I was commenting on another thread when it suddenly hit me how important skin-color is, throughout the entire world.

The first time that I really noticed it, was when I was playing in the playground with other kids at about the age of seven. This really cute, dark-skinned, little girl named Linda, leaned over and kissed this light-skinned boy, named Jimmy, on the cheek while we were playing hide-and-go-seek. All three of us were hiding in this large cement water pipe that had been installed on our school playground. Suddenly, Jimmy jumped out of the pipe and started to frantically rub his face with his shirt sleeve like something really nasty was on it. I asked him what was wrong with him, he said," That black bitch Linda just kissed me, you saw it!" Linda, immediately began crying! Crying like she had been punched in the stomach or something.

I've mentally played that scene again and again in my mind. As I've grown older, I now see the social complexity of skin-color and psycho-political influence, it has upon us all. It's insidious but powerful!

All over the world, mates are being chosen based upon skin-color. Various chemical skin-tone lighteneners are being sold and distributed all over the world due to the high demand for lighter skin. This world phenomnon is found all over India, China, Japan, Malaysia, South East Asia, South America, Mexico, the United States, and guess where else...Africa! It's a multi-billion dollar industry!

Between the western media and the Colonial period of conquest, world beauty standards with regards to skin-color are just, FUCKED-UP!