I was on Facebook today and I came across an article on my timeline that said, “Russian scientist has found a way to cure black skin,” I decided to click and read the article out of curiosity, but was shocked at what I found. Apparently, there is some kind of chemical that can extract the melanin of a black person’s skin so that they can be white.

As I was reading this, I wouldn’t say I was angry at the article; I was just…confused. Ever since I was little, I’ve heard all kinds of black jokes saying that I was too dark or no one would ever like me because of my skin tone, but never in my life did that ever make me want to bleach my skin to fit in. I’ll admit the jokes I heard when I was younger did kind of hurt me, but as I got older, I just let it go because I realized it wasn’t really that much of a big deal.

In my opinion, the only reason why people frown down on people that have real dark skin tones is because it isn’t the “ideal” image of beauty in America. Don’t get me wrong, the image of what defines beauty in America has gotten more diverse in America, but I still feel as though someone who looks like Justin Timberlake or Ryan Gosling has a better chance at making People magazine than someone with darker skin.

The worst part about it is that it has gotten so bad that it has even affected the black community in a negative way. If you don’t believe me, go on social media and look at how many people argue about team light skin or team dark skin. Personally, I always thought this was one of the dumbest things ever. I mean, come on, seriously? You think a white person argues over team tan or team pale? Hell, I even know dark-skin black people who said they would never date someone with the same skin tone because they would be afraid that their kids would come out dark. But the crazy part about it is that this problem has been going on in the black community ever since slavery.

You see, during slavery, when the master would sleep with and get the African women pregnant, her child would come out biracial and would have lighter skin than the rest of the Africans. Since the child had lighter skin than the rest of the slaves, they got more privileges than them and were referred to as “house n*ggers.” They were still technically slaves and still were considered property, but the white master treated them more fairly because their skin tone was lighter and closer to a white person’s skin tone. This made darker slaves jealous of light-skin people and made them hate them for having better opportunities than them.

Years later when slavery was abolished, it even made some dark-skin black people want to have kids with only a lighter skin black person, so that way when they have children they could have a better chance at being light skin too so they could get more opportunities. This is how America’s ideal beauty image has affected the black community’s mentality.

Now, I’m not trying to say that you shouldn’t date someone who is lighter than you. If you love them, go right ahead. As a matter of fact, you should date anyone you love, no matter what color their skin is.

All I’m saying is that you shouldn’t be ashamed of the color of your skin. No matter how dark or light you are, you shouldn’t let society’s standards pressure you into deciding what is considered beautiful and what is not. Now, I can easily say what everyone else says to dark-skin black people and say, “Don’t let your imperfections get to you,” but the problem with that is I don’t see my skin color as an imperfection. I see it as a gift from God that should be embraced in every way possible rather than a source of shame. So if you’re a dark-skin person and someone tells you you’re not attractive because of it, do me a favor, will you? Simply tell them if they don’t like your skin, that’s their damn problem, not yours, and just tell them to fuck off. Peace, everyone!