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Light Complexioned Black Men in TV Shows, Advertising and Movies


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Has anyone noticed the virtual absence of light(er) complexioned black men and multi-cultural / multi-ethnic black men in media and entertainment? There seems to be no shortage of women on-air and on-screen who are in those categories, but men in those categories are almost non-existent, with the exception of journalism and news reporting. Looks like there's a lot of bias out there against the LSBM community from casting directors, advertisers, etc. They're still stuck in yesteryear and using old stereotypical depictions of black men in America, frequently relegating them to burger commercials and doofus roles - poor grammar, diction and all. Dark complexioned black men & light complexioned black women --- almost sounds like Kanye West, who in his own rants just doesn't like the light guys, in any form. Comments?.

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Funny I remember back in the 70's darker skinned Brother used to complain about how the lighted skinned, wavvy haired Brothers (ala El Debarge) were all the rage.

When I think about some of my favorite male actors, they all happen to be of the dark complexion variety, Idrissa Elba (in fact all the male leads from HBO's The Wire are excellent actors). I aslo love the work of Don Cheadle. Humm maybe the dark skinned brother are just better actors (just kidding).

I have to admit it seems to help female actresses, a great deal, if they are mixed race (ala Halley Berry, Zoe Saladana, etc).

Humm maybe you have a point Nels. Can you provide examples light skinned Brothers, who are talented actors that are being over looked because of the bias you mentioned?

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It's been just a general observation. Perhaps it also depends on a person's viewing habits as well, but I'd say that particularly in the case of TV product endorsements and network shows, bias certainly exists. Then again, with LSBM's being such a small portion of the existing black / AA demographic, people just simply may not notice. Unless something is said about it, it stays under the radar.

Oddly enough, the industry casting authorities who collaborate with advertisers, may well themselves be AA's who want to make a point as opposed to traditional white (or non-black) professionals who have an inherent bias. Mind you, over the past several decades, light skin in the black community has somehow been recast as a much darker complexion than it used to be, in many cases because of blacks who wanted to pass above 'that' color line - e.g., inclusion. So, pointing out light complexioned men who have been overlooked might require a clarification of what light complexioned really means within the AA community.

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