Can we finally talk about colourism?
Swarnaa Rajalingam talks to Tina Edward Gunawardhana about her battle to help eradicate this nuanced form of racism
Feisty yet firm, Swarnaa Rajalingam is a passionate advocate against colourism. Having experienced colourism from a young age, Swarnaa is leading the pack in helping to change the perception that fair is lovely. A vociferous campaigner who works in the Med Tech Industry in Social Media and Digital Marketing in Australia, Swarnaa has appeared on many public platforms across the country addressing issues surrounding colourism which has even attracted the positive attentions of Mindy Kaling and Deepica Mutyala. A representative of Gen X, Swarnaa is proud of her melanin rich skin tone and wants others to shed embarrassment and follow her lead!
What have your personal experiences been with colourism?
Colourism is discriminating one purely because of the complexion of their skin. I have experienced this since I was born. I became aware of the term and concept when I turned 20. For as long as I can recall, I have been pushed to the back, purely because I was on the darker skin colour spectrum.
Class photos, productions, musicals and events, I remember repetitively being shoved to the back. Being at a young, impressionable age where my identity was just forming and not being aware of the concept of “colourism” led me through whirlwinds of confusion, doubt and insecurity. I’ve faced overt and subtle colourism. It ranges from my family questioning, why I’m darker than the rest, why they let me play outside, or it’s moments where they think they’re complimenting me by telling me, “I’m pretty for a dark skin girl.”
