We talked about colorism in my class this week.

Inevitably, they asked me how do I think we can fix it.

I definitely do not have a complete answer to that question, but I know the first step is acknowledging the true breadth and depth of this problem.

Most discussions of colorism outside of narrow scholarly circles that study the thing revolve around media representation, interpersonal interactions, and attractiveness.

They just want to see dark skinned people on TV, not get bullied for it, and be considered pretty.

But that's only the tip of the iceberg, and some of the other data is bound to make people uncomfortable.

The social and economic differences between dark skinned and light skinned black Americans are VAST. And one study suggests they're getting worse.

Light skinned black folks outperform their darker counterparts on almost every conceivable measure. But that's not terribly surprising.

However, the scale of the differences and implications may be more shocking and controversial.

The data suggests that the life outcomes of light skinned black folks are closer to those of white folks than they are to dark skinned black folks.

The gap between light and dark skinned black people is bigger than the gap between light skinned black people and white people.

On some measures there is no difference at all.

Some studies show no statistically significant difference in wages of light skinned black men and white men.

Another shows no statistically significant difference between prison sentences of light skinned black men and white men.

Upward economic mobility for black Americans, which is already very limited, is primarily concentrated among the light skinned.

Other studies suggest skin tone is a stronger predictor of economic success for black people than parental socio-economic status.

Damning.

And of course someone will respond to this with the typical "we're all black, why are you trying to divide us" shit. That completely misses the point.

We're already divided.

There are also studies of political attitudes.

Studies of political attitudes find light skinned black folks tend to be more conservative than their dark counterparts AND are more likely to embrace negative stereotypes about black folks.

This political divergence is recent. Shows up in data from the 2000s but not the 80s.

Of course "we're all black." Racial ancestry still matters. Racial identification still matters.

But when we're talking about racial justice projects we're doing a great disservice if we are unwilling to acknowledge who is truly suffering the most. Color matters.