Upon taking an African-American studies course for the first time, I began to view the world differently than I did before. Before college, I was living with my eyes closed. My mind didn’t work and interpret things the way it does now, I blame that partly on age because I know that through time one’s mind becomes wiser. Through my course, the media and through everyday situations, I began to comprehend that being an African-American woman in this world is a difficult job.
African Americans, often times, try to focus less on the past and more on the future. Yet as a people we should recognize that things from our past can help us deal with things affecting us in the present. In, “How It Feels to Be Colored Me,” Zora Neale Hurston explores how a black person feels around white people and how their minds immediately make connections about their environment. She states, “I feel most colored when I am thrown against a sharp white background.” Yet, the melanin of her skin does not seem to affect her when she is around people of her same complexion. However, when she is the lone black face among many white faces, she is more aware of her distinct difference from everyone else.
Yet unlike many stories that paint a desire to fit in with the whiter faces, Hurston is not ashamed of her ivory skin for she knows that it makes her unique. This is why she does not speak bitterly about the history of her ancestors. She is proud of her people and of herself. She knows that the past will follow her for a lifetime and that others will use it to try and bring her down but it is not a burden for her, “Someone is always at my elbow reminding me that I am the granddaughter of slaves. It fails to register depression with me. Slavery is sixty years in the past.” Slavery is important, but it is not a topic that saddens Hurston, or brings about strong emotions because she is more directly affected by those who fought so hard to free themselves from slavery. Slavery attempted to make black people hate themselves and their bodies, however, the author loves herself and is surprised others are not fond of her, “Sometimes, I feel discriminated against, but it does not make me angry. It merely astonishes me. How can any deny themselves the pleasure of my company? It's beyond me." Hurston is more than happy to be proud of who she is and she urges others to feel just as proud of the melanin of their skin.
Like Hurston, women of color should not feel ashamed of the skin they are in despite the times when they feel like they do not fit in. For they have to learn the true value of their melanin's beauty and learn to love it. Once they do, they will not only be releasing themselves from the control of others but they will be empowered by the love they have for the skin they wear.
