You’ve probably never heard of Tré Melvin, but we can pretty much guarantee that your sons and daughters have.
The foul-mouthed comedian/satirist/cultural critic has become a YouTube sensation with his series This Is A Commentary, best known for his “Sh*t Black Girls Say” parodies. This week-end, he decided to address the ignorance that has put a choke-hold on many of our Black youth:
The phenomenon of #TeamLightSkin vs. #TeamDarkSkin.
From club themes to Twitter battles that spill over into school hallways, the manifestation of hate in the ranking through colorism has become a teen-aged, cultural cornerstone. Melvin addresses the roots of the issue — think slave masters, rape and insecurities — and tells teens that the only thing they should be “repping” is #TeamBlack.
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While we rolled our eyes at his use of “kill yoself” in the first sentence if you claim affiliation with #TeamLight or #TeamDark, in light of the aforementioned insecurities, suicide rates and bullying in high schools across the country, we decided to run the video because this is one of those extremely rare cases where the message outweighs irresponsible slang.
Colorism in the Black community continues to tear us apart as a people. If we’re too busy cloaking ourselves in destructive stereotypes to address the tangible issues that threaten to destroy us, then Willie Lynch has won and we have been eternally enslaved — without shackles.
Weigh in and tell us what you think!
