First of all I just want to say thank you Ms. Tyra Banks for airing show "Do LightSkinned Blacks Have It Easier?. No I don’t think LightSkinned blacks have it easier, I think that we all have our struggles that we deal with. Being black is a beautiful thing; we come in all kinds of shades from dark chocolate to your caramel or mocha. Not only do we have to deal with criticisms from whites, we have to deal with it from our own race and it’s a shame. I think that we tend to forget the white slave masters separated us by keeping the lighter blacks inside and the darker ones outside….and this is something that we have continued to follow even 200 years later. Are we not still in slavery? It’s not even by the white mans hand, but by our own. Why can’t we see the beauty that is in us? The lady who claims she can’t stand darker women because they treated her bad, needs to take a whole lot of time healing herself from within, she sounded like a fool. How can you possibly tell your child not to bring a dark skin girl home, what are we in the 1920’s. We are dealing with racism outside of race as well as within. We are never going to win this war if we continue to discriminate amongst our own race. It’s time that we get together and take a stand; we have come too far to turn around. The Great Martin Luther King Jr. will be turning in his grave if he only knew what was going on. So once again for airing the show, hopefully we will all learn from it.

Tarisha C.

hi tyra
when i watched your show about skin colour i was sad,sad because it is unfourtunate that in this day and age blacks are still suffering from the after effects of slavery.i am african ,nigerian to be precise and till i came abroad i didnt realise that it was a big deal to be light skinned.

my younger sister is alot darker than i am and from the time we where little she was always considered the pretty one,even guys always asked her out first.

where i come from skin colour does not matter, some ppl like dark skin others like light skin its is just personal preference like hair colour is for whites.i personally prefer guys who are darker.

we need to stop comparing ourselves to white ppl, who are lets face it are not the most attractive ,espeacially after the age of 25.we need to see this for what it is, SLAVERY in its most dangerous form because we dont even realise it

Hi Tyra. I loved the show and think it was about time that this was discussed. I feel that black people judge other black people harder than any other race. Being a black woman, I experienced racism when I was younger but i didn't realize it was racism until I was in my 20's. I don't hold grudges about it but I'm glad that I am not ignorant about it. Now I live in a state where the majority is nowhere near black. Often times I'm always the only black person everywhere I go. I love my people, but I have made it a mission to try and change the perception of the BLACK stereotype. Living here gives me that opportunity. My children are what's considered to be "dark-skinned". My skin is a little lighter than their skin is. So I decided to ask a question one day. I had my Daughter in the mirror. I asked her if she liked her skin color. She said yes. I asked her would she rather be my skin color. She looked at me and with a frown, she said NO! Then I wondered if she thought my skin was ugly. I asked her why. She said, "Well that color looks good on you and this color looks good on me". Tyra, I wanted to hug and kiss and squeeze her. She is a very confident young lady. I think that if we as black people instill in our youth that they are "just beautiful", we can overcome these issues within ourselves. Did I mention that my daughter is 8 years old? I learned so much from just that conversation.

Hi Tyra,

I really appreciated your show on light-skin and dark-skin in the black community. My name is Kayla and I'm 18 years old. I am a light-skinned black girl and I was interested in the show's topic. I am use to all skin colors and I think they are all beautiful. My father is brown,my mother is very light-skinned, my eldest brother is also brown, my other brother is caramel and I am very light-skinned and my best friend is more on the darker side and I love them all. I remember being called "white girl" since I was a little girl. Even today, my friends would joke about my "white skin" or people would think that I'm mixed. I have always been the lightest girl in whatever I was in and that dubbed me "that light girl with the red hair." It still bothers me from time to time. I remember being in my english class my senior year in high school and we were talking about race, and I spoke on behalf of the black community and one of my friends since elementary said "Kayla can't say nothing, she ain't black". Although he was joking, it made me so mad. I don't understand why this still exist in the black community. When I was younger, there were times I wished I was a little darker to get read of the comments, but now, I love and accept myself. No one can change that.

Why is it that when there is a mixed person a black person automatically calls them black??

Dear Tyra,
Thanks for airing "light skin vs. dark skin." I'm a 12 year old girl from Cali. Really, i never really thought of my skin color except like this school year. Im in the 7th grade, and it seems like everyone is "going out" with people except the black girls...like me and my friends. i know its not bc we are ugly, or bc we're not like-able, but i think its the skin issue.
i concider myself "brown skin." but its seems all i am is "darker skin" at my school its like a big thing. either your lite or dark. you cant just be "brown" I here boys saying stuff like "i would never date a black girl" and stuff like that. this one kid was all "i wud go out with you if you were lighter" and "your pretty for a DARK girl" and it bothers me when girls try to lie and say they are mixed if they get comments on their hair or eyes. its annoying. i get comments like "are you mixed bc u dont look full black" im like what does "looking full black" supposed to mean???? this stuff offends me. oh yah, and it seems like all the mixed people have a black dad. its not that im against it but it makes me feel that black men dont want us. sometimes i wonder, who am i gonna be with. it's sad, but very true. all i wanna say is that i thank u for having an episode like this one
thanks tyra,
Sierra

Hi Tyra, My name is Savannah and I am a 16 year old girl in Tampa Fl(originally from Brooklyn, NY).
When I was in Brooklyn three years ago i was always known as beautiful because of my lighter skin tone. In my family skin tone was a big part. My family is from the islands(Trinidad, Barbados,Grenada)and skin tone is a big part to them.I got the "Savannah your getting so black". When i came down to Florida i loved being in the sun and i got darker which I would guess happens to most people. I was never used to getting teased about my skin tone so I was shocked when I got the names black monkey,blackie,and midnight and I was hurt. I went through this phase that I needed other things to make me pretty : like cleavage, hair weave, and hazel contacts. I got the attention I wanted. Then the infamous phrase came along with that "you are beautiful .....for a dark skin girl and it was hilarious to me. So i stated saying "na im just beautiful"and they had nothing to say.I came from an all black neighborhood where all shades were accepted to a mostly spanish and white school where the fifty black boys wanted nothing but a hip hop video image and wanted the girl with the "sexy carmel thighs and hazel eyes and hair that touches the crack " . Tyra obviously you have hope and faith which gives me hope and faith also. Things in our community will change.Love you, tyra

hey tyra!
i just watched your show last night here in the Philippines and a dark skinned girl like me was so very thankful for airing that episode..
i have same condition with your guesses,you know the sisters which different in skin color..i can really see my self on them,,and we are always compared by people..thy always ask,'are you serious?' when i tell them she's my sister..it hurts me sometimes but im kinda used to it.

i watched your show on the light skin vs dark skin and i am mixed, black/white and my whole life ive been called like an oreo or not all the way Black although my skin is black and ive felt like i wont b accepted by my race white or black but i understand 100% that this is stupid for people to classify others like that because that does NOT make you a better person by putting down others if anything it makes you worse but there are people out there who are prejudiced and one day i hope that will all be let go thank you for airing this i apprecaite it much tyra im seeing a diffrent light now im proud of who i am and i dont care what others think and i wont allow them to put me down anymore...

Hi Tyra I think you shold do a show for the parent who have a hard time takeing cae of the lil one.I am a 19 year old mother and Ican us some help. My baby is so pretty 5 month all black and he can pass for a white baby. I have been trying to get him in to modleing it is so hard when you don"t have a job

Hey Tyra,
My name is Sarah. Im white and live in a predominantly white area (i.e. Northern Michigan). I never knew that this was an issue in the black community and was somewhat surprise. As i was watching a thought crossed my mind; while some African Americans "prefer" lighter skin, some whites are always tanning. Tan skin is huge and
I'm always reading in magazines about how many people are developing skin problems due to their excessive tanning. I assumed it was because they thought darker skin to be better, of course. I know lots of girls that complain about being so white and wish they were naturally dark. I just guessed it was the same in the black community, not the opposite. I just find it ironic that while one community is trying to look like the other, the other is trying to look like them. I think its silly that in this day and age these problems are still so predominant, and being about as white as you can get (I'm Irish and Russian) I couldn't care less the color of skin a person has as long as they are a good person, especially when it comes to love. I hope that as time goes by, more people realize this, and I'm glad there is someone like you bringing it to light for those of us unaware. You are a catalyst for change.

hey tyra,

i am a very pale 15 year old i am half irish and half native american so i understand both sides and i disagree with this insuation that light skinned people have it easier not only do i ocasionally recive remarks from other light-skinned people i also get it from dark skinned people. not that i blame them really i am lucky enough to go to a school where race is not a big issue at all! i am disbeliving when i here all these horrible tales of racial remarks it is just not done at my school. but i can understand why there might be some racial tension and not just between whites and blacks but between light and dark skinned people of there own race, there are people saying that light skinned people have it easier and i think that some people with darker skin may resent that even if it is a posibility and what happens that individual might do or say something to a lighter skinned individual and the lighter skinned individuals may say something back and voila there is a sick cycle that spreads to other people. and do not misunderstand me i am NOT saying that dark skinned people are bad or evil but i think that might be a sinereo, an incident caused by a negative influence.

i think personlly that a truly strong individual will embrace there non-generic skin color and love themselves for what god gave them because ther is only so much you can do to change you skin color. LOVE IT, FLAUNT IT! unite as one and say we will be oursevles and not be influenced negativly.

First of all, I thought this show was a good idea. We have to learn to face things that are going on, that's the only way we can try and get past things. One person really bugged me in particular(tamara). She thought that light-skined women looked better than darker skinned women but she's not so light skinned herself. I am lighter than her and I don't classify myself as light-skinned. The real issue is she needs to search within herself because truly that is where the problem starts. That goes for any person who has to talk down to another person because of their differences.

Hi Tyra! My name is Savannah and im 14 years old. i love watching your show,and i have my DVR record it every day so i dont miss anything. i just finished watching your episode on race and color and was really moved. im not African American, but i am half Puerto Rican and am one of the lighter people in my family. i have an older sister that is really my half sister. her real dad was also Puerto Rican so she is full spanish and has darker skin and eyes than i do. my little sister has dark eyes, hair, and her skin is a couple shades lighter than mine is. i have green eyes, dirty blonde hair, freckles, and super light skin. my mom and her side of the family is pretty dievers, so im not the only light person, but close to it. i have really light 2nd cousins and almost midnight black ones to with all different colored eyes and hair,but in my immidate family,me and my cousin Danny are the ones with the lightest skin. i love ALL different people and my best friend is half black and sweedish and is dark, and my other best friend is german and light. we dont descriminate people just on there skin. i find dark guys hot and light ones to. my family has rased me to treat people equaly and i am SOOO aprieative to them that i can hang with and be around the people i most connect with, and thats not on there race or skin tone. thank you so much for bringing this up to all people because it just shows the world how rediculuse we can be sometimes about people we dont even know.i cant wait to see what else you have in store for your viewers and i apprieate the oppertunity to right this and share my storie.
Love&Peace
Savannah

Hi Tyra! My name is Savannah and im 14 years old. i love watching your show,and i have my DVR record it every day so i dont miss anything. i just finished watching your episode on race and color and was really moved. im not African American, but i am half Puerto Rican and am one of the lighter people in my family. i have an older sister that is really my half sister. her real dad was also Puerto Rican so she is full spanish and has darker skin and eyes than i do. my little sister has dark eyes, hair, and her skin is a couple shades lighter than mine is. i have green eyes, dirty blonde hair, freckles, and super light skin. my mom and her side of the family is pretty dievers, so im not the only light person, but close to it. i have really light 2nd cousins and almost midnight black ones to with all different colored eyes and hair,but in my immidate family,me and my cousin Danny are the ones with the lightest skin. i love ALL different people and my best friend is half black and sweedish and is dark, and my other best friend is german and light. we dont descriminate people just on there skin. i find dark guys hot and light ones to. my family has rased me to treat people equaly and i am SOOO aprieative to them that i can hang with and be around the people i most connect with, and thats not on there race or skin tone. thank you so much for bringing this up to all people because it just shows the world how rediculuse we can be sometimes about people we dont even know.i cant wait to see what else you have in store for your viewers and i apprieate the oppertunity to right this and share my storie.
Love&Peace
Savannah

Hi Tyra. Actually I really wanted to comment on this. Im white and I've noticed that it's not only the black people wanting to be lighter but also, white people are wanting to be darker.If you look around pretty much everyone of every race wants to get to the exact same color. Some black women try to stay out of the sun so that they won't become any darker and then most white women lay out in the sun or go to the tanning bed to get darker. So I don't think that it's necisarily black women are trying to look more lyke white women but that there is a common color that is desired by most people. It's considered light to black women and dark to white women. I actually asked a couple of my black classmates what shade they find more beautful among theirselves and almost all of them said light skin but if you ask a white person what is considered beautiful in our skin color range it would be darker.

Hello Tyra,

After seeing your show on Thursday. I was absolutely compelled to make a comment on your blog.

I am woman of African-American decent, and I have beautiful dark skin. I was blessed enough to be born in a family where skin color was not the most important thing. My siblings are both light and dark. We have the same parents. I think it is very important to point out that what your family teach you about yourself is very IMPORTANT! It will help you when you have to deal with both intelligent and ignorant people in the world.

And...I have to point out something that my husband taught me (he is Caucasian). No one who is born here in this world makes it out with an easy time. We can go on all day about our experiences as light skinned people or dark skinned people, but I have yet to meet one person, regardless of their race who has had everything easy. If you find one please send them my way. I just don't believe they exist. This is the reason why I will never be so bold as to say just by looking at someone, they have had an easier life because of their race, gender etc...I have met white people who have been to hell and back in their lives. I wouldn't trade mine with them for a million dollars.

Finally, I have to say as a dark skinned African American, life has been great to me. I have wonderful family and friends who see the beauty that is deeper than color.

God Bless
TB

Hi Tyra! My name is Savannah and im 14 years old. i love watching your show,and i have my DVR record it every day so i dont miss anything. i just finished watching your episode on race and color and was really moved. im not African American, but i am half Puerto Rican and am one of the lighter people in my family. i have an older sister that is really my half sister. her real dad was also Puerto Rican so she is full spanish and has darker skin and eyes than i do. my little sister has dark eyes, hair, and her skin is a couple shades lighter than mine is. i have green eyes, dirty blonde hair, freckles, and super light skin. my mom and her side of the family is pretty dievers, so im not the only light person, but close to it. i have really light 2nd cousins and almost midnight black ones to with all different colored eyes and hair,but in my immidate family,me and my cousin Danny are the ones with the lightest skin. i love ALL different people and my best friend is half black and sweedish and is dark, and my other best friend is german and light. we dont descriminate people just on there skin. i find dark guys hot and light ones to. my family has rased me to treat people equaly and i am SOOO aprieative to them that i can hang with and be around the people i most connect with, and thats not on there race or skin tone. thank you so much for bringing this up to all people because it just shows the world how rediculuse we can be sometimes about people we dont even know.i cant wait to see what else you have in store for your viewers and i apprieate the oppertunity to right this and share my storie.
Love&Peace
Savannah

Hello Tyra,
I was at school, and your show was, and this happen to be the subject about dark skinned black women and light skinned black women. Well I am 27 year old dark skinned filipina woman. I have had the similar problem. Dark skinned filipinas get the same problem as dark skinned black women. Just because I am darker then most filipina women, I am not as pretty. Because ligther skin is prettier. I have nothing against lighter skins nor dark. I have light and dark skinned friends of all races. I have even gotten comments that I look half black and half asian of some sort. I just laugh it off, or I get are you hawaiian?
I have nothing against any nationality, I think all Races are beautiful no matter what. My husband is of multi-cultural background, and he is very good looking. My grandmother has called me a lot of names because I am too dark, compared to most of my cousins. But I don't pay no mind to it, because, no matter what any one says to me about my weight, height, color, or intelligence, I respect myself, and love myself, no matter what.

Hi Tyra, I just watched your show about the light and dark skined women. I am a 12 year-old dark skinned African-American Girl and I've viewed light skin as more beautiful.Most of the people on my moms side were light and I was arond them a lot and all my older cousins i looked up to were light skinned. I never really payed attention to race but then my cousins would tell me I was a white girl and say thats a shame your so dark but you talk like that. And they'd say "Sydney why don't have any black friends?" . Then I started paying attention to the race of the people I'm around and sadly, I still do and I don't want to be like that. I want to be how I was before when I just saw a person and not a race. But I just can't help it. And usually I am the only dark skinned person where eveer I am. But before I went to white school so I was most likely going to make friends with more white people but it would probably be different if my bestfriend in kindagarden didn't flunk.(She was black and I'd hang around more black people)But now I go to a very diverse school. I hang around peeople all different types of races but still sometimes insicure about the color of my skin.

Hello Tyra,

This show proved one thing to me. It is not white people who are prejudice, it is black people. I feel for you. You are even prejudice against people in your own race. Why is it all you people see is color? When I look at someone I see them for who they are not what color they are. All your race sees is color, dark and light, medium...."I don't want my son to bring home a dark skinned woman" Even though you have light skin you are still black. And Tyra for you to call her a "White slave msters dream" How long ago was slavery? Can you and your race not get over the past? It happened and you are free, now, let it go. You are actually still slaves to your race. Being as prejudice as you are makes you focus on your race consantly, every time you look in the mirror you see color. It is a sad thing. Instead of trying to fit in with society and better yourselves you fight among yourselves between dark and light skin. Can we not just unite as AMERICANS? Can we not just be happy and proud to be who we are no matter what color we are. Surely if you are all prejudice twords your own race then you are for sure prejudice against white people! Althoug there were o white people on your show that day and we did not get to hear how your race feels about them. That is really what your show proved to me, how prejudice you and your race is twords everyone. Maybe yo have black hearts too. Whites are not prejudice it is the blacks. Your people who dwell so much on color. Whites have the music awards, Grammy's...these events are for everyone. Your race has the NAACP awards just for the black race. Is that not prejudice? But you can get away with it? Why? You scream for equality but every chance you get proves you really dont want equality. I do like your show a lot but I wish you would have a show uniting races and not dividing them. They are already so dvided even among themselves as your show proved. Blacks have so much hate inide them. Lets erase the hate and learn to love. Only then will your race grow and be accepted by all. Please don't take this to be offensive, after all black people created the topic and I am just responding with my true feelings.

I feel that many light skin people women do have it easier than dark skin women. My skin color is light brown. I just want you to know that I never thought about my skin color until I was approached by a young lady when I was 19 years old. She started talking to me about someone that we both knew. While talking to me she told me how she had described me to this other person, telling them that I was light skin and had long hair. I was taken aback, because I looked at her and at the same time I said to myself "I'm not light skin, what is she talking about?" When I went home that day I took a long look at myself in the mirror and I said to myself, "I don't know what she was looking at because I am not light skin". To be honest I was shocked because I never really payed attention to my skin color. All I knew at that time was that I was a black woman and that I was always taught to love myself. On the other hand, I do have natually long hair which reaches down to my buttocks. To this very day I hear woman of color (no matter what shade of color they are)who stand behind me and whisper that my hair is fake. I still hear people say that I think that I am cute. Women of color always ask me if I had ever cut my hair? While I was working on my Master's Degree one of the ladies in my class told me that I should cut my hair. I always seem to get this type of statement from someone who has very short hair. It can be so annoying. I do not feel that the color of my skin or the length and texture of my hair make me who I am. I truly feel that if I wasn't as strong as I am it could be hurtful, but I kindly told her that I love my hair and I would never cut it even at 46 years old. However, through all of this I do feel other people look at us as well as our own kind by our appearnace, whether it is our skin color, hair, facial features, body weight and so on to form their own opinions about us. I just wish that women of color from light to dark skin will learn to love themselves and others around them and at the same time take time out to uplift each other and compliment each other instead of trying to put each other down. I personally don't care what color a person is, I grew up around people from all walks of life so I believe in getting along with people and respecting them for who they are.

After listening to Tamara's (the light-skinned sister who had issues with dark skin) remarks, I have 2 points to make that go to the heart of the matter.

The first is that there is beauty in all of God's creations. We all have preferences, but that doesn't mean that one thing is better than another. God created variety in flowers and precious stones, and we all have our favorites but that doesn't negate the beauty of the others. He created man and woman in his image and said, "it was very good." (Genesis 1:31)

So, Tamara needs to be careful not only because she offends the sisters of her race, but she also offends God by calling his creations "ugly".

My second point is that we totally miss the point of life and waste our time directing our anger at a group of people. Ephesians 6:12 says that "we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of darkness of this world, against spiritual wickedness in high places." We tend to focus only on what we can see with our physical eyes and forget that evil masks itself in different ways. Tamara's real attacker just happened to operate through dark-skinned faces so that she would focus only on the dark faces and not the real attacker. She then keeps reliving the anger and anxiety every time she sees that stimulus (dark faces).

I am in no way saying that dark-skinned people are evil. Only that any individual, regardless of your race, skin tone, age, etc. can be used to hurt others when you walk around wounded. Even one of the men (Judas) close to Jesus was used by Satan to betray him.

So the point is, while we focus on attacking each other, the enemy is hoping that our time runs out while we have hatred in our hearts. You cannot love Christ whom you've never seen if you can't love your brother, whom you see every day (I John 4:20). We are in the fight of our lives. Just don't forget who your real enemy is. And, if you are saying and doing hurtful things to others, you'd better question why you're allowing the enemy to use you.

Be Blessed!

Dear Tyra,

I was pleasantly suprised to see a show on what so many of us for so long have wrestled with. Unfortunately for black people, as a whole it still affects and effects us. I am a deep brown woman some would call dark skinned and fortunately I was raised with two loving parents that didn't show favoritism between any of my siblings. My mother once told me "No one is better than you and you are no better than anyone else." My mother always taught me the beauty in people of all races. I am married to a white man and he can hardly believe the issues we have in our community about race. Racism is something we have all faced one time or another but to experience it from one's own race is very sad. As a people we have not stood together and this is further tearing us apart. I will teach my daughter the importance of one's character not skin color. I will teach her not to judge anyone on the way they look. It is very sad that the sister that was on the panel talked about how she hated dark skinned people. Wow I guess she doesn't understand that when it comes down to it, a prejudice person from another race would look at her along side of me and still use the N word.

Hi Tyra,

I was just catching up on my DVR shows from the week and just watched your show "Do Light Skinned Blacks Have It Easier?" What an excellent show, and yes in 2008 it unfortunately still needs to be addressed. I am a 35 year old professional brown-dark skinned sister and my best friend is mixed and very light. We have a wonderful friendship based on mutual respect, appreciation and admiration. It is amazing how people respond to us when we are in social settings together, like they just can't believe their eyes. Women stare and men gawk. We often joke and call ourselves the "M&M's". We have been there for each through triumphs and tears. It is so unfortunate that we can't deal with our issues and talk about them openly so that we can heal. I was teased and harrassed as a young child, being a student in a mostly white school district. Thankfully, I was blessed to not let that keep me from forming great relationships with many hues within the black community. You did a good thing Tyra. Be encouraged. You have such a platform and you are using it for good. Our young girls need to see all the positive that is out there and know they can attain it too!

Vanessa