Happy in my Own Skin
Based on Harry Reid’s recent comment, people thought Harry was just another crazy old white Democrat; Joe Biden’s fraternal twin…separated at birth. However, as it turns out Reid is as wise as Aesop, and as prophetic as Nostradamus. For years white people have been killing themselves to become black, and finally turnabout is fair play, as black people are now killing themselves to become white. People just don’t seem comfortable with the skin they’re in.
And skin-lightening is not just for blacks, but is a multi-cultural phenomenon, as this report in the NY Times suggests:
Dermatologists nationwide are seeing women of Hispanic and African descent, among others, with severe side effects…from the misuse of skin-lightening creams…But many others seek to lighten their entire face or large swatches of their body, a practice common in developing countries as disparate as Senegal, India and the Philippines, where it is promoted as a way to elevate one’s social standing.
And we have Harry Reid to thank for exposing this racist bias amongst Democrats, but we have Democrats and socialist around the world for exposing the pervasiveness of it all. They NYT story goes on to say,
Moreover, it is not as if dark-skinned women are imagining a bias, said Dr. Glenn, who is president of the American Sociological Association. “Sociological studies have shown among African-Americans and also Latinos, there’s a clear connection between skin color and socioeconomic status. It’s not some fantasy. There is prejudice against dark-skinned people, especially women in the so-called marriage market.
Who knew that all I needed to do to improve my socio-economic status was to stay out of the sun! If I had lived a life of leisure, perhaps I could have done this. It would have limited my interaction with the rest of the world, forcing me to walk around like “bubble boy,” or cocooned like those people with the rare condition where even the smallest amount of sun is carcinogenic. For all intents and purposes, getting sun is carcinogenic for blacks.making the sun somewhat of a racist! The sun…conspiring to keep brothers down!
Who knows what I could have achieved had I not grown up in the hot Texas sun. I swear I was a very light child growing up, so much so that I actually wanted to be darker. I could have “passed,” had it not been for my nappy hair.
I recall when my brother and I worked one summer for the son of the family who owned the ranch where we lived, and we were hired to cut trees in various clearings. That summer was Africa hot, and we worked in the peak of the heat every day, shirtless. I got so dark, that I didn’t recognize myself. I peeled for the first time in my life, and panicked not knowing what was happening to me! One of my white friends had to tell me what was happening, as I thought I had a dreaded disease.
On the blackness scale, I was “Alan Keyes black,” which is about a 9 out of 10 [Miles Davis is a 10 for those who may be wondering].
All the girls in Jr. High noticed that I was darker, but one actually told me that my color was…beautiful. And I must admit, after I finished peeling, I did look healthy and frankly…AWESOME! As the saying goes, “Once you go black…!”
Here’s the wrap:
I never looked back after that. I would never get that dark again, preferring to bounce between 6 and 7 versus the 9 I achieved that hot summer. But little did I know the effect it would have during my potential big income producing years.
Now that I am bald, had I kept my lighter visage, I might actually be able to pass at this stage in my life. However I have learn—the hard way—that past a certain age, the skin takes on a life of its own. After all, the skin is the biggest organ…and apparently the baddest! My skin has decided that between 6 and 7 is where I shall stay.
If I want to take my life in my own hands, I could pull a Michael Jackson and begin lightening my skin, in Mike’s case going from a 6 to a 1. Not much future in that, and it has been linked to pedophilia! Woody Allen is a 1 as well!
There is Sammy Sosa, who has gone from an 8 to a 3 on the blackness scale. However Sosa has made a lot more money than I, so he is free to do as he wishes. I on the other hand am a slave to my skin.
As a black Conservative, one would think that with all the vitriol I take from the Left that I would by now have experimented with these new creams, and I would be as white as Bebe Neuwirth. Yet, here I and other black Conservatives remain, proud of our culture, living in our own skin, and daring the sun not to shine on us.
I guess I will just ride out the rest of my life happy in the skin I’m in.
That’s my rant!
© 2009 Kevin Jackson – The Black Sphere – All Rights Reserved
26 Comments »
jj solari says:
January 17, 2010 at 8:57 pm
This is the first time Bebe Neuwirth has ever been mentioned in a blog. She has GOT to be thrilled.
Kevin Jackson says:
January 17, 2010 at 9:05 pm
@Rand – THANKS SO MUCH for supporting what I do financially! I have to tell you I love the support I get from everybody in their small ways, but speaking with the pocketbook is AWESOME! I truly appreciate it.
Janelle says:
January 17, 2010 at 9:19 pm
How odd or normal is it when some of the population go to tanning salons and some go to bleaching skin?
Mick says:
January 17, 2010 at 9:37 pm
Always thought, especially during the summer months, a tan was healthy looking vs the sickly white skin.
Many years ago a few of us went to the beach in early May. That was our first exposure to the sun after a long winter. Anyway the one that burned the worst was this black friend who really suffered. Have never seen such a horrible looking sight during and after he peeled. He really suffered!
JANELLE if health care is passed in its present form there will be a new tax for tanning booth services. But, there will be no tax for botox recipients like Senator Kerry of Massachusetts.
Stormbringer says:
January 17, 2010 at 10:13 pm
You have shown how there is racism in the black community, how lighter is better, so to speak. And yet we have foolish white people, who think that to be “cool” is to act, look and speak “ghetto”. I do not understand.
Tweets that mention Happy with the skin I'm in... | The Black Sphere -- Topsy.com says:
January 18, 2010 at 9:49 am
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Gregg says:
January 18, 2010 at 11:31 am
Stormbringer: White people want to emulate the “black” culture. The one that is a small minority that lives and breathes “thug life” and “pimpin”. Never could understand that. Unless they’d like to end up dead or in jail?
Kevin, another great rant. Keep up the good work and God bless you. You truly are an American success story!!
Liberal Fail says:
January 18, 2010 at 12:42 pm
Great article, keep it up I enjoy reading your insight. Glad you are happy in your own skin that is important haha. I am white but if I see an attractive black girl I take notice and try to get her number. But wait I am conservative and therefore automatically a racist so why would I do that????
Joe says:
January 18, 2010 at 2:02 pm
Learning to be content in whatsoever state one finds oneself is key to joy in life.
jj solari says:
January 18, 2010 at 4:20 pm
the real reason whites are imitating blacks is because white people are terrified of black people. and black people arent going away. except in haiti. so white people are trying to build up a “reservoir of friendship” so that if there some kind of trouble – or whatever – the white people who “have their black on” will be spared. now of course white people will scream and shout that this aint the case and that i need to have my head examined. and of course i DO need to have my head examined. but not about this. but about the gorgon in the cellar. and, no, i DON’T want to talk about it. oh, and parenthetically: black people who see white people “being black”?…..black people laugh at them. Hard.
Lenore says:
January 18, 2010 at 4:32 pm
White women are getting injections for fuller lips. White people are always looking to darken their skin via the tan. People with straight hair are always looking for that curly perm. People will always see the beauty in a soul but they will also desire the perfect look. Every race and nationality has it’s own characteristics that stand out. Mankind is beautiful in all it’s many visual differences, the thing is we are judged by our soul by mankind and God in the end. Everywhere except Hollywood. But in the end even hollywood folk look like crap come judgement day, their own or God’s.
Kevin Jackson says:
January 18, 2010 at 7:54 pm
@Liberal Fail – You fit in her my man…or are you a woman? You mentioned being attracted to a woman, so I ass…wait. I’m not homophobic now, am I? LOL
Kevin Jackson says:
January 18, 2010 at 7:56 pm
@Lenore – That is the gist of it! We are all beautiful in our own ways, for example have you SEEN my BRAIN! It’s awesome. If there were a cover shot for brains, mine would be on the cover every week, like O Magazine. No other brains can even compare, at least when my brain wears makeup, and owns the magazine, and stuff! OK like, I’d better get going now…LOL
Kevin Jackson says:
January 18, 2010 at 7:57 pm
@jj – You are one mixed up dude, with funny schtick!
Tamara says:
January 18, 2010 at 10:34 pm
People worry about their skin color?
Hey, I’m a freckled faced red head.
I’m the butt of every joke on the planet!
If I can live in my skin, I don’t know why anyone else can’t.
It’s Martin Luther King day. The man talked about judging a person by one’s character.
So much for that idea, eh?
Sir RonB says:
January 18, 2010 at 10:44 pm
You mentioned Alan Keyes black but you forgot one shade of Black. That is Yaphet Kotto Black. Now that’s black for you.He gets a 10 on the black scale but one thing for certain is that you won’t mistaken him for a light-skinned African-American with no trace of a Negro dialect.
Kevin Jackson says:
January 19, 2010 at 12:37 am
@Tamara – I just heard that freckled face red heads are referred to as “Gingers!” LOL
Kevin Jackson says:
January 19, 2010 at 12:37 am
@SirRonB – I believe Miles was one shade darker than Yaphet! I will check in case the scale needs to be recalibrated.
DaSicilian says:
January 19, 2010 at 6:00 pm
To heck w/whitening…by the looks of it – we should all paint ourselves yellow anyway….
Tamara says:
January 20, 2010 at 11:29 pm
Kevin, I take insult to your comment.
Not because I’m actually insulted, but because it’s about skin color, and I’m the rarest skin color of them all, and NO one stand up for us freckled face spotted people.
I think I should start a coalition and take it to Washington.
Who cares about my character.
I’ve got an ISSUE about SKIN!
I could make a fortune off of this skin scam!!!
Oh, wait.
Jackson and Sharpton have already used that one.
DAAAMMMMITTT!
herseyk says:
January 22, 2010 at 4:59 pm
UFB – Are those pics real? (except for MJ)
Beyonce == lost at least 2 points on the beautiful scale and Is Sosa crazy !!! LOL
He looks like a monster or mobster !!
But I would have to say, Kevin you sure look blacker in the /garofalo-defines-the-racists/ video than on ur home page !! What gives… ;=}
Rand Cottrell says:
January 17, 2010 at 8:05 pm
Thanks for all you do Kevin you rock. I’m ordering my Black Sphere T-shirt right away.