colorism

English

Alternative forms

• colourism (British spelling)

Etymology

From color +‎ -ism.

Noun

colorism (usually uncountable, plural colorisms)

1. (American spelling) Prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification.
   • 2011, Don Lemon, Transparent‎^[1], Las Vegas: Farrah Gray, →ISBN:

     Black America used to be, and perhaps still is, a pigmentocracy, which means that the social hierarchy is based largely on colorism.

   • 2019, Alicia Williams, “2019 Kirkus Prize Finalists: Alicia D. Williams on Writing Genesis Begins Again”, in Kirkus Reviews‎^[2], retrieved 2021-04-15:

     This type of preferential colorism isn’t only found in the church aisles, it’s at family gatherings, on the dating scene, in the classroom, on the playground—it’s everywhere.

   • 2019 April 18, Pariha Laila Begum, quotee, “Shades of Black: how readers responded to our series on the colorism taboo”, in The Guardian‎^[3]:

     Colorism from your own people feels worse than racism – at the very least your own family and people should welcome you, no?

   • 2020 July 29, E. Tammy Kim, “The Perils of “People of Color””, in The New Yorker‎^[4]:

     Eliminating racism and colorism is, of course, a worthy pursuit, but it’s also impossible to do in the abstract.

   • 2021 March 15, Kovie Biakolo, “The Bachelor’s “Groundbreaking” Season Was a Representation Nightmare”, in Vanity Fair‎^[5]:

     Like those, James’s season still gave noticeably less screen time to its Black contestants—and because of James’s Blackness, the colorism that has always plagued The Bachelor became more visible.

   • 2023, Radhika Iyengar, Fire on the Ganges, Fourth Estate, page 166:

     Like many other parts of the world, colourism is rampant in India.

2. (painting) A style of painting characterised by the use of intense color.
   • 2002, Robert Suckale, edited by Ingo F. Walther, Masterpieces of Western Art, Taschen, →ISBN, page 419:

     Turner's colorism with its cosmic world view had nothing to do with realism, in spite of its impasto handling of colour. […] Turner's images are based on the far-sighted and purely objective views of the 18th century which he imbued with new meaning through his colorism based on colour theory and plein-air painting.

Translations

prejudice or bias against persons on the basis of their skin color or complexion, often among persons of the same racial identification

• French: colorisme (fr) m
• German: Kolorismus m
• Portuguese: colorismo m
• Russian: колори́зм (ru) m (kolorízm)
• Spanish: pigmentocracia f, colorismo m

a style of painting characterised by the use of intense color.

• French: colorisme (fr) m
• German: Kolorismus m
• Spanish: colorismo m
• Swedish: kolorism c

Further reading

• colorism on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• miscolor

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from German Kolorismus.

Noun

colorism n (uncountable)

1. colorism

Declension

declension of colorism (singular only)

	singular
n gender	indefinite articulation	definite articulation
nominative/accusative	(un) colorism	colorismul
genitive/dative	(unui) colorism	colorismului
vocative	colorismule