The video Shadeism and the book No Telephone to Heaven are centered upon similar themes of racial hierarchy. Racial hierarchy is a form of discrimination against people of darker skin. Shadeism is an old belief that the farther away from white a person is, the farther down the social ladder they are, making the lighter skinned ones socially superior based on their skin color. Although a dark skinned person may marry a light skinned person, the only way for a darker skinned person to raise him/herself up on the social ladder is to have a light skinned child. Clare, in No Telephone to Heaven experiences shadeism living in Jamaica, born from a white father and a black mother. In order to enroll in a reputable school for white children, her father must convince the school that Clare is white like him. Clare struggles with her identity, with her own skin, and her family because of the concept of shadeism.
Shadeism is an old social phenomenon that is prevalent in countries colonized by the Europeans, such as India and the British West Indies, to name a couple. Nayani Thiyagarajah directs the movie, focusing on how young these societal norms can impact the mind of a young child like her niece, who is only a toddler. Her niece at such a young age already believes that she is not beautiful because her skin is a medium color brown. This, Nayani says is a fault of the parents for continuing on the societal beliefs. Almost at birth, a baby girls’ beauty is measured by the lightness of their skin. Nayani talks about skin bleaching cream and how many darker-skinned women buy this product in order to look “prettier” because they are taught that light skin is prettier than dark skin. Nayani interviews some other young women and about their experiences growing up around the white dominant culture as being the accepted norm. Many of the women interviewed had been taught at a young age that all girls should look like the blonde-haired blue-eyed Barbie doll, and Nayani attributes this to the European colonization of their countries.
In No Telephone to Heaven by Michelle Cliff, the protagonist, Clare is a woman of color struggling with her identity. Clare is a light-skinned Jamaican who travels to New York with her family. Clare grows older in New York, but the racism and discrimination attempts to hold her back from growing. Clare decides to move to London to further her studies in a less-segregated environment. Clare is torn because her mother moves back to Jamaica with her little sister and the family is scattered. Shortly after, Clare’s mother dies, and her sister moves back to New York to live with her father. Clare is a strong woman, she takes advantage of her disposition, and she advances herself as an individual while in Europe. When Clare returns to Jamaica, and becomes a member of a revolutionary group, she is in a position of power that she uses wisely toward the benefit of all people in the same struggle.
Madeline Bertot 