Colorism Among South Asians

Last week, one of the top news stories was the company Hindustan Unilever announcing that they were changing the name of “Fair and Lovely” amid backlash that the name propagates colorism among South Asian communities. 

In the South Asian community, the term Fair & Lovely conjures up commercials, ads, billboards, and tubes of the cream used by my mother and grandmother. I had family members who wouldn’t go out without putting this cream on their face. As I think about this name change, I think about how integral this cream - a symbol of whitening - was to the daily life of my family and everyone I know. Would changing the name mean anything if there is such demand and consumerism toward these types of products

Another thought is that the name denoted the function of the product. Fair & Lovely is a skin whitening cream that allegedly turns your skin fair and lovely. With this name change, we will now have instances where Unilever can say that this is not a fairness cream because the name does not reflect it. To me, the product as a whole is the problem, not the marketing and brand name.

While I think the actions of Unilever is positive, I struggle with understanding how much will really change. Skin whitening products are everywhere in India and rake in millions of dollars a year. These ideas of colorism aren’t just a product, but so ingrained in our daily interactions or way of life. Here are some of the comments I remember:

“Wow, you got so dark!”

“Remember when you were a baby and had white skin?”

These comments were so innocent, but masked the colorism that seeps through South Asian society. This is why I think there is so much more work that needs to be done to confront colorism in our society. It will take more than rebranding and social media messages. It will take hard work and shifting mindsets and values.

As Lupita Nyong’o said, “Colorism is the daughter of racism.” This statement signifies so much. In our work to become anti-racist, we must confront colorism, but also confront the anti-blackness within our communities that contribute to racism within our community. Confronting colorism and patting ourselves on the back will not solve this problem. It takes dual work to confront both evils within our lives, families and communities. But it is possible. We can do it together once we recognize the problems and apply solutions.

by Kartik Ramkumar (IG @kartikramkumar)