The death of George Floyd, an African-American man who died in police custody in the US last week, has sparked massive outrage and protests across the globe. Many celebs have come forward and expressed their views on Black Lives Matters.
Now, actress Malavika Mohanan has shared a thought-provoking note on how people differentiate between ‘beautiful’ and ‘ugly’. Sharing an experience when she was 14, Malavika recalled how one of her closest friends told her that his mother never let him drink tea because she had this weird belief that drinking tea darkened ones’ skin complexion.
So much casual racism and colourism exists in our own society, she said and mentioned how fair people are equated as beautiful and dark skinned people are equated as ugly. "Calling a dark skinned person ‘kala’ is something we see on an everyday basis. The discriminatory behaviour against south-Indians and North-East Indians is also appalling. Dark skinned Indians are jokingly referred to as ‘madrasis’ because for some strange reason these ignorant people think all South Indians are only dark skinned. North-East Indians are almost exclusively only called ‘chinki’, all black people are casually referred to as ‘negros’ and fair people are equated as beautiful and dark skinned people are equated as ugly," she wrote.
She pointed that when global racism talks are going on, we must also become aware about what’s happening around us, in our homes, our friend circles and our society, and do our part in thwarting the obvious as well as the subtle racism and colourism that exists all around us, in our everyday lives.
“What makes you beautiful is being a good and kind person, and not the colour of your skin," Malavika concluded her post.
