Black is not broken

 

Written by CHINAZA

One of the most heartbreaking conversations I always have to have with my son, Joshua, is his insecurity about his complexion.

Even though I make sure to affirm him every chance I get, that insecurity still lurks around.

This morning while I was getting him dressed, he repeated 'Mummy I want to be fair like you'. This is a statement I dread to hear from him.

I tried to explain to him how beautiful his dark skin is, but it didn't seem to make sense to him.

Then it dropped.

'Mummy, Satan is black. I don't want be black like him. My classmate (we shall call him 'A') used to tell me that I am black like Satan'.

I used to wonder who taught children colour superiority, but I am beginning to see how this conditioning happened. 

Are religion and so-called moral instruction now sources of insecurity to our children?

I have always had a problem with this depiction of Jesus as white and Satan as black.

How did 'White' become a metaphor for everything good and 'Black' a metaphor for everything bad?

In picture books, the heroes, good people, angels and gods dress in white, but the villains, devils and the Grim Reaper dress in black.

A spider that is dangerous is called 'Black widow'. Why not 'White widow'?

A white witch is better than a black witch.

White magic is good and black magic is ev!l.

You don't want to enter anyone's BLACK book.

You want to be whitelisted but never blacklisted.

When the Esta-blished trend started, I had an opinion about it, but I kept quiet because it's not everything that you talk about.

But the more I look at this subtle programming of white superiority, the more I am pushed to say something.

How is black synonymous with being broke?

How does being 'bleached' a proof of progress?

It is all cruise and jokes until we see our children do everything within their power to get fair so that they are not associated with being broke because they are black in complexion.

But our children cannot read this now, so I am writing to those of you who can.

Why do you see two children, you rain compliments on the fair one, and leave the darker one?

Why do you parents buy lightening creams for your little children? I saw a 2-year old with bleached fingers, and I am wondering what is wrong with some parents.

How about you fix your own insecurities so that your children will not have to go through a lifetime of low self esteem. 

And even if you cannot get over your obsession for fairness, why not let your children be?

I am worried for the damage you are doing to both your children's skin and their self esteem, but I am more concerned that they say go outside and put down other children whose parents don't share in your broken perception of what's beautiful.

Black is not broken. Why try to fix it?

Parents, teachers, religious instructors, caregivers, we have work to do. We can teach our children to be confident all we want, but this is a collective effort.