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49 Duke L.J. 1487 (1999-2000)
Shades of Brown: The Law of Skin Color

handle is hein.journals/duklr49 and id is 1501 raw text is: SHADES OF BROWN: THE LAW OF SKIN COLOR TRINA JONESt Because antidiscrimination efforts have focused primarily on race, courts have largely ignored discrimination within racial classifi- cations on the basis of skin color. In this Article, Professor Jones brings light to this area by examining the historical and contemporary significance of skin color in the United States. She argues that dis- crimination based on skin color, or colorism, is a present reality and predicts that this form of discrimination will assume increasing sig- nificance in the future as current understandings of race and racial classifications disintegrate. She maintains that the legal system must develop a firm understanding of colorism in order for the quest for equality of opportunity to succeed. Introduction .......................................................................................... 1488 I. Distinguishing Race and Skin Color .......................................... 1493 I. Color Distinctions Through the Lens of Time ......................... 1499 A. Before the Civil War: 1607-1861 ...................................... 1500 1. The Upper South ......................................................... 1503 2. The Lower South ......................................................... 1506 B. After the Civil War: 1865-2000 ......................................... 1511 1. Colorism Within the White Community ................... 1511 2. Colorism Within the Black Community ................... 1515 Copyright © 2000 by Trina Jones t Associate Professor of Law, Duke University. I would like to thank God, my family, Margaret Ackerley, Najla AI-Radwan, and Loris S. Ray for their loving support and encour- agement. I would also like to thank Catherine Admay, Leonard Baynes, Sara Sun Beale, Robert Belton, Tonya Brito, James Coleman, Paul Haagen, Angela Harris, Donald Horowitz, Jeff Powell, Girardeau Spann, and Laura Underkuffler for providing helpful comments on earlier drafts of this Article. For their excellent research and editorial assistance, I am indebted to Ni- cole Becton, Julie Chambers, Shymeka Hunter, Alina Kantor, Inna Kantor, Mariya Seacrest, Stacey-Ann Taylor, and the editorial staff of the Duke Law Journal. This Article benefited from comments by participants at the Stanford/Yale Junior Faculty Forum (May 12-13, 2000), the Southwestern/Southeastern Law Faculty of Color Regional Conference (March 30-April 1, 2000), and the Northeastern People of Color Legal Scholarship Conference (April 13-15, 2000). 1487

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