Don't Play in the Sun: One Woman's Journey Through the Color Complex

Don't Play in the Sun: One Woman's Journey Through the Color Complex. by Marita Golden Doubleday, April 2004 $23.95, ISBN 0-385-50786-0

In her new book, Marita Golden uses many of her own stories and takes examples from her friend's lives, as well as images in the media and long-held stereotypes, to explore how inter- and intra-racial attitudes about skin color in particular continue to affect the collective consciousness of people of African descent.

Golden recalls as a child wrapping scarves around her head and pretending she had long hair because she learned from a very early age to believe that long hair was desirable. She also discusses exchanges with her mother. Golden's mother told her not to play in the sun for fear the child would get "too dark." At the same time, she told her "Your daddy is black, but he sure is handsome."

Virtually everyone Golden talked with among her friends had a story to share about bow their skin color affected how they viewed themselves, as well as the way people treated them.

Golden does not limit her discussion to the United States. She relates the widespread use of skin-lightening creams and their extremely detrimental effects in Africa and Caribbean as well. The stories are painful reminders of the pervasive, persistent effects of racism and oppression on the psyche of African people around the world, and the extent to which we have internalized the beliefs of our oppressors that we are unattractive, unworthy and undesirable.

To examine the color complex, Golden had to talk, of course, about how people look. By the conclusion of the book, this reviewer found the repeated references to people's "light skin," "dark skin," "keen features" and various hair and body types tiresome. I longed for a critique of the larger issue at stake, namely the world's obsession with physical appearance (not just skin color but breast size, penis size, leg length, eyebrow height, wrinkles), frequently at the expense of our character.

There is virtually no question that an ongoing, serious dialogue about the color complex needs to take place. Only in discussing our feelings about the subject will we find healing. Yet, ultimately, this conversation must move not toward definitions that continue to emphasize our physical appearance but in a direction that focuses on our character and our intelligence.

--Reviewed by Donia Elizabeth Alien Donia Elizabeth Allen is a writer in New York City.

COPYRIGHT 2004 Cox, Matthews & Associates
COPYRIGHT 2004 Gale Group