Growing up and being lighter skinned was not a positive experience for me. Every since I was a little girl I have always had to prove my blackness. One of my own family members said to me that they wished I would have been darker. These words have haunted me all my life and I bet the person that said them would deny that they ever said such a thing. My own mother said about one of my boyfriends when he broke up with me that she told me about that light skinned boy and she is a very lighted skinned woman. In school the other kids even my friends said I talked white because I used proper English (my mom was an English teacher) and I dressed white because my parents refused to pay 50.00 for some jeans or 95.00 for some tennis shoes (these were the days before discount warehouses where you can get top designers for a fraction of the cost and before the shoe man came to the neighborhood selling shoes out of his trunk.). All my life I have been asked by all different races of people black included what are you mixed with. Oh you have good hair you must be mixed. If you have hair isn’t that good? And then again I feel forced to overcompensate for my not being black enough so through I have been loud and ghetto and use slang to prove my blackness. Most of my friends are darker skinned women and men is this because I am subconsciously still trying to prove to the world that I am black enough that I belong? I have been through the same things as many black women. I don’t see the privileges that so many on the show were talking about.

Tyra, i loved your show today. being a dark skinned man i had a lot of issues grown up. my mother is high high red boned yellow lady and I'm very dark. when i was a child people looked at me like i didn't belong to her. my mom had a boyfriend who had a son who was light skin and when we were out people would be like "oh your son look just like you" and they was not talking about me.when we had little outings (my mom,her bf,his son and i)i would distance my self from them as far as sitting in a whole different section of the movie theater then them cause i looked at them and they looked like a real family. then my entire family is very light skinned and i was told i was the milk mans child, that i was adopted, call me an African booty scratcher. i would get teased so much by my family and honestly i cannot remember being teased about my skin color other than my family. My dad who was dark skinned told me that he would never date a dark skin woman. they had to be light or another race. I'm 22 now and I'm so scarred by this. it digs so much in my heart & soul. i remember walking to the store crying and asking my mother y i couldn't be light skin. begging and pleading to god to change my complexion. so I'm glad you brought this to lite. its time to let that sunshine come through.

ps.

im fine now i love my myself in and out.

Hi Tyra, That was a great show you had today about discrimination within the black race. I am a dark skinned black woman and growing up and actually still to this day I always hear from other black women, oh you have "good hair"..or you have "white hair". Being that I'm dark skinned other black girls act as if because my hair is more manageable (as I say it) that I have white hair, and then by me having this so called white hair, I must be stuck up and I'm trying to act white?!?!?! That is just insane. For the longest time I wouldn't cut my hair and I let it grow and it has always been long and healthy and beautiful but now that I'm older (almost 30) I've cut it all off and I'm not relaxing it anymore. I'm going all natural and I'm very excited to have my hair look more 'ethnic'. I've wanted to go all natural for years but was too afraid that my long straight hair (more accepated in corporate America) was something that I couldn't,or shouldn't part with. Thank goodness I have realized that no matter what, someone will always find something to dislike you for (be your skin tone, your hair type, your too straight nose, your too broad nose) and that's just their problem. My new motto...I DON'T GIVE A RIP!! Fortunately for me I have great melanin and lots of it...and tons of lighter skinned people have to spend hoursssss in the sun to achieve this look. Who's the lucky one :) Thanks from your DARKED SKINNED BEAUTIFUL viewer.

no one has it easy.

Hi Tyra,
I AM NOT A GOOD SPELLER, BUT I HOPE YOU UNDERSTAND WHAT I SAY. THERE ARE UGLY BLACK WOMEN AND UGLY WHITE WOMEN. THE SKIN COLOR SHOULD NOT MATTER ANY MORE. BEAUTY COMES IN ALL SHADES. PEOPLE DO NOT WANT TO HAVE SEX OR BE WITH SOMEONE WHO IS NOT BEAUTIFUL. I AM WHITE. I GREW UP IN VIRGINIA BEACH AROUND ALOT OF BLACK PEOPLE. THEY WHERE MEAN AND THEY WHERE BULLIES WHEN I GREW UP. SO YOU CAN SAY THERE IS ANGER THERE FOR BLACK PEOPLE. I THINK THEY TAKE THE PAST TOO FAR. WE DID NOT GROW UP IN THE TIMES OF SLAVERY SO BLACK PEOPLE NEED TO STOP TEACHING RACISM TO THEIR KIDS. IT CAUSES THEM TO LASH OUT AT THE OTHER RACE WHEN THEY DIDN'T EVEN DO ANYTHING TO THEM. RACISM IS NOT SOMETHING WE SEE GROWING UP, IT OS SOMETHING WE ARE TAUGHT. THE WAY SOMEONE ACTS IS MORE INPORTANT THEN COLOR.

Hi Tyra,

I am so glad you did this show, I wish it could have been longer than an hour. I am a dark skinned woman and growing up I did encounter a lot of the name calling.like; black,blackey;etc and some boys saying they didn't like me because I was dark skinned, but thank God I have always had high self esteem. So it bothered me just a little but not too much, because in my eyes I have always been beautiful and I think maybe I get that from my mom,and grandmother. I think the real turning point for me was one day in high school a guy was asking me for my number and one of his friends said you like her, she is too black and he said so what? She is too fine and that just validated what I already new for myself. It is really alarming though that all or most of these issued are from our people, why are we so cruel to one another? I am probably the same complexion as Whitney who was from Americas next top model and I have a daughter who is 2 years old and she looks like Noelle who was on the panel with very light brown hair and beautiful light brown eyes and I have had someone say to me, is that your child I think they made a mistake at the hospital and they will be calling you to take that baby back, and this was from a person of color I think that what hurts more than anything. I have 2 older sons that are dark skinned and my daughters father, who is my husband is white so my house looks the colors in a rainbow (beautiful). I never treated anyone bad because of their skin color, I have friends of all different shades, shapes,and sizes. I wish everybody could be so open. Thanks Tyra for doing this show please do more on this topic. Hopefully, it will touch a lot of people.

Hi Tyra,
I'm Hispanic and 21 years old, as well as black people there has been plenty of times I have been called names from all races. I will never forget the time i was at wal-mart with my mother and it so happens that there was alot of spanish people at wal-mart that day. This old white lady said something which i didn't hear but,my mom heard it. my mom told me what she had said. she said '' all these f**ing cubans need to jump back on there boat and go back to the island they came from''. It hurt me so much to hear that. What I did is I went to the lady and asked her what she said. she repeated again like if it was nothing. I told her listen first of all i'm not cuban ''I'M COLOMBIAN'' yes i'm spanish and VERY PROUD of my roots you have no right to sit there and say those awful things were all spanish but we all come from different countries etc..She walked away from me like nothing. Tyra what makes me upset is that almost everyone thinks that just cause your a minority you came from a boat or illegally here to america. It makes my blood boil knowing that all of this is happening here ''supposially the land of the great''..no instead its the land of all prejudence. It kills me because as well as black people us spanish people go thru a big deal of pain. Everytime you walk in somewhere people already assume ''oh there goes a mexican or immagrant'' or many more awful things i have heard in the past. I have heard people comment because i'm colombian they already assume that i'm a coke head just because i'm colombian and no i'm not no drugy. for example, my uncle got stop by the police for no reason he was leaving publix and he gets pulled over. My uncle didn't know how to speak english back then very well. the police offical came up to him made my uncle get out of the car he called for back up when they saw the colombian flag in the car they turned to my uncle and asked him so your colombian huh. my uncle said yes right away the police said so you have cocaine in your car searched his car in and out searched my uncle making him look like a fool in front of everyone, and of course my uncle does not have anything in his car or on him. So after all of that the police offical wrote him up a ticket for not putting on his signal. Tyra when my uncle came home and told all of us we felt the pain that my uncle felt and the embarrsment. It kills me that til this day we have people still pointing fingers at one another even if your black, spanish, indian, or from the middle east. we are all from God were all one in his eyes why can the rest see it like how God sees it and how he made it...... Thanks Tyra maybe your show today will open uo peoples eyes.

-Jezzy

Hi Tyra,

I am a light skinned woman, and I do feel that the color of you skin does play a major role in your life. I remember this one time, I took my little sister shoppinng. My sister is light skinned, but her skin looks naturally tanned. So we slitted up in the store, and I was standing by these two black girls. I guess they didn't know that we were sisters, and they just started talking about my sister to each other right in my face, not knowing that I was listening. My sister dresses very nice, or basically what's in fashion. These two grown women were saying "O, Look at her, she thinks she is black." I was so upset, so I said to them, (surprising them from behind) My sister is black, and by the way she is only 15, so you should be ashamed of yourself. The black women were so shocked, that they left the store in a hurry. So I believe it goes both ways. First of all, people need to stop using the term "acting black", and step outside the box and just appreciate the color that God has made them, and SAY THANK YOU!!

Tyra i loved your show today..i can't believe that people are actin this way it's not bad enough that we have racisum in this world now it's blacks against black...IT'S STUPID..live is way to short to be worried about peoples color..i'm a white woman and i don't look at skin at all i look at what kind of person you are and how you treat me i'm married to a black guy and i just don't think it is right that people are actin this way against there own kind..!! i don't really know how they even live with thereself. and for tha woman that told her son he could not bring home a dark skinned gurl what she doesn't know is she's causing her own son to dislike her she's not hurting the gurls she's hurting herself. and i feel sorry for her. Can't wait till tomorrow's show trya...!!!

hi tyra,
I seen your show today and was suprised at how many black people are uncomfortable with there color. for one reason, when i was growing up we did not have alot so i lived in the low income community all my life and still do. and all throughout school i was constantly picked on about my color im white with red hair, im as white as they come. and i envy those that have color to their skin like my younger sister the tan or darker skin is more appealing to me escpecially since i am so white. plus my sister gets more attention and more opportunities than myself because she is that tall, tan, blonde hair, skinny, etc the works. i just think its not about race these days its about what is percevied to be beautiful and whats not. and obviously people of my skin color. ( so white you blind people ) so my family tells me or extremly dark.

Hi Tyra. I am 10 years old. I am half white and half black. I watched your show today. I watch it all the time. :) I am very light skined. (My mom if very pale with red hair.) I don't think we have it any eiser than dark skined women. When your dark people know your black. I have people ask me all the time What are you? I like to say I'm a person! What are you? I live in a small town with mostly white people and a lot of mexicans. The Mexicans always think I am too and try to talk to me in Spanish. I think they are crazy!! I don't even look mexican. I am proud to be a black girl. I wish other people weren't so stupid and hating!! I love you Tyra!!! ♥

Hi Tyra. I am a very light skinned white woman. I have never been able to understand why people are judged based on their skin tone. It's not like before we are born we can go up to God and pick and choose what we want. And also the skin is no more than a shell. we are all the same on the inside. We all laugh, cry, fall in love, hurt, etc... We all bleed red! No matter what your skin color we all have feelings and we all are human beings.

Hey Tyra,
I am a seventeen year old white female, and i happened to see your show today. It amazed me that people of the same race could put eachother down. A lot of people believe that all white people have it easy, but i totally disagree. I have negative things said and done to me just as any other race and skin tone. Many people tell me that they are surprised i dress the way i do and talk the way i do and say because of it that im trying to be black but im just being me. A lot of boys assume that i give oral sex because i am a white female, and girls often assume that i think im better than everyone until they actually get to know me, and people at school expect me to do well because i am white. It all hurts me because i dont give oral sex, i dont think im better than others and i do well because that is my goal not because im a white female. This actually has all allowed me to have an insecurity about myself. For a long while growing up i thought i was ugly and that no boy would even want to look at me. It was only since ive turned 16 that i embraced what i have and am proud of it. I just think that people of all skin tones should begin to treat others equally because that is the only way things will even begin to change.
Tyra your great and allow me to have different outlooks on things like this.

I am bi-racial(black and white)with an medium olive complection. My dad is in the very dark spectrum, and my mom is very fair. I was teased throughout all of school being called half-breed. I did not fit in with anybody. Now I have 2 kids and 1 on the way. The 2 kids i have come from the same father(white). My daughter(oldest) looks like she is white. She has blonde hair, blue/grey eyes, but has the features of a black person. Her brother, is more of my complection; nappy dark brown hair, brown eyes...I have already been asked if my oldest was a child i was babysitting, or adopted her, or my bf's child. I get discusted looks from both races as well. Unless people know me, they dont think my kids are full blood siblings. My kids will always know that its not the color of their skin that determines who they are, its the content of their character.

I appreciate how you tackled this topic and show how within our own race there is plenty of raceism. Its not just black and white.

As a very light skinned mixed child of a black mother and white father, I feel exiled from both the white and black community, Growing up in school i would get teased from both sides because according to black kids of my school i was too white to have a black mother and therefor not allowed in the community but according to white students i was a mutt and not enough of anything to even belong with the white students and according to some people from both sides they said i should be proud that i look white because it will make my life easier and comments like this has troubled me all through life. The problem i find is that you have to have some colour to your skin to even be part of the black community. I just want to be part of my culture, i even envy my older sister who appears more like my mother and her race then i do and even found my self envying really dark skinned women so in my opinion any women in the black community who have colored skin have more of an advantage to life then me because they have colored skin in general instead of heritage.

I think that whatever color you are no matter if your black white hispanic or even Native American you are going to have racism. And for those ladies who cannot accept light skinned oppose to dark skin you have no rite to judge for the simple fact that what if ur child or your was that person being made fun of. I have a son who's father is very dark and I'm light my son came out light brown hair, light brown eyes and I did look at the ear and fingertips to see if he'd get darker and he isn't. But I know that I'm so happy I can accept everyone. So yea it may be different for everyone but everyone is going to go through it so you gotta do what u gotta to survive...I love all skin tones cuz we are people who are GAWGUS!!!

Tyra,
I saw the show today and I am very light skin black woman and I do get looked at very diff. from dark skin women and I think it is very crazy for blacks to even think this way, it seems crazy to me because us as black ppl have been put down so much why do we hate on our own ppl. I myself want to get darker I think dark skin is Beautiful, dont get me wrong I love my skin color and we all as black americans should love each other too no matter what light or dark.

I loved the show because it told the truth about how we are treated differently based on our skin color. I consider myself to be reddish brown and I have constantly been told ever since I was little that I have a beautiful skin color because I am not too light and not too dark. I did not think too much about it until I got a little older. I love the fact that we come in different shades of brown and believe that we need to get back to appreciating our beautiful skin tones. I have a number of experiences that have happened to me that I can truly say was only based on my skin tone. For instance, I have worked with light skinned people and there were times when I would be ignored by some customers becuase they wanted to talk to the light skinned person. She would be busy doing other work and the people would wait for her to finish instead of allowing me to help them.
I think this show was just the beginning because you could have separate shows about: 1)treatment of the family, friends, and work place, 2)features in regards to what is considered "good" and "bad" 3)skin tone stereotypes and 4) what you can do to build your self esteem after you have been hurt by skin color discrimination. We need to talk about this more because it is the only way to break the cycle of self hate. It is not "the man" who is breaking us down, but ourselves every time that we talk about each other negatively and disrespect each other solely based on racial stereotypes. We are also a part of the problem when we stand by and say or do nothing to break this cycle. We have the power and it is about time that we use it.

WE WANT SOOO BADLY TO BE ACCEPTED BY OTHERS, BUT WE DON'T EVEN ACCEPT OUR SELVES!!!

ii am a dominican/african american woman and i attract all different types of guys in every color. im naht dark skin am naht liqht skin am in the middle. and i have family darker then me and liqhter and it shouldnt matter what color they are as lonq as they are respectful and have a kind lovinq heart. i feel for darker women because they have it harder then lighter skin women and its the mens fault because they chose to date liqhter women because they think they are prettier. and thats naht the case because my best friend is darker skin and she is very beautiful but she treats darker people bad tOo so its naht just the liqht skin treatinq the darker skin wronq its all of the above. it just needs to be chanqed.

Tyra, I just got finished watching my 'daily tivo Tyra' as I call it. Today's topic was about women of color, and their struggles with skin tone. I am half black half polish. My mom is black, but is extreamly light skined as am I. Being that I live in a very sheltered, predominantly white skined community, people have a very hard time grasping the fact that I am African American, and that some of their genralized, hurtful comments affect me. My family heritage dates back to Sally Hemmings and Thomas Jefferson, Sally being his love after his late wife Martha. Because she was his slave and they had children is for some reason looked down upon in many peoples eyes. Martha and Thomas Jeffferson's children and offspring, some reject us because we are black, and they feel that it is inapprpropriate for this bi-racial love to be agknowleged. Now, that dates a while back, but today, my sisters and I as well as my whole mothers side of the family are extreamly proud of our back round, and think want people to be aware of the so many beautiful shades of black females in all different communities.
So Tyra, I love your show, and today found it hitting extreamly close to home. Thank you.

Todays show really made me think. I'm white. I have two daughters there Father is mixed which makes them a quarter black. My oldest daughter is beautiful with her nice tan skin. ( im jealous of her complextion). My other daughter has bright red hair and blue eyes and the fairest skin ever! I guess i have aquestion if there are other mixed people out there that look white. Have you ever came across a conversation where someone makes a racist remark without relizing your heritage?

PLEASE!!! LET US STOP WITH THE "DARKER THE BERRY,THE SWEETER THE JUICE" CRAP! WE'RE NOT BERRIES!!! WE'RE HUMAN BEINGS!!! LETS ACT LIKE IT!!!! AND WHAT JUICE!!!LOL!

It a shame that some black women is still stereotype each other on looks,color and kind hairs when there more important thing out in world that needs more focus. Therfore, educate our kids on get an education so they can better live.

Tyra,
I watched your show today and im really glad you made this point. I have a very pale complection and i often get teased for it. Last year when people would first meet me (im in middle school) I would a lot of times hear people call me albino or casper. It hurts. I think honestly it does not matter the skin tone but how your personality is. Darker skinned women may have to deal with mean comments but light skinned women do to. It seems like no person is happy unless you are the "perfect" shade of tan, which i beleive doesnt excist. Too many people may not think much of my comment seeing as though I am only 13, but i still think it is important to voice my opinion. I think race is something to be proud of, not to be ashamed of.