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Critical Analysis Conference Paper

Slavery and its effect on African American Self Identity 

Slavery in the United States weakened black people emotionally and physically. The constitution never viewed them as humans and never intended to, instead they wrote on how “no bill… or law denying or impairing the right to property in negro slaves shall be passed… our position is thoroughly identified with the institution of slavery.” (Confederate States Constitution). People born into slavery were never allowed an education which caused some of them to believe that they deserved what was happening to them, and to even accept that white people were in fact their masters. Black people were even sent to Christian churches where they were told that if they wouldn’t obey their masters that they would be punished by God, almost as if they were being brainwashed. Although slavery ended, it’s important to consider that even after slavery there was events that continued black struggle and intended to put down people of color, such as segregation. These are all reasons as to why African American self-identity and self-esteem might have been affected over the years. 

In the real story, “Coffee Will Make You Black” by April Sinclair we explore the life of an African American girl in the 1960s living in Chicago who lives in a time period where dark skin is seen as “ugly”. In chapter one, readers can see that the Character finds herself beautiful but says “It wasn’t like I wasn’t cute… But most negroes didn’t get excited over folks who were darker than a paper bag” … she then says, “Mama says one reason she married daddy was because she was looking out for her children.” We learn that the main character likes her skin color but because of society she feels like she isn’t allowed to feel that way about herself or be open about it. Even her mother, who is the darkest one in the family shares that she only married their father so that her children would have more of a lighter complexion and less tight curls. In chapter seven when she attends a party, we see a group of friends play a game where they all stick out their arm to compare their skin color, and whoever had the lightest complexion won, “mine is light as peaches, Joyce insisted. Lindas arm is the darkest. Look at her arm next to mine. It looks black! Linda looked embarrassed… Do you think that it makes somebody better ‘cause her arm is lighter? Pulling out my arm out of the pile.” This was a very important part of the story because we can see the preference for lighter skin even among children. Readers can even see the main character trying to stick up for others because she knows the struggles of having darker skin and doesn’t find it an amusing topic. In chapter 11, the mother shares with her family that someone spray painted on the side of the building “Black is Beautiful”, she says “I’ve been asking myself over and over, what would possess a person to write something like that?..Maybe he just got out of the insane asylum, I teased… I don’t want nothing black, but a Cadillac and coffee will make you black… the old folks in the south used to tell that to children so they wouldn’t want to drink coffee. The last thing anybody wanted was to be black.” This part of the chapter is very saddening to see how people who are black themselves are shocked that others are promoting “black is beautiful” and are basically saying that black is not beautiful. However, one cannot blame black people for feeling this way when they have always struggled for being black. In chapter 16 and 17, we see the main characters mom want to change how her daughter looks to seem less black. In chapter 16, one friend asks her if she ever considered getting a perm since everyone is doing it these days, her mom cuts in and says, “you can get a perm… we can afford it… Men don’t want to be running their fingers through a bunch of naps, trust me.” In chapter 17 we then see her mother giving her bleaching creams and the main character answers by saying “but, mama, you remember how that bleaching cream burned Aunt Sheila’s face that time. She still has scars… But Ivy’s been using this, and I swear she’s two shades lighter! You can’t afford to be too dark.” Since they have been looked at as an inferior race for many years, people of color decide that they want to change how they look, not even caring about the negative effects that bleaching cream could cause to one’s body. 

Sometimes people forget that slavery didn’t just happen in the United States, it happened all over the world and had very similar impacts as it did here in the United States. One specific example is British colonization in Jamaica. The English colonization of Jamaica in 1655 impacted citizens even after gaining independence in 1962.  Britain controlled the affairs of the country for many years, being that “Jamaica was one of Britain’s most valuable colonies in terms of agricultural production” (Ferguson).  Even today, British colonization in Jamaica has led to a confusion of self-identity that has led citizens to begin skin bleaching just like it has with African Americans. 

When looking at a personal experience of a Jamaican family, one can see the impact that the British Colonizers had on how Jamaicans self- identify and how Jamaicans identify others based on skin color. In the essay “Back to My Own Country” Andrea Levy speaks deeply on racism and does so by talking about personal experiences she has encountered throughout her life.  Levy recalls on a specific memory in which she is taking the bus with her family.  She notices that her family and another man were the only black people in the bus.  The other man seemed to want to start a conversation with others in the bus, but the white people were almost too afraid of him.  She found her family sharing the same fear towards the man which she found confusing as her family was the same color as him.   

Robinson who conducted a study in which she has participants who have experience with skin bleaching, works in finding out why people are skin bleaching in the first place.  Robinson points out her argument when she says, “the overall findings of the study shows that there is a bias in Jamaica for light skin over dark skin and these values are taught in non-formal and informal ways from very early in life” (Robinson).  This argument seems to be particularly true in Andrea Levy’s essay since as a young girl she was exposed to people treating others differently due to their color of their skin. Levy speaks on a memory in which her mom would desperately want her dad to lose his accent and stop saying ‘nah man’ and ‘cha’ in every sentence.  She also noticed that her family would never discuss Jamaica with anyone, and her mom would get embarrassed if she saw a black person drawing attention to themselves because she believed it drew attention to her as well, and she hated that.  This brings up the idea that this type of behavior towards one another is learned at a young age, creating the idea of self-hate at such a young age. This brings up another experience that Levy had growing up in such a Eurocentric country, “In my efforts to be as British as I could be, I was completely indifferent to Jamaica.  One day the staff had to take part in a racism awareness course.  We were asked to split into two groups, black and white. I walked over to the white side of the room.  It was, ironically, where I felt most at home – all my friends, my boyfriend, my flat mates, were white” (Levy).  This brings up the idea of it being hard to find one’s identity as a black person in a world that surrounds itself with Eurocentric values. Levy was so pushed into thinking that being a lighter color was better that she began to feel a disconnect with her actual roots. Being confused about one’s identity can most likely lead to the idea of skin bleaching and thinking it’s the best idea in order to fit into beauty and social standards. Levy is just one Jamaican going through this confusion of identity but can represent a much larger group in Jamaica and even the United States. 

The cause of the lack of self-esteem starts from the very beginning of times of black struggle which is slavery. As early as the 1600s black people were looked down on and made to be slaves. For years, “in American history, freedom has been transformed by the demands of excluded groups of inclusion.” (Foner, 23) Black struggle has been going on for too long, and freedom was taken away for too long under white rule that even black people started to think that looking lighter amongst themselves was something preferred. For years black people kept getting reminded that because of their skin color they would never be looked at as equal American citizen. This could even be seen with indentured servitude, where when slaves would get punished with whippings on their bare back, the white indentured servants would not get such a punishment. Even after slavery was over, people of color went through segregation, still being reminded that because of their skin color they were not good enough. “More than a form of racial separation, segregation was on part of an all-encompassing system of white domination, in which each component- disentrancement, unequal economic status, inferior education- reinforced the others. The point was not so much to keep the races apart as to ensure that when they came into contact with each other, whether in politics, labor relations, or social life, whites held the upper hand… In places of business, blacks had to stand back and wait until whites had been served. They could not raise their voices or in other ways act assertively in the presence of white. In shops, whites but not blacks were allowed to try on clothing.” (Foner, 666) This type of treatment, even after being given their freedom from slavery had an effect on black people. This type of control can be very unhealthy to black people because they start feeling more self-conscious with how they are viewed in society, making them want to change who they truly are. When looking back at the story of “Coffee Will Make You Black”, the author talks about a friend who she hadn’t seen in a long time because her father had gotten a better paying job. Well, they come back to visit the community they had once lived in, they come to almost flaunt to their “darker friends” the expensive clothes, cars, permed hair, and how “lucky” they are to have lighter skin then most of them. Sometimes people tend to think that because slavery and segregation happened so long ago, that it can’t still have emotional effects on black people, but one should consider that slavery and segregation can still affect people of color emotionally today. Today, we can see a whole lot of black shaming from black men saying they prefer lighter skin women so that their children come out “beautiful”, almost as to say that having an all-black child wouldn’t be beautiful. In today’s society, there are still so many people of color bleaching their skin to have lighter skin. Therefore, black struggles throughout history has caused a lack of self-esteem to many black people in the United States and even all over the world. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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CC0 1.0 Universal Public Domain Dedication

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