The Blacker the Berry: A Novel of Negro Life

“More acutely than ever before, Emma Lou began to feel that her luscious black complexion was somewhat of a liability, and that her marked color variation from the other people in her environment was a decided curse. Not that she minded being black, being a Negro necessitated having a colored skin, but she did mind being too black.”

Colorism is the preference for light skin, even among Black people. It is one of the ways white supremacy manifests in racial norms. In this passage, Emma Lou shows the way that she has internalized the colorist notion that light skin is “superior” to dark skin. Emma Lou feels stigmatized by her dark skin, and because so many of the people in her immediate family and community have light skin, she feels alienated by her skin color.

“She should have been born a boy, then color of skin wouldn’t have mattered so much, for wasn’t her mother always saying that a black boy could get along, but that a black girl would never know anything but sorrow and disappointment?”

This passage illustrates the intersection of racism and Black beauty standards. Emma Lou has internalized the colorism of her family members and community and does not feel that Black women can be beautiful if they have dark complexions. This amounts to a double standard as Black men are not judged quite as harshly. Because men play broader roles in society than women do, it is permissible for Black men to have dark skin. Women are valued primarily for their bodies and their roles as wives and mothers, meaning their physical appearance is valued more.

“Emma Lou had been born in a semi-white world, totally surrounded by an all-white one, and those few dark elements that had forced their way in had either been shooed away or else greeted with derisive laughter. It was the custom always of those with whom she came into the most frequent contact to ridicule or revile any black person or object. A black cat was a harbinger of bad luck, black crape was the insignia of mourning.”

This passage illustrates the pervasiveness of white supremacy in American society. Although she, her family members, and her community are all primarily Black, they grow up with the same values, standards, and norms of the majority white society.