Black is beautiful! Just not in South Africa

Fifty years ago, when everything white was right, it should have come as no surprise that little black girls preferred white dolls – as psychologist Kenneth Clarke showed in his seminal 1954 experiment.

But it came as a disheartening surprise in 2005 when a similar experiment by a racially conscious high-school student, Kiri Davis, showed that little blacks still preferred white dolls. After all, one would have expected the pervasive influence black culture has had on white culture in recent decades to change such self-loathing preferences.  

It’s amazing that two generations after the ‘Black Is Beautiful’ mantra of the 1960s, some African Americans still believe that it’s not. It’s amazing that four decades after James Brown’s chart-topper, ‘I’m Black and I’m Proud,’ so many African Americans aren’t. It’s amazing that in the same year hip-hop artist Kanye West told the world that ‘President Bush doesn’t care about black people,’ Davis was discovering that neither do [little black girls] in Harlem. (Yuqing Feng, diversity.com)

To be fair, though, I have no doubt that if similar experiments had been conducted amongst black American adults, if not aesthetic preference, then racial pride would have compelled the vast majority of them to choose black faces – even back in 1954. And I would expect the results to be even more ethnocentric amongst black adults in Africa and the Caribbean.

This is why I am so disappointed by the results of a poll that was conducted last year by a South African publishing company to determine “the most beautiful stars” in the world.  This company, iafrica.com, claims to be the most established portal and one of the biggest web brands with one of the largest, loyal user bases in the country.

Yet, despite its predominantly black adult readership, the consensus winner of this poll was the very white Scarlett Johansson.   Even worse, the only black star to make the top 10 was Thandie Newton.  But my cynical mind suspects that they chose her as their token black (instead of, say, Halle Barry) only because she’s African … and half-white, though not necessarily in that order.

And let me hasten to note I am loath to believe that the lingering psychological scars of Apartheid have so affected them that the racial pride of adults in South Africa today is no more evolved than that of little black girls in America back in the 1950s. 

For the record, the full results, in the order of preference iafrica.com’s “South African based readers” chose, were:

1. Scarlett Johansson, 2. Charlize Theron (white South African), 3. Rachel McAdams, 4. Megan Fox, 5. Lee Ann Liebenberg (white South African), 6. Kate Beckinsale, 7. Audrey Hepburn, 8. Katherine Heigl, 9. Kate Winslet, 10. Thandie Newton.

Now, who do you think are some of the obvious non-white stars that should have made this list?

I, for one, would’ve thought that Continental pride alone would have compelled these South Africans to choose Kenyan supermodel Iman over a quaint beauty like Audrey Hepburn, for example.  Not to mention that other black supermodel, Naomi Campbell, who never tires of telling people that Nelson Mandela adopted her as his (honorary) granddaughter.

Hell, given the results of this poll, it’s a wonder South African President Jacob Zuma did not choose a white woman to become his third wife at the elaborate wedding ceremony that was held yesterday.   Although, reports are that he has already chosen another fiancee to become his fourth wife, so perhaps she’ll be the chosen one….

This poll? Polygamy? A witch’s brew to fight HIV/AIDS?!  All of these make South Africa look more like a pre-colonial bush country than the thoroughly modern society it purports to be….