The Color Complex: The Politics of Skin Color Among African Americans

Drawing on interviews, history and sociology, the authors--a black woman, a white woman and a black man--ably survey the highly charged issue of discrimination among blacks on the basis of skin color. Their focal points range from miscegenation in colonial America to the historical role of the light-skinned elite in black churches and universities to trends in the hiring of black actors and models. The issues are complex: multiracial people debate whether they should consider themselves black or white, and a case of alleged ``color harassment'' has even reached the federal courts. Finally, as these authors persuasively argue, ``Nearly everything the Blackstet cap woman (or man) does to her (or his) stet parens appearance is interpreted politically.'' Russell is a scriptwriter and poet; Wilson teaches psychology and women's studies at DePaul University in Chicago; Hall is a professor of social work at Augsburg College in Minneapolis. (Nov.)