Pigmentocracy

Pigmentocracy thrives in every region and culture in the world. A pigmentocracy is a society or state of affairs in which skin color determines socioeconomic and/or political status. In theory, any imbalance of power favoring people of one skin tone over another could be considered a pigmentocracy. Historically, however, pigmentocracies have consistently favored lighter-skinned groups over their darker-skinned counterparts. It is a behavior pattern and cultural norm that remains persistent and predictable across boundaries and generations.

The United States, although known worldwide as a melting pot of races and cultures, has not been immune to the phenomenon of pigmentocracy. Stark forms of pigmentocracy could first be found in colonial times, when slavery took hold in the nascent nation. The displacement and mistreatment of Native Americans could be counted as a manifestation of pigmentocracy, as could the internment of Asian Americans during World War II. Repression of these and other racial minority groups by whites persisted postwar and post-slavery. From forced Native American land cessions to the Three-Fifths Compromise to Plessy v. Ferguson, pigmentocracy has often left its imprint with full government consent.

Pigmentocracy does not always exist so starkly and with government sanction, however. Subtle variations of skin tone within a particular race or ethnicity have sometimes been perceived as advantageous or disadvantageous. Some have claimed that lighter-skinned African Americans have social advantages over those with darker skin; Barack Obama, Condoleezza Rice, Colin Powell, and Jesse Jackson have been cited as examples of this phenomenon. Among Asians, some have perceived preferential treatment among northeast Asians, including Chinese, Japanese, and Korean Americans, over the traditionally darker-skinned southeast Asians, including Filipinos and Hmong. Among Hispanics, some have claimed that light-skinned Cuban Americans have had socioeconomic advantages over darker-skinned individuals from Latin America.

Although the United States holds no monopoly over the phenomenon of pigmentocracy, its ethnic heterogeneity likely makes it more susceptible to perceptions of racial differences. The 2010 U.S. census data proven especially helpful in illustrating the multicultural mosaic that America has become. Census results indicate that in 2010, 12.6 percent of the U.S. population was African American, 16.3 percent was Hispanic or Latino, and 4.8 percent was Asian. Within each of these categories exists a broad range of subgroups, each with different ethnic and cultural identities. Although this magnitude of diversity is a defining attribute as well as a point of pride for America, it may also be a contributing factor to the perpetuation of pigment-based biases within groups and subgroups. In addition, 2010 Census data indicate that 2.9 percent of the U.S. population consists of individuals of two or more races; this may also have an impact on pigment-based bias among ethnic groups and subgroups.

The effects of pigmentocracy have been devastating for its victims. The ravages of slavery and postbellum civil rights violations have been well documented, but the modern effects of pigmentocracy can also prove deep and drastic. Consider, for example, the phenomenon known as the bleaching syndrome. This occurs when dark-skinned minorities feel such overwhelming pressure to assimilate into light-skinned culture that they use chemical substances in an attempt to lighten their skin tone. Some of these chemicals may be ineffective or [Page 1704]even toxic, and skin bleaching is often considered a drastic response to racial and cultural pressures. Recent advances in technology include laser skin treatment, a potentially less risky alternative to chemical bleaching, but this does not address the underlying forces that would cause one to attempt skin lightening in the first place.

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