Where are the roots of colorism?

Where are the roots of colorism?

Bhatia, in US News & World Report, wrote, “Boycotting skin whitening products and expressing rage online are important acts of resistance, but they are not enough. It is the deep-rooted internalized racism and social hierarchies based on skin color that give rise to the market for these products that have to be dismantled.”

Colorism or skin color discrimination can be traced to India’s age-old caste system which stressed on social and hereditary-based occupation.

Bhatia said the upper caste Brahmins – designated as white – took on the most-esteemed jobs as priests and intellectuals. The lowest caste – the untouchables described as black or dark – were forced into and to remain in most-despised jobs like latrine cleaning. He noted, “There is a continuing debate in sociology and history about the link between skin color, caste and socioeconomic status. In modern India the message is clear: Light skin is considered superior to dark skin.”

Not only the modern cosmetics industry, the ancient Ayurveda medical system says pregnant women can lighten the complexion of their fetus by modifying their diet.

This existing colorism was strongly reinforced and taken further by colonial rule in India and dozens of countries dominated by European powers. As Bhatia puts it, “British colonialism's portrayal of Indians, over two centuries, as dark savages and primitive natives as incapable of self-governing has continued to linger in the psychological and social identity of post-colonial India. Preference of fair skin is a symptom of internalized racism and colorism – one of the tragic but enduring legacies of British imperialism.”

“Caste attitudes have not eroded from the educated class,” Kavita Krishnan, Secretary of the All India Progressive Women’s Association (AIPWA), told Al Jazeera. “Regressive attitudes thrive among [the] privileged class.”