Skin whitening creams – the movement for change

In the fourth of his articles discussing anti-Blackness and colourism in South Asian communities, Dhruva Balram discusses skin-whitening creams, how they link to anti-Blackness and the movement for change. Around the turn of the century, a string of controversial commercials appeared on television screens in India. The advertisements had viewers in an uproar. These commercials, which… Read More

Anti-blackness in South Asian communities – how do we break the cycle?

In the first of a series exploring the issue, Dhruva Balram discusses the history and social implications of colourism in South Asia and diaspora communities,  and how this relates to anti-Blackness worldwide. Colourism, and its close relative anti-Blackness, is a pervasive scourge that underpins any notion of progress the South Asian community attempts to make.… Read More

Caramel queen or white man’s whore: #HashtagLightie, the play exploring the realities of modern mixed-race lives

by Zahra Dalilah Women and men of mixed heritage, especially black/white, are often called upon in media to provide an inoffensive face of diversity, a fetishized vision of exotic beauty or simplistically characterised as inherently confused halves of one thing or the other. The play #HashtagLightie – which recently sold out the Arcola Theatre, London… Read More

White is Right, But Light-Skin is the Next Best Thing

by Shane Thomas The arrival of summer means a number of things: Intermittent sunshine, music festivals where at least one white person gets their cultural appropriation on; and superhero movies. Lots of superhero movies. Box-office takings are the engine of established Western cinema, and few things fuel that engine more than a superhero tale. Last week… Read More

How colourism shapes UK anti-immigrant sentiment

by Amit Singh Within most societies there is a clear hierarchy of races, with whiteness being positioned at the top of the pile. The lighter skinned you are perceived to be the more inherent value you are deemed to have in all areas of life within western societies, and in many parts of the world that… Read More