colorism

plural colorisms · alternative UK colourism

1. USuncountableusuallyPrejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification.

   Like many other parts of the world, colourism is rampant in India.

   2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 166

   5 more examples

   Black America used to be, and perhaps still is, a pigmentocracy, which means that the social hierarchy is based largely on colorism.

   2011, Don Lemon, Transparent, Las Vegas: Farrah Gray, →ISBN

   This type of preferential colorism isn’t only found in the church aisles, it’s at family gatherings, on the dating scene, in the classroom, on the playground—it’s everywhere.

   2019, Alicia Williams, “2019 Kirkus Prize Finalists: Alicia D. Williams on Writing Genesis Begins Again”, in Kirkus Reviews, retrieved 15 Apr 2021

   Colorism from your own people feels worse than racism – at the very least your own family and people should welcome you, no?

   2019 April 18, Pariha Laila Begum, quotee, “Shades of Black: how readers responded to our series on the colorism taboo”, in The Guardian

   Eliminating racism and colorism is, of course, a worthy pursuit, but it’s also impossible to do in the abstract.

   2020 July 29, E. Tammy Kim, “The Perils of “People of Color””, in The New Yorker

   Like those, James’s season still gave noticeably less screen time to its Black contestants—and because of James’s Blackness, the colorism that has always plagued The Bachelor became more visible.

   2021 March 15, Kovie Biakolo, “The Bachelor’s “Groundbreaking” Season Was a Representation Nightmare”, in Vanity Fair

2. uncountableusuallypaintingA style of painting characterised by the use of intense color.

   1 more example

   Turner's colorism with its cosmic world view had nothing to do with realism, in spite of its impasto handling of colour. […] Turner's images are based on the far-sighted and purely objective views of the 18th century which he imbued with new meaning through his colorism based on colour theory and plein-air painting.

   2002, Robert Suckale, edited by Ingo F. Walther, Masterpieces of Western Art, Taschen, →ISBN, page 419