Definitions

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun Prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification.

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

color +‎ -ism

Support

Help support Wordnik (and make this page ad-free) by adopting the word colorism.

Examples

  • I'm really loving this post about white investment in colorism.

    ibarw newspaper_rock 2009

  • It is true that there is such a thing called colorism in our society in which lighter - skinned people are viewed more positively than darker-skinned ones.

    CNN Transcript Jan 11, 2010 2010

  • And you didn't mention the 'colorism' which had a lot of people up in arms and please DO NOT go there on '7 Pounds'!

    Congrats "Hurt Locker"--and a question Steven Barnes 2010

  • And you didn't mention the 'colorism' which had a lot of people up in arms and please DO NOT go there on '7 Pounds'!

    Congrats "Hurt Locker"--and a question Steven Barnes 2010

  • This research is believed to be the first significant study of "colorism" in the American workplace.

    Misdirections and Misconceptions: Welfare & Affirmative Action Part 2 2008

  • A caste system that novelist Alice Walker termed "colorism" has existed within the black community since slavery, stemming from the hierarchy established by slave masters for the light-skinned blacks who worked in the house and dark-skinned slaves who tended the fields.

    MultiCultClassics 2010

  • Journal-isms, Richard Prince writes that panelists on the Sunday talk shows "were shocked, shocked that there is 'colorism' in America and a perceived 'Negro dialect.' ...

    LJWorld.com stories: News 2010

  • Journal-isms, Richard Prince writes that panelists on the Sunday talk shows "were shocked, shocked that there is 'colorism' in America and a perceived 'Negro dialect.' ...

    LJWorld.com stories: News By Leonard Pitts Jr. - The Miami Herald 2010

  • In his online column, Journal-isms, Richard Prince writes that panelists on the Sunday talk shows "were shocked, shocked that there is 'colorism' in America and a perceived 'Negro dialect.' ...

    MercedSun-Star.com: front 2010

  • But if bad publicity for Yatoyo vehicles caused a drop in sales, and more blue cars to sit unsold on dealer’s lots, it would be ridiculous to assume that this disparate impact were due to some de facto colorism.

    The Volokh Conspiracy » 1. Science, Faith, and Not Ruling Out Possibilities 2010

  • And the movement also struggles with colorism—the insidious prejudice within communities of color that favor European features.

    South Africa’s embrace of natural hair care illustrates the movement’s power The A.V. Club 2022

Comments

Log in or sign up to get involved in the conversation. It's quick and easy.

  • Privilege, though, is not confined to money or pedigree. Although most people generally think of privilege as socio-economic, that’s just one of many categories. Of course, there is white privilege, but there’s also colorism. Colorism, favoring light-skinned people over darker skin tones, is real and present in both Black and white communities.

    https://www.huffpost.com/entry/black-woman-racism-privilege_n_613b9ea2e4b00ff836ec9480

    October 23, 2021