Their Eyes Were Watching God

In Zora Neale Hurston's Their Eyes Were Watching God, Hurston wrote on a topic that is still seen in today's society. Many call the discrimination of others within the same race colorism, but in the South, African Americans have termed it as the Light Skinned complex. In Their Eyes Hurston illustrates a character by the name of Mrs. Turner, she is a lighter skinned African American woman with some Caucasian features. Mrs. Turner dislikes all Blacks who are darker than her and 'bows down' to those who are lighter than her. This event is not new to the African American community we are always criticizing each other for the complexion of our skin, the texture of our hair and even the our facial features. This has led many African Americans to taking steps in changing there appearances. Some of these steps have been as small as getting hair relaxers, others are more extreme such as in plastic surgery. I believe that since for so long African Americans have been told we weren't beautiful and we don't belong we have gradually changed our perception of beauty. We criticize each other for what we were given at birth instead of embracing the natural and unique beauty that we were blessed with.