The scholarly discussion on colorism has focused primarily on the disadvantages dark-skinned African Americans face, while highlighting the advantages light-skinned African Americans have such as having a higher chance of being hired at a job or having a higher salary. For this research, I am focusing on the disadvantages light-skinned African Americans face with colorism, which includes alienation from the black community for being too light and bullying from darker-skinned African Americans. By surveying Spelman students who identify as light-skinned to learn more about their experiences with colorism, I analyze the role that their experiences with colorism played in them coming to Spelman and to what extent their racial identity has been questioned as well as to what extent students perform Blackness by anchoring themselves in cultural Blackness, for example through speech or hair, as a way to cope with their experience of colorism and racial questioning.
