Whoa is me

If you ever hear me complaining about the tribulations of being light complected, please stop me. Of course, it isn't all picnics and winning lottery tickets, but it could be worse. 

Last year, Ebony ran a point/counter-point piece on which was more difficult, being a light-skinned person or someone with a dark complexion. I have to admit, I rolled my eyes at the complaints of the light-skinned woman: being judged, feeling left out, being excluded and being hit on, if I remember correctly. 

These are not easy things to experience. I know the annoyance of having strangers ask "What are you?", but so does my friend who is black but happens to look half Indian. And yes, both white and black people tend to make snap judgements about me (we'll save those for another day), but it would be the same if I was extremely overweight or tall or rocked a mohawk. 

No matter what your background, being confident in yourself, kind to others, composed under duress and able to laugh at silly stuff will get you through much of life. These skills, combined with being proud of all that you are, can be particularly useful when you're different from the people around you. 

Besides, light-skinned people rarely are faced with profiling by police that can lead to anything from a random traffic stop to spending a lifetime in prison because all black people look alike to some non-blacks. I was going to go on about how we can catch a taxi in the middle of the night or don't get followed by security in department stores, but really, need I say more?!