Blacks, too, judge each other by the color of their skin. How sick is that? [View all]

[mia]

“If you’re white, you’re all right. If you’re brown, stick around. If you’re black, get back.”

- African-American folk saying

I was about to give a speech — I can’t remember when or even where — when this teacher brought a student up, hoping I could help her.

The teacher was white, and her student was a black girl, perhaps 13 or so, of painfully shy demeanor and very dark skin. The woman told me the child thought she was ugly because of her sable complexion. Could I say something to encourage her? I was stunned. Is this true? I asked the girl. Eyes down, she nodded and whispered that it was.

I have no memory of what I told her. I do remember feeling it wasn’t nearly enough. Then the event began and I had to go. We didn’t speak again, but I’ve never forgotten that child. She is brought freshly to mind by “Sulwe,” a new children’s book by Academy Award-winning actress Lupita Nyong’o.

“Sulwe,” the book begins, “was born the color of midnight. She looked nothing like her family. Not even a little, not even at all. Mama was the color of dawn., Baba, the color of dusk and Mich, her sister, was the color of high noon.” Sulwe gets teased a lot. Kids call her “Blackie,” “Darky” and “Night.” At one point, she takes an eraser to her skin....

https://www.miamiherald.com/opinion/opn-columns-blogs/leonard-pitts-jr/article236413273.html