Courtesy of The Root
Last week, OWN announced that Bill Duke’s controversial documentary Dark Girls, which explores the colorism faced by dark-skinned women, would be heading to the network in June. I refer to it as controversial not because of the very important issue it tackles, but because I recall the discussions that the 10-minute trailer started when it hit the Internet.
Every black news site or blog worth its page views chimed in on Dark Girls, which was the whole point, according to Duke. In a 2012 interview with The Root DC, he stated that the film’s purpose was “to create a discussion, because in discussion there’s healing, and in silence there is suffering. Somehow if you can speak it and get it out, healing starts.”
I believe Duke had good intentions in creating this documentary — either that, or like Chris Rock’s Good Hair, he knows colorism is a hot-button issue that will bring people out to theaters in droves and get them talking, good or bad. Still, there’s a part of me that cringes at the film’s concept. I’m fine with the airing of black folks’ dirty laundry — and that’s largely because colorism isn’t solely a “black issue.” But frankly, I don’t think we as a community are ready to really handle it without some serious therapy.
