UNF professor explores the impact of skin tone on the everyday lives of African-American women |
UNF professor explores the impact of skin tone on the everyday lives of African-American women
The Florida Times-Union
2016-01-18
JeffriAnne Wilder always knew African-Americans came in many shades. She saw it in her own family, from her light-skinned older sister to her two dark-skinned brothers. Her complexion fell somewhere in the middle.
“I saw the variation at home, but I didn’t place any value on it,” she recalled.
Around age 10 that began to change. She noticed the light-skinned girls in her predominantly black Cleveland elementary class seemed to be treated differently. Other students seemed enamored by their creamy complexions and wavy hair.
Decades later, that sentiment hit closer to home when she became pregnant with her daughter.
“I had lots of people just assume because my ex-husband is biracial and light-skinned with green eyes that she was going to be light-skinned, too,” she said. “ ‘Oh, you’re going to have the prettiest daughter. She’s going to be so pretty. She’s going to be light and blah, blah, blah,’ and I remember telling people ‘What happens if she’s not light-skinned? What if she ends up like me?’ ”
Now, an associate sociology professor at the University of North Florida and director of the school’s new Institute for the Study of Race and Ethnic Relations, Wilder is sharing her observations and the experiences of 66 other black women in her first published book “Color Stories.”…
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Tags: colorism, Florida Times-Union, JeffriAnne Wilder, Rhema Thompson, The Florida Times-Union, University of North Florida