Check your privilege

I admit it. I have brown-skinned privilege. I recognize this as a privilege — not because I have won some prize but because of the challenges I have not faced. I have seen what my darker and lighter brothers and sisters have had to endure, and there were times when, from my perspective, it was quite awful. I was never once teased about my skin color while others, both dark and light, were. I never had to explain my Blackness. I never had to explain my hair type. No one questions my ethnicity or my parentage. My nose is broad. My lips are full. I am very clearly Black. I would not pass the paper bag test, a process by which a person’s skin color is measured to determine if it is lighter or darker than a paper bag. I’m darker. I have many loved ones who would pass this test, but they have never treated me any differently. While I have been able to enjoy a sense of neutrality, safe from the bitterness of colorism, I know and care for other people who do not share this privilege. I have loved ones who are regularly asked to explain who...