The Complexities of Complexions and Social Contracts
I feel a tad bit anxious whenever I fill out a survey, a questionnaire or a job application when prompted to disclose my racial identity. If these types of questions were fill-in-the blank it would be so much easier. Yet I shuffle over the options trying to decide between two options: ‘Black- Non Hispanic’ and ‘Hispanic’ and wonder why I am given such a hard choice to make. Choosing between these two sides of me has oftentimes been so complicated that as an out, I simply answer ‘Black’.
My mother is a strong Black woman who hates the term ‘African American’ and can trace her roots back to a rice plantation in South Carolina. My transient father is Cuban and his mother was born in Havana, Cuba. His mother, my Nani; despises my mother, my siblings and I because of our “dark” skin tone. Between these two worlds live my brother, my sister and I: children who look Black to the unknowing eye.
Most often when I meet people, and sometimes even as I get into making good friends, I do not disclose my racial Identity. I somewhat despise my Cuban side at times for my Nani’s shrewdness and my father’s transiency. I often feel that even if I do disclose people will not understand me, not believe me, or will ask me questions like, “Do you speak Spanish?”- a challenge of authenticity which I will certainly fail. On the other hand, I love being Black. I love my bronze skin tone and every shade of every Black person I’ve ever met. I love Black History, Black Literature, and Black EVERYTHING. This is why I am an African American Studies Major. This is also why until further notice; I will continue to check off ‘Black’ when asked.
In his piece “Broken Social Contract”, Mark Anthony Neal makes the argument that there has been a long standing social contract between Black men and women at elite institutions such as Morehouse and Spelman. This social contract is one which silently stipulates that the Black women in such institutions exist for the service of Black men and that those who dare to break the social contract face much adversity. In the trailer Neal brings up the idea of patriarchy and how maintaining these social contracts maintain the idea of a “safehaven” for the Black community. With this I completely agree that there are certain social contracts built between Black men and women, especially at elite institutions such as Morehouse and Spelman. On a smaller scale it can even be seen within the Black Greek community of Ohio University where social contracts have been built up between certain fraternities and sororities so that one might almost feel as if they owe their allegiance to a certain “Bruh” or “Soror”, no matter the situation.
In “What’s Up with Waxy Michelle?” Theresa Wiltz looks at the issue of Michelle Obama’s wax figure in Madame Tussauds Wax Museum in Washington DC. She argues that Tussauds wax depiction of the first lady is in complete denial of her beautifully brown skin, and instead depicts her as being even lighter than Barack. According to Wiltz, this is not the first time her skin color has become an issue in the mainstream media and stipulates that, “the first black first lady’s skin tone comes wrapped in all kinds of cultural significance and four centuries’ worth of emotional baggage.” On this issue I completely agree that her brown skin does carry a lot of cultural significance, as without a doubt she and the president have been pushed to the forefront in their representation of Blacks in America. However, the ‘mulattosizing’ of her wax figure seems to be a way of making mainstream America more comfortable with her just as Loreal was speculated to have lightened pictures of Beyonce for audiences of different magazines, while Essence Magazine got a much darker photo.
In Deborah Gray White’s Too Heavy A Load, she at many points discusses the significance of race, class and color dynamics between Black men and women. In mending social contracts between Black men and women these things must be taken into consideration because as White states in the book, “Caught up in their gender struggle, neither black male nor female leaders seemed aware that their fight against racism had turned as much onward on themselves as outward toward whites”. As one of the main arguments made in Neal’s blog was that Black women in combating these social contracts were perpetuating stereotypes of Black men, it is important that when negotiating these contracts we take into consideration how the outside world will view us as we handle these situations.
Another important thing to take into consideration when looking at these issues is the idea of color and the fact that along with class differences in the Black race, color is a close second for creating a hierarchy amongst individuals. Historically, those of lighter complexion such as Mary Church Terrell found it easier to navigate through the world, and now with the fame of Michelle Obama and the issue of her wax figure we see how important fairness of skin is still important.
It is essential to keep these issues in mind when negotiating and mending social contracts because they all play a role in how we see ourselves as Black people, regardless of our skin-tone.
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