“My Family Is From The Caribbean And We Do Colorism So Well”: 11 Moments From “Light Girls” That Had Us Talking

On Albinism

Light Girls showed us a variety of perspectives, including one of a woman dealing with albinism. Though she wasn’t named, this mother’s experiences as a young girl forever framed the way she saw herself, specifically in relation to her family, and her son:

“I’m the only one who looks this way. Growing up I was called names like Casper, white bread…I was always told that I was ugly. Even my brother, growing up, he was embarrassed. I overheard him telling some of his friends that I wasn’t really his biological sister, that I was adopted. Our race can be very cruel…Some people don’t want to touch my hand. Some people don’t want to talk to me. Some people have even said, ‘What’s this white girl doing here?’

“I never wanted my son to be embarrassed by me. I wouldn’t go to school right away. I would make his father go because I just didn’t want children to tease him because I was his mother.”