Dancehall singer Spice caused some controversy on social media when she posted a picture of herself looking several shades lighter with the caption ‘Nothing wrong with a fresh start…’ In the photo she wore a blonde wig and blue contacts. Immediately people started mocking her, and accused her of being ashamed of being black and and of surrendering to ‘European’ ideas of beauty.
Fortunately for all the fans she had disappointed, the post was just a publicity stunt to promote her Black Hypocrisy single. The single describes her struggles with colourism, defined online as “prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, typically among people of the same ethnic or racial group.”
Sadly the song didn’t attract as much attention as it deserved. In it Spice sings “I was told I would reach further if the colour of my skin was lighter”, and, “I was meant to feel inferior because society says brown skin prettier”. Her use of the word “meant” shows that she has not allowed herself to be influenced by colourism. Black Hypocrisy is a song that many young black women would benefit from listening to, because hearing someone with a large following talk about their struggles with prejudice could inspire them to love their dark skin more.
More recently TV reality star and model Blac Chyna also posted a controversial picture on Instagram, but this time it was not a publicity stunt. Blac Chyna was promoting a new skin lightening cream called Whitenicious to the Nigerian market. Many people were outraged by the fact that she – and the makers of Whitenicious – were trying to profit from the self-hatred of those in the Nigerian black community who feel compelled to bleach their skin.
The fact that so many people were outraged by both posts suggests that the black community has progressed a great deal in its attitude to skin tones. But there are also posts online about Spice in which other black women accuse her of being ugly because she is so black. And some of the anger targeted at Blac Chyna, about how she would do anything for money, was unkind. Which all goes to show that Spice was showing great insight when she decided to call her single Black Hyposcrisy!
