Last week we tackled the topic of natural hair, discrimination, and the law. This week discuss an important and related issue—colorism. Professor Trina Jones, a Professor at Duke Law School and leading expert on colorism, joined us to  discuss this often debated and misunderstood topic. In the episode, Professor Jones defines colorism (12:00) and provides insight into its history in the United States and abroad (13:35). We also discuss colorism in marketing, entertainment and politics (18:50), whether light skinned people are more advantaged, on average, than darker skinned people (28:40), how colorism impacts lighter skinned people (34:25), how to have productive conversations about colorism without creating a divide (35:48 and 38:10), and fighting colorism within the legal system (53:34) .

Other Topics Include:

4:10 -   Colorism and the Breakfast Club

10:30 - Professor Trina Jones’ background

22:12 - Do white people notice skin tone differences than blacks? Colorism vs. Racism

44:30 and 51:25 - Are we moving away from the one-drop rule?

1:02:50 - Colorism in non-black and international communities

1:10:00 - Ty and Daphne reflect on the interview

Resources:

• Professor Trina Jone’s Research academic page: https://law.duke.edu/fac/jones/