The Ligher, the Brighter, the Better...or is it?

"Jill, you better not bring home, marry and have kids with anyone too dark" is something my mom told me her grandmother told her when she was younger. Racism within one's own race? Before, I thought racism could only come about when there were two different races involved. I came to the realization early in my life that light-skinned blacks were and continuously are looked at as ' better than' dark-skinned blacks. I thought, Where does this idea come from? Of course, blacks could not have come up with this conclusion themselves, and I finally realized why. Throughout history in the United States, the lighter a black person was, the more they were valued, especially in the minds of whites. In fact, during the days of segregation, my great-grandmother actually for a white person because of her fair skin and very light hair. The pressure for blacks to conform to the white, westernized, European ideal is something that has shaped the minds of many blacks in society. Think about it - some of the most famous people portrayed in high school have light skin tones. Beyonce? Yup. Halle Berry? yes. Rihanna? you bet. This idea that an African American is better because of a lighter skin tone is a view that needs to be eradicated from the minds of people forever, yet I still see little progress. The Notorious B.I.G. even comments on the negativity of his dark skin by saying, "black and ugly as ever, however I stay Gucci down to the socks" in which he tries to refute how his skin tone essentially makes him a less attractive person by relying on material objects to make up for that disadvantage. Ultimately, change is going to be needed to get rid of the ideology that the lighter one is, the better they are. The main point is, we are all different - people, especially blacks should not have to conform to a certain ideal that was not even set by them. However, there is a lot of work that lies ahead.