Subornobaniks of Bengal have a reputation for being light skinned, but they are not on top of the caste heap.Ĭastes invoke a powerful sense of identity which draws on origin myths, legendary heroes, and believed in, but invisible, caste specific bodily substances, but not skin colour. Likewise, a merchant Baniya may well be shades darker than peasant Jats or Gujars, who stand lower in the traditional hierarchy. The warrior-like Dogra is generally fairer than a Namboodri or a Bengali Brahman. The ranking principle in the caste order is different and colour is of little relevance here. No matter what the actual skin pigmentation, the person could even be a sunshine blonde (like civil rights leader Walter Francis White), but would still be categorised as black. If somebody had 1/64th black blood, that was it. Till the 1950s the “one drop rule” was used quite frequently in America to separate the races, though it never really became law. This is in contrast to the phenomenon known as “passing” that was prevalent till recently in the US, when light skinned blacks tried to hide their lineage in the hope of passing off as whites. Their parentage is never in doubt, nor concealed.
The darker ones may resent nature’s callousness but they wouldn’t be categorised as half-breed, mestizos, or creole, or quadroon, or octoroon, or illegitimate, whatever. Given the idiosyncratic ways genes combine, it is quite likely that children from the same parents may have different skin pigmentation. Siblings would club siblings and cousins would fire bomb one another’s homes. If ever a movement emerges in India saying “Dark Complexions Matter”, the first casualty will be the family. Yet, it is these light skinned migrants from Northeast who face actual, public racism in Bengaluru, Delhi, and elsewhere. The store owner or the hotel general manager could be much darker than the junior, front line employees, many of whom are from India’s Northeast, where people are generally “fairer”. This is because a pleasant face at the counter, or reception desk, helps customers reach for their wallets without a muscle pull. There are times when light skin works in India but, ironically, in the reverse direction, such as when hiring people for low end jobs, like that of shop assistants and hospitality staff. A Bengaluru-based IT executive put it graphically: “We need Nerds, not Birds.” In the high-end job market being “wheatish”, or fair, is easily trumped by brains and skills. For example, no Indian cop will have his knee on a person’s neck because of skin colour.
The markers of status in India are far more subtle and varied with skin colour playing only a peripheral role, at best. Reservations in India are based on caste, while affirmative action in America is largely colour coded. Police reform in America stresses anti-racism and colour blindness, while police reform in India seeks independence from political masters. The anti-racist struggle in the US, even Europe, is way beyond surface aesthetics and has a profound bearing on public policy and administration. But that does not allow it to gate crash into the “Black Lives Matter” movement. The Indian variant of “colourism”, if one may call it that, is an unfortunate consequence of colonialism. It has no obvious impact on public spaces like racism does in the US. Colour preference in India is an aesthetic choice, largely a domestic affair. It is below the radar for hostilities towards it, unlike the examples above, have no policy implications. Glow (or Fair) & Lovely, however, need not fear. For example, Barclays Bank was once in trouble for its apartheid connections and JK Rowling is roasted today because her remark “biological sex is real” offends transgender rights.
Street protests and internet ballistic missiles work when they have clear implications for state policy. They offloaded “cancel culture” conscience keepers, kept their customers safely strapped, and stayed on course. Obviously, the intention here is to rename and un-shame.īy adroit label management, manufacturers of Fair & Lovely have found a good place to land. To campaign bluntly and in your face, literally, for “fair” skin is clearly bad manners, given the worldwide momentum of the “Black Lives Matter” movement. Fair & Lovely, arguably India’s most popular skin lightening cream, has just emerged from the makeup room.