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“The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone”

Nicole Shinn

Arizona State University

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“The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone”

Tupac’s iconic “THUG LIFE” tattoo bears an eerie meaning that can be tied to the

explanation for a number of societal issues that have plagued humanity from the beginning of

time until now. In an interview, Tupac revealed the meaning behind this tattoo. He revealed it

was not just a title for the lifestyle he led but also an acronym explaining the way he and many

others ended up in the “thug life”. The “THUG LIFE” tattoo is short for the phrase coined by

Tupac, “The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everyone.” Essentially, the hate the majority gives

to the minority eventually spirals into a domino effect that “Fucks Everyone” for generations to

come. This phrase reveals the root cause behind the persistence of discrimination and oppression

of many groups in this country and in the world, hate. The idea that the hate originally imposed

on a certain group of people manifests into a culture of hate towards those people that never dies,

all because of an original act of hate inflicted on the “infants” or ancestors of a group of people.

The results of this phenomenon can be seen in almost every oppressed group in this country.

However, the group I will be focusing on is African-Americans and the affliction of colorism

within our society. An issue resulting from the hate given to Africans originating in slave times

that begot hundreds of years of continued hate, oppression and racism toward and within the

African-American community in America.

Colorism, as defined by Ronald E. Hall (2005) in his book An Empirical Analysis of the

Impact of Skin Color on African-American Education, Income, and Occupation, is

“consequences bound for African Americans of varying hues…with the unifying theme being

that African Americans of varied skin tones experience widely different treatment both within

and across racial groups”. This phenomenon of the implications of skin color in the African

American community, which Hall calls “The Bleaching Syndrome” (Hall, 2005, preface) has
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origins rooted in the events of American slavery. The origins for the disparities in African

American societal existence based on skin color dates back to the Antebellum South, specifically

around the sixteenth century when the miscegenation between African and European peoples

was extremely common. This intermingling of Africans and Europeans resulted in a population

of mixed-race people, in America this most commonly occurred through three practices:

European rape of African women, legal marriages and consensual sexual relationships between

Africans and Europeans outside of marriage (Lake, 2003, p.19). As previously stated these

relationships resulted in a population of mixed-race peoples (referred to as mulattoes) and this

group of light-skinned blacks served as a middle-class buffer between African and European

Americans. The differentiation between classes of blacks caused a rift politically and culturally

in North America. In slave times mulattoes were often allowed to work in the house, tending to

the family and the master’s children while the darker blacks worked the fields and succumbed to

much harsher living conditions. In addition to this, mulattoes were often given their freedom

which allowed them to advance significantly more than non-mixed-race blacks in terms of

economics and social status (Lake, 2003, p.24). It is crucial to understand the dichotomy in the

status associated with skin color within the African American community because the legacy of

mulatto economic and societal advantage has persisted through time and with it has come

“cultural mannerisms and ideological beliefs” (Lake, 2003, p.19). These cultural mannerisms and

ideological beliefs, also known as biases and stereotypes have impacted the way American

society views and treats darker skinned and lighter skinned blacks. The differentiation in the

treatment between those of obvious mixed race (mulattoes) and those of “pure blood” can most

obviously be noticed in terms of education, income and occupation as discussed by Ronald E.

Hall (2005) in his empirical analysis. In the Antebellum South and the North during the sixteenth
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century and later in the post-Civil War era, when the progeny of Europeans and Africans were

rising in population, they began to experience more freedoms than their purely African

counterparts. The logic behind granting mulattoes certain freedoms like freedom from slavery,

the right to own land, the right to an education and ironically the right to own slaves themselves

(Lake, 2003) being that they possessed a sort of status related to Euro-Americans due to the

Euro-American blood that ran through them, essentially the logic behind white supremacy (Hall,

2005). In terms of education, the relationship between skin color and education in the African-

American community dates back to mulattoes being granted more freedoms than their darker,

purely African peers. Since almost the beginning of time a majority of groups have been made

the minority due to oppression and slavery enforced on them by Europeans, and following this

repetition of history Africans found themselves in the same position of oppression and slavery as

the Native Americans. The common theme being oppression by the white man. This theme has

associated power with Euro-Americans because this group has placed itself in authority above

the rest throughout time. Due to the power linked to this external group the focus in this country

has been on Euro-Americans because historically speaking they are generally the ones who are in

charge and make important decisions (Hall, 2005). Since historically speaking, white people

generally have all the power, money, status, intelligence etc. It became a common logical

conclusion in the slave era that since white people were more intelligent than everyone else,

anyone who contained European blood must be more intelligent than someone who does not

contain European blood (in other words non-mixed race dark skinned purely African peoples)

(Hall, 2005). From the slave era on this view point gained momentum, it’s what fed Jim Crow

and segregation laws and what still subconsciously feeds all the stereotypes surrounding black

people of all shades today. Due to this basis of distinction affording light skinned blacks more
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access to education than dark skinned blacks, a culture relating skin tone to intelligence has

surrounded the education community. According to his studies, Hall states that “light skin was

becoming more associated with education” (pg. 27) and because education was more attainable

for light skin blacks they strove for it more, while dark skin blacks did not and still have not

aimed high educationally because it seemed to be something extremely out of their reach. In the

African-American community, education is among the largest factors that divide people into

classes. Tied to education is poverty and occupation, the main disparity between the income and

occupation levels between light skinned blacks and dark-skinned blacks can be explained by

education levels. Since “Euro-American ancestry was…frequently associated with greater

education and mechanical skill” mulattoes have been granted more educational opportunities,

and therefore have greater access to occupations with high salaries that require education (Hall,

2005).

Today the issues of colorism are not widely recognized. It is not an issue that people are

actively searching for or trying to notice. Colorism branches off from the tree of racism, and the

issues of racism in our society go unnoticed and are unattended to. These issues continue to

persist in our society because people continue to pretend like they don’t happen anymore, or

weren’t a real problem to begin with. Such is the case of colorism in America. “Colorism” as a

term was not even recognized as a word in the Oxford-English dictionary until 2015 which

reflects the failure to recognize the existence of this problem. While some of the issues relating

to colorism have to do with the disparity between income, education levels and occupations of

light skinned and dark-skinned blacks. Other issues relating to this problem have to do with the

psychological development and racial identities of both dark skinned and light skinned black

people in America, as well as life and death matters like police brutality and police shootings.
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These problems go unnoticed and unfixed because no one is taking the time to recognize their

existence. Very few empirical analyses’ and other studies have been conducted about the impact

of skin color on a variety of aspects of the life of an African-American. The first step to solving a

problem is recognizing that there is a problem to solve. In light of the “Black Lives Matter”

movement an awareness concerning the condition of black people in this country has been

resurrected. At first glance at the issue of police killings of unarmed black men like Treyvon

Martin, Terence Crutcher, Philando Castile, Alton Sterling, Tamir Rice and many more, might

seem like an issue of police training. Although this is true, it goes deeper than that. The issues of

police brutality toward black people in this country relates to issues of skin color impacting a

person’s life. Most black people killed by police whether they were armed or not have been

unequivocally black. Very rarely do white or racially ambiguous men lose their life in the

circumstances that these unequivocally black men do. In 2018 alone, 139 black men (13

unarmed) were killed by police, while only 25 (0 unarmed) “other” or racially ambiguous people

were killed by police according to a database started by The Washington Post. Stereotypes

associated with dark skin are to blame, according to journalist Solomon Jones in an academic

journal by both the University of Mississippi and Louisiana State University Colorism and

Police Killings (2017) for dark skinned black men “The unquestionable state of their blackness

invokes a fear in others” (Crutchfield, Fisher, Webb, 2017) and officers are not immune to this

“bias against blacks” ( Crutchfield, Fisher, Webb, 2017) as it has been seen in these cases of the

death black man after black man at the hands of a police officer. Several studies have been

conducted revealing the fact “stereotypes drive bias in the decision to shoot” (Crutchfield,

Fisher, Webb, 2017). With light skin blacks, their ethnicity can be ambiguous because they do

not have the obvious trademark of dark skin to indicate their blackness to an officer and to the
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world. Because of this “we haven’t really seen racially ambiguous men gunned down by police”

(Crutchfield, Fisher, Webb 2017). Colorism is a prevalent issue in American society, one that

should be addressed through changes to the culture surrounding the treatment of members of the

African-American community including biases, stereotypes and the ways these influence the

perception of black people based on skin tone, these changes can be brought about by policies

implemented to educate and bring awareness to the problem.

The oppressed condition of African-American people in this country will continue to

persist if action is not taken to alleviate and resolve the problems that have afflicted us since

slave times. One step toward resolving the issue of colorism is to raise awareness. Speaking of

awareness, certain policies can be implemented to spread light about this issue in places where

the problems caused by it are most deeply rooted. One area in which awareness policies would

be of great importance would be in our education systems. More specifically in the social and

cultural training teachers endure to prepare them for the racial, psychological and economic

demographics of their classrooms. In the journal Colorism as a Salient Space for Preparation in

Teacher Understanding the policy of implementing colorism awareness in teacher training is

discussed with the idea being that teachers should be taught about colorism, its byproducts and

how they negatively impact the children they teach (McGee, 2015). These awareness and

diversity campaigns in education systems help to connect students to the problems that diverse

cultures in our country face, as well as help students connect with their own diversity and racial

identities. The primary effect of colorism awareness within education systems is on the

psychological development of black children and the concept of developing a healthy racial

identity. According to Colorism and Police Killings colorism impacts the physical health of

those of darker skin. According to previously conducted studies (Veestra, 2011, Hunter, 2007,
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Smith-Bynum et al., 2008) “Darker skinned individuals have rated poorer health outcomes,

higher rates of depression, and are more likely to engage in high-risk substance abuse and

aggressive behavior” (Crutchfield, Fisher, Webb, 2017). Lighter skinned individuals are

negatively impacted by colorism psychologically due to their “painful awareness of privilege that

results in ‘survivor’s guilt,’ alienation from their own communities, and conflicted feelings about

passing” (Cunningham, 1997) more specifically “passing for White, especially in situations

where racist comments are made” as stated in Colored Existence: Racial Identity Formation in

Light Skin blacks (Cunningham, 2010). With awareness of the struggles’ students face due to

colorism and encouraged discussions about race and diversity, teachers would be more

adequately prepared to recognize and help children work through any psychological traumas they

have faced due to their perception by society based on skin tone, and help students develop a

healthy sense of who they are racially (McGee, 2015).

Another area in which colorism has a negative impact on the African-American

community is the advent of police brutality and police killings, with officers allowing their

implicit biases and fears surrounding unequivocally black men to heavily influence their decision

to shoot to kill (Crutchfield, Fisher, Webb, 2017, p. 83). Instead of treating the phenomenon of

police shootings of black men like an afterthought, and attempting to triage when damage has

already been done. There needs to be a realization and acceptance of the fact that police behavior

in this aspect is “an extension of White supremacy” (Crutchfield, Fisher, Webb, 2017 p.84) and

this behavior reflects “underlying systemic racism that police brutality is rooted within”

(Crutchfield, Fisher, Webb, 2017, p.84). Only after accepting this fundamental flaw can we

move forward to training officers to be transparent and not allow their stereotype fueled fears to

impact whether or not they take a man’s life.

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While some might argue that since slavery and the antebellum have been long gone, the

remnants of African bondage are also long gone or are so miniscule that they are not a legitimate

issue anymore. This idea is primarily supported by the presidency of Barack Obama, in light of

“Obamerica” many have concluded that significant progress has been made in race relations and

that due to this we live in a “post-racial” society. In some aspects progress has been made in race

relations, as reflected by Barack Obama’s two terms as president. However, to conclude that we

are a society that does not see race and a society in which race and skin color does not have an

impact in a person’s life is wrong. Our country still refuses to believe that the present condition

of African-Americans in this country is heavily influenced by our nations oppressive and racist

past. We fail to recognize the implications of skin color relating to quality of life. Educational

institutions teach large black populations without the slightest idea of how the implications of

skin color originating from slavery impact blacks today. For example, darker skinned people

experience poorer health outcomes. They experience harsher prison sentencing with light-

skinned women being “sentenced to 12 percent less time behind bars than their darker-skinned

counterparts. The results also showed that having light skin reduces the actual time served by 11

percent” as revealed by an article in Newsone (Starr, 2017). And disadvantages in employment as

revealed by “A 2006 university of Georgia study” which explained that “employers prefer light-

skinned black men to dark-skinned men, regardless of their qualifications. We found that a light-

skinned black male can have only a Bachelor’s degree and typical work experience and still be

preferred over a dark-skinned black male with an MBA and past managerial positions,” (Starr,

2017) and much more. It is in these ways that racism, colorism and slave like oppression are still

very much alive.

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Freedom isn’t free. It comes at great cost and as the fruit of diligent work. America is still

allowing the horrors of our past to write the story of our future by not dealing with issues like

colorism that have tormented society and stunted its growth. The roots of hate and its inequities

run deep in this country, and while these problems will not simply disappear with the

implementation of the policies discussed in this essay they will be significantly reduced.

Recognizing the existence of colorism and striving to abolish it is the only way that the

American people can truly be free. If you’re not angry you are not paying attention.