A controversial study on skin tone has revealed what many black folks have been whispering about for years: Light-skinned blacks are often more likely to be considered for jobs over dark-skinned blacks.
The University of Georgia’s unprecedented study indicates that dark-skinned blacks face a distinct disadvantage when applying for jobs, even if they have resumes superior to lighter-skinned black applicants.
Matthew Harrison, a doctoral student at the University of Georgia, recently presented his research at the 66th annual meeting of the Academy of Management in Atlanta.
"Our results indicate that there appears to be a skin tone preference in regards to job selection," Harrison said in a statement. "This finding is possibly due to the common belief that fair-skinned blacks probably have more similarities with whites than do dark-skinned blacks, which in turn makes whites feel more comfortable around them."
"I think what was most shocking to me was to find that dark-skinned black males with greater credentials were still recommended less -- or seen as less of a candidate -- than light-skinned blacks with worse credentials," Harrison told BlackAmericaWeb.com in an interview last week.
"I think it has a lot to do with the general comfort level that people have with dark-skinned blacks and light-skinned blacks," Harrison said. "The media depicts dark-skinned black men as violent and threatening."
Harrison said he was reminded of the controversial Time magazine cover that featured O.J. Simpson during his murder trial when the magazine darkened Simpson’s image to make him appear more menacing.
"The findings in this study are, tragically, not too surprising," Harrison said.
"We found that a light-skinned black male can have only a bachelor’s degree and typical work experience and still be preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an MBA and past managerial positions, simply because expectations of the light-skinned black male are much higher, and he doesn’t appear as ‘menacing’ as the darker-skinned male applicant," he said.
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Originally Posted by Mike Hosea
