Study: lighter-skinned black and Hispanic people look smarter to white people
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http://www.vox.com/2015/2/28/8116799/white-colorism-racism-study
As long ago as 2005, an ABC News report on colorism called it "an open secret in the black community." Two more recent documentaries about the issue, 2011's Dark Girls, and its 2015 offshoot, Light Girls, present it primarily as a source of pain inflicted both on and by African-Americans.
There's a broad assumption that this phenomenon — a preference for light skin over dark and accompanying discrimination — is contained within the black community and other communities of color. But now, research suggests that some white people buy into colorism, too.
In a new study published in the journal Social Currents, Villanova University's Lance Hannon found that, all things being equal, white interviewers deemed lighter-skinned blacks and Hispanics more intelligent than darker-skinned people who had identical educational achievement, vocabularies, scores on a political test, and a variety of other factors.
The results provide good reason to believe that what Hannon calls "white colorism" exists. And they raise concerns about what unfair, complexion-based beliefs about who's smart and who's not can have in every area of American life.
The research
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Skin color discrimination by white people isn't a new concept. As Hannon writes in the paper, "The history of white colorism runs as deep as the history of white racism in U.S. society. For African Americans, the skin color hierarchy is firmly rooted in the slavery regime, where white owners gave certain work privileges to slaves with more Eurocentric features."
And in fact, colorism in various areas of American life has been studied before. In his write up of the new research, Pacific Standard's Tom Jacobs summed up the findings of previous studies on the topic, with conclusions including:
lighter-skinned black men with bachelor's degrees have a distinct advantage in job application processes over black men who have MBAs;
lighter skinned black women in North Carolina received lighter prison sentences than their darker peers;
African-Americans with more education are remembered as being lighter than they actually are.
But Hannon's new research is the first to focus on how colorism determines white people's perceptions of the intelligence of people of color.
He analyzed data from the 2012 American National Election Study, which is a face-to-face survey on social and political values and opinion. Interviewers are required to describe each subject's skin tone on a 10-point scale, and also rate intelligence on a five-point scale from "very low" to "very high."
Looking at the results for 223 African-American and Hispanic subjects who were interviewed by white interviewers, he found that African Americans and Latinos who were deemed to have lighter skin tones were also significantly more likely to be seen as intelligent.
If you're wondering whether it could be that the lighter-skinned subjects really were more intelligent (perhaps because of the way colorism in the larger society affected their educational opportunities) you're wrong — Hannon controlled for all of that. "Importantly, the effects of skin tone on intelligence assessment were independent of respondent education level, vocabulary test score, political knowledge assessment, and other demographic factors," he wrote.
Consequently, the interviewers could look at two identically qualified black or Hispanic subjects and assess the lighter one as being smarter.
As long ago as 2005, an ABC News report on colorism called it "an open secret in the black community." Two more recent documentaries about the issue, 2011's Dark Girls, and its 2015 offshoot, Light Girls, present it primarily as a source of pain inflicted both on and by African-Americans.
There's a broad assumption that this phenomenon — a preference for light skin over dark and accompanying discrimination — is contained within the black community and other communities of color. But now, research suggests that some white people buy into colorism, too.
In a new study published in the journal Social Currents, Villanova University's Lance Hannon found that, all things being equal, white interviewers deemed lighter-skinned blacks and Hispanics more intelligent than darker-skinned people who had identical educational achievement, vocabularies, scores on a political test, and a variety of other factors.
The results provide good reason to believe that what Hannon calls "white colorism" exists. And they raise concerns about what unfair, complexion-based beliefs about who's smart and who's not can have in every area of American life.
The research
Skin color discrimination by white people isn't a new concept. As Hannon writes in the paper, "The history of white colorism runs as deep as the history of white racism in U.S. society. For African Americans, the skin color hierarchy is firmly rooted in the slavery regime, where white owners gave certain work privileges to slaves with more Eurocentric features."
And in fact, colorism in various areas of American life has been studied before. In his write up of the new research, Pacific Standard's Tom Jacobs summed up the findings of previous studies on the topic, with conclusions including:
lighter-skinned black men with bachelor's degrees have a distinct advantage in job application processes over black men who have MBAs;
lighter skinned black women in North Carolina received lighter prison sentences than their darker peers;
African-Americans with more education are remembered as being lighter than they actually are.
But Hannon's new research is the first to focus on how colorism determines white people's perceptions of the intelligence of people of color.
He analyzed data from the 2012 American National Election Study, which is a face-to-face survey on social and political values and opinion. Interviewers are required to describe each subject's skin tone on a 10-point scale, and also rate intelligence on a five-point scale from "very low" to "very high."
Looking at the results for 223 African-American and Hispanic subjects who were interviewed by white interviewers, he found that African Americans and Latinos who were deemed to have lighter skin tones were also significantly more likely to be seen as intelligent.
If you're wondering whether it could be that the lighter-skinned subjects really were more intelligent (perhaps because of the way colorism in the larger society affected their educational opportunities) you're wrong — Hannon controlled for all of that. "Importantly, the effects of skin tone on intelligence assessment were independent of respondent education level, vocabulary test score, political knowledge assessment, and other demographic factors," he wrote.
Consequently, the interviewers could look at two identically qualified black or Hispanic subjects and assess the lighter one as being smarter.
Comments
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Why white colorism matters
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The research drives home the point that colorism is not just a form of prejudice people of color impose on each other. Also, it's a reminder that that while it's certainly a relevant part of conversations where it most often arises — about things like worldwide demand for skin bleaching cream, debates about dating preferences, and more diverse representation of black women in Hollywood — the harm it causes extends far beyond these realms.
A belief among some white people that darker-skinned black and Hispanic people aren't smart could have (and is likely already having) society-wide impacts that perpetuate inequality. "If white adults have a tendency to equate lighter skin with intelligence," Hannon concluded, "this may impact the quality and level of expectations white teachers and other school authorities have for certain students."
It's reasonable to conclude that this type of thinking — whether it's conscious or the result of implicit bias — could taint decisions about everything from hiring and promotions, awards and internships, to mentorship and all of the other judgments that determine the trajectory of a person's life.
The paper calls for future sociological research to stop treating colorism as something that only happens within racial groups, and insists that if American racism is to be fully addressed, white colorism will have to be a part of the conversation. -
i guess thats why people think being bright means you are smart.
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Lies
I know a lot of ? Mexicans -
Some of the most intelligent people in the world are dark skin though.....foh
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? white people!
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Some of the most intelligent people in the world are dark skin though.....foh
Word to Nigerians and west indians
This is all from cacs and ignant negros pov though so no stock should be taken in that study -
I'm not going to that route, but I will say this abut this "study"...? white people!
The darker and more purer to black we are, the more white folks desire us, men and women....
? is just hypocritically comical at this point.
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But now, research suggests that some white people buy into colorism, too.
O no g Wiz, look at what we just discovered...
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We know whited buy into colorism bc the depiction of blacks in movies (often as tokens) is usually a dark skin person.
I've had whites to ask me things or assume they know things about me bc I'm light skintedededed -
Is anybody really surprised??? I keep trying to tell ? this. In several thread I warned ? about creating light bright al b. Sure ? .
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Some of the most intelligent people in the world are dark skin though.....foh
Yes but we talmbout white logic though -
You mean people's approval of others reflects how closely those people look like them? You don't say.
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Is anybody really surprised??? I keep trying to tell ? this. In several thread I warned ? about creating light bright al b. Sure ? .
So blame the skin color of the people instead of the people with the idiotic logic?
Great -
#mixedexcellence hate on the kid u red eyed ?
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Colorism in the black community is more prevalent.
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More evidence that black light skin privilege is real.
Why do some militant negros want to deny or downplay it? -
I am not blaming anyone just re-stating my point and blaming these people for their faulty logic is a waste of ? time, white supremacy has been what is it and that's not going to change because you use logic -
A Talented One wrote: »More evidence that black light skin privilege is real.
Why do some militant negros want to deny or downplay it?
Who has ever denied that ? you ? idiot????? only the race mixing lets all hold hands with white people ? such as yourself -
So we gonn
The black community is a subset of white society...babelipsss wrote: »Colorism in the black community is more prevalent.
All that darkskin vs. light skin was started by who?
Who created the paper bag test?
Who created the one drop rule?
Who created terms like mulatto, zambo, octoroon, mestizo??, etc etc
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Yes, colorism was invented by whites. But black people nurture it and keep it alive.
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No we didnt. we still live in the same society that implements colorism to this very day. Colorism is an element of racism, racism never went any where....babelipsss wrote: »Yes, colorism was invented by whites. But black people nurture it and keep it alive.
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babelipsss wrote: »Yes, colorism was invented by whites. But black people nurture it and keep it alive.
There's colorism in India, Mexico and Asian countries as well
I am not blaming anyone just re-stating my point and blaming these people for their faulty logic is a waste of ? time, white supremacy has been what is it and that's not going to change because you use logic
I was talking about your faulty logic though -
WHAT FAULTY logic??? all i have been saying and will keep saying is that race mixing creates problems
