I thought this story was very telling. Her story is powerful because it especially reflects today’s times. Although much has changed, it feels like nothing has changed but taken on a new form. Bigotry happens online just as much, if not more, than in-person. Systemic racism still exists. Unfortunately, colorism is apart of the American story. It’s so upsetting for me read some parts of Sweetness. Lula Ann’s own mother didn’t like the color of her skin. She didn’t necessarily hate her daughter, but she treated her harshly. The mom defends this by saying she was preparing her for the world. I feel this ideal comes from a place of hurt. Like she said, “I wasn’t a bad mother, you have to know that, but I may have done some hurtful things to my only child because I had to protect her. Had to. All because of skin privileges,” (Morrison, The New Yorker, 2015). I feel many parents do this. They unintentionally, or intentionally, hurt their children first so when the world hits them with a terrible event, it doesn’t hurt that much or the child becomes numb to it. They think this “toughens them up”, when in reality it breaks them down. Another example of this is “Taught me a lesson I should have known all along. What you do to children matters. And they might never forget,” (Morrison, The New Yorker, 2015). I don’t think Lula Ann was hurt so much by the world as she was by her own mother. Though, I think she built the confidence to love her skin because she would wear white a lot to accentuate herself before she left her mom. I thought that was great! She didn’t succumb to her mother’s hurtful mindset of colorism. This quote in the beginning irritated and saddened me most, “It didn’t take more than an hour after they pulled her out from between my legs for me to realize something was wrong. Really wrong. She was so black she scared me. Midnight black, Sudanese black. I’m light-skinned, with good hair, what we call high yellow, and so is Lula Ann’s father,” (Morrison, The New Yorker, 2015). As soon as Lula Ann was born, her mother didn’t like her outward appearance. How could a mother say that? Skin color does not determine anything. It’s just the pigment of someone’s skin tone. As the story continues, she wants her daughter to call her “sweetness” instead of “mom”; it’s almost as if she didn’t want to be associated with her daughter. Color of skin does not determine how good or bad someone is. All skin tones are beautiful. The title itself is reflective of the mother’s thinking. Her daughter was darker in color and calling her mom “sweetness” was showing her daughter the toxic mindset of “lighter is better”. It’s disgusting how this mindset even exists.
In reference to the video, it’s so sad that colorism still exists in our culture and society. European beauty standards are imprinted in kids’ minds from a young age. In TV shows, movies, and pictures on billboards. Many of the lead roles in TV programs are white actors. Usually, people of color are secondary characters. I’m happy to see things slowly changing with Black Panther, On My Block on Netflix, Get Out and other programs making shows and movies with people of color as the main characters. Obviously, there needs to be more improvement, but it’s a start. I’m glad there’s more diversity in Hollywood now than before so today’s generation can have role models. They have role models like Lupita Nyong’o, Adut Akech, Lizzo, Celia Cruz, and other famous artists they can look up to and see themselves in. When we see ourselves reflected in others, we don’t feel so isolated and we create a positive community. Teaching this generation to love themselves, regardless of skin tone, is very important and essential for our generation to continue to grow.
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