Hi Tyra!
My name is Shanice. I am a fourteen year old African American girl. I was very moved by your show about light skinned African Americans and dark skinned African Americans. I feel as if in the world that we are living in right now, people are always putting down darkskinned females. I have been called names because I am darkskinned. Even on some of my male friends' myspace pages, they put on their pages that they only want light skinned, skinny females. I find it offensive. I am darkskinned, short, and medium sized. I dont think I shouldn't be able to be with someone because I am dark skinned. It tears me apart inside to see how some people in this world think. I remember in the 6th grade I used to get teased about my skin complection and that caused me to go home and start crying. I told my mom why I was crying and she told me that it doesn't matter what color you are, but I think it does because if it didn't then I would never have been teased.
As I live day by day in Brooklyn, New York, I hear a lot of people talk about what kind of girls they like on the train and other places. Some guys even say it to my face that they prefer light skinned girls, but I look good for a darkie. that is so degrading and I don't like that. I dont discriminate against light skinned or dark skinned guys. If you have a good personality then I'm good. I am attracted to different people. I hope this world changed by the time I have children because I don't want my children to have to hear crap about how they look, their race, and their complection.
I have many 5 sisters and 1 brother and none of us are the same color. I don't treat them differently because they might feel as if it's ok to treat other people that look different. :(
No matter what color your are, you are beautiful. That's what I tell myself
Hope you read this.

Hi Tyra!

My name is Anel and as I watched the show this afternoon I became more and more infuriated. Some people tell me that I shouldn't be so passionate about this, but I am and I can't help it. I am Dominican, and light skinned, and the same thing is happening in my community as well. Most of us are dark-skinned, but since we were kids, we have been taught that darker is evil. But I've always been sensitive about race. So when somebody makes a comment about anybody in any other race, it affects me just as much.

I think we should talk more about this. I think that we should let it be known in such a powerful way until we see things change in all of the country. It angers me how people would get hired because they look 'better' but they are not as prepared as someone whose skin color is not the 'whitest'. I still don't understand why everything has to be so black and white. It's as if everything is still divided. Movies are either black people or white people, but very few are about both. When will this ever end?

I am proud of colors. I'm proud of cultures. I have in my blood Indian, African and Spaniard blood. Let's accept that we are all one people, and instead of aspect, let's measure by kindness, by love, by peace and finally bring unity among us and that togetherness will catch up on the inside of us and we shall really feel like what we truly are:

beautiful human beings.

Thank you for this show, Tyra,

Sincerely,

Anel.

Hello Tyra,
Thank you for having this episode on. I just recently saw the episode and I am still appaled. I am currently a Junior in High School and I do see this conflict. I go to a school in a White neigborhood, yet with an Asian influence. I still get stared at-sometimes because they like my olive Black/Latin complexion or because they are wondering why I am in the community. Please try to continure this awareness! I also found that you already started the awareness, with the previous episodes of Latin Discrimination of Skin Tone, as well as Racial Sterotypes.Can you try to make these episodes into Podcasts? This is greatly appreciated. In America, this day and age, it is constantly changing, with many realizing that color is not an issue to some (look at the increase of interracial marriages and the checking of "other" on racial surveys) but is an open sore that needs to be closed. I pray that the people hurt today on the show by some of those hurtful comments are healed, and what primarily matters is THEMSELVES! I learned to love myself-so that I may love others, no matter what the peson's race, color or creed. Hopefully others can do the same. God Bless Tyra-you are on a way to change, heal and educate!

this topic was off the wall. i am a medium brown skin female and I do agree that this does exist in the black community. But my comment is in reference to the female who don't want her son to date dark skin females. Yes I do agree that because she was treated wrong by dark skin females, that she shouldn't feel the way that she does. But at the same time these dark skin heffas don't have NO right at all to criticize us light skin females. On the show, forgetting that you are light skin, you pretty much said it's okay for dark skin females to criticize, be harsh, and ignorant because of "slavery" but it's not okay for light skin females to feel the way that they feel. The year is 2008, we do need to get over it. Nowadays you dont even see people being one race. They probably got some of this and that in them. I just felt like you were defending the dark skin females too much; too bias. No disrespect, but I don't know when was the last time you looked in the mirror, but you are light skin. Not all light skin females are conceited and snotty. Are you? Because that's what your dark audience was saying. But it was apparent from your audience, that dark skin females are prejudgemental and prejudicce towards light skin females. And just like it was bad for that lady to say what she said, dark skin women shouldn't have the "slavery" excuse for "why they can do it". Get it together.

hi tyra i love the show. To start i am a 14 year old girl who is a dark afican-american and to me skin tone does not matter its the person who is in that skin. But if you don't carry that well then you make that skin tone look ugly. You know why people say that light skined girls are stuck up and stuff like that is becuse they think the are better than us dark skinned women look bad but i personally love my dark skin. and it is BEAUTIFUL to me. maybe light skinned girls are jealuse of us dark skinned girls. i am not saying that all light skinned girls are but some are. to say i have light skinned friends and family i have nothing against it. but some people make it look ugly and i am not a fan of that.
sincerly,jada

hi tyra,

i'm a dark skinned woman i believe that all woman no matter what race or color have it hard as women, women have to overcome alot of obstacles, i love your show i appreciate that you are uplifting everyone whether they be white black, mexican, etc keep doing what your doing, i admire you

delores

just watched the show today and I was surprised at how much it touched me. I am white, both parents are white. Growing up I had a number of black and mexican friends. My parents had no problem with them. When I brought home a black, Asian or Mexican boyfriend is where the conflict began. I never had a thought that a person's color had anything to do with their personality. My parents disagreed. To this day I never can say that anyone is more or less attractive either physically or spiritually based on their appearance.
But on that note, did you SEE Will Smith in "I am Legend"? MMMM.
Just saying...
But then I always had a thing for Patrick Swayze, too.

hey tyra!
i loved your show about light skinned and dark skinned women. i am hispanic and that issue is also in our community. its crazy how people think one skin color is better than the other as far as im concerned we are all equal and when we are racist against our own kind it just adds to what other people think about our race.
I LOVE YOU TYRA!

hey i am young and i love black people. it doesnt matter to me what shade they are to me. i still love them. they are fun to hang with nd just fun period. well tyra write back if you can!

I definitely think that light skinned women have it easier. This is a fact. I am dark and every time I look in the mirror or go out, it is constantly on my mind. I feel ugly and wish I was much lighter. Why can't they invent something to lighten skin that is safe and will lighten evenly? It has to exist because celebrities get lighter all the time. I just know I would be much prettier if I were lighter.

Hi Tyra I am only 11 years old and I am well half packistani and white. And I think color race is a really big impack on me and every one is allways like girl you black what you talking about?? and you know I go through rasism all of the time it hurts.. you know. I was adopted there are three girls in the family one boy and he is older than me he is packistani to all different dads. and my sister is black and my littlest sister is white.. you know thats a huge difference and we all love each other so much and we are all split up exept my brother caddin and my littlest sister madison. I think people should just understand that every one is the same and we should love each other and no matter what my family is going to stick together... I hope..

Natalie

Hi Tyra.I'm a light skin African American.And in my childhood i was always made fun of because i have the longer hair and i had the lighter skin. It was very emotional because my closest friends were sort of darker than me. I was constantly being made fun of.I've even been called as the white girl. Because i talk proper and i was skinny and had long hair and had lighter skin. but it's always been a struggle because my sister has darker skin and it always felt like she was getting all the attention in my family. I guess just because she has color in her skin just like the rest of my family. She was always better liked and better treated. It was very hard growing up in that situation. but now i'm being told that i act stuck up but when being in a situation like that you learn to brush off those feelings and just act like you don't really care.

Thank you Tyra

I AGREE!!Tyra why the HELL would you bring up salvary it happened such a long time ago?.. We are living in a differen't century !! HELLOO!!!... Your show might as well be just for your own race BECAUSE THATS ALL YOU SEEM TO CARE ABOUT. YOU ARE RACIST AGAINST CAUCASIAN PEOPLE. ITS SEEMS TO ME LIKE YOU HATE THEM!...Wow Tyra I have a great idea for your next show. Why don't you do it on your race again?... You are so biased.You are soo rude to those girls on ANTM! I am never watching your show again.

Hillary

hi my name is shon-ann and i just watch ur show n im a byracel child in middel my father is black and my mother is white and when people here me say that they think that im a lie because i actully do look like a white girl i have really thin hair a real light skined complection and as i get older it dosent get harder but it dosent gey better ive had darker girl wanna fight me because thet asume that i think that im all that and i dont to me it dosent really matter what color you are. me as a person i have a lot of dark skined friends and when most of them meet me right off the back they thought i was a white girl. i loved your show today it was so great that you did it

love shon-ann cannady

Hi Tyra

Thanks for this show, I am a dark skinned young woman and have delt being ostracized by my own race. It was so bad that I used a bleaching cream for my body, which had given me adverse reactions. The positive side is I had support from many friends and eventually now as adult I love my dark skin. I have even done some modelling. What I noticed is that its all ignorance and confusion, becuase as I got older, those guys that only like light skinned women are now with darkskin women. I asked them what happened and their response was either neutral or am older now I am more mature.

hi tyra im 14 i dont think it matters what color your skin is it just matters if your a nice person i will think your a very good insperation i love you tyra

well for me,I'm dark skined and it's really hard seeing us dark skined females getting decriminated by our own people that's also black themselves but in a diffrent shade than us, and for me being 13, my light-skined had made fun of me but they were playing aroud and really I took it to defence on them saying that. I heard it for sooo long and now I'm kinda used to it because my family and friends and also myself had stood-up to face the fact and just act your way and I know that I'm beautiful in my ouw way. So thank you for bringing that up in your show because I know that darks had took it hard in their past and maybe present.

Hey Tyra, my name is Stephanie. I am a 16 year old white girl from a small town in Manitoba, Canada.After my younger sister and I watched the tyra show (p.s she is 10) we were discussing about how it seems that focus is always on black women,or on how the difference in light black skin or dark black skin plays a factor. What about white women, we are prejudiced against by black people too.We both think that Whitney said it best when she was saying how her mom said that race isn't a factor it doesn't matter if you are dark brown, black, or light brown or white as a pola' bear its the kind of person you are inside and i feel sorry for anyone who looks at a person for their skin colour.If a guy is hot, girl i am going to date him,no matter what colour.

hey Tyra,
well to be honest yes skin tone does play a role in different races because like one of models the asian is dark and in her country that looked down apon, thoughout my educational experience and iam in the 12th grade and yet people haven't matured i still get called dirty,black SH@!,blood diamond,go back to africa, or i can't see u u to black. it hurts because havn't really been in a realtionship and i wonder is it because iam dark and sometimes its what causes my down days were i feel iam ugly.

Tyra,
I was so sad when I watched your show today. It is sad that people are still hanging on to racism. Tyra, people are hanging on to it. I am white....and Im sure when people read that, they are going to be like "she doesnt understand" and maybe I dont,but I've been made fun of in high school, and I've been treated badly because of what I believe or what I look like. I'm not making a big deal about it. Words hurt...and I believe that black people playing the race card everytime they are given a hard time is so wrong. I'm sorry that white people hurt black people in the past...and I hate that it happened. I love love black people, but if people would just STOP playing the victum and stop talking about it and forgive, than our children wouldnt see race. White people hurt too! What about the Jews...they were killed. Black people arent they only ones.
And when someone talked about the little black girl wanting to cut the white girl's pony tail, and everyone agreed to thinking white people are better, well...HELLO dont put it on yourself.
Again I LOVE black people..I love white people, but I'm so tired of hearing it...of the hate...and Tyra, you stired up a lot of hate on your show today.
I still love ya, but I'm getting pretty disappointed in you!

my opinion is that its sad that every race is against eachother just because of the color tone we have. it shouldnt matter wut color tone u r we should all get along, knowing what has happened to each of our ancestors in the past.

Hey Tyra,

I loved todays show about light/ dark skin in the Black community. Being 100% African American, I am a light skin Black woman. It is extremely fustrated when I am asked the questions, "Are you Black and White or are you Puerto Rican" on a daily basis. It is more frustrating when I am not considered "Black" enough because of my light skin. I want to thank you for today's show and hopefully this presents that we need to end this discrimination in our race.

hey tyra

I wanna say i love your show. I am glad you tackled the issue light skin blacks versus dark skin blacks because it is taboo in the black community. It's this unspoken rule that light skin women are pretty and if they have good hair they have the world. you can see it all through the entertainment industy how the black entertainers go for the lighter spouses you can make a list. we sort of stick to our color spectrum. it isn't right but that's the way it is. Tyra I wanted to ask a question do other races go through this. Do white people go through or your lighter than me thing. I jus wanted to say one more thing I think you should have a second part to this topic on your show.

thanx for reading.

Dear Tyra,

My name is Raumene Rahatzad and I’m a 25-year-old Iranian-American man from Portland, OR. I just watched your show about skin color in the Black community, and was very glad that you are bringing these issues to light. In college, I became very interested in issues involving race, class, and gender, and particularly how “white” (or white supremacist patriarchal) beauty ideals were being spread with the phenomenon of globalization. This is an issue with Iranians (ranging from white to very dark brown) as well, and when I studied abroad in Jordan, I found again, the favoring of lighter skinned individuals, and many women who were using harmful skin lightening creams to “make themselves more attractive.” This phenomenon has spread throughout the globe, and in some places (namely Ghana), many women are even bleaching their skin for men who desire a lighter complexion. This is having devastating effects on entire communities and the spirits of millions of people. We cannot forget that patriarchal values are closely intertwined with projected ideals of beauty that are damaging, and this needs to be addressed. I hope that you continue your work in diversifying what is deemed beautiful, and help break down the walls of individual and institutional beauty discrimination.

many blessings,
Raumene

Hi Tyra,
I watch your show a lot you are an extremely good influence of girls and other people. Today I watched your show and I thought it was appalling how the light skinned women were treated better than darker complection women. My friend she is biracial and she is pretty light. She is deeply upset that the boys in her school tend to be attracted towards the light skinned girls. This has resulted in her bleaching herself. I am worried about what will happen. she is an extreamly beautiful girl and i dont see why she wants to bleach herself. I told her to watch your show today and i think it will help her feel better.