From O.J. Lima's "Blues for Mr. Charlie," Spring '94 The coming of spring and the end of the school year don't really faze me. Rather, the time after spring break, that addendum to Carter Woodson's creative way of celebrating black achievement, is what brings me joy. It's a time when white folks come to the realization that dark skin is more beautiful than white skin. Around the first of March, the majority of white students flock to areas between the tropics of Cancer and Capricorn in search of that killer tan. Skin-tanning has become a popular white past time. It's the mark of the economic elite -- a visual symbol that, in the most obvious way, signifies that one can afford to go gallivanting off on expensive excursions to tropical places. It must be like a mild form of crack for some white folks. We've all seen those individuals who try to get the whiteness out of their skin as if it were some form of biological malady -- those folks whose skin becomes pealed, worn and leathery because of their addiction to the sun. They sit on the beach roasting like KFC's rotisserie gold -- all shiny and greasy from excessive amounts of tanning oils and sun blocks -- risking the ever-so-painful chance of sunburn and skin cancer -- and just to be black. Now isn't that ironic! In a country which has traditionally put a large premium on white skin it would appear that dark skin has become stylish. Everyone's doing it. In fact, while researching this topic I was told by a white friend of mine that the ultimate compliment one can give a white girl after she returns from a tropical spring break is, "You're so black!" It shocks me that it took white folks so long to figure out black is beautiful. Well white men at least, since we all know white women were hungry for well-endowed black men since the day they arrived from Africa. But what does this all say about color prejudice and racism if everyone wants to be black? Have we come that far that color doesn't matter? Won't I still be followed around department stores as if I were a thief just because I don't look like the kid on Dutch-Boy paint cans? Maybe some people may not care if you're black, brown, or yellow in my case, but that probably doesn't inhibit the opinions of the rest. Now that dark skin has come to symbolize something positive to white folks, they want to take the negative stereotypes away from it. Yet instead of doing the right thing and getting rid of the stereotypes altogether, it would appear they've just repositioned them as signifiers of black culture instead of color. A racist might not tell you that blacks were inherently less intelligent than whites but he would probably say all African-American children are deviant since all the fathers are drug-dealers and all the mothers are single parents. It would appear that white folks just want to look black but don't want the stigma they assign to it. In other words, they no longer want to deny that dark skin is attractive, but just because they might emulate it doesn't mean they want to be viewed as drug dealers or single parent mothers. So what about the black folks that like sun-tanning, OJ? More power to 'em. It's racially therapeutic. It reaffirms the desire to be black; if that were ever in question at all. Well what about the black folks who want to be white OJ? Color-esteem problems only occur in books like Toni Morrison's The Bluest Eye. Of course, there are always exceptions to the rule. But now that blackness is so hip those exceptions are probably on their way back to the flock anyway. However, people in glass houses shouldn't throw stones. After all, outside of Michael Jackson I don't know any black folks who are bleaching their skin, but the vast majority of white folks I know currently have sun-tans. Don't get me wrong. I'm overjoyed that white folks are so into blackness. It's quite a compliment to my people. Yet I, along with most other black folks, still realize there's a huge difference between accepting a different skin color and accepting a different culture -- it's the accomplishment of the latter which will truly change how people relate to one another. Unfortunately we're not there yet. But who knows, we might only be a couple melanin pigments and one sunbeam away. O.J. Lima is a senior English major from Providence, Rhode Island. Blues for Mr. Charlie appears alternate Thursdays.
The Daily Pennsylvanian is an independent, student-run newspaper. Please consider making a donation to support the coverage that shapes the University. Your generosity ensures a future of strong journalism at Penn.
DonatePlease note All comments are eligible for publication in The Daily Pennsylvanian.
