Just For The [Race] Record!

I am black. I look black. My parents are from Jamaica, and yes I know all of us come in different shades, but I'm tired y'all. My black non-ambiguous ass is tired of having to tell my closest friend..

I AM NOT LIGHT SKINNED!!

Here goes….

For fuck sake. I'm sorry I had to get it out! Which part of me in that picture looks light skinned? When I tell her I AM NOT, she keeps telling me "I don't know why you keep saying you aren't. You are." No luv you are light skinned. You're niece thinks your white and my friends keep referring to you as my mixed race friend, and I have to correct them. No she's black. I've told her SHE is racially ambiguous as even though I know her parents are black to others it's confusing as to whether she's black or mixed race. There is none of that with me. And I've explained this to her on numerous occasions. Not that it matters to me, but how are you going to disagree with the fact that you look blatantly mixed [where you do] and call me light skinned [where I don't], I find that laughable.

[OK I have a slight Texan tan in that picture] If I was light I'd say I was light. But I'm not!! And I've never been referred to as the light skinned or red skinned girl. Apparently with us black folks there are over 30 shades of brown skin that makes us up as a people. I'm beginning to think there are way more than that ranging from the lightest to the darkest.

The fact remains I'm a brown skinned black woman who is in the middle of the spectrum, too dark to be called light and too light to be referred to as dark. **Shrugs** Why she feels the need to find a label for me I don't know, I've never felt I needed to adopt one to classify my skin tone, so why what I look like to others is now a topic I don't know. I just say I'm black. None of this mocha, chocolate, caramel, almond, honey glazed nonsense. B-L-A-C-K.

Can I just be black in peace without some extra label. Haven't we got enough. Even some non-black folks have told me "I don't look typically black." OK what is THAT supposed to mean?

**SIGH**

My sister told me someone asked her a while ago if she was mixed race [look at her [picture]. I mean seriously what are people on. If you're not blick black and dark like the night sky are people now thinking that you're somewhat mixed? I know mixed comes in all shades from light to dark, but c'mon now my sister doesn't have the typical and common mixed look or skin tone going on to even be asked that question.

There are some people, like me and my sister, happy and content with the way we look as black women and not getting all happy at the thought of being looked at as light or mixed. Especially when we don't. We just get on with it.

Fix up people and get some sense.