Almost three years ago, vlogger Asia Jackson started #MagandangMorenx, which translates to “beautiful brown skin,” in Tagalog. The hashtag was first created as a way to celebrate Filipino American History Month.

Jackson, who is half Filipino and half black, spoke about her experiences with Filipino media during a Friday talk at Syracuse University. Based in Long Beach, Calif., she has more than 350,000 subscribers on YouTube. The Filipino Student Association and Lambda Phi Epsilon, an Asian-interest fraternity, hosted the event.

“I was bullied and called ugly for having dark skin,” she said. “I was surrounded by skin whitening advertisements and products. Filipino media was saturated with light skinned models and actors.”

Colorism is defined as prejudice against an individual with a different tone among people of the same ethnic group. Jackson said colorism manifests differently throughout cultures.

In East Asian cultures, darker skin was once associated with the poor, working class, but in the Nubia Empire of ancient Egypt it was seen as royalty, she said. For many cultures, colorism stems from the transatlantic slave trade and colonialism, she said.

“I have a pretty unique experience with colorism,” Jackson said. “In black communities, I’m considered light skinned and I actually benefit from colorism in those communities. However, in Asian cultures I am considered dark skin.”

During her presentation, Jackson showed advertisements in the Philippines for whitening lotions.

In one commercial, a woman with dark skin is portrayed as becoming more appealing to men after using whitening lotion. Another commercial’s slogan reads: “Let’s move together from white to whiter.”

In United States movies, light-skinned women are frequently casted to play African American characters, Jackson said. She listed Zendaya, an actor in “Spider-Man Homecoming,” and Tessa Thompson, a star in “Thor: Ragnarok,” as examples.

Jackson said that while it’s amazing to see black women in the same franchises and genres, all of the women have the same skin tone.

“They’re all light skinned,” she said. “They all pass the brown paper bag test. Honestly, I would pass that test.”

Change starts with acknowledgement, which is why Jackson speaks about colorism to her peers, she said.

“Colorism is systemic,” she said. “While I’m glad we are seeing representation slowly expand and grow in media, we still have a system we are working against and have a long way to go.”

Published on September 14, 2019 at 12:09 am

Contact Richard: rjchang@syr.edu | @RichardJChang1