What’s Hollywood’s Obsession With Lightskinned Actors?

[@Raven-uw6ok]

I find it funny that there is never an issue finding dark skin male actors but finding dark skin female actors is such a struggle.

[@stargirIll]

exactly…

[@ateeras_lens]

this

[@PrincesSakura]

THIS

[@honestlyamara]

Like seriouslyyyyy

[@agent1-085]

I agree overall but they usually aren’t the main characters either (I’m trying to say this respectfully and not sound like I’m making a “what about!” point). I think all dark sinned actors deserve more representation. Darkskinned women are definitely less prevalent than dark skinned men in media though.

[@LooksByNaheemah]

It’s also very frustrating to see almost exclusively biracial women and girls playing black female characters. It feels like black girl erasure

[@alextroy9202]

It IS black female eraser

[@cfbg]

Y’all are just bitter. Simple.

[@londonfleurina2388]

@@cfbg What?

[@purpleflows5680]

@@londonfleurina2388 that’s a troll who thinks gaslighting is a legit form of communication. Ignore the ignorance.

[@sadesuarez2954]

I agree. But i dont think Ginny and Georgia can be used as an example, like he did in this video. I was pleasently suprised by Ginny and Georgia because it is the first time in a loooooonngggg time that you see a biracial girl playing a biracial girl and on top of that, it sheds light on the biracial experience. Usually its never like that. Persia White from the 2000s show "Girlfriends" spoke about how she basically begged the producers to let her play a biracial woman instead of a monoracial woman since she herself is biracial and i found tht soo interesting and refreshing to know, seeing as the main character of the show was a biracial woman playing a black woman

[@Abwavey]

The Emmett Till movie really struck a nerve for me because they found dark skinned black actors for those roles yet the Till family was not dark skinned. It's like they only choose fully black dark skin actors for the trauma roles and it also minimizes the fact that yes even lighter skinned families can be victims of a violent racist.

[@rorymarcel228]

Right !!!

[@MochaLatta]

Very true

[@lavonnealexander6936]

Smh 🤦🏿

[@mavekr8842]

They also made the movie while the family still hadn’t gotten justice from the woman who got him killed

[@kaylao.3326]

And the movie looked very poorly made and low budget. If they didn’t have the money to do it right then they shouldn’t have done it

[@evasage14]

that’s why i’m so thankful for Jordan Peele, who thoughtfully casts an array of black actresses and actors in his films and isn’t focused on a casting white leads-he’s truly doing the damn thing

[@blackskyboii]

I know right

[@blackskyboii]

@Sea Goddess Well you will notice Jordan doesn't cast a white actors as a lead character in his movies.

[@chilichinashop]

I love how he puts so much black talent into the mainstream ❤

[@LevityBrevity]

@lovemelanin41 why is that relevant? Part of the "bi" is black in "biracial" so......

[@docdolittle5181]

Yeah because he’s black why would you think Hollywood created by white peoples majority people in America are white why would they put black women over white women

[@shubh5614]

The thing with Indian representation is that: Bollywood only casts light-skinned Indian actors, and Hollywood only casts darker-skinned, more stereotypical Indian actors. It's very funny actually.

[@limofootball]

Coz if they cast a light skinned Indian, he'd look white so basically they wanna avoid "he's one of us" and go with "he's asian" and "we cast a poc" narrative.

[@daisykisses8803]

I kind of figured this was more of a “poc” issue than a “black” issue.

[@natalyaakselaleksander4502]

You know? I’ve noticed that too! Growing up in Africa, all Indian movies I watched were light skinned Indians but now in the US almost all famous Indian actors are dark skinned!

[@son193]

@@natalyaakselaleksander4502 that's because Bollywood actors are mostly ethnic Pashtuns, while in the west they are mostly Punjabi or South Indian like Tamil.

[@franfran1408]

This is very true

[@nicolesherman8974]

I honestly can’t wait to we get more love stories/ coming of age stories with darker skin Black women/girls free from trauma, racism, and other hardships in the world 🙃🙃. Also, we need to see more darker skin Black love and love interests in these shows like hello?!!!

[@a_ace4619]

watch: run the world, all american, all american homecoming, Bel Air and harlem! it's exactly that

[@JulianSteve]

YESSSSSSS Nicole👏🏾‼️

[@alextroy9202]

Yes please! And lightskin people wanna fix their mouth to say we are all treated the same. We aren’t!

[@aishambengue3024]

THAT PART!! I wanna see black women WIN!!

[@sophiahaynes1430]

All American homecoming is the best show ever😭😭😭😭😭

[@momi1610]

These actors aren't simply light-skinned people; they are biracial/multiracial people. There are actual monoracial Black light-skinned people. I would argue that, like dark-skinned Black people, light-skinned monoracial Black people also receive less visibility than fair-skinned multiracial people who are portraying Black characters do. So, Hollywood's obsession is actually with POC actors who have a connection to whiteness or non-Blackness.

[@arielle3692]

yuppp

[@evasage14]

this part!!

[@momi1610]

​@@calliecocritter9247 When an industry wants a particular group to be the symbol of Blackness and not those who are monoracial Black people, one can only wonder what that's about? And it was stated: Biracial people are used because they have a connection to whiteness and/or non-Blackness. The white-led entertainment industry believes that the dominate viewing audience are white people, even though that's not necessarily the case. So, for the industry, it's like hitting two birds with one stone -- it can accommodate white audiences who they want to appeal to and check off a box for "diversity" by having the actor be a POC. As for biracial actors playing biracial characters, that's fairly new. It was never a commonplace practice to have characters actually be biracial. Most stories focused solely on monoracial people. If folks across the board could be provided with the opportunity to be considered for roles (regardless of race, gender, sexuality, skin tone, body type, etc.,), then there would be no issue. But that's not how that industry works. It wants a specific aesthetic to be the main faces of entertainment.

[@calliecocritter9247]

@@momi1610 Yes except basically all the examples given are biracial characters. so if this is such a new thing for biracial people to play biracial characters, then why don’t you guys talk about all the characters that are black and played by a biracial person? i just think it’s odd how characters that are new and aren’t common (biracial characters played by biracial actors) are the thumbnail of this video, meanwhile the actual valid examples (black characters played by biracial actors) aren’t. And then why are we only talking about this as black erasure instead of black and biracial erasure? because it’s erasing biracial characters and at the same time erasing black characters and actors. like neither biracial people or black people are accurately being represented, neither are winning and yet this video is just pitting biracial and black people against each other.

[@momi1610]

​@@calliecocritter9247 Well, because monoracial Black people (and mostly monoracial Black women) are the ones who have biracial people with usually a lighter skin tone, finer hair texture and thinner facial features portraying them. And erasure is definitely across the board for BIPOC characters and actors. There are very few stories about any group who isn't white; but when it does happen, it would be great if those who are in those groups being portrayed could tell their own stories. Once the industry gets to a point of there being fair representation across the board, then we can start saying that roles can be a free for all -- but at this moment, roles are not.

[@dannyi.2945]

It's not even light skinned, it's biracial/racially ambiguous favouritism

[@Sperry778]

It’s actually sad how they choose the same 4 actresses for roles that darker complexioned women could and should be playing in (Zendaya, Amandala Sternberg, Zoe Kravtiz and Storm Reid) it’s obvious colorism and this comes from someone of mixed heritage as well.

[@demalasmith8609]

No😂 lightskins get favored more also even if they're not biracial. It's the look the captivates people

[@jenjoestar.]

This is why I love Blood and Water! Everyone in that show in well portrayed and obviously beautiful

[@natasharules770]

Also worth mentioning that the show wasn't made by Hollywood

[@jenjoestar.]

@@natasharules770 👏👏

[@_neonana]

omg someone not from south africa appreciating a south African show 😍😍

[@jenjoestar.]

@@_neonana yes!! If you know more good ones lmk❤️

[@darkdream1469]

Probably because it's south african.

[@februaryschild0216]

Zendaya has said that she only auditions for roles created for white actresses bc she doesn't want to take opportunities away from darker skinned black women. She said she's hoping to create a production company that will cast black women in their fullness. It's good to see light-skinned and biracial black women being aware of their privilege and speaking up about it.

[@johanaforever965]

One more reason why I love Zendaya

[@franfran1408]

And if people get mad at her and say she's, "Taking opportunities from white people." They need to be reminded that Zendaya is just as much white as she is black, so she's definitely not wrong for taking roles created for white actresses. If biracial actresses can take roles meant for dark and fully black actresses without anyone batting an eye, then these people shouldn't be mad when biracial actresses take roles meant for fully white actresses either.

[@wrestlinganime4life288]

Honestly she shouldn't have been the one to do it.. The higher ups knows they got the power to change think but of course they don't care so it falls on the individual

[@pnklfeflx7332]

Ugh let that shit go !! she said that how long ago , y’all always bring that shit up !!!!!!!

[@franfran1408]

@@pnklfeflx7332 What's wrong with bringing it up? It's not like this person was shaming Zendaya for it or something.

[@electronights3589]

It always makes me laugh when I see "black" actors in shows and movies, only to have them turn out to be biracial 90% of the time I search them up🤣

[@JulianSteve]

SAMEEEEEEE😂‼️It’s rare when the person is actually a Black person who happens to be light-skinned. Regardless, we need to see all types of Black and mixed with Black people to be represented🫡

[@Imetwurld_]

I thought I was the only one 😹😹😹. I'm African Nigerian precisely I started wondering if African American light skinned were all mixed I mean because the light skinned ones here are rearly mixed. We don't have much white or biricial people here especially on the media. Like it's so rare and i appreciate my country for not allowing it.

[@sadesuarez2954]

I like biracial representation... but only if the character is also going to be biracial

[@icouldntthinkofaname8916]

Istg!! That happened recently with me and bones and all

[@10Vernonplace]

Or the TV commercials with two brown parents, and then their kids are biracial.

[@skyofbob]

the industry is sooooooooo thirsty for racial ambiguity

[@honestlyamara]

Facts 😭

[@darkdream1469]

And at the same time erasing 'full/not-ambiguous' poc roles. Full white characters are never replaced like that.

[@sadesuarez2954]

Only when it comes to black women. When the industry looks for other races they make sure they cast accordingly, they only cast "mixed people" (speaking about non black mixes) when the character is SUPPOSED to be mixed. Meanwhile with black people its whenever. They only know what "black" women look like when they are looking for stereotypical roles or when it comes to cartoons, only if the woman is going to be lgbtq

[@LowSlungBadBitch]

@@sadesuarez2954 no there are plenty of asian characters who are mixed too for some reason. and south asians are always the butt of the joke, unattractive, or downplayed.

[@sadesuarez2954]

@@LowSlungBadBitch asian characters are only mixed when they are playing a mixed role also your comment about south asians still has nothing to do with the top comment

[@iyanagraham2496]

With Ginny I feel like they did a good job of making it known that she’s mixed and that she’s missing some of her blackness because she was raised by a white mother

[@lauramenendez3212]

Exactly she shouldn’t be in this list

[@evasage14]

especially in the second season!! ginny and georgia has truly gotten so effing good.

[@LowSlungBadBitch]

no that was just so they could make her character have light skin and not be questioned about it. and her brother is unnecessarily white. her mom couldve been black instead of her dad, so much is just dodging poc

[@lauramenendez3212]

@@LowSlungBadBitch you could say that about any show or movie. But Ginny being mixed race affects her experience throughout the show. While her brother could’ve been any race, him being white highlights that they’re half siblings. Ginny isn’t just another mixed race character, the actress is at least playing her race and we get a mixed race experience. There’s definitely a lack of mixed race representation, not in terms of casting but more so the stories that we are lacking of.

[@LowSlungBadBitch]

@@lauramenendez3212 youre not understanding. they added that experience in ORDER to make it ok that her character is biracial. and yes you can say that about any show. its almost like there is no representation for people of color...

[@shanoriya]

It’s one of the reasons why I love Abbott elementary so much because Quinta is proving that you don’t need to cast a light skinned person in the lead to have a good show!!! 90% of the cast are dark skin including the children

[@lavonnealexander6936]

I need to watch this show, I heard so much about it, even childish gambino was jealous of the show. So , it got be very great show.

[@lalelu1202]

@@lavonnealexander6936 I am usually not a 30min comedy person because a lot of the time it gives me bad second hand embarrassment and the typical "jokes" are not enjoyable for me but I binged the first season of Abbott Elementary in an afternoon 😅 loved it so much, can definitely recommend even if comedy usually might not be your cup of tea. Wish my country would finally air season 2 🙃

[@talwyn_cc]

Yes. This. ❤️

[@turquoisepurple7sky151]

@@lavonnealexander6936 The show has won 5 awards so far

[@lavonnealexander6936]

@turquoisepurple7sky151 damn , that is good

[@pictureperfect3211]

I disagree with Bianca on Wednesday being a villain/antagonist, because Wednesday picked a fight with her first number 1, but number 2, Wednesday is the actual antagonist/anti-hero. And Bianca was given a LOT of depth and back story, and eventually helped save the school.

[@carriesnaps3508]

Wednesday did not pick a fight with Bianca though. She simply volunteered to be her opponent during fencing class because Bianca (who thought she was better than her classmates) was complaining about not having a worthy opponent. And while Wednesday referred to her as the school's "queen bee", Bianca on the other hand called her a psychopath out of nowhere. She also continued to act hostile towards Wednesday throughout the show out of jealousy because crusty Xavier had a crush on Wednesday (which wasn't her fault). But I do agree that she did had some character development and in fact helped save the school.

[@pictureperfect3211]

@@carriesnaps3508 She challenged her out of nowhere. The initial hostility stemmed from that PERIOD! And she asked for the bulbs on the ends of the swords to be taken off. To which Bianca said ok. And she bested her, something Wednesday didn’t anticipate. She started it period. Bianca was responding to Wednesday’s hostility. Something that almost every character including her parents received in the first few episodes.

[@carriesnaps3508]

@@pictureperfect3211 What do you mean out of nowhere? Wednesday was simply answering Bianca's own question. She wanted to fence with someone on her level, so Wednesday - who was assured of her own abilities - volunteered. What exactly is wrong with that? It wasn't a personal attack.

[@pictureperfect3211]

@@carriesnaps3508 She challenged her because she wanted to challenge her status, Bianca accepted. The End. Everything else was Wednesdays machinations. Yes Bianca threw shade, but as a Siren, if Bianca really wanted to give her the smoke she could have.

[@carriesnaps3508]

@@pictureperfect3211 that is YOUR point of view. Nothing about Wednesday's actual actions showed she was after Bianca's status. She didn't even wanted to be in the school to begin with.

[@aishambengue3024]

Speaking as a young dark skin women myself *ahem* DARKSKIN BLACK WOMEN DESERVE MORE RECOGNITION AS MAIN CHARACTERS AND NOT BE STUCK IN A MONOLITH (Especially if it's only trauma or stereotypes). We definitely have a long way to go especially with us striving to have black writers that can write our own stories for us to have a healthy ,honest and candid stories (cause at its important to write a good story and characters first) that actually represents us as people while also have variety as well .Luckily we've been seeing a bit of progress ( Wakanda forever, Bel Air, Abbott Elementary,Wendell and Wild,Blood and Water,Nope,Us,All American, etc). Even though I said that we still have long way to go , I have hope we can move forward for the better .

[@aishambengue3024]

I got a like from imurgency and it's gone 😪😭

[@missvida6251]

Y'all don't deserve anything. Wtf.

[@daisykisses8803]

Yes we definitely have a long way to go. And it seems like we kind of progressed backwards. I remember there use to be all kinds of darker skinned women representation decades ago. Esp in the 80s and 90s. Now they are replacing that with biracial women. Weird.

[@aishambengue3024]

@@daisykisses8803 yeah I've noticed that too like it's very weird

[@chang958]

@@daisykisses8803 no R&B ...Whitney Houston, Toni Braxton,Brandy, Melba Moore,Regina King Diana Ross Diana Summers, Angela bofill ,Shirley MurdockChaka Khan, Karen White, Angela Winbush, Patti LaBelle, Stephanie Mills basically all of Motown LOL no longer is there an array of black people being represented ( all phenotypes all skin tones)

[@raisaalam9591]

Colorism is a very pervasive issue in the Asian community as well. I've never seen dark-skinned Asian representation in media.

[@shenaegoodwill2609]

Very true! When I traveled to Japan and Thailand many carried umbrellas in the Summer to avoid tanning and were fully clothed at the beach. I was in pure awe of this strange behavior.

[@angelheartzz6350]

But if you‘re talking about representation in Asia itself rather the dark skin representation in the west then yes you’re right . We only see light skinned asian actors on asian media wether it’s India, Pakistan, china, japan, Thailand etc. its the same in the Middle East I never saw any dark skinned actors in middle eastern shows growing up middle eastern( I’m kurdish btw)

[@rkabcdefg]

@@shenaegoodwill2609 but try walking around Southeast Asia during the summer seasons tho💀

[@shirley444]

Even in Asian tv and movies, the actors are all fair skinned and light skinned

[@april.r.6821]

How many Asians are represented in Black cast movies too? They are Asians for crying out loud, they have their culture and being tan isn't one of their biggest dreams. I was surprised at first then I read up on why they always prefer pale skin and I just let them do their thing without so much criticism. We blacks want to be everywhere but we can not. Because someone does not want to be dark doesn't mean they hate blacks or something. Asians have their languages too, some are even homogenous. Honestly, can't we blacks have our own production too rather than want us wanting to be part of other people’s culture? The thing is, I am black and living in a native black community in Nigeria. It's not bed of roses here too, we have tribes that are prejudicial against each other. It's not just even in Nigeria alone, a friend even told me that African Americans in the UK were racist towards him. If we that are blacks are like that towards one another, what do we expect of other races?

[@KingAsante]

You nailed this nuanced conversation about colorism. Such an important topic 👏🏽

[@khadijatadegboyega3640]

Hey asante

[@es-jm5fg]

also tired of whenever we do actually get a dark skin actor/actress it’s always for the slavery, police brutality etc movies/tv shows. I’m tired of it. I need more psychological thriller/horror etc, movies were the cast is dark skin!! 🙄🙄🙄

[@chrissyb.8129]

Yess as horror/psychological thriller lover I would like to see a dark skin black woman lead that isn’t based on slavery/racial trauma.

[@isimioyekunlemarktaiwo3643]

jordan peele with US and NOPE is one. but yea we do need more of that.

[@blackskyboii]

@@isimioyekunlemarktaiwo3643 Here's a list of MOVIES/TV SHOWS with good REPRESENTATION of black people. Without drug, gang, violence, struggle (depending how realistic the struggle is), or even trauma. And please let me know if you like any of them. 1. Really love? (Movie) 2. Waves (Movie) 3. Mississippi Masala (Movie) 4. Abbot Elementary (Tv Show) 5. The Last Black Man In San Francisco (Movie) 6. Akeelah and the Bee (Movie) 7. Pride (Movie) 8. Moonlight (Movie) 9. Discarded Things (Movie) 10. Our family wedding (movie) 11. Sex Education (Tv Show) 12. The boy who harnessed the wind (Movie) 13. Grand Army (Tv Show) 14. Grandma's House (Movie) 15. Drumline (Movie) 16. The Sea Beast (Movie) 17. Brown Sugar (Movie) 18. Namste Wahala (Movie) 19. Mr. Malcolm's List (Movie) 20. LE PRINCE OUBLIÉ (Movie) 21. Canvas (Netflix short) 22. The lovebirds (Movie) 23. Rocks (Movie)

[@Mayah135]

Lovecraft country is good too. But it stars a black man with a biracial woman (Jussie Smollett's sister)

[@blackskyboii]

@@Mayah135 Do you noticed they put dark-skinned men with light-skinned/biracial women in every movie and tv shows?!?! For me I personally don't care but the issue is that Hollywood wouldn't put a dark-skinned women on screen. Like it's not that difficult to do 💀💀🥺😭

[@dria3971]

I agree with everything you said, but don’t forget that light skin and biracial are different.

[@vvitchuntt2983]

thanks for mentioning this

[@javencummins1426]

Most of the actors picked are biracial that happen to also be lightskin.

[@UrbanAlchemystic]

Interesting cuz it wasn't much of a difference back then it wasn't until when black became trendy that the disassociation between the two began. Lighter skin so-called blacks always identified with biracials back in the day and mentioned what they were mixed with. Now it's selective Amnesia and social shapeshifting

[@travionhenson562]

@@UrbanAlchemystic But there should have always been a difference between biracials and light-skins because not all biracials are light-skinned so it makes no sense to categorize them as the same. There are brownskin and darkskin biracials aswell

[@johanaforever965]

Fr, if the actor is light-skinned but has 2 black parents it’s totally okay to them to play a fully black character otherwise if the actor is biracial, they should play a biracial character, that’s how it’s work.

[@janb92]

They want diversity while still being “comfortable”. I’m light skinned black but both of my parents are black so even I don’t relate to a lot of these biracial light skinned people……

[@M.Elle-]

Hear, hear. I have two Black parents, all my grandparents and great grandparents are Black. I’m fair and was born with dark auburn hair but best believe I cannot identify with nor relate to biracial on any level. I didn’t grow up with an identify crisis, not knowing where I fit in, etc. Everyone knows I’m a Black woman, I haven’t been mistaken for mixed/biracial. I don’t have an issue with biracial people, but when they try to connect with me in the “Ugh, it’s so hard. We are not Black enough for the Black people and not white enough for the white people” spiel, I set them straight that I’ve never had that issue and I’m not going to pretend I have. It irks me when Black people say “Well, the white people see everyone as Black” because that is a lie. 1) Stop going by what the white say 2) They can definitely tell the difference between mixed race and light skinned Black people, especially women. They created the entire system of racism and colorism (which is not limited to only Black peoples) they most certainly know whose who.

[@janb92]

@@M.Elle- I also have a huge issue with people I know personally who excuse blatant racism because they have a soft spot for the racist side of their family and won’t call them out 😒

[@free22]

@@M.Elle- White people cannot tell the difference between biracial and light skinned. At all. There are people who think Prince was mixed to this day. And yes, light skinned and biracial are both viewed as black in this country. Some people may view lighter skinned people as more “acceptable” but this is still very much a country that views all black people as black. Go to some South American countries where Beyoncé would not be considered black by most anyone due to her skin shade. What you are arguing for would make sense there.

[@user-hp5cf5kf8k]

​​@@free22 beyoncé is kinda mixed so she's not really a good example of a light-skinned black person since her mum is multiracial. she also has coloured eyes and 3c hair which most light-skinned black people don't.

[@SkippyLaughlin]

What I love about ginny and Georgia is thay ginny is biracial and they actually acknowledge her individual experience. Even if the writing isn't the best. She knows she doesn't look like her mom.

[@limofootball]

I hated the character.

[@blaquelightning6149]

Same with Rue

[@vixenx7800]

@@blaquelightning6149 she has a black mom though

[@trxphywaifalt]

@@vixenx7800 and so does the character who plays Ginny irl. Her mom is dark skinned & her dad is white.

[@kevinmiranda706]

You mentioned before that no show has 2 love interests who are black. One Of Us Is Lying is the only show (that I can think of) that has a black gay couple. The first season… exists, but season 2 is such an improvement

[@beaniesonna3052]

If they have a fully black couple, they make them gay! Same in partnertrack. It is rare to see black couples in TV nowadays

[@Jessica.Shawnte]

The last black couple I remember is from Grand army

[@dean1111]

really would you recommend the show? because i thought it kinda sucked

[@ateeras_lens]

@@beaniesonna3052 and what’s wrong with that?

[@Imetwurld_]

​@@beaniesonna3052 partners track was so boring oh Lord .🥴😹😹

[@Wildopal]

I am an unambiguous black woman who is an actor and the other day I looked up the top black actresses in Hollywood and the search turned up Zandaya, Zoe Kravitz, Taylor Russell, and Amandla Steinberg. All of which are biracial. I feel like a lot of this comes from the black community rushing to give are blackness away to non-black and mixed people. I personally believe that you need two black parents to be black. When an actress is a darker skin black woman, she's usually plus size and presents as masculine. I pray for the day when we can see feminine dark skin black women in film and television who aren't associated with slavery, poverty, and sexual exploitation. It's the erasure of our image in media. This is an on the same topic but Rhonda Rhimes's Bridgeton was such a disappointment to me because I thought that we would get a black leading lady in the show not a love story between a yt woman and a biracial man.

[@free22]

We definitely need more darker skinned actresses on television. But the focus should mot be on whether an actress is biracial or “sufficiently” black. Thats replacing the paper bag test with the dna test. Also, not all light skinned black people are biracial. I have met people lighter than Prince with two black parents. And of course, Prince was not biracial. The focus should be on including black peoples of many different skin tones.

[@sseraphim2818]

@@free22 If you say the focus is darker skinned actresses, then it definitely does matter if the actress is biracial when they are used to represent black women constantly. Why is it that light skinned, biracial actresses are cast in the place of black women? Where are all the different shades of monoracial black women?

[@free22]

@@sseraphim2818 Biracial people are already part of the black community in the US. The US is not like other countries that have a separate ethnic category for mixed versus non-mixed black people. The issue is not that biracial people cannot represent the black community but that they are more frequently selected to be the only representatives. There should be black actresses with light, medium, and dark skin tones in media with both mono- and bi-racial backgrounds.

[@free22]

@@sseraphim2818 I’d like to add that if the US were to draw a hard line between mixed and non-mixed black people, you would end up with a drastically smaller black population. Only 25% of African Americans have 100% African ancestry.

[@bubeudeh]

@@free22 this. is. the. comment.

[@fabibibine]

But I do like biracial people being represented as biracial. Instead of them being cast as having 2 black parents

[@chrissyb.8129]

Agree!

[@ITSRACHELNINA]

This.

[@melodi2036]

Yes! As a kid, I was always excited to see interracial parents when I heard/saw a well known mixed actress in a show. And then they'd always just give her a dark/brown skin dad and a mixed or light skin mom? And so it just looks like "girls are light and boys are dark" and that's just a known rule of genetics

[@trinaq]

Tika Sumpter is one of my favourite dark skinned black actresses, and she always looks wonderful, no matter the project. In the Sonic movies, the fact that she's married to a white man is normalised, similarly in her TV show "Mixedish", about a mixed race family in the 1980's.

[@reclusivewidow9933]

Lupita Nyong'o is one of my favorite actresses

[@LeeMubai33]

I like her, too. Although it's indicative of a whole other issue that in the 2 biggest projects of her career, she is paired with white men. I believe it was the same when she was doing soaps.

[@ashley.bankss]

And this is why I will always support shows like Insecure, Chewing Gum, Bel Air, Abbott Elementary, and so many more

[@kiara_lofi]

I was telling someone this the other day and they told me I was crazy because if the person has black in them no matter what they're black. Like wtf There's nothing wrong with being biracial or multiracial. The erasure of black people/dark skinned people is so concerning and alot of people don't realize it. Hearing someone say "it's a black lead" but the person is light skinned and their features are more Caucasian and its really their hair giving them away is so strange to me ngl

[@kiara_lofi]

Oh also having dark skinned parents and children who look bi racial is a next thing I see happening. Not saying two dark skinned parents can't have a lighter complexion child. But it's the child looking blantely biracial it really asks "what's the message?" Plus the personalities with the complexions is just so stereotypical and problematic asf🤦🏾‍♀️

[@sadesuarez2954]

@@kiara_lofi lol lets not forget the black families where the men (father and son) are ALWAYS darker than the women (mother and daughter), who most of the time tend to be played by biracial actresses

[@kiara_lofi]

@@sadesuarez2954 and that's the tea👀💀 I be like okay

[@chiiix33]

We’re the only ones expected to be okay with it. If there were no light skinned or biracial actors, it would be an issue to them. If biracial actors filled the majority of white roles because they “have a drop of white in them”, it would be a problem for white people.

[@truvy_5544]

Jim Crow brainwashed a lot of ppl with the brown bag and one drop rule

[@icouldntthinkofaname8916]

Can we just please call them what they are? Mixed these characters are MIXED one of the main reasons mixed people keep filling in representation for actual black people is because black people keep claiming that mixed=black when it doesn’t and that’s okay. It’s okay to be black and it’s okay to be mixed but those two aren’t interchangeable I also find it very funny how it’s not hard for these directors to find a darkskin man but when it comes to a dark black girl apparently there’s no one to cast in the role.. lol

[@daisykisses8803]

I’ve read no lies in your comment.

[@joym9938]

As a mixed person I completely agree.

[@stepahead5944]

Context: it isn't a Black people decision. The Black community may perpetuaye the one drop rule but they didn't create it. It's part of white supremacy as a whole, and nonblack people DEFINITELY reinforce this too.

[@v.e9697]

💯

[@SunnyFl15]

I’ll go even harder in the convo cause most of these shows will show Dark skin men and light skin women but very rarely show light skin men and dark skin women….. it’s weird … idk why they hate our beautiful skin lol but wanna be us so bad…

[@snekgewehr]

I literally ALWAYS see that. ALWAYS. I can count on my fingers a movie where that doesn’t happen (knives out glass onion)

[@froggygirl999]

also i see it alot with the advertisements in my country. if it features a black woman, it is almost always a black woman with lighter skin and curly hair. no braids, no locs. and no dark skin. its honestly insane bc once u see the pattern u cant stop.

[@bussy383]

No because let's talk about it. Why do I rarely see my skin tone in shows and Holywood

[@mensahnicole]

you can also name this video “what is kenya barris’ obsession with mixed people?” and we can have the same conversation 😃

[@jasminesemujju3016]

THISSSS

[@chrissyb.8129]

He is obsessed and it’s becoming obvious. But he shows are flopping tho

[@bri8944]

his creepy obsession is so crazy

[@deenaprice1524]

Every. Single. Show. Every single one! He has to make race mixing the main theme. Like... can you write about anything else? Anything!

[@sadesuarez2954]

Lightskinned and biracial are two different things. Also, i wouldnt include Ginny and Georgia in this since the whole point of the story is a biracial girl with identity issues

[@PsychicMedium4747]

True…but a person can be multigenerational mixed…meaning they have 2 biracial parents or multigenerational mixed parents.

[@anikasaladi657]

this reminds me of how amandla stenburg would be cast as every young black woman at one point because they were on the lighter side and they were an established, talented actor, even when some of those characters were described as darker in the book equivalent (like starr in the hate u give)

[@emmaabrakadabra546]

This made me think of the hunger games. In the book, Rue was described with a darker skin color than what she had in the movie.

[@RobynStephens]

Yes and still people were pissed about her being black in the movie when she and the people in her district were literally described as having very dark skin.

[@gdesiree29]

@@RobynStephens suzzan Collins made district 11 a majority black district so it made sense

[@vfr3589]

White people decided who’s in what movie

[@yasmineguerin2852]

same in the hate u give

[@emmaabrakadabra546]

@@yasmineguerin2852 it’s funny because it was the same actor haha.. but no hate to her

[@Hugo-G]

The last point you made is probably the key to your argument. White casting directors will keep going for lighter skinned actors for stories that aren't about race, because lighter skinned folks don't have to confront those issues daily and therefore their stories can appear more universal to white and POC audiences. However media created by POC do a better job of addressing colorism. For me that just says we need more POC creators making content, and given the opportunity to make content.

[@vfr3589]

It’s white people at the controls. Not biracial people. Hollywood doesn’t want dark skinned people. Take it up with them

[@dream3151]

Has anyone ever noticed that a lot of times when they have dark skin blk women on predominantly white show why are they Always bald?? Like there are no black/dark women with long hair or any hair for that matter.

[@mr.prince8701]

Shows like?

[@javencummins1426]

Idk all I can think of is the girl from Wednesday. Not sure what op is talking about.

[@m_ron2742]

Can you give some show examples? I can’t really think of many

[@dream3151]

Well there is Wednesday, gossip girl, 9-1-1, shows that be on ABC and nbc.. like blindspot most of the women in Black Panther. How to get away with murder they had that episode when Viola Davis took off her wig and makeup.

[@m_ron2742]

@@dream3151 oh wow you’re right I forgot about sum of those

[@chisomonthulane5920]

Coming from South Africa myself I love that you included Blood & Water in your list of series that have great black representation but I would also argue that South Africa is different from the US in that black people/people of colour make up the majority population-wise, hence why you'll generally find a lot more black people/POC in most of our shows here and it's usually a mix of both light and dark-skinned actors/actresses. It's something that's normal to us, not to say we don't have our own issues with colourism, representation, white supremacy, etc. It's just a tad different given the context of our history and being part of the African continent. Love your reviews, by the way, been watching for a bit and I love your observations on entertainment especially❤️

[@fallenwing25]

The lack of empathy some of these women have for our brown skinned sisters is highly frustrating and sad!

[@Justjenlibra]

I’m Mexican-American but I also see this in soap operas. The lead cast is usually light skin while the cleaning ladies, nanny’s or employees are usually a darker complexion. Also portrayed to be more uneducated or poor. Which I find annoying bc it’s just not what the real world exhibits. Everyone should be represented fairly and get opportunities, including lead roles in the media. Speaking up is so important to make changes to this!!! Just wanted to put that out there as well.

[@ras998]

You are doing Gods work. Im so glad your willing to have the tough conversations about racism and bias in Hollywood.

[@hellcomplex]

i absolutely loved this take on this topic! as a young girl, i dreamed of being an actress or model yet was told by people I was either too fat or too dark skinned or too "dark light skinned." So, hopefully with due time and understanding and learning, others aren't deterred or bullied out of the industry the way i was.

[@leah9159]

I wanted to add on to how black representation is getting better, in heartbreak high also includes blak representation (Aboriginal Australians) in Malachi and Missy

[@leshanloonena9033]

Idk, if anyone has pointed this out, but the lack of dark-skinned people in most Hollywood projects is why I appreciate that Bel-air has dark-skinned main characters. Aunt Viv, Uncle Phil, Vanessa, Geoffrey, Jazz and Carl are all played by people of various darker shades and I appreciate that kind of representation.

[@aphrodite5029]

Is anyone else just stalking Rgency channel waiting for the Ginny and Georgia commentary💀😭

[@avbw20]

me loooool

[@Aasmaa07]

Me too

[@imuRgency]

it’ll come sometime next week gimme some time

[@fairielikescake]

@@desturner866 this season was actually much better than the last one

[@oliviaormsby7114]

I know! I thought this was all about Ginny and Georgia

[@aishambengue3024]

You are speaking FACTS!! Plus another thing that I see is that anytime there's a dark skin character in a teen or young adult media they are always introduced during season two or even later,a supporting character, villianized or non existent. I'm glad that we are having more candid conversations about this and seeing a bit more darker skin characters . Hopefully we see more dark skinned people with in different stories or just able to have more variety especially women/ fem presenting women and I feel like I have hope that we will actually be in the forefront and not be an afterthought .

[@JulianSteve]

Thank you for this video, Rumi. I appreciate you for making this IMPORTANT video topic‼️I want to see more representation of Black people, especially brown and dark-skinned. Also, I secondhand agree on Black love stories too, especially in a good light. It’s about time🙌🏾‼️

[@RespecttheScreenplay]

As a black women and an actress myself, I hope to see the colorism barrier broken -- it's slowly happening and i welcome and support it!!

[@thekid8224]

There isn't a colourism barrier that only exist with black women in the west and island countries certainly not in Africa. And white see us all as black we're arguing among ourselves at this point

[@M.Elle-]

@@thekid8224 It doesn’t exist in Africa?? Then why is skin lightening so prevalent on the continent?

[@thekid8224]

@@M.Elle- its not prevalent, as a Ghanaian myself the large majority of africans are not belching their skin. Asia now yes they but in Africa its a small portion no where enough to say its prevalent. Even in the west there's so much talk of bleaching while only a small portion of black people are bleaching

[@langstonj2476]

totally agree! This is one reason I like All-American so much . . . Spencer, the MC, is darker skin, and so is his family. But you have lighter skin/mixed characters too, which shows there's space for black people of all skin tones and hair textures on screen (and sexualities - as one of the most beloved characters is a queer, dark skin black woman). I will say though that unfortunately, there are more light skin female characters than dark skin ones . . . but the dark skin female characters are well-written, complex and fan favorites. Honestly it was just nice to see a show with Black people being people :) Thanks for the video!

[@aishambengue3024]

I definitely need to watch this show .

[@XCCoby96]

And All American: Homecoming! There's a range of skin tones.

[@ibisa79]

All American is an extremely colorist show. The pretty femine a extremely desirable female characters are portrayed by biracial. Whereas the masculine butch lesbian is portrayed by a dark skinned actress. Which reinforce the idea that lightskin is feminine while dark skin is masculine.

[@langstonj2476]

@@ibisa79 I don't disagree that All-American has issues with colorism. But you are forgetting about Kia, Spencer's ex. She's a dark skin young Black woman, but is portrayed positively as a social activist, community organizer and someone who cares deeply about Crenshaw and the people in her community. She's a strong character but is also feminine, pretty and attractive - and actually she inspires some of the lighter skin female characters to take social justice and issues in their community more seriously (along with them becoming friends). In a confrontation with Spencer, it's revealed that she actually broke up with him bc of his temper and needing to prove himself that strained their relationship. She's not the angry black woman or a superhero, just someone with a big heart and willing to put that on display for the people around her. Again, I wish there were MORE characters like this in All American and in american media in general, but I'm very thankful for her presence in the show and the good writing around her :)

[@nicolesherman8974]

We also need to see more Kiki Layne, Lovie Simone, Teyonah Paris, etc in more films 🗣️!

[@aishambengue3024]

Periodt!!!! They're awesome.

[@beaniesonna3052]

Ajionah Alexus so beautiful

[@ruhsaanjones4750]

@@beaniesonna3052 I want to see more of her too.

[@ruhsaanjones4750]

💯💯💯

[@jxstjada]

heavy on Lovie, such an underrated actress 😭

[@DawnNa_22]

What’s really amazing is the gaslighting darker skinned women receive when they ask for something as simple as positive representation. I’ve been told that there’s plenty of it already as the person then references women from 90s tv and film; I’ve been told to be patient because times are changing (when they’re getting worse); I’ve even been told it’s somehow “ungodly” to even want to see it because that would mean it placing myself on a pedestal… The mental gymnastics people do to justify their own internalized colorism is insane to me.

[@Queen-ConsciousYa]

They are not trying to show representation for the darker black brothers and sisters. They want to keep it light as possible to keep everything going and erase our melanin. Melanin=power and creativity.

[@amishbee2879]

I hope there’s also more spaces including darker Asian actors as well

[@jasminebeavins770]

Thanks!

[@imuRgency]

omgg thank YOU

[@jasminebeavins770]

@@imuRgency you deserve it !

[@the.genius7362]

Hey Bestie, I can chip in 'Darby and the Dead' as one of those movies that's going in the right direction in the context of this topic considering they casted a brown-skinned/ dark-skinned black girl as the main character and a popular girl.

[@justbento2885]

FINALLY!!! Somebody is saying something about this. It’s absolutely ridiculous.

[@indiashante1560]

I'm a light skinned Black woman and what blows my mind is a lot of times it's biracial people in these "Black" roles. I want to see all shades of Blackness like I see in the real world.

[@justmebeinghonest]

USA is not the entire world, there is a lot of lightskinned black people only in the US because of slavery and mixing. Most sub-saharian africans people are not lightskinned, unless the one who are mixed. Yall contaminate the world with your slaves concepts. Don't your realize ? Now, even in France blacks who have no connection with the history of the United States and the paper bag are classified with these terms of lightskin/darkskin, etc. You are sick and you are destroying all cultures by americanizing everything.

[@nm6763]

não existe negro de pele clara. black and light skin? make no sense

[@nm6763]

you are biracial/mixed not black

[@justmebeinghonest]

@@nm6763 she may be mixed but she's not biracial. To be biracial, you have to have two parents of two different races. Mixed does not equal biracial. Biracial is mixed but Mixed is not only biracial mixing !

[@kyle-bi1uu]

i’m glad you mentioned the tim burton thing. as a tim burton fan it hurt when i found out about his statements about black characters in his stories. i didn’t want to support wednesday, or any of his upcoming work, because of it. and then i heard that in wednesday he made black characters villains i was livid! not to mention all the support it was getting n success + i saw your review while scrolling through youtube. but i eventually watched it n saw how he had black characters and they weren’t really villains. at least bianca wasn’t. i’m saying all of this to say that i appreciate you speaking on this topic because it’s genuinely a problem.

[@Ella]

whenever i see these discussions i think back to the hunger games. rue and thresh other tribute from her district are both described as dark skinned in the books. however when casting came out for the movie the little girl who played rue (a light skinned girl) got villainized because readers imagined her as white. this criticism wasn’t thrown at the thrash who was indeed played by a dark skinned man. it’s tragic to see how colorism intersects with particularly young black women.

[@avainspired]

For real lets talk about it! My dream is to create indie coming of age media surrounding dark skin black women and also things inspired by magical girls and y2k.

[@wowok1272]

Bruh I’ve been wanting to see a movie like that for the longest time

[@londonfleurina2388]

PLEASEEE

[@procreatedara4562]

WHAT THE WINX REBOOT SHOULD HAVE BEEN!!!

[@yasmineguerin2852]

YESS

[@chevelle921]

Oh please do because this is all I want in life

[@bubeudeh]

13:03 i was yelling this internally the entire video and a recent example that quite literally couldnt leave my head was that kid cudi movie on netflix ... just beautiful .

[@perplexed1783]

Because of colorism

[@M.Elle-]

It is more than colorism. Phenotype matters, as does hair texture and what is palatable to a white audience.

[@user-hp5cf5kf8k]

the thing that annoyed me about ginny & georgia is the fact that she is so clearly biracial/ambiguous but they wrote the character like she had the same struggles and experience as a darkskin or fully black person like girl would cry racism at every small thing

[@javierlopez9789]

Maybe because racism doesnt only apply to black People despite how much you want to believe otherwise.

[@CreativeC13]

I think they did a good job of writing from the perspective of a mixed girl at a PWI and in a very white environment... you are treated as "Black."

[@hmandlas258]

Look at him coming through with the editing skills 😍😍🔥

[@jibarabicha4853]

Thank you for making a video about this. I am not black myself, but have noticed this trend too and always thought of the kind of messaging they are sending darker skin females in particular with this type casting.

[@hhr7271]

There is a similar issue in Indian Film industry. They might cast darker skin toned men, but it's almost never a darker skin toned women. Most of the time she is pale, or much much lighter skinned. (Even in the south, when the majority of people there are darker, and the women especially have such amazing Indian features, but never get represented).

[@mikealan1984]

I remember the backlash with starfire on titans being played by Ann Diop who is a gorgeous black actress and after the reviews came out the critics said she was the best thing about the show

[@SuperAH1985]

It's been interesting to binge the old shows on Hulu: Family Matters, Moesha, Sister Sister, Fresh Prince, The Parkers, etc. There is so much collective talent and so much diversity within the Black families and communities that were being shown, that it begs the question where that energy went because it seemed like they all ended late 90s early 2000s and then we see almost exclusively only the white family shows for like at least a decade. I will say, rewathing Fresh Prince with my son and seeing the 4th season start with a totally different Aunt Viv who was also many shades lighter has been interesting (I remember parts of the issues back in the day, but I was pretty young and don't know exactly why they switched aunts). The other odd thing I've noticed when it comes to Black actresses is that if the character is a very young child, she can and often is very dark skinned...and if she's an older woman/grandma she can be darker skinned. Every other Black woman in between like 15 and 45 needs to be light skinned even if she is the daughter/sister/parent of the dark skinned person. It's subconsciously saying that the casting/producers want to sell an ambiguous exotic ideal during the "sexualized" years that much younger girls and much older women in a show don't need to fall into.

[@XCCoby96]

That's why I enjoy All American: Homecoming. It's an all Black cast with a range of skin tones that tell a good story. Definitely support that show.

[@bs1512]

Actuallyyy uhm look at every female feminine presenting main character is actually light skin as well.

[@XCCoby96]

@@lerga14 All American: Homecoming and not the original one. I think you misread. Plus, there is Simone and Grace???

[@XCCoby96]

@@bs1512 Wrong. Simone and Grace. And I mentioned the spin off specifically.

[@XCCoby96]

@@lerga14 Grace? Spencer's mother?

[@XCCoby96]

@Courtney Jones You should. It's worth the watch, in my opinion. All Black cast, which can be rare.

[@tylachad6102]

It’s crazy seeing the black experience on tv written by white people. Even when it’s written by black people it’s always set in a white world. Some black people grow up in black/brown environments where their race isn’t as big a thing as it would be around white people. Also, black communities are SO diverse. Even within our own families, shades ranges from a very light complexion to very dark complexions. Them always casting biracials to play black people will always make me think of how they believe the one drop rule.

[@rejectionisprotection4448]

I can only think of "Insecure" which had majority Black cast of all different shades.

[@Seraphina.Is.]

As a dark skinned actress …. The amount of roles I lost because I was “too dark” is… astonishing. Absolutely astonishing.

[@photoshopped32]

We need Ginny and Georgia season 2 review!!

[@cuzimblk5719]

I need it too because I have a lot to say

[@photoshopped32]

@@cuzimblk5719 same!

[@Jessica.Shawnte]

It’s released already??

[@Zephlett]

Thank you for talking about this! It's incredibly important.

[@faithsmith8875]

The Chi on Showtime is a pretty good show! They do a good job about storytelling and casting for all the seasons and the main cast is all Black and non-black folks!

[@rayssen257]

No because I remember watching Euphoria then thinking there's no main character that is actually fully black, like McKay is black but he wasn't as big of a character as people like Maddie, Cassie, Rue, Nate etc, it just bothers me cause so many other shows are exactly the same

[@eddierascalhaskell4954]

They also did McKay dirty too.

[@rumbidzainyashaguruva1563]

One thing that I've recently realised and internalised is the fact that representation matters!!!! Thank you for your video raises some really good points about colorism. Similar opinions might continue to be ignored by the greater consensus, sadly. Main stream media is unarguably the greatest source of information and by virtue of that, wields the power to influence the masses, even subliminally (the sub-conscious is very malleable). I just wish the use of "token" black representation would stop and they'd give a chance to equally talented black actors and actresses

[@tumitoons7402]

I'm glad you mentioned the examples at the end of the video, of shows that are trying to cast darker skinned characters, I really am. But idk, I still feel like it's still very rare to get a show that has like a main protagonist who is dark skinned. I feel like with the shows you mentioned the dark skinned casts are still part of the main cast sure, but aren't necessarily the protagonists. Basically what I'm saying is I'd love to see a protagonists who is darker, like give me a Zoey or Rue but darker, right?

[@aviatress5643]

This seems to delve into the realm of “one drop rule” conversational territory and as a non American, I’m not inclined to join it because I feel there’s much I still don’t understand (and cause these tend to go awry). I have my opinions, obviously, but I’d rather just observe for now

[@NiaItalia]

It’s a HUGE problem. Thank you for talking about it

[@Carritube]

Man I love how you articulate all the points really well in this video ✨🙌🏾 going to bookmark this for when people keep saying why we drag race into everything, it's much bigger issue, I really love the way you eloquently explained everything, thank you 💗

[@PrimodialCreations]

This is why I so appreciate Tyler Perry’s ‘Sistas’ show. All of the characters are different complexions and come from different walks of life. It’s very rare to see a show marketed for mainstream with such a diverse display of Black, White and Biracial Black people. I think it’s one of the best casts Ive seen outside of Issa Raye’s shows. However I would like to see a truely diverse cast of all people of different ethnicies and complexions. While examining the complexities of differences, how the world and the shows’ world interprets the differences.

[@norakirkland5551]

Also is it just me or when films have black protagonists or supporting roles, the girls are usually lighter skinned than the guys? Like the greatest showman, the hunger games and Thug are the first ones that come to my mind but I feel like its not a coincidence.

[@rejectionisprotection4448]

It's not just you. It's a real phenomenon.

[@javierlopez9789]

And is that... Bad?

[@rejectionisprotection4448]

@@javierlopez9789 Sure is. BW are being erased. If this was happening to DSBM, AM or HM, then you'd certainly hear about it AND it would be taken more seriously.

[@elimo3901]

Great video as always, haven't seen one in a while, but you are definitely one of my favorite creators to watch and follow. This is a topic I feel strongly about as a biracial woman myself. Again not to discredit any of the actors, but since the 80s/90's the Black/person of colour protagonist, especially as a woman, was light skin. For instance Coco in 'Fame' (irene Cara, Puerto rican/Cuban, rest her soul), Alex in 'Flashdance' (Jennifer Beals) who is ambiguous, and Denise Huxtable (Lisa Bonet), a biracial woman, on 'The Cosby Show', but cast as a black woman. Like many are mentioning in the comments for a really long time biracial actors were cast either as ambiguous or as black characters with two black parents. Just like Angelina Jolie was cast as a mixed raced woman, Mariane Pearl, in 'A Mighty heart', which is based on real events, and Zoe Saldana as a Nina Simone in 'Nina'. That's why I'm thankful for stories like the movie 'Yelling to the Sky' (2011) and the show 'High Fidelity' (2020), both starring Zoe Kravitz, that actually acknowledge that she is a biracial character. Shows like 'Living Single' (1993-98) and 'Girlfriends' (2000-08) did show a more diverse cast regarding blackness, but the protagonist was still light skin. On a newer show like 'Grown-ish' I think Yara Shahidi is initially cast because it was a spin off 'Black-ish', and she also has pretty privilege like a lot of actors in general. Like you said light skin black people or biracial actors are still playing the role of the black character. Zendaya is evidence of this, and Beyonce also has this privilege, where both seem more relatable for a white audience, because of their lighter skin tone, less texturized hair and more ethnocentric features. Since watching cartoons and teenage shows from the 80s/90s the villain, often always had black hair, so the villainizing of the darkest person is still a thing. Did not know this about Tim Burton and it disappoints me as a fan of his work. Other times it is of course the best person cast for the role, which I think of Meryl Cassie in the Australian teen show 'The Tribe' (2000) and Tati Gabrielle on 'The Chilling Adventures of Sabrina the Witch" (2018). I think the first black protagonist I saw, with the exception of Eddie Murphy, was Keshia Knight Pulliam as Polly in 'Polly: Comin' Home!' (1990). It was the black version of PollyAnna, which for some unknown reason is not available on Disney + even though it is a Disney production. Gabourey Sidibe as Precious in 'Precious' (2009) and Adepero Oduye as Alike in 'Pariah' (2011) both made an impression on me as black female protagonists when these films came out and are both films that I still like very much. We can all agree that the tendency right now is to check all the boxes when it comes to diversity on film and TV, when it comes to gender, ethnicity and sexuality. When it is normalized it will probably not be as a visible or forced agenda. It's especially prevalent in fashion, where the fashion industry has gone from only using one black model (Naomi Campbell) to using 'the token black model' to becoming a bit obsessed with showing brown and black models, where the majority is still the biracial model or black model with a lighter skin tone. In fashion just like in the film industry, we want to see brown and black people both in front of and behind the camera, so that the story being told feels more authentic and less clichéd. I think it won't be long before we will see a dark-skinned protagonist in an American/Australian/British production. Did you consider writing the show that you had envisioned? Here in Denmark we had our first limited TV show with an all African diaspora cast, written by the featured actor Diem Camille. It's called "Bad Bitch" and is already nominated for a prize. Check it out if you get the chance. Sorry for the rant, welcome to my TED talk.

[@mitchell7535]

Shoutout to my buddy Agape Mngomezulu playing Byron the love interest for Bracia in Ginny and Georgia season 2, Swaziland native darkskin king!

[@radwamohamed_]

It annoys me that Hollywood cast Amanda Stenberg for black representation. You can't tell me that she was the only black girl who auditioned. They obviously chose her cause she is light-skinned or biracial. Don't get me wrong she is talented and I'm not blaming her but it just annoys me. Also you barely see black couples like what is the obsession with white men as the main love interest. A lot of time you see an ethnic girl with white guy but not their own people or any other race.

[@lizabetx483]

Ginny and Georgia specifically tells the story of the relationship between a teenage biracial girl and her white mother. Biracial and Multiracial people also need their stories and perspectives to be told. The actress Antonia Gentry is not stealing the role from a "darker skinned" actress. The problems starts when mixed people are called black , they have their own racial category. They are not just light skinned. And black is a color not a race!

[@Funnymombecca]

I grew up as an inner city kid in NY watching black family shows from the 80’s and 90’s. (Family matters, Living single, In living color,Sister sister, Fresh Prince,The Cosby show, Moesha, Martin, Keenan and Kel, the Waynes Brothers, Sinbad, Smart guy… etc) I feel like the family shows After that just weren’t as good so they weren’t as popular. But it’s weird that people have completely forgotten about these popular shows. Everyone is acting like black and brown faces are now just becoming popular on television. 🤔

[@caitlina5776]

Such a frustrating pattern to see. Really appreciate you and everyone in the comments shouting out their favorites that break this trend!

[@jxstjada]

what annoys me the most about this topic is how it dangerously spins into real life. Take, for example, fancasters. I've seen way too many (I've noticed that most of them r white, not saying all of them ofc, but most) people fancast lighter-skinned/mixed actors for the role of darker-skinned/monoracial characters. Case point 1: When the casting announcements for Fate: The Winx Saga were released, many nostalgia-blinded fans were outraged/disappointed (rightfully so in some cases; see Flora and Musa), so they naturally began forming their own fancasts. I've noticed a trend/pattern with most of them after scrolling through HOURS of fancasts; Amandla Sternburg, Zendaya, Laura Harrier, Vanessa Morgan, Jaylen Barron, and Yara Shahadi were who I've noticed, and only a handful (I'm literally not joking) would suggest China Anne McClain, Justine Skye, Ryan Destiny, Skai Jackson, Lovie Simone, Coco Jones, etc. What bothers me about most of these fancasts is that they claim that a darker-skinned actress was insufficient for a dark-skinned character and that a lighter-skinned/mixed actress is preferable for the role. (I remember someone fancasting Imani Lewis as Aisha from Winx Club, and then someone in the comments said Zendaya/Amandla Sternberg is a better choice for the role; sickening) Case point 2: When the casting for Nickelodeon MH's live-action film was announced, I remembered how the MH fandom reacted in SHAMBLES. Everyone was either displaying transphobia or racism. Of course, there were others who were (rightfully) offended by Clawdeen's casting. They would even go so far as to post negative comments on Miia Harris' Instagram, such as "You're not black enough" and "The black community will ruin your career," among other things. Furthermore, they would naturally go into a fan-casting frenzy, and, surprise, surprise, they wanted Zendaya to play Clawdeen. What irritates me the most about these "fancasts" is how people would cry that Miia is mixed and therefore should not have been casted for this role, however Zendaya is also mixed. So it begs the question, why were they complaining about Clawdeen being a dark-skinned girl but yet fancasting a mixed, lighter-skinned one in the process WHILE ALSO saying that Miia (who is mixed) isn't fit for the role? The hypocrisy astounds and perplexes me. Side note: I recall someone suggesting that Vanessa Morgan play Clawdeen. I told them Vanessa is a few shades lighter than the character and she shouldn't play her, and they went on to say things like "well, I'm not looking at skin tone lmao, I just believe she looks like the character" (which she doesn't imo, but wtv they say ig) And this isn't limited to these two characters; there are TONS of dark-skinned characters who SHOULD BE portrayed by dark-skinned actresses, period, but fancasters' internalized colorism prevents them from casting a dark-skinned actress for them, and it irritates me when they come up with some annoying shxt like they don't know darker-skinned actresses. You can find them; you just don't want to. Google them, locate them on Tiktok, idk, they exist; please fancast them.

[@alydarneaud3117]

Havent even watched the video yet and already agree. Thank you for calling it out🙌🏽

[@Biboche23]

I feel like in the past 20yrs they actually did cast more darker skin people for representation in the 90s or 2000s but in recent like 6 yrs or so bow it’s literally more biracial or lighter skin seen as representation of black people. I feel like social media (especially tiktok) had a lot to do with that especially in these shows targets towards younger people and teen soaps. It’s unfortunate. There are still movies and shows that do but yeah its been a pattern even more so recently unfortunately especially in America. In France or England for exemple even tho there is racism there too we definitely have more darker skin represented in media even for the smaller amount of black people represented

[@rejectionisprotection4448]

No, in the UK it's just as bad if not worse. The DSBM with light skin/biracial or white lead is so common that if it were different I'd be genuinely shocked.

[@mazvitaselemani]

It's not even nowadays, I actually covered colourism in Hollywood in an English PowerPoint presentation in my first year of uni. I always find it fascinating

[@gamer1X12]

Yall cant be mad at this. The black community itself has worshipped light skin for the longest. Also, a lot of black people claim biracials as fully black, so why yall mad about it now? This is the result of our own actions.

[@glitbow7630]

Nobody’s mad they’re just sensitive

[@tiffanyfraser5568]

Being light skinned and biracial are not mutually exclusive. There are black people who can be light skinned without having a black and a white parent 🤷🏽‍♀️

[@Sascha1804]

Still the same to me

[@SuperCandy52]

As an actress myself, one thing I noticed is that the more famous the biracial light-skinned women/girl the least talent they have. People will hype them up as if they know how to act when they don't. They will get all these awards even though they are not good. The rose-tinted glass will stay on no matter what. Those same people will also call out fully black women who are not light skin if they do badly at acting. Even if they have better acting abilities than the most famous light-skinned biracial woman out. That always annoys me. Luckily that will not stop me from acting.

[@M.Elle-]

I’m so glad someone pointed this out! It is the doggone truth! The lack of talent these girls have should be questioned more! Why are they given the opportunity to work hard when it is evident they are one dimensional? Im a light skinned black woman and I want to get into acting so bad, definitely want to do the actual work and see where it goes, but I don’t want to be seen as another light skinned woman who only got by based on color. This is what no one talks about; when the dominate face is only there due to colorism and have no talent, it makes it hard for others who have the drive and desire to actually make it. I don’t want to be a part of something just because my look matches the other mediocre people.

[@SuperCandy52]

@@M.Elle- Sorry for the late reply. I just get frustrated because we have so much talented Black women but they get trashed. No offense, but we got Zendayas and Yaras who can't act but get lifted up. I have seen so many black women get called out for acting the same or even better than that. You should go for your dream and let your actions speak for themselves. I believe you could do wonderful ❤️

[@pollypocket2743]

I think that it may also be relevant to mention the history of light skinned black people being used to appeal to white people's empathy. White abolitionists trying to convince other white people to oppose slavery would often use photos and stories of light skinned black people, especially those who could pass as white, to make other white people see slavery as something that could affect those who looked like them. In such cases, the attention given to light skinned people was not necessarily for the benefit of black people as a whole, but catered solely to the sympathies of the white public. I think that the use of light skinned black people in media as representative of the entire African-American experience draws a number of comparisons, particularly when the justification for excluding dark skinned black people is that white people see them as less relatable or more threatening. It makes it clear that the so-called representation isn't really for black people, even light skinned ones, and is instead done so that shows can claim that they're "diverse" while still prioritizing the views and stories of white people.

[@rejectionisprotection4448]

That's EXACTLY it.

[@vfr3589]

THANK YOU! This is exactly what I’ve been trying to say!!

[@hugsandfries7252]

I REALLY think it’s important that you make a distinction between biracial (at least half white or otherwise) and light skin black people. Biracials get way more privilege and representation.

[@Sascha1804]

No they don’t

[@HeyItsKali]

Auditions have definitely been harder to come by lately and when I do get them.. hopefully there will be more black representation ❤

[@pixi3d3ath47]

my take: it’s a way to add diversity points without actually having to have any sort of insight on how blackness affects their character. it’s also a lazy way of writing black characters-you can just add whatever it is you want no matter how unrelated to actual black people then cast someone black to play them. (ex: malcolm and marie) i’ve met maybe a few mixed girls in my life, and still blackness can’t just be erased. they always seem to discuss how they aren’t either black or white enough, which i empathize with but could never understand as someone just black.

[@honestlyamara]

IM GLAD YOU BRUNG IT UP CAUSE IVE BEEN DYING TO TALK ABOUT IT! FIRST OF ALL-