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“The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody”

Nicole Shinn

Arizona State University

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“The Hate U Give Little Infants Fucks Everybody”

Tupac’s iconic “THUG LIFE” tattoo held a significant double meaning. In one respect

the tattoo represented the lifestyle he and many others led. And, in another respect the tattoo was

an acronym, revealing the true cause of ills that have plagued humanity since the beginning of

time. 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 of hate that “Fucks Everybody” 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. It embodies the idea that hate

originally given to a group of people continues to manifest into a culture of hate toward those

people that never dies. Giving hate to others only creates more hate. The results of this

phenomenon can be seen in almost every oppressed group in this country. However, the focus of

this essay is African-Americans and the affliction of colorism. Colorism, being an issue resulting

from the hate given to Africans originating in slave times. This original hate begot hundreds of

years of continued hate, oppression, and racism toward and within the African-American

community in America.

In order to accurately understand the impact of colorism, it is crucial to first understand

what colorism is. 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 has origins rooted in the events of American slavery. The disparities in the
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societal existence of light-skinned and dark-skinned blacks, dates back to the Antebellum South.

Specifically, around the sixteenth-century when the miscegenation between African and

European peoples was extremely common. The 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. 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 on the other hand, the darker blacks worked the fields and

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

their freedom. Freedom allowed them to advance significantly more than non-mixed-race blacks,

in terms of economics, education and social status as revealed by Lake (2003) in his book Blue

Veins and Kinky Hair. It is crucial to understand the dichotomy in the status associated with skin

color in the African-American community, because the legacy of mulatto economic and societal

advantage has persisted through time. 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 perceives and treats darker-

skinned and lighter-skinned blacks.

The implications of skin color within the African-American community can most

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

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Hall (2005) in his empirical analysis. 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. In the Antebellum South and the North during the sixteenth-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.

Mulattoes were granted a variety of freedoms such as: freedom from slavery, the right to own

land, the right to an education and ironically the right to own slaves themselves (Lake, 2003).

The reasoning for these freedoms being that they possessed a sort of status similar, but not equal

to, that of Euro-Americans due to the Euro-American blood that ran through their veins (Hall,

2005). Since almost the beginning of time, several groups have been made the minority due to

oppression and slavery enforced on them by Europeans. Following this repetition of history

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

Americans, and the Chinese. 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 (Hall, 2005). Since historically speaking, white people generally

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

in the slave era that since white people were more powerful than everyone else, anyone who

contained European blood must be more of status than someone who did 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 distinction which affords light-skinned blacks more access to education than

dark-skinned blacks, a culture relating skin tone to intelligence has surrounded the education
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community. According to his studies, Hall states that “light skin was becoming more associated

with education” (2005). Considering that education was more attainable for light-skinned blacks,

they strove for it more. However, dark-skinned blacks did not, and still have not aimed high

educationally, because to them quality education is perceived as more of a dream than an

attainable goal. As previously stated, in the African-American community, education is among

the largest factors that divide people into classes. Greater levels of education generally result in

greater occupational opportunities, and ultimately greater income. Therefore, dark-skinned

blacks having education levels lower than their lighter skinned counterparts, results in fewer job

opportunities and lower incomes. The occurrence of this event is revealed by a study conducted

in the academic journal From Dark to Light: Skin Color and Wages among African-Americans.

On average dark-skinned blacks earn $11.72 an hour and light-skinned blacks earn $14.72 an

hour, resulting in increased poverty rates and overall poorer life outcomes for darker skinned

African-Americans (Goldsmith, Hamilton, Darity Jr., 2007).

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

persist if action is not taken to resolve the problems that have afflicted African-Americans since

slave times. One step toward resolving the issue of colorism is to raise awareness. In terms 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 benefit are in our education system. More specifically, in the social and cultural training

teachers endure to prepare 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.

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With the idea being that teachers should be taught about colorism and how it impacts the

children they teach (McGee, 2015).

The primary impact of colorism awareness within education systems would be on the

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

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

those of darker skin. In previously conducted studies (Veestra, 2011, Hunter, 2007, Smith-

Bynum et al., 2008) it was revealed that “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 by Cunningham in Colored Existence:

Racial Identity Formation in Light Skin blacks (2010). With awareness of the impacts of

colorism, teachers recognizing the implicit biases they might hold with respect to skin tone, and

most importantly encouraged discussions about race and diversity. Teachers would be more

prepared to educate students without allowing their biases to skew their actions, and be more

conscious about the way their behaviors regarding skin tone impact the racial socialization of

African-American students (McGee, 2015).

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, the occurrence 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
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is true, it goes deeper than that. The issues of police brutality toward black people in this country

relates to the matter 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 people lose their life in the circumstances that these unequivocally black men do. In

2018 alone, 139 black people (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 (2014), 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” 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 that “stereotypes drive bias in the decision to

shoot” (Crutchfield, Fisher, Webb, 2017). With light-skinned 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 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.
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As previously stated, 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 biases and fears surrounding unequivocally black men to heavily influence their

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

police killings 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). And, this

behavior reflects “underlying systemic racism that police brutality is rooted within” (Crutchfield,

Fisher, Webb, 2017). Only after accepting this fundamental flaw can progress be made in

training officers to be transparent, and to not allow their stereotype fueled fears to impact

whether or not they take a man’s life.

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

remnants of African bondage are long gone, or at least no longer prominent. 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 (Neville, H. A., Gallardo, M. E., & Sue, D. W. 2016). In some aspects

progress has been made in race relations, as reflected by the two-termed presidency of a black

man. However, to conclude that we are a society that does not see race, and a society in which

race and skin color do 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 largely black populations, without the slightest

idea of how the implications of skin color originating from slavery impact blacks today. For
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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.

Freedom isn’t free.

True freedom 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. As a people, we have not

completely dealt with issues, like colorism, that continue to torment society and stunt its growth.

The roots of hate and its inequities run deep in this country. While these problems will not

simply disappear with the implementation of the policies discussed in this essay, they might be

significantly reduced. Recognizing the existence of colorism and striving to end it is the only

way that the American people can truly be free. Just because America tries to sweep these

problems under the rug, doesn’t mean that the dirt won’t come up. It’s true, “The Hate U Give

Little Infants Fucks Everybody”, so what would love do?

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