At school, one of my teachers once asked me, with a smirk, "Are you from Africa?" and soon everyone started calling me with many other names that mean "black". This is not the first time this happened to me.
From a very young age, People constantly compared my complexion to others. It was impossible to escape their comments and judgments. Even members of my own family made jokes about the way I look. A popular one was that “whenever the electricity went out I become invisible because of my dark color".
So What's disturbing today is the unspoken fact that India ranks as one of the most colorist countries in the world.
India's obsession with fair skin is well known and deep-rooted. Unlike countries like the United States that have a population comprised of immigrants, India is home to people who originated from the country. Colour prejudice is widespread and practiced openly across the country.
Indian society believes skin color determines a person's worth. In our culture, all virtues are associated with "fair" while anything dark has negative connotations. TV programs, movies, billboards, advertisements, they all reinforce the idea that "fair is beautiful".
So the shocking truth is even if you are an Indian born and raised in India, if your skin color is dark you will for sure come across some cruel comments or jokes.
The reality was simple: In India, you as a person had less value because of the color of your skin. This is disturbing.
**There are approximately 60,000 Africans of different nationalities residing in India. Many have faced racial discrimination. A Nigerian student said type-casting every African as a drug-peddler was like calling every Indian a rapist. Many in India often refer to the African people as “Nigerians” — almost as a term of abuse.
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