanna make another black woman feel like her struggle is less than but man idk. I’d love to switch shades and see if the struggle is as real. It’s unfortunate that we’re still feeling the effects of slavery all these years later, but the mental divide is deep. I think everyone should be proud of their skin tone and thanks to my mother I’m proud of mine. I’ve never felt anger or jealousy towards a light skinned woman but I have seen some crazy light skinned privilege. I don’t like to play into those things because that’s the only way we’ll overcome this nonsense.
But I won’t even pretend that it doesn’t exist, no one should. If you think truly it’s tough being light skinned, you would turn to dust after a day of being dark skinned IJS
Beyoncé isn’t saying anything negative, it seems to me that people are picking and choosing which lyrics of the song they want to acknowledge in order to have something to complain about. So we’ve established that Creole culture is essentially a mixed one, she references that in the song with the yellow, red, and brown lyrics and even says “mix it up and call it creole” which means that she’s acknowledging and embracing the part of her that is Brown along with the rest. The rest of the song is just her feeling herself, being proud of her heritage and things that she feels makes her a sexy woman. None of the lyrics are demeaning or praise European features over others.
And this is why dark women and light women battle each other now. I see these long rants about nothing. One person saying it’s stereotyping because she said I look this good and the next person screaming ancestor’s and what they momma and daddy look like dark or light. Anybody who thinks this song is garbage? Yes…bravo. Anybody else who plays the light skinned and dark skinned role just fell in the trap of stupidity and might need to work on accepting yourself as a whole. Cause accusing this song of anything other than it sucks, IS HONESTLY,TRULY REACHING
Honestly, I see two sides here. One, the song represents how proud Beyonce is of being Creole. On the other hand, the song kinda screams a negative message about society, our black community and viewing something as better than the other.. When she was saying “I look this good” or “talk this good” I personally felt like that’s associating with negative stereotypes, such as lighter skinned black women supposedly “looking better” than darker skinned black women because they are assumed to be mixed (even though this is not always the case) or lighter skinned black women being more educated/well spoken while darker skinned black women speak in a ghetto/slang/unladylike tone of voice even though this is far from the truth. Not only is this a stereotype that society pins on the black community (the whiter you are or the whiter you look, the closer you are to being ‘up to European standards’) but this is something that even I’ve seen self hating black men saying towards our sistahs. Regrettably, even in the black community we focus on color and associate it with different things which needs to disappear; not everyone does but we’d be lying if we said it doesn’t exist. I think we have gotten better but there is still room for improvement in some of us. So even though Beyonce may have made the song out of pure innocence, I still think it was a terrible idea and she could’ve expressed her heritage in a different way.
When she was saying “I look this good” or “talk this good” I personally felt like that’s associating with negative stereotypes, such as lighter skinned black women supposedly “looking better” than darker skinned black women because they are assumed to be mixed
How? Where is the stereotyping? So if I say I look this good I get it from my momma and she’s light skinned that’s saying lighter women look better? Girrrrrl….I would say have several seats but in your case honey…just take a nap
The stereotyping comes from white society in how they view different shades of African Americans.. Please don’t tell me you are THAT ignorant and oblivious. This has been going on for centuries! White people love to claim that the only attractive black women are the lighter or mixed ones. I believe Creole means part white, and also means mixed. The lighter/mixed black women are preferred in Hollywood. What about rapper music videos? Light and mixed black women, plus a token dark skinned woman. Even black men are brainwashed because on average prefer light skin and bash dark skin. I simply felt that Beyonce, as a mega successful performer who has many eyes on her and the power to influence people, could of chosen a better way to represent her heritage instead of focusing solely on appearances which we have ENOUGH of with society putting black women under a microscope and calling some of us racist deragotory names if we don’t look a certain way (closer to european). Beyonce is practically screaming in the song that she looks good because she is a mixed black woman, and I think it was a terrible choice of words. Society as a whole ALREADY thinks this (black women are only good looking when mixed or light), we don’t need it enforced into our brains. I speak as a light skinned black woman. You may think I’m “reaching” but I simply think you just ain’t woke enough.
Woke?? This new lingo is killing me softly. I’m very awake lil girl and your so woke you need to nap. This woman literally praised every color in this song. You just heard the words “Creole” Creole” and decided that she was putting lighter women above dark women. I know the history of “Creole” and this song did not impersonate that. You might be light skinned, but even my chocolate beautiful mom says you and everybody else is using this dark vs light card too much. Maybe you might want to reevaluate your thinking for yourself and not what everybody else thinks, cause so far you sound brainwashed
Ur, European ancestry, I would not call it ancestry, it is European blood from rape, most African women were raped. The slave holder rapist still treated these children as their slaves, and so the few who did acknowledge the child, it was in secrecy. I would never acknowledge these rapist, even though I have slave holders blood in my DNA, which makes me sick to my heart, knowing this. Even if they were not slave holders, I still do not like the idea I have mixed DNA, I desire pure African DNA, the DNA the creator made me. I havenotice African people running around acting totally crazy talking about white rapist DNA mixed with their DNA. I would be ashame.
These rapist and decendants still see us as slaves.
And let me say this … I was never one that brought into colorism — And I never allowed anyone to make me feel less than just b/c I was darker skinned. You are not better than me and I am not better than you — It is such a stupid thing going on in the black family and it only serves to divide us. Anyone buying into colorism is buying into racism/white supremacy. Very detrimental to us.
Creole doesn’t necessarily mean that you have a red, yellow, or brown bone complexion. My father is from Louisiana and he is creole and more so Beyonce’s complexion.
My Dad married a dark skinned (mocha shade) woman and I came out dark brown and I’m creole. She is not celebrating the creole culture but the colorism mentality that exist in Louisiana.
In the 90s black men were favoring light skin over dark skin — and light skinned girls had the mentality that they were somehow better b/c they looked less black.
So what does that say about what we think of ourselves that we hate our origins and wish to be watered downto look more white b/c that is considered to be more beautiful.
It shows that we have brought into the white man’s standard of the white woman being the epitome of beauty. However, ironically, to white people there is no difference black is black to them.
They DO see a difference, which is most actress, movie stars, singers are a certain complexion.
Black males still preference light skin and now non-black women over dark skin black women. It’s the 90’s on steroids. Songs like this don’t help, and ignorant black females defending this mindset doesn’t help either.
This maybe true in Pop culture,Hollywood,Sports,but i don’t believe that this is TRUE for real life,hard working everyday black Males,Most dark-skinned women in my circle are married,some to very successful wealthy MEN..
i mean she did mention brown,but then it again was last so…seemed like she was stating shes beautiful but it may be focusing on she beautiful cus shes light is what im getting.
That’s some Marvel superhuman reach!
What’s wrong with the song is it’s just a terrible song. Lyrics, music and beat just seems like a mess. And she tries to save it with her vocals and it’s a fail. Plus it’s darn near the exact same beat as “Freakum Dress.”
How does this song make her guilty of colorism? It’s not she said, “Creole women are better than anybody else.” This is much ado about nothing.
Wow this article is embarrassing. This blog is really reaching. I ant even read this blog anymore
Such a reach. Even if color was brought up, she is celebrating ALL shades equally. Do you know the definition of ‘colorism’? Unnecessary think piece. Just delete this…
I do not think that anything is wrong with the song. If she wants to call herself yellow bone or red bone then let her. She is light skinned. I am dark skinned and if I wanted to make a song about me being dark skin, I see nothing wrong with it. Its not like she was saying anything negative about other skin tones, she was just talking about her own skin tone.
The colorism isn’t coming from Beyonce. It’s coming from insecurity & secret prejudices from those who chose to see it that way. A tad bit off topic but I’m just ranting because I’m tired of shade wars…it’s 2016! Mahogany, tan, pecan tan, cocoa, honey, chestnut, cinnamon, chocolate etc every shade & flavor is beautiful & peachy keen to me. There is no contest. The only times I hear black people, particularly women fussing about color is when it comes to men, dating & relationships. Everybody has a right to their own preference, a right to choose as long as it isn’t influenced by jealousy, hate or self hate. It’s 2016 & I still seeing SOME dudes putting down darker skinned sisters in the public & SOME loving them behind closed doors. It’s 2016 & I still see the media & fashion industry not giving recognition to the beauty of black women. And what hurts most about 2016 is that there are still SOME of those beautiful dark skinned women who throw unwarranted shade at lighter skinned women. Women who get jealous & upset when a man pays the lighter skinned woman more attention. Women who get mad when a lighter toned woman has the nerve to say she likes the skin that the Lord blessed her to be in. I’ve even heard darker complexions who sounded like prejudiced white people by say that the light skin sister isn’t black enough, she doesn’t count, she should be labeled a separate race craziness.
It’s just crazy. I mean who is a lighter skinned woman allowed to date in your world…just light skinned men? Naw that can’t be it because I’ve heard women get mad at the light skinned dude who didn’t mind dating a woman who matched his shade. And it’s not always about lighter skin tones because I have seen two women, friends with the exact same tone…competing for a man. And when that man chose the girl on the left the friend on the right got mad. Got so jealous that she searched for every physical difference her & her friend had just to make herself feel better about not being chosen. She attacked her friend’s straight hair & coca cola bottle shape just completely turned her on her friend.
I don’t know it just…it just makes me sick to see so many beautiful black women hating on each other when we all look the same to SOME of the prejudiced people who already hate us. Love yourselves ladies we deserve it.
???
Beautiful comment and so true
who cares? Freedom of speech through music. If that’s how she feels then let it be. I personally have heard worse that ‘red’ or ”yellow bone’. If you love your shape, complexion and culture embrace it.
She made the song in accordance to what she culturally relates to, I don’t see anything wrong with that. I understand that the song refers only to the aesthetics but I guess that they didn’t care about the message so long as it could be played and danced to at a club. She also didn’t have Blue back then so the issues pertaining to colorism probably hadn’t sunk in as much.
My first time checking this site in about 2 years, and this is front page?? You all are trying really, really hard to make something out of nothing… Stick to articles about natural beauty, cause this one was a waste of web space. (and I’m not even a Beyoncé fan, at all)
i use to like this website years ago… but its honestly becoming another “Lipstick Alley”…. what happened to the “hair icons” with different ladies sharing their hair journey/ regimen… I miss those
This blog used to be so good. Now I can’t
If you feel like she’s matured in 10 years, what’s the point of bringing up ‘immaturity’ 10 years later? Please stick to articles about hair, beauty, health and lifestyle.
Agreed!
bored
Honestly, I just don’t care. Lemonade anyone?
Garbage lyrics. Sounds like The-Dream wrote it. I’m happy she’s matured musically.
There’s literally nothing wrong with this song. She even mentioned every shade of blackness. Stop reaching. This article is stupid.
Yes! The author was bored or something…
Reaching. Cut the drama
Even Africans from other African nations look upon each other as exotic… Being exotic has more to do with being different than LIGHT SKIN vs. DARK SKIN drama!!!
I wish there wasn’t such a complex around the issue!
MY ANSWER TO YOUR QUESTION, DEAR AUTHOR, IS TO ASK YOU: are you proud of everything you did when you were in your early 20’s???
Don’t be an attention seeker, and recognise that from her more recent work – its obvious that she has matured… and truly discovered herself.
And if you know the meaning of exotic, you would understand that when creole/black/white is the minority in a group – It is referred to as exotic.
As an African [Nigerian], whenever a non-black person is in our mist, they are looked upon as exotic… irrespective of colour.
Furthermore, in Nigeria, a mixed race person who was born and bred in Nigeria is looked upon as ‘very exotic’ or ‘not black’, and are called ‘oyibo’ – which means ‘white person’. They are also often mocked for that very reason…
She said yellow, red, and brown where is the colorism? Would you want her to say yellow, red, brown and black?!? I don’t even think this is an issue the author just heard the song, felt some kind of way and created one.
Truth
Gonna disagree with this one. From what I know from my Creole friends breaking it down to me being Creole is a cultural thing. Also to a degree the Creole folks stuck together because they were discriminated against for their look by both whites and darker skin blacks. We really need to make every effort to let people embrace who they and not think because we don’t fit in that group they are attacking us. Beyonce says in her song different shades of Creole from yellow to brown so I don’t see the issue and I’m super sensitive to colorism. At the end of the day we are people of color with unique heritages as long as they don’t forget their black side then I have no issue.
Um…her recent song “Formation” — “I see it, I want it, I stunt, yellow bone it.” That’s 2016 guys…
Okay and… she’s lightskin. A dark skin girl can be proud and it’s not condescending but if a lightskin does she automatically believes she’s better than others? Smh. The point of that particular lyric was a slash at people who claim she’s only successful and popular as a black women because she is lightskin. She basically said she will love who she is and yes– that includes her being a black women in a world that defines her as “light”.
I didn’t comment one way or the other. I merely meant that this article is irrelevant, given Bey has far more recent work to culturally critique and dissect.
i thought it was, “I see it, I want it. I stun. Yeah, a lil’ hornet?”
I don’t see anything wrong with the song. She has lightskin, she’s celebrating it. So what? It’s not like she threw shade at darker girls.
this reads as a reach (like arm out of socket)… if she calls for red/yellow/brown bones to floor…where is the colorism? Would you like her to hit up pantone to make sure she gets every shade? What does sound suspect is this line here:
Many blacks in America are
multiracial. Having existed in this country for hundreds of years, most
of us have European ancestry.
She’s Creole, that’s a culture, and as she sings…does not denote ONE PARTICULAR skin color (again calls out to red/yellow/brown bones).
But… You’re acting as if she ONLY said red bones… She literally said Red, Yellow & BROWN…. Whoever wrote this I truly hope you did some stretching before all this reaching…
If not for the blonde wigs, Bey looks just like any other brown skinned black woman like her sister.
What I find most alarming is the complete disregard that Blacks place on Haitian heritage when they discuss Creole culture. How do we, and Beyoncé included, coveniently and perpetually deny that Creoles are descendants of Haitian refugees? However the drops of European blood always seem to make a headline appearance.
The Lousiana Purchase made NOLA a French territory and one of the only places Haitians could escape to throughout the turmoil of the revolution. Where the International disenfranchized them for winning their own independence. This “Creole” that they celebrate is the evolution of “Kreyol” the national language in Haiti. This tantalizing Voodoo they’ve commercialized is a national Haitian religion. The jazzy Cajun sound they celebrate is influenced by Kompa!
It’s just frustrating and sad the extents Blacks will go to distance themselves from their Blackness. It’s particularly sad when they don’t want to affiliate themselves with such a revolutionary breed of Black people. We’re always romanticizing the thought of Black Slaves breaking their own chains and freeing themselves from slavery — forgetting that that actually did happen in 1804.
I love Kompa music. It’s really big in the DR. Haitians in the Caribe, Ethiopians in Africa, Hondurans in Central America would always have the love of fighting for freedom where they stood. Ethiopians were never enslaved AT ALL. Hondurans were in the Caribe and were sent to Central America. They speak Spanish and will go on and on how they were never slaves and were given Honduras for their freedom. Nat Turner in America heard about the Haitian freedom and was moved to act. Freedom happened every where our stories are just not told.
All Creoles aren’t descendants of Haitians. Yes, some are but the majority aren’t. Some of those attributes you stated, such as voodoo (black magic or roots), can be seen in the south (Georgia, South Carolina, Florida, Mississippi) and it’s due to our African ancestors, not Haitian influence.
I’m not denying Haitian influence in Creoles but some of this can be seen in other black groups due to all of our ancestors being from West Africa.
Jazz is not an invention of Haitian migrants and not all people of African descent were from Haiti originally. You’re forgetting that blacks were already in America, particularly Louisiana. Please stop trying to credit one group for a whole culture.
How is that colorism? She included ALL shades of black. She didn’t emphasize “yellow bones”. She said red, yellow and brown. That includes ALL shades and everything that falls in between. I could see if she was only talking about light skin or yellow bones, but she didn’t. She even equated the different skin tones to Creole food. Help me understand how this is colorism.
This is one of the dumbest articles that I have ever read. What on earth is the author even talking about? Is she that insecure that she doesn’t think that someone cannot celebrate their own heritage? Did I miss something. Just because someone is singing about something that they love doesn’t necessarily mean that they are dissing something else??? Duh.. Why are folks so damn ignorant?
From a man’s point of view, I think this article is poorly written, and researched . I saw nothing out of the ordinary with the lyrics, she actually referenced all of the skin tones associated with people of mixed-African decent, seeing that there are no actually “black” people. and yes there are male Creoles also, so I do get a say in the matter.
not a man but i agree.
I believe that the author of this article is to blame here. I’m not offended by the lyrics of ‘Creole’. It’s the habitual stirring of the colorism pot that disturbs me. Just because one celebrates their own skin tone doesn’t mean it automatically degrades other hues. She is simply proud of her Heritage & the bloodlines that flow through her veins. Nowhere in her lyrics does Beyoncé allude that her shade is superior to any other. Perhaps the author needs to accept & celebrate that her own beautiful brown skin is will continue to be just as lovely in its own right no matter how lighter skinned people feel about theirs. Remember insulting others will never make ones life better & neither does self-praise equal a put down to others in earshot.
I believe that colorism falls on the author of th
Because Beyonce 2006 is Beyonce 2016. Growth applies to every black person on the internet except Beyonce I guess smh. Slow news Monday.
Can we just chill sometimes? She should be able to voice whether implicitly or explicitly that she is proud of her light skin. She shouldn’t be made to feel bad about this because others are dark skinned. I don’t see anything in this song that specifically makes darker-skinned black women appear lesser than light-skinned women. We should really focus on the bigger picture instead of treating ourselves down – it only serves to dilute out arguments about actual colourist and racism and make black people sound confused. In addition, if there were any lyrics to be concerned about it would probably be that about ‘Ike Turner eat the cake’ lyrics.
I don’t get the Western obsession with ‘yellow bone’ ‘red bone’ blah blah blah. Many women of my tribe in Southern Africa are Beyonce’s color but we are 100% Tswana African blood. I just don’t get it :/
Maybe Western blacks can answer this, but is it pride in your non black blood or what?
Don’t start the lies. South African culture is RIFF with colorism, not wearing their own hair and skin lightning. White supremacy is global and it affects Africa, Afro Caribe, Afro latinxs, Black Americans and European Blacks. There is no utopia of Blackness. We are all over the world trying to work from where we are to do better. Africans as a group have to do better as well and stop picking on Black Americans. Black Americans have to recognize the Blacks outside of America that speak other languages etc., Everyone really likes Afro Caribe and European Blacks are respected. And no one trusts Afro latinxs.
SOUTHERN Africa is a region while SOUTH Africa is a country. There’s a difference.
I stand corrected. She said my tribe in South Africa and I ran with that.
I’ve actually lived in South Africa, a lot of them are naturally light skin and lot of them are dark too. Skin bleaching is pretty rare over there. I’m not saying it’s non existent, but it’s very rare compared to other African countries.
Have you been to South Africa? I’ve actually lived there for a while.
Yes, the colorism issue is everywhere but she’s right that in SA skin lightning is pretty rare.
Don’t spread lies either because she’s not from South African. She’s Tswana, learn your geography first before you paint an entire continent with countless traditions and pride with 1 brush. You are truly clueless because you believe white people are gods whose powers no one can escape. That’s on you!
She said, my tribe in South Africa – so I stand corrected. White Supremacy is real. If you understand that we can form a plan, get rid of anti blackness and stop pointing fingers at each other. You’d rather her point fingers at Black Americans instead of looking into Tswana? There is a lot to fix right there.
I said my tribe in Southern Africa. Tswana people live in South Africa and Botswana. A miniscule in Lesotho and Swaziland.
Ok, but you sound like any light skin black from America, the Caribe, South America calling others so Black and yourself and your tribe sooo light. So even in Tswana – same old same old. So ancient tribal African tribe offers no enlightenment, no wisdom, no road map for doing better.
Exactly. May I also point out that the majority of Tswanas are in South Africa. About 3.5 million to be exact.They are one of the 11 major tribes. Then you have Botswana, home to the Tswana tribe, all 2 million of them 🙂
I don’t know any Black person who calls themselves European. That’s like whites calling themselves Africans. Please refrain from that label.
Well the Dutch in South Africa do call themselves African. And Euro Blacks are African and Afro Caribes that have been in Europe for generations. Europe use to be the place to go for SOME of my family until 1 generations. My cousins with French and British accents we call that. Others are Afro Latina and others Afro Caribe. So I will calls us what I want.
Europeans are white and I and many Black people who live in Europe are not European just as white people who were born in Africa are not African. You don’t get to pick your race based on your accent. Now if you meant the label Negropean then yes there are many of those confused Black people living in Europe.
European Blacks sounds nice and posh – I am keeping it. And what is Black that you love so much? That was made up as well – you just like that name as oppose to the other. And we do get to pick -free your mind. We write the narrative, so stop coming up with faux rules. Black Americans, Afro Latinxs, Afro Caribes, Africans.
That’s obvious in the way she keeps mentioning that her tribe is naturally light skin and others are much darker, like it matters. She’s guilty of the very thing she accuses us blacks for. Ignorant she is.
Chile you can’t be shading “western blacks” about colorism when bleaching creams are flying off the shelf in the motherland. Take the L.
I am not ‘shading’ anyone, whatever that means. It was a question. Bleachers are mostly in West Africa, especially Nigeria, where most blacks are extremely dark skinned. In the Southern part of Africa, blacks tend to be lighter skinned. It is what it is I guess.
There’s an awful lot of Eastern Africans who bleach. I’ve come across Somalians and many Ethiopians who bleach. No disrespect to Winnie Mandela because I love the woman but I noticed her skin looking a lot lighter during the televised funeral of her late ex husband. It’s none of my business what she does but it did look a little suspect.
Light skin for the most part for us comes from having European ancestry. Our ancestors were raped by white devils. Unfortunately a lot of black people here are pathetically/inappropriately in love with the features some black people have inherited from our ancestors’ rapists and tormentors. These features should be disgusting to us because of what they represent, but unfortunately we subconsciously associate these features with higher status – all because of brainwashing. So we have to deal with that first before we can just embrace all skin tones and hair types and the like.
No dear. If you know anything about African American history you’ll understand that African Americans are seemingly obsessed with skin complexion because of the brainwashing and hatred that occurred during slavery. At that time whites called us ugly for being brown or dark. When white slave masters would rape black female slaves, a mixed baby would be the product. Most times that baby would have much later skin (being half white). That child would be treated a little better, and earn the privilege to work in the house (away from the hot sun in the cotton fields) just because he or she was “lighter”. The dark slaves ALWAYS were forced to work outside. This created a huge complex for blacks that transcended through generations. Hence now we still have African Americans who hate their dark skin, or feel that they are better because they are light. “Better” is anything that is closer to being White…..like lighter skin or Euro-centric features. Not ALL African Americans think this way….but there are many who do. Did that help you understand more?
I am aware of your slave history and I have very sorry for that. We were colonized as well, we have ‘colored’ AKA mixed races who do not identify with their black heritage. Black people are still lighter skinned because we come from the Khoisan, the oldest tribe in Africa. They are yellowish in color, not dark. They are only found in the Southern part of Africa.
In your first statement you said you don’t get the obsession of yellow bone, red bone but then you say you are aware of slavery. If you’re aware of this historical event then you must have an understanding of the obsession and how it came about..
Didn’t you just go out of your way to mention you have lighter skinned black women in your tribe? Answer me this, @disqus_ZJ5Ln13YKP:disqus: Is it black Africans lack of pride in their black blood that has led them to bleach their skin, don jacked up straight weaves, go out of their way to procreate with whites and hold up white European innovations as ideal? I mean, you’re in Africa, surrounded by countries that are predominantly black. How does this continue to happen? Many black Westerners just don’t get it.
West Africans who happen to be the darkest women in Africa bleach their skin. Do not EVER mistake them for us down south. We in the South are naturally lighter skin, and not because we have European blood. We are descendants of the Khoisan, the oldest tribe in Africa. They were yellow skinned waaay before European arrived. That is what Europeans observed when they arrived.
Get an education.
You are wrong, Itumeleng. I’m an Igbo woman from Nigeria. Igbo’s are known throughout Nigeria for having a significant portion of people with yellow or red skin. And we are not mixed and it is not due to bleaching.
Pure Africans come in all colours. South Africans and African Americans also bleach their skin. And of all African peoples on the continent or in the Diaspora, it is those in the Diaspora who seem to celebrate their white blood the most.
Most continental Africans are not mixed and do not seek admixture. People mostly prefer to marry within their own ethnic group. It is my observation that the people of South Sudan, which lies in East Africa, have the darkest hues on the continent. And they are a beautiful people.
-MsMadu
I must admit I have met some Igbo women and not one of them has been remotely light like a South African or Botswana woman. So, hmm. In the Southern part of Africa the average woman has the yellowish skin of our ancient tribe the Khoisan. I have seen Nigerian women who bleach their skin, but they still don’t have that exact yellow skin of a Southern African. Their darker knuckles, feet, finger joints always give it away. They have the most f**d up hands on a woman. A much higher number of them bleach than any other part of the world.
I don’t see other much darker African women do that. The Dinka tribe of Sudan is midnight black but you don’t hear about them bleaching. The Luo tribe of Kenya is as dark but they seem to embrace themselves. Nigerians on the other hand have a hard time accepting themselves.
I wonder why.
Proudly Tswana.
So you have made my point. Some tribes in Africa deal with colorism – the ugly step sister of racism. How it manifest itself among each tribe is different.
Why point fingers at Black Americans? I am not Black American but even I know that’s classic unnecessary infighting.
Lol, you just told on yourself with this post.
Don’t EVER MISTAKE them? I trust I am misreading your tone in this statement. I KNOW there is diversity on the African continent, and am aware of the features of the Khoisan, which do not make them better than my ancestors in ANY way. Regardless.
You really have a colorism issue. It’s so apparent. One, lighter skinned people bleach their skin too. Two, there’s a famous South African singer –Nomasonto ‘Mshoza’ Mnisi– who completely bleached her skin. She wasn’t that dark and felt the need to be much lighter. Three, you continue to feel the need to point out West Africans as the darkest and people from your region as being lighter as if you’re better because of it. Four, I know the Khoisan tribe and its history and have been to South African many times. LOL. You think lighter skin is better. You tell on yourself with your post. Maybe you should be having a conversation with yourself (and therapist) about why you feel this way.
chile, you know things have gone LEFT when even the africans are bragging about having light skin. colorism has truly affected us all, regardless of continent.
I know right!!
Why is it bragging?I was born in this color. Maybe address your own inferiority complex.
Internalized racism. For us, the lighter the skin the more evidence of non-African blood in our ancestry. Many black people in this discussion have so internalized their celebration of light skin they cannot even see their sickness.
Girl this a non issue. ??? just wait til she comes out with something new before get back on the think piece bandwagon.