Skin bleaching is not black and white
Published:Wednesday | June 26, 2019 | 12:31 AM
THE EDITOR, Sir:
I do not think that skin bleaching is necessarily an intended violation of school rules or any security requirements, anymore than using a topical cream to reduce wrinkles would. In many cases, it is an identity issue and a psychological wrestle.
Several people are hard-pressed to confront the blackness that stares back at them when they look in the mirror – whether as a result of societal exigencies or just to lift a wounded self-esteem – but this is often a far cry from a fashion or trend being suggested by some.
Whether someone’s self-worth can or should rely on the external shade of the skin is another matter. But it cannot be denied that bleaching often has real psychological roots, maybe as a result of the mental slavery that still persists though the physical chains have snapped, coupled with the castigation that blacks often hear among themselves that “nutten tuu black neva gud” or “yu black an ugly like.”
This is a sad and deep entrenchment against ourselves and colour, which often make skin bleaching more than a clear-cut black and white matter, as like wearing a certain style that is popular but can conveniently give way to the more recent thing in fashion.
HOMER SYLVESTER