Colorism

The refrain from American blues singer and guitarist Big Bill Broonzy can be heard in his 1951 song “Black, Brown and White” and shed light on the widespread discrimination against Black Americans in general and darker-skinned Black people in particular. The jingle may be unfamiliar to some. But its meaning is painfully clear.

The year was 2019 and Binta Diallo was looking for a partner. To be more specific, Diallo, 30, was looking for a potential husband. In that pursuit, the young Muslim woman from West Africa did what many Millennials do. She went online.

Colorism, a prejudice or discrimination against individuals with a dark skin tone, plays a role in most communities of color. But Binta Diallo says the issue is particularly pervasive in Muslim relationships. So she created a blind matchmaking service to fight it.

Colorism is the term for when a person is favored or disadvantaged based on the shade of their skin. It’s a worldwide problem that affects Black and Asian communities especially, and is still apparent in skin lightening creams marketed internationally and in the subtle favoritism shown to lighter skinned people in culture and media. Colorism may be less obvious than...

For years, cosmetics giants Unilever and L’Oreal have marketed skin whitening creams to women with less-than-subtle ads promoting “fair skin” as more desirable than naturally darker shades