By KEN WIBECAN
Ever since Sen. Harry Reid made his "light-skinned" comment a couple of months ago it reminded me that in the days of my youth light skin color was something to be prized, even among African Americans. The Black Bourgeoisie that E. Franklin Frazier wrote about followed the "light and bright" rule in cities across the land, and light brown skin was one of the keys to success. It was not among our proudest moments.
During slavery days, there was only one way to produce a light brown child: That was for a slave owner to have his way with one of his female slaves. She was considered private property and not in a position to say "NO!" to her owner's unwelcome advances; nowadays we call it "rape." The resulting mixed-race children were given special privileges and served as cooks, maids, butlers and chauffeurs in massa's big house. Some were even taught to read and write.
For much of the last century, light skin color assumed a role of importance in American life that it did not deserve. Shamefully, dark-skinned African Americans often chose light-skinned mates so the children had a chance of having light skin. The color disease that affected most whites at the time had been transmitted to people of color. We even had a mnemonic device to help us remember our place in society: "If you're white you're right; if you're yellow you're mellow; if you're brown hang around; but if you're black — get back!"
In later days, like now, black unemployment levels were double those for whites. And while it was difficult for an African American to get any job, the lighter your skin color, the easier the possibilities became. It also helped if you were educated and spoke standard English, which is what Sen. Reid caught hell for saying about President Obama, even though it is true that a certain amount of that despicable prejudice still exists today.
Reid wouldn't have had to apologize to me for his statement, because, even though things have become better over the years, color prejudice has not left us. Here is one personal example:
For 10 years before I left California in 1995, I rented a house in the city of Lynwood, which is next door to Compton and is populated mainly by African Americans and Latinos. Also living in Lynwood was my best friend, the Rev. Louis Chase, then pastor of the Lynwood United Methodist Church. A kinder, gentler man cannot be found. But the Rev. Chase has dark brown skin, and, during our years in Lynwood, he was pulled over, stopped, humiliated and made to get out of his car by police or sheriffs at least five times. I, on the other hand, was never stopped. Not once. I guess I'm not dark enough. One sheriff told Chase that he pulled him over because he had "a suspicious look about him," whatever that means.
Would Obama have been elected if his skin was a dark brown color? I don't know. But my suspicion is that, given the power of prejudice, it would have had a negative impact on the vote.
On another subject — how many remember a series of movies where a single white man from thousands of miles away lived in a jungle and not only controlled the dark-skinned natives but was also able to muster the wildlife to do his bidding whenever the necessity arose? It was called "Tarzan." Unfortunately, creativity is not what it used to be, and the story has been resurrected, some beautifully fascinating special effects added to it, and the natives are blue, not brown. It is now called "Avatar," takes place in a colorful fanciful jungle on another planet, and you need 3-D glasses to view it properly. While Tarzan rode to battle on the biggest elephant, Avatar's hero rides the biggest dragon.
I don't know why the blue people weren't smart enough to control their own destiny, but that was the author's choice. Perhaps one day we will have no need for Tarzan-types to save colored people from oppression. Maybe they will learn to do it for themselves.
Ken Wibecan is a retired journalist. Once an op-ed and jazz columnist, later an editor of Modern Maturity magazine, these days he and his two dogs enjoy the country life in Peru. He can be reached at mistro817@wildblue.net.
