It is very relevant to Virginia history. See, Howard Bodenhorn - The
Mulatto Advantage: The Biological Consequences of Complexion in Rural Antebellum
Virginia - Journal of Interdisciplinary History 33:1 Journal of
Interdisciplinary History 33.1 (2002) 21-46 The Mulatto Advantage: The Biological
Consequences of Complexion in Rural Antebellum Virginia Howard Bodenhorn For, as the
whites have their blond and brunette, so do the blacks have their chocolate,
chocolate-to-the-bone, brown, low-brown, teasing-brown, yellow, high-yellow and
so on. The difference on the black side is so much more interesting.
--Claude McKay, quoted in Joel Williamson, New People: Miscegenation and Mutattoes
in the United States Langston Hughes, the most prominent writer of the Harlem
Renaissance emphasized skin color throughout his fiction. At different
times, he referred to African-Americans as brown, light-brown, golden, yellow,
high-yellow, almost white, blond, three-quarters pink, high-toned, coffee with
cream, and cafe-au-lait. In Hughes' fiction, complexion was paramount because
it created interpersonal tensions, reflecting larger social dynamics.
African-American men in Hughes' fiction expressed a preference for light-skinned
women, and dark-skinned women resented both the men who acted on that preference
and the women who benefited from it. Historians of race are quick to note
that these tensions were not just the stuff of fiction.
Basil Forest
**************AOL Search: Your one stop for directions, recipes and all other
Holiday needs. Search Now.
(http://pr.atwola.com/promoclk/100000075x1212792382x1200798498/aol?redir=http://searchblog.aol.com/2008/11/04/happy-holidays-from
-aol-search/?ncid=emlcntussear00000001)
______________________________________
To subscribe, change options, or unsubscribe please see the instructions at
http://listlva.lib.va.us/archives/va-hist.html
|