colorism

noun

col·​or·​ism ˈkə-lə-ˌri-zəm 

-lər-ˌi-zəm

variants or British colourism

: prejudice or discrimination especially within a racial or ethnic group favoring people with lighter skin over those with darker skin

Under this system of colorism—the system which prevailed in my childhood in Jamaica, and which has carried over to the present—rarely will dark and light people co-mingle. Rarely will they achieve between themselves an intimacy informed with identity.

—Michelle Cliff

What writer Alice Walker defined as colorism, the preferential or prejudicial treatment of same-race people based on skin color, continues to this day. And as she once wrote, unless we exorcise it "we cannot as a people progress. For colorism, like colonialism, sexism and racism, impedes us."

—Itabari Njeri

Examples of colorism in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Luther speaks to colorism and fatphobia making a great singer less of a priority for his record label throughout the ’70s, though, portraying a world prior to MTV in which image didn’t just affect how music got filed but also the artist’s pool of opportunities. —Craig Jenkins, Vulture, 2 Jan. 2025

The show doesn’t explicitly discuss race, but nods and winks about colorism are present. —Aramide Tinubu, Variety, 20 Dec. 2024

This was the first documentary to confront colorism in the Black community, a long-taboo subject. —Christian Blauvelt, IndieWire, 25 Nov. 2024

Jacob, who was raised in the United States by parents who emigrated from India, gorgeously illustrates her formative experiences, touching on respectability politics, colorism within the Indian community, her bisexuality, and her place in America. —Ruth Madievsky, The Atlantic, 20 Nov. 2024

Word History

Etymology

color entry 1 + -ism, after racism

First Known Use

1964, in the meaning defined above