Hi Tyra,
I watched your show today, and it made me feel so sad. I just don't understand the need to seperate people into catagories ie: white, black, light skinned, fat, skinny, whatever. God created the human race. He made each and every one of us. He chose the features that He wanted us to have. NO ONE should be judged by estetic features. Being a white woman of size I have been judged and ridiculed my entire life. I have been made to feel that I am unworthy as a human, and not valued in our society. It hurts, everyone wants to be accepted. My niece (through marriage) told me she didn't like fat people until she got to know our family, because she had never been exposed to overweight people. She judged us by what society said was acceptable. In a perfect world, people would look on the inside, not the outside. My son was given a plaque for his room once that said "God don't make junk". My prayer is that anyone who reads this will realize we are all from the same race; the human race. The outside whether light, medium or dark skin, blue,brown or green eyes, large, small, humped or sloped nose, full or thin lips, large or small body whatever the case may be; is a creation of our Heavenly Father. Look to the inside of the person. What are their morals like? How do they treat others? What is their charecter like? Those qualities are what makes up a person. God Bless you all.

Hi Tyra,

Thank you for doing this show because it made me realize how i am feeling about the situation. I am a beautiful light-skinned black woman at 18 years old. I have two sisters nd they are both darker than me. I feel the prejudice against my color even with my own family. I just want to say that every black woman is beautiful no matter what their skin tone, and it shouldn't matter what socitey has to say as long as they believe within themself.

Hey Tyra,

I enjoyed your show today. As sad as it is to say today the color of skin do mattered. Nothing really has change much its just push under the rag i must say...

Im Light skin and my sister is dark skin and it really hurt me when we go out together and say a guy might try to talk to me or her either may tell the guy oh this is my sister and he'll say is she your real sister and its all because of color and i have even have someone say because of the texture of my hair... Its really sad and man my feelings be hurt so bad when my sister come home and tell the mean things that people say when they have seen me or seen a picture of me and she say thats my sister and then she have to go and explain well we have different dads and she mixed....

Its just sad.. that people is so stuck on color instead of just the person!!

Hey Tyra,
Over the years dark skin people have told me that just because I'm light skin doesn't make me cute. People have actually told me that they don't like me just because I'm light skin. I do have friends that have different skin tones. But the one thing you didn't point out in your show is the fact that it is more common in the south. But when I was younger (I'm 26 yrs old) I used to be scared of dark skin people because they would be the ones who would threaten me just because I'm light skin. I've never been one of those females who think "she is all that". As far as people not wanting there son or daughter dating someone of a darker or lighter skin tone they need to be educated genetics.

Im watching your show right now. Im not black, however I respect african americans very much. Theres some adoption in my family, and we know that we do have an african american man in our family. My sister shows that more, she looks more italian than anything but she gets alot of guff at school and people come up to me asking me whats wrong with her. I think its very unfair that people are so descrimitive about this. Its absolutly ridiculous. Im glad you did a show on this. My sister and I couldnt look more different from eachother, and we arn't african american but it is in our blood. Just wanted to say thanks because my sister stayed home today from school and she was really happy to see someone standing up for you all.

Tyra, first of all I want to say what a HUGE fan I am of the Tyra Show & America's Next Top Model. I watch both religiously & seriously wonder if I could ever make it onto ANTM.. Anyway, about the show of Darks Vs. Lights today.

I was thinking of how it affects me as a Caucasian female having more of a olive-toned complexion, & it's strange because society looks at white females the opposite of how it perceives black females. Especially in the teenage generation, it is seen to be more attractive to have a darker complexion than to have a fair complexion. Living in South Carolina, I can honestly say that about 75% of the girls I know will go to the tanning bed in the months before spring/summer just to be caught up with the skin tones of the darker girls around here.

So to comment on your show topic today, it would have been a completely different scene if you'd had a community of white females instead of black. Stating these obvious differences, there is also a significant difference in the fact that white girls (from what I know of) are not nearly as harsh about skin tones in the sense of fair and olive complexions; I can't recall any occassion where there have been names called or "wars" fought over skin tones in the white community. However, I'm only seeing one perspective of this subject.

I would like to say that I think both light- and dark-skinned women of color are absolutely beautiful in their own ways! Everyone, for that matter, has something uniquely gorgeous about themselves. No one should EVER feel above another person; we're all equal in God's eyes!

I love you, Tyra Banks!
Please keep doing what you're doing; it's wonderful.
Who knows, one day I might try out for ANTM!

Take care! :)
-Brittany Richelle

I wanted to say thank you so much for approaching this issue of skin color. When I was a little girl in elementary school I had no idea what racism was until they taught us about it in school. I am a light skinned woman. The first elementary school I went to was mostly Native Americans. I had no idea that they were "different" than me until history class in school. It wasn't until middle school that I started hearing the racial comments thrown around. It was mostly the "stupid white b*tch" that I heard in the hallways. The majority of the time it was NOT at me, but when it was my friends, being mostly darker than me, would back me up. I did hear it the other way around to, but not too often. One time even I had gone to a pow-wow with my friend Lydia and her father. He is also like a father to me. Both of them are Nez Perce, but she got mostly her mother's genetics, so she was lighter than me. Later she walked up to me and told me that she over heard someone asking her dad if she was adopted. They thought I was his birth daughter! I hate the fact that people are always judging others by the color of their skin. Always assuming their past by their color. Thank you for bringing this to the light because it has got to stop. So many people over look this. They think of it as normal. It should NEVER EVER be considered normal. Thanks.

Black men and women have gone through this forever. I am a medium to dark skinned woman and I am very happy with how I look and who I am. My skin color does not make me the person I am.
I have been called darky and all that other stuff and I don't care. All I know is my husband and children love me regardless to my skin color. I have seen many women and have said "she thinks she is all that", but it has nothing to do with her skin complection. Both dark and light skinned women can be stuck up. My husband is a dark skinned man and I think he is sexy as hell. His skin color was one of the things that I found attractive about him. He has a twin brother who is very light skinned with greenish/hazelish eyes. This doesn't make one more attractive than the other. So those that believe that lighter skin makes people better are saddly mistaken. You can be light or dark and be either ugly or beautiful. Like the old saying goes, "Beauty is in the eye of the beholder".

hi tyra, i am thirteen and i can perasonally say that through my whole life i have been discriminated by my friends. I remember when i was in the third grade and i had a big crush on this boy and when i came up to him he started laughing and was shouting and callimg me BLACK and he said I looked like i was left i the oven for too long. i felt hurt and i didn't let that one boy get to me but when i went to junior high it was the worst i was crying mostly everyday afteer school. sometimes i try to hide it but the tears keep on coming i never told my mother about the name calling because i am embarrassed and every time she comes home i trty to hold my tears or wash my face with cold water. from catty

Watching this show really shocked me. I had no idea that there was THIS much racism within the black race. I was disgusted by the women who said that light skinned black women are better, look better..There is enough racism in the world and there is no need to add more.
Being biracial I could relate to this issue. I am very light skinned, green hazel eyes and I am often mistaken for white..however some people do know I'm mixed. I have experienced both sides of racism from both parts of my backgrounds.
Being biracial is difficult because I found it hard to fit in with social groups. I was shunned by the black group because I'm not black enough, I'm not white enough.

Hey Tyra,
I was watchin your show today and jus felt the need to write in and say that I think you have made some very valid points about steriotypes in America when it comes to skin color.

I'm a light skinned white female and I think I'm beautiful. I also think that your skin color is beautiful and I think that so many of the dark skinned black females that you had in the audience on your show today and in the crowd are beautiful too!

I think it's sad that black females are made by society to feel less beautiful than those that are lighter than them. There is NOTHING ugly about dark complection, full, lucious lips, round, brow eyes, and killer curves! And I think women of all shapes and colors should be proud of who they are no matter what casing they happen to come in.

We need to start focusing on making our inner selfs pretty and stop allowing the limitations that are put on us based on our outward appearance to hold us back.

We need to start loving each other and reaching out to each other rather than putting each other down. After all, we're all in this game called life TOGETHER!

Thanks Tyra!

well tyra yes I believe that every race has this issue, Iam not really sure about white people for them I think its more about status within their race. Tyra I am a hispanic women who was raised by a black man, my sister who is half black and hispanic, her father raised me like his own!! my sisters and i both got hated on because we were light skinned and especially when we lived in new orleans. i think it is worst in the south because of the history with racism. I am married to a domican man whose family is prejudice of black people and i ask him all the time why are they against black people when the only difference between you and afro americans is that you speak spanish.they always refer to people by their color like the moreno which means black, he trys to make an excuse like thats how spanish people talk and i say yeah because its goes back to the history when europens came over and you know the rest but thats still ignort especially now days.

Dear Tyra,
First off I would like to thank you because you are one of my rolemodels and I looked up to you since I was about 10 years old.
I watched the show today and I am glad that you chose to address the issue between being light or dark skinned.I am African-American and Pacific Islander and growing up I have experienced alot of racism because I am light skinned. It started in middle school when I was around other black people I was never black enough and when I was around other races I was too black. It was hard and it still is because I don't think that a person should be judged on how black they are because they talk a certain way or they hang out with people of all races. I just graduated from High School last year and I had to learn to distance myself from people because they thought I felt that I was better because of my skin color. Light skinned people do go through just as much scrutiny as anyone else and I am proud of being both African-American and Pacific Islander and I represent both of my races to the fullest.Thank you for giving people the opportunity to express this because I have held these feelings in for a long time. I love your show.
Sincerely, Dominique M.

In my opinion everyone no matter your skin color has to deal with prejudices. I am a white women whose ancestry mainly descends from Ireland and Finland so I have pale skin. I get made fun of by people who think that I am to white and need to tan because I reflect the sun when I am out side in the sun. I have gotten to the point that I only wear pants out in public, one of my friend s could not stop laughing at my legs because they are so pale.

Another thing that I wanted to point out that has annoyed me about a few of the shows I have seen addressing inequalities of skin and race. I am in college and am an Anthropology major and in my classes we talk about how there are no biological races with in the human species. I just bring this up because on the show today people kept on talking about the black race instead of the dark skinned people of the human race. In my classes we talk about how to help spread the fact that the only thing that keeps race alive is the fact that it is so ingrained in to society. Most scientist agree that there is not enough biological differences between the "races". I just hope to see soon that people start to acknowledge that fact. there is only one race and that is the human race.

Hi! Tyra, Love your....
Iam a twin! My twin sister has been called "white"; I have however been called "dark", redness brown, you name it...
We some times don't even say we are twin. The looks along is overwheming.
I have been asked are we those twin who one have a black father and the other a white father.
It's funny how people look at herand how they look at me.
She has always been called "pretty", just pretty.
I on the other hand have been called pretty by comparison, example: " You look like Diana Ross, Janice Jackson, even an older darker Hollie Berry.
Tyra, I don't look any of them, but it appears it hard for them to simply call me the "P" word.
At my grand daughter's school one of her teacher told her "YOUR GRAND MOTHER LOOKS LIKE A BLACK Angelina J."
In my family there is a variety of colors, etc..

Hey Tyra,
I was watchin your show today and jus felt the need to write in and say that I think you have made some very valid points about steriotypes in America when it comes to skin color.

I'm a light skinned white female and I think I'm beautiful. I also think that your skin color is beautiful and I think that so many of the dark skinned black females that you had in the audience on your show today and in the crowd are beautiful too!

I think it's sad that black females are made by society to feel less beautiful than those that are lighter than them. There is NOTHING ugly about dark complection, full, lucious lips, round, brow eyes, and killer curves! And I think women of all shapes and colors should be proud of who they are no matter what casing they happen to come in.

We need to start focusing on making our inner selfs pretty and stop allowing the limitations that are put on us based on our outward appearance to hold us back.

We need to start loving each other and reaching out to each other rather than putting each other down. After all, we're all in this game called life TOGETHER!

Thanks Tyra!

Hi Tyra,
I am a young girl, but since I 'discovered' (it's a wierd way to say it) you, I've always enjoyed watching whatever show or reading whatever magazine you're in. I admire you're mission to make African-American women feel confident, but I'll admit I was slightly offended by a comment made during this episode. Noel (pardon me if the spelling is incorrect) made the comment that she was not allowed to date a dark skinned man because his mother didn't want him to date a "little white girl". The audience reacted with shock over this cruelty towards light-skinned blacks, and not over the racism of the comment in considering white people. Being white, I was slightly taken aback, and as I mentioned above, a bit offended. I hope I am not coming across as overly sensitive, but I felt that needed mention. I admire all you do in making women of all races feel confident, and I agree when you say all women are beautiful. Thank you Tyra, and good luck in all your endeavors! :)

Hi Tyra,

I was just watching your show about the different shades of skin color. I think it is the most ignorant thing if someone of your own race or not of your own race would judge you based on how what skin tone you are. I am middle eastern and believe it or not I have been going through the same thing all my life about how "dark" I am. I have 2 sisters that are very light skinned, blue and green eyes, and almost blonde hair(naturally). I have darker skin, brown eyes, and really dark hair. My own grandmother and aunts don't think I am pretty because of it. Lukily I am very confident and it has not been pulling me down but sometimes it does get to me. I am a beutiful person and not a day goes by when someone stops me somewhere to tell me that I am beautiful whethter I am at work, shopping, or even pumping my gas. So for all those out there that are struggling with that issue please keep your heads up and look in the mirror and say "I am beutiful darked skinned or light!!"

Thanks for your time,
Rene'

Tyra,

I watched your show today about light skinned v. dark skinned blacks. I thought it was very interesting. I consider myself to be brown-skinned, but I've been called dark skinned. I also have heard, "you're pretty for a dark skinned girl." The thing is, I do not necessarily have what one would describe as "black" features. I say this because I've found that people, especially white men, find me attractive because I have dark skin and "exotic" features (big lips, high cheek bones). I have a best friend who is African and very dark. She is beautiful, but she always has to work really hard to be noticed. Many light skinned brothers deem her too dark, and dark skinned brothers just aren't trying to be with a dark skinned sister. It seems that light skinned people are assumed to be "better" even if the reality is they're not that attractive. There's been plenty of times where we'll be out and the light skinned-wavy chick who may not be that pretty in the face, gets all of the attention. I'm not hatin' I'm just saying.

I also have two neices, both my brothers daughters, one is full black, the other is half white. They have pretty much the same face, but one's light skinned. When they were younger and people would see their pictures, they would always comment on the beauty of the mixed one, and never mention the other one when, as I stated, they look a lot alike. Finally, I am currently dating a white man who has brown hair and blue eyes, and my biggest fear is that my children will look like him and not me. I really do not want white looking children. I'd much rather them be caramel or darker (though I am fully aware I have no control over this, and yes, I will love them either way). I know this is all over the place, but I think that it exemplifies the myriad of issues that stem from the different shades of brown. I'm glad you did the show!

I just got finished watching the show and applause for Tyra for bringing it out into the open. Prejudice is alive and well and sadly within our own community. I am biracial, a half black mother and a Spanish Jewish Father. My Grandmother was Lena Horne complextion with the light eyes so my mom and her sisters all ran the gammet of color. It is sad that my mother who recognized her heritage was two out of the 8 sisters to admit her heritage. The others tell everone that they are hispanic and that is sad. I am very proud of who I am and where I come from, my chosen religion is Jewish but I am also proud to be biracial. I was very angry to hear the mother tell her son that she did not want him to bring home a dark skinned woman, I have one son and cannot have any more due to a hysterectomy.The child I have is Autistic and he will never give me grandchidren and will never have the joy of love from a significant other in his life. I also experienced the hair pulling and being called the high yellow names, I have also experienced being called the Jewish namses as well. I have blessing of having two great cultures in me and knowing that Jews and Blacks were slaves and it was through their blood that I exist today. I owe it to myself to keep my faith and my ethnicity going on through work and through my religion.

You don't seem to know that there are FULL Black light skinned women who have fair skin and "white ppl hair." You didn't have to use ONLY MIXED women to represent the light skinned female with "good" hair!!!!! My sister is FULL Black with light skin and light brown silky hair. She struggles to convince ppl she isn't Korean or mixed. My family has to argue with ppl to convince them my aunt is a full blood Black woman. I just think that if you would have showed the TRUE rainbow of the Black race, you could have put an end to some of the stereotypes that we face. Black people come in a spectrum of colors and hair tectures. Even you seem not to think so. Your own ad representing this blog shows a Black girl and a girl who is probably MIXED. And I CAN TELL THE DIFFERENCE. ...it's just sad.

Hi Tyra,

I was watching your show and thought I would comment. Its really sad to see how deeply the strategy of divide and conquer has affected us. I feel for Tamara? (the lady who didnt like dark skinned sisters) because she is a product of her experiences. She was made to feel like an outsider by people she should have been able to feel comfortable with. Just because someone hurts you doesnt give you the right to hurt others to make yourself feel better. Especially if you know what that pain feels like. Thats not to say she doesnt need to deal with her own deamons. A lot of times we dont look at the woman in the mirror to see how we each contributed to the negative situation. Its easier to blame someone else. I liked the fact that the dark-skinned sister owned up to having preconceived ideas about lighter skinned sisters; I felt her honesty. I have experienced that type of thinking, not because of my skin tone but because of my "good hair" and I hated it. We need to stop this madness.

Dear Tyra,
I saw your show today and I wondered are we still living in the times where black men and black women had to look down at the ground becauase "MaSter" thought we were not good enough to do anything but have babies, work in the big house or in the feilds.
I have three children, I have a daughter who is black, and she is married to a Korean man. He thinks that his son is all Korean and often speaks to him in his native tounge. My daughter thinks that this is okay. Oh did I mention that he had two other chikdren when they met.They also have a daughter that is eight that my daughter had before she married him. I have two sons,and they do not date black women.I have no problem with this as long as they are happy and they are all treating one another respectively and with love. Both of my sons have tried to date black women but they always seem to have so many deep rooted issues.
My son's are 24 and 23 years old. It's also iteresting to note that one of my God son's who is
Vietanese dates only black women, whom have hurt him immensely. I beleive that love and like of your own self can tell a lot about a person. I am medium complexion, but I always thought that I was super dark because of what others would say to me. I am the darkest of all my mothers children, but I have learned that you must love yourself first before you expectt for someone to like or love you. I don't need anyone to validate who I am because I already know who I am, and I love myself.

Tyra,
I have watched your show today and I am so glad that you have talked about this topic. As a darkskinned woman I am considered ugly even until this day. People would mimic the lines from the movie The Color Purple..."girl you sho is ugly" and would think that it is so hilarious. I'm even in the process of lightening my skin color because I am so tired of hearing it trya.

Hello Tyra I just watched your show today and I think no matter the color of your skin everybody is equal and as beautiful as the next person. I think it was very brave of you to air what other thought should stay in the dark. Keep doing what your doing you are a inspiration to everybody and you are a strong women. Keep up the good work.