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This is a topic I tackled for one of my Trinity exams. I honestly did start this speech’s first draft under the impression that I would talk about racism. However plans change.

I will publish the first draft I had for this speech one day. Until then, let’s have a run at it.

A girl by the name of Tanya began dreading school. She is a seventh-grade student at New Era Public School, New Delhi. She was awesome at basketball as well as all her academic work. She looked forward to school every day, but one day, everything changed. The seed of this problem was sowed when one of the boys in her class called her Michael Jordan during one of their sports periods. Tanya took it as a compliment but in due time she realized what this was when the nickname turned into something darker, such as tribal and princess of darkness. At first, Tanya was confused at this sudden change. It took a while to figure out that what her classmates were making fun of was her skin colour. This caused her to lose self-confidence. She did not do well in her studies and also stopped going to basketball practice thinking this would only make her skin darker.

All this comes to our topic, you might think I am talking about racial justice but no. As you know, it is not always about black and white, there are always shades of grey. Discrimination based on a person’s skin tone is what we call colourism. This issue is very prominent in a country like India. Whitening creams are being marketed with the message, that fairness is equal to happiness, popularity, success and so on. This has a very negative effect on the people who have experienced such discrimination. For example, let’s take Tanya, the fact that she was being called names based on her skin colour dragged her confidence down and refrained her from doing the things she loved. But is this obsession with fairness really worth it?

There are many different reasons for the existence of colourism, such as colonization. We all know that India was taken over by the British. They always gave the picture that the fairer population had more priority and the dark did not. This created a distinction that stayed for a very long time.

Come to think about it, why is fair still the only thing still beautiful? Well, it really comes down to the things around us. I mean, just look around you, magazines, movies, hoardings, advertisements and so on. Tell me, you only mostly see fair people, right? It is kind of the fact darker is not that acceptable. No wonder a person like Tanya was not happy.

This issue has given rise to many campaigns and messages. Such a “dark is beautiful” initiative. This encourages people that whatever skin colour they are, they are beautiful all the same.

Now after everything I have said, you will have to agree that colourism is something that should not be ignored, nor encouraged. Such activity can leave a long-lasting impact on the victim. If someone is bullied, offer your support and help them out. Most importantly do not tolerate being bullied like Tanya, as you can always speak to a parent and they will help you. Above all, always remember that what matters is not someone’s skin tone, but what’s within.