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Where did "Safe Brown" come from and does it actually exist?

Does "Safe Brown" exist?

  • Yes

  • No


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Selenadominates

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To me "safe brown" means you're in the middle of Lightskin and Darkskin. You are neutral in the colorism debate. You do not directly benefit from colorism but you are not negatively affected either. Where does this term come from? and also do you believe this exists?
 

TDiva

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Watch a 70s movie.

Every Black American over 40 understands exactly what safe brown means.
 

Just A Princess

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It does exist, people try to say it doesnt and that folks in this shade just want to feel special. Its the same as what you would call caramel, maybe even peanut butter.

As a person in this range Ive never been made to feel I was too dark or any other insults they throw at darker skinned women even around people I would consider high yellow. But its also obvious I'm not high yellow and I dont benefit from light skin girl priveleges either, but I've also never been bullied for being too light.

Both sides, lighter and darker, face certain stereotypes and criticisms that people considered "safe brown" do not. We are all black at the end of the day, but people are trying to act like these ranges and certain cultural experiences connected to them dont exist when they do.
 

riffs

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It's true for me. Some say I'm light, some don't-- and I often wish no one would so I never have to partake in those discussions. Lol. They're draining. My complexion has never really been an outward point of contention, so I am quite literally safe brown.
 

JazzleRazzle

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Yes it’s real and people who think that it isn’t are annoying. I’m safe brown but am very familiar with aspects of colorism and where I fall in it due to having a ls father and a ds mother. There are certain things my mom and ds cousins have gone through that I haven’t gone through.
 

Ashlyan

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Never heard the term safe brown but appreciated that I fell in the middle and avoided alot of the debates. Some people call me dark and others think I'm light. I think I just drink my water and mind my business.
 

Just A Princess

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Never heard the term safe brown but appreciated that I fell in the middle and avoided alot of the debates. Some people call me dark and others think I'm light. I think I just drink my water and mind my business.

I agree, growing up there wasn't a name on it, it just was what it was.
 

LaIndigo

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It means different things to different people.
 

Rhett

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I'm in the same book as many of the comments on the thread. I saw the term here, first, on LSA, and thought it meant the In Betweens were/are safe from the ds vitriol, a vitriol they should take out on the people they say have personally offended them, rather than rattling away on the internet to folks who had nothing to do with it.




"Safe brown" is when you watch the light skins and darks skins go fight each other, then fµck and make more of you.

We don't go at it with them -- I just listen and learn about what type of people they are and the attitudes they harbor, straight from the horse's mouth, because when you want to know about a People, just be quiet and listen to their projections and they'll tell you everything. I just laugh when karma smacks them upside their fµck!n' heads rather than argue, fuss and fight with stupidness. When the celebrities talk about colourism they sound nothing like the nuts on this site when they bark about it.

p.s. I didn't vote in the poll.
 

juulsee

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I'm definitely in the safety zone. I've heard the viciously hurtful remarks that dark skin women get hurled at them, I've also seen light skin women get praised and hated on.

I've seen light skin men get called pretty. And dark skin men get negative and false assumptions placed on them.

Safe brown isn't always safe. I've had my experiences but they have not been nearly as bad as others.
 

Greenche

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Well this all just my opinion. It definitely exists. People will try to tell you that it doesn’t and act like it doesn’t on LSA though. I live in the deep south and I’ve definitely heard that term plenty of times. Sometimes i wonder about the upbringing or some fonts or where they lived.. seemed nice to not have to witness this nasty colorist bs.

I don’t like the term “safe brown” but to me it’s just brown skinned folks. You’re in between light and dark. You’re not light enough to be light skinned but you’re not dark enough to be dark skinned.

I’d say caramel complexion.. other people have used the term caramel to describe me.. not light enough to be light skinned but not dark enough to be dark skinned. You’re “safely” in the middle away from all the drama.

I’ve never benefitted from colorism nor have I been put down because of my color. I’ve been seeing light skinned people and dark skinned people dog each other out over their skin tones since I was a child. Both sides got bullied because of their skin tone and uplifted.

Light skin males got dragged around these parts. They were called gay, feminine, sensitive, extra, sissies, whores, etc...

Dark skin women got dragged and were called masculine, ugly, monkey, mannish, extra, etc...

I witnessed some light skinned women get bullied too. Some of them would be just be chilling and then... “she thinks she’s better than us” or they’d call her a white girl which is never a compliment.

When it came to light skinned women it was pretty hard to tell if they fµcked with them because of their skin tone or what sometimes. Other than that they were usually the preference. Especially if they had “good hair” (sigh).. I will say that around here I’ve never seen a man clown a light skin woman.. it’s always been another woman.

Dark skinned males got janked about being so black that you couldn’t see them in the dark.. but other than that.. they were uplifted and the preference here..

I will say that light skinned males and dark skinned females got it the worst though. People would just go in on them for no reason.

I will say that brown skinned people never were the butt of the jokes nor did they get flamed in colorist fights.. well I didn’t.

Well, the most I’ve ever faced was other girls trying to argue me down in middle school and say that I had to be light skinned because I was lighter than them and that they were actually brown skinned... while they held my forearm next to their’s.

Colorism used to be pretty ugly down here.. we are moving past that point a little.. it started getting better around late 2016.

Also, boys/men always started these colorist fights. They’d always be the first ones teasing, dragging, and bullying. They always ignited the flames and fanned them.. I just wished that girls didn’t join and just ignored them black then.

Nothing sadder than seeing young girls/ladies/women bash each other to entertain a man.

I grew up/was a young teen during the time where black women were getting dragged on the internet and it was horrific. That sh!t is still traumatizing and it seems like a lot of people, specifically men, seem to have just forgot about that one time period where black women were always the butt of the joke..

Colorism is no joke.. and it’s awful for everyone..
 

DaPretty One

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I too experience being in the middle of the colorism war. I felt that my skin tone was the story of my people. I could see the tint of the Africans before me mixed with the white, native American and latinos who contribute to my color. I've never felt the out right stigma of being too dark or too light but could empathize with the two. I have always felt that the whole argument was a way to divide us as a people and needs to be stopped once we are aware of the issue.
 

AgnesGooch

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This is me and my sister and I guess cousin. I've never had anyone call me dark skinned, brown skinned, and I have never had anyone say I am light skinned. I think the majority of black people are in the mid brown category ranging to dark skinned.
 

LeBronFan

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Op.

Will you also be offering suggestions, on how to solve this problem without creating more problem?

Do you believe this problem can be solved by people?
 

LeBronFan

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This thread is really about colorism. It about the labeling of different skin tones.
Do you identify "Colorism" as a problem?
Identify Definition:

1. Give the name or identifying characteristics of; refer to by name or some other identifying characteristic property.

2. Recognize as being; establish the identity of someone or something.

identify — definition, examples, related words and more at Wordnik

Problem Definition:

1. A question raised for consideration or solution.

2. A state of difficulty that needs to be resolved.

problem — definition, examples, related words and more at Wordnik
If so, do you have any suggestions to offer that can help solve this problem, without creating more problems?
 

Prettyeyes212

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It’s been around forever

“if you’re light, you’re alright, if you’re brown stick around, if you’re black, get on back”

that sound is old as moses chile. It’s always been a thing
 

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