London:Dark-skinned South Asian and Black people in the UK are sometimes stigmatized by their parents, siblings and other relatives. This information has been given in a new research. Studies by King’s College London have shown that within families, children with fair skin are often favored, while children with darker skin are subjected to humiliation and bullying. Of the 33 people aged 19-60 interviewed, nearly half said they had been subjected to discrimination. People of fair skin tone reported being favored by their families. A 33-year-old Black woman said she was given a lot of privileges in her family for having fair skin. ‘Being young, one of my biggest issues with my mother was that it’s always better to be fair,’ said a 43-year-old South Asian woman, ‘you’ll only get a guy if you’re fair and you can only get You will be beautiful when you are fair. And I think I really got it. How do you explain that when you are a small child?’
The research, carried out as part of the UK Skin Shade Study, said ‘black’ and ‘ugly’ were common words used as insults by families. A 31-year-old woman of Pakistani ethnicity told Aisha Phoenix, who led the study, that extended family used to ask questions such as, ‘How did your sister become so fairer than you? Don’t you rub your skin properly when you take a bath?’
Phoenix said that some families reproduced general prejudices in wider society, so that ‘dark skin is filled with negativity.’ People with dark skin may be subjected to widespread prejudice and discrimination from members of both their own families and society.
