Proposal – Alliance sutzie

The issue that I’m working on for my article is colorism within the youth. A lot of people seem to believe that the idea of black people being discriminated against because of their skin being a darker color is made up , I strongly believe that I am a perfect person to try and convince those with such beliefs that they are wrong. As a young adult I have consumed a bunch of social media content and I have both witnessed and experienced colorism online and In real life. 

Some of the questions that I’ve asked myself concerning this topic are as such; why do we, as in the black community normalize young black men making ‘jokes’ that perpetuate biases which justify violence against darker skinned black girls? How the hupersexualizion of dark skin black women in the media is a form of colorism. Light skinned black girls are often seen as soft or sensitive while the girls with a darker skinned tone are portrayed and seen by the world in a dehumanizing way meaning that they are often objectified and fetishized by men, which isnt allowing them to exist outside of thier sex appeal.  

When talking about colorism, black girls are often being gaslighted by others, accusing them of lying about their experiences, they are often called too sensitive or jealous… I want to dedicate this article to the younger generation of the black community in order to convince those who believe that colorism is nonexistent that it is in fact a real issue and it’s practically racism’s ‘little brother’. I want to address this topic without tearing down lighter skinned folks or disregarding their own struggles. Not only that I also want to debunk the root of colorism and why is it such a trending topic? I have seen plenty of articles that have this topic as their content on the New York Times, If I could publish this article anywhere it would be there. 

Since there are quite a bunch of articles with ideas like this which often target a more older and mature audience, I chose my audience to be the young black folks. I do not see my audience as the type who would want to read a boring article on the New York Times about a topic which a lot of them disagree with unless it has a very captivating headline that could possibly catch their attention but I do see an article like mine being referenced and talk about in a TikTok or YouTube video where many of them would most likely interact with.

I’ve witnessed too many young black boys shaming those who look just like them on teen apps like TikTok and treating darker skinned black girls as if they are lesser than everyone else, I’m considering referencing some of those videos as evidence that colorism is real. 

There isn’t a need for much statistics and data but references of tropes in the media and in the real world that include colorism would be needed to convince my audience. I would love for the audience that I’m trying to reach to be able to read my article in order to make them at least question their actions and ask themselves if their constant need for white validation is rooted in self hatred.