Anisha (Blair) Taylor,
Riverside, CA.
“Your beautiful. For a black girl.” . Those words spilled out the mouth of a young black male, in my 12th grade math class. Only then was reminded. That being a Dark skin Black Women, We are not considered to be as beautiful as other women.
I was in second grade, attending a mostly white school and being one of the few darker skin children, I often felt out of place and not very pretty. I remember praying to God that I would wake up with blonde hair and blue eyes Flashing forward to being a high school senior, and hearing someone saying exactly how I felt most of life, it was horrifying. I cried. This was not a first. I have heard this countless times through out my life but NEVER from someone of my own race. The sting of hearing those words seemed to hurt a little worse then ever before.
I eventually became more confident within myself and my skin color. I embraced my being a dark skin and began to love myself. We are taught at an early age, When I say we I mean dark skin black women mostly, that if you are not white or light skin you are not as pretty. It’s an issue I have dealt with my whole life and I pray that one day, if and when, I have a little girl that she never has to deal with thus issue but because I know if things haven’t changed in hundreds of years. It’s not gonna change tomorrow. I will be fully prepared to Tell her she is beautiful and not for just being a black girl.
CBU HIS311
