COLOURISM IN INDIA
Colourism may be defined as prejudicial or preferential treatment of same-race people based solely on their colour. This, as opposed to racism (which is prejudice based on race), is prejudice based on skin tone, often among those of the same race.
It has been widely talked about in the political discourse on black people, but the issue is widely prevalent among the South Asian populations as well. However, colourism is more complicated in India due to its diverse skin tones as a result of its diverse climatic and geographic conditions. Moreover, colourism hides behind various other factors like caste and class, when it comes to the Indian context.
In ancient India, several new settlements arrived in India (Aryans in north India, Dravidians in south India, etc.). They were light-skinned and interbred with the aboriginals of the land. Aryans were said to set the dark-hued people on fire in the name of Agni (goddess of fire) and kill them in the name of god Soma. However, these killings were not rooted in discrimination against a darker skin tone, but rather a result of constant conflicts between immigrants and the tribal populations. Many of the gods and goddesses, princes and princesses (explicitly stated as beautiful) were dark-skinned, including Krishna, Ram, Draupadi, Kali (whose name translates to black), and Parvati, among others. So, it is unlikely that the people of the time saw having a dark skin tone as a bad thing.
Real discrimination and prejudice based on the colour of the skin came with the arrival of the Arab and Mughal invaders. They came from Arabic and Persian lands and had a much lighter skin tone than much of the Indian population. And, they would often appoint light-skinned Indians, who looked more like them, in court. This meant that people associated “lightness” as a measure of power.
Things were made much much worse with the advent of the British rule in India. The British, who had fair skin, claimed themselves “superior” and an “intelligent” race born to rule the “inferior” and “black coloured” Indians, who they viewed to be akin to animals. “Black Indians” were prohibited from entering most establishments with signs reading “Indians and dogs not allowed”. Segregation was prevalent. Churchill’s infamous remark, “I hate Indians. They are a beastly people with a beastly religion. The famine was their own fault for breeding like rabbits”, during the Bengal famine in 1943 and several of Kipling’s quotes, such as calling Indians “lesser breeds without the law,” very much indicates that the British thought the responsibility to rule Indians had been “placed by the inscrutable design of providence upon the shoulders of the British race.” Lighter skinned Indians enjoyed more privileges from the British, while their darker-skinned counterparts were socially and economically at a disadvantage.
However, even over 73 years after independence from them, discrimination against people of a darker skin tone has far from ended. Today, our beauty ideals are governed by the media, which perpetuates the glorification of the lighter-skinned. Lighter (or even white) skinned models-both male and female-are chosen over dark-skinned ones, even for traditionally Indian products, like antique jewellery and saris. Movies often depict brown coloured villains fighting fair-skinned heroes.
There is some indication of colourism’s association with the caste system. British historians observed that those of the upper caste stayed indoors and were not exposed to the sun like the lower castes. As a result, upper castes had lighter brown skin and lower castes had more melanin from continuous exposure to the sun.
However, the bigotry doesn’t just end here. Indian gods, Ram and Krishna, have been written as having a dark complexion in several ancient texts. Accordingly, old temples show idols showing them as such. However, many newer temples have idols showing them with fair complexion. This is undoubtedly alarming.
People of darker skin tone face discrimination in workspaces and marriage opportunities. They are also more often than not bullied as kids.
This discrimination on the basis of a person’s skin colour doesn’t just end with bigotry and prejudice, but often ends in grotesque violence.
All this may seem like a never-ending tragedy. However, more recently, social media and its influence on the socio-political landscape has been helping curb the prejudices among the newer generation. With the Dark is Beautiful and the #brownisbeautiful movements, improvements appear more in sight.
