Amid furor, DJ cancels party for ‘light-skinned’ black women
DETROIT — A local DJ and party promoter retreated Thursday from a plan to sponsor a bash that would let “light-skinned” black women into a downtown club for free.But the “Light Skin Libra Birthday Bash” at Club APT on Woodward Avenue turned out to be a bashing — of promoter Ulysses “DJ Lish” Barnes after word of the unusual party spread on the Internet.
“I made a mistake,” Barnes said. “I didn’t think there would be a backlash.”
Barnes, who said he’s been a party promoter for six years, canceled the event.
He said he has gotten angry calls and e-mails from around the country about the party.
“I didn’t mean to offend anyone,” he said. “I had planned a party for other shades (of black women). We were going to take a shade of color each week. Next week was going to be a party for ‘Sexy Chocolate’ and the week after that ‘Sexy Caramel.’
Barnes is African-American and describes himself as “dark skinned.” The issue of skin color is an often painful and emotional among African-Americans. The history of slavery and the resulting legacy of intra-racial segregation have sometimes pitted darker-skinned and lighter-skinned blacks against one another.
A noted Los Angeles-based activist who goes by the name of Pearl Jr. was among the chorus of voices complaining about the party.
“I had a good conversion with him and he understood,” said Pearl Jr., founder of the Black Women’s Movement in Los Angeles and the author of the book “Black Women Need Love, Too.”
“Ignorance can’t always be an excuse,” she said. “Colorism is real in the black community. It’s especially very degrading to dark-skinned black women.”
There is more, but don’t bother, I just posted because it tis just another example of black men acting like jackasses.
Besides I know you white folks are not clued in to the color divide amongst the Negro population, light skinned vs dark skinned.
Black women are unfortunately under assault from all fronts; Isiah Thomas basically says its ok to call a black woman a bitch, the infamous Imus “nappy headed hoes” comment now this shit.
Tis why I keep saying, the number one problem facing black folks in America….is other black folks.
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October 15th, 2007 at 12:38 am
These kinds of (so-called light-skinned) parties go on all over the place all the time, but you just don’t hear about them in public.
They’ve been rapidly growing in popularity for the past ten years. Many of them are held at exclusive clubs and in posh private homes. This particulary DJ could have simply been trying to see how much he could get under the skin of those who can’t pass that particular color test. The issue is, there is a growing segment of light(er)-skinned blacks who do not and will not associate with their darker-skinned counterparts.
The odd part of this story is that if in fact the DJ was darker-skinned as was reported, then what message was he really trying to send?
p.s., If the party’s held in a private home, there is no legal recourse for those who might feel slighted. It’s call freedom of association. In other words, you can’t sue anyone.
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Amid furor, DJ cancels party for ‘light-skinned’ blacks
‘I made a mistake,’ local party promoter says after Internet backlash.
Oralandar Brand-Williams / The Detroit News
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071012/METRO/710120405
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