“The other kids saw how dark I was and would belittle me,” he said. “I even got called a monkey. Being so dark-skinned made me feel like an outlier. Because of that, I just kept to myself and didn’t really hang out with any of the other kids for the rest of the camp.”

Instances like these highlight a form of prejudice closely tied to racism: colorism. Merriam-Webster defines colorism as “prejudice or discrimination especially within a racial or ethnic group favoring people with lighter skin over those with darker skin.” While racism involves discrimination against people based on their racial group, colorism can occur within a single ethnic group.

From the “brown paper bag test” denying dark-skinned Black people entrance into establishments to the development of skin bleaching, colorism has strong historical roots. Its ramifications extend into the present day, perpetuating discrimination and inequality based on skin tone in communities around the world.

Historical background

Over centuries of enslavement or colonial rule, lighter-skinned individuals were often elevated and granted privileges compared to their darker-skinned counterparts, reinforcing the notion that fair skin equates to beauty and superiority.

In the Black communities in the U.S., the origins of colorism date back to slavery, when enslaved people with fairer complexions — sometimes children of the enslaving man and an enslaved woman — were assigned to work in the house, while enslaved people with darker complexions worked in the fields. Those working in the house were more likely to receive an education, nutritious food and less physically harsh working conditions — though they were often sexually assaulted or raped by enslavers.

Colorism persisted post-emancipation, manifesting in the workplace and social hierarchies. Fairer-skinned Black individuals were more likely to secure better jobs and ascend the socioeconomic ladder, perpetuating the notion that lighter skin meant higher status. The infamous “brown paper bag test,” comparing one’s skin tone to the color of a paper bag, emerged as a discriminatory practice used to determine eligibility for membership in elite social circles in the Black community.

In other nations of the Americas, Africa and Asia, colonial powers’ imposition of Eurocentric beauty standards reinforced hierarchies based on skin color, with lighter-skinned individuals often afforded preferential treatment. Over time, colonized peoples internalized these colorist standards, holding onto them even after imperial powers withdrew.

Now, individuals in these communities compete for opportunities and resources based on their perceived “proximity to whiteness.” In a 2002 American Sociological Association paper, Pennsylvania State University sociology and demographics researcher Mark E. Hill explains how “whiteness became identified with all that is civilized, virtuous and beautiful” due to European colonization, bringing those with fairer skin “closer to the opportunities that were only afforded to white people.”

Lighter-skinned individuals may therefore benefit from systemic advantages, further widening the economic gap. In a 2021 study led by the Pew Research Center, 62% of Hispanic adults said that having a darker complexion negatively impacted their chances of getting ahead in the U.S. Additionally, Vanderbilt University economist Joni Hersch led a 2008 study that found that darker-skinned immigrants faced a wage gap of up to 25% compared to their lighter-skinned counterparts. Hersch found that “on average, being one shade lighter has about the same effect as having an additional year of education.”

Not all colorist ideals stem from colonization, however. In some uncolonized communities, laborers got more tan from working in the sun, while upper-class citizens stayed indoors and maintained a fairer complexion. Lighter- skinned people were thus the ones who had a higher socioeconomic status.

Colonialism’s legacy and socioeconomic assumptions contribute to colorism in countries such as India, which senior Aarushi Kumar has noticed during trips there.

“One of my cousins living in India is a lot paler than me,” she said. “There’s this running joke where people say that they would’ve assumed my cousin was the one from America if I never said anything. Since Americans are assumed to have more money, then that means they must be paler.”

Racial passing

Racial passing occurs when an individual of one racial group is accepted or perceived as a member of another racial group. Non-white individuals who are “white-passing” are perceived as or able to pass as white due to their physical appearance. Because of racist and colorist ideals, this perception can afford them certain advantages in society, including access to better opportunities and less discrimination.

Sophomore Airealana Williams, whose mom’s side is Italian and Mexican and dad’s side is Black and Asian, has navigated these skin color biases. “

I feel like there’s a stigma about specifically African Americans that I’ve noticed,” she said. “When I’m with my dad, I noticed we do get looked at differently than when I go out with my mom because my mom has a lighter complexion.”

In the Latino community, white-passing individuals navigate the world with less scrutiny and experience fewer barriers than individuals with darker skin tones. According to “Passing vs Non-Passing: Latina/o/x Experiences and Understandings of Being Presumed White,” a research paper by Francisco Rodriguez at California State University, San Bernardino, Latinos do not associate themselves with a specific race, causing them to be classified into groups and associated with stereotypes that do not accurately represent the diverse individuals in the community.

Sophomore Megumi Estrada Nakamatsu, who identifies as Peruvian Japanese, has observed the different behaviors toward white-passing individuals in her community.

“I know that some people like to say to them that they’re very privileged to be able to look ‘passing,’ but I also know that they also have their hardships as well,” she said.

Processes such as skin-bleaching grew in prevalence during the 19th and 20th centuries in many nations, and many remain in use today. A study led by Allied Market Research showed that the global market for skin lightening was valued at $7.05 billion in 2021.

Representation & belonging

As an Indian person with a darker-than-average complexion, Tapaskar hasn’t always been able to find people who looked like him on the screen. Even in the Indian film industry, movies are filled with fair-skinned actors.

“There are a lot of light-skinned actors in Bollywood, and it just isn’t proportionate to the billions of people in India,” he said. “And it just gets reinforced because having fair-skinned actors is the easiest way to produce stars and is a way of making money and selling beauty items.”

Preference for lighter-skinned minorities shows up in other major film industries as well. Research done by the Geena Davis Institute on Gender in Media found that 81% of Black leading actresses from 2009-19 have a lighter skin tone. Such lack of representation perpetuates harmful stereotypes and reinforces societal ideals of beauty, hurting individuals with darker complexions.

“In Hollywood movies, casting directors have access to a very wide range of skin colors when choosing an Indian actor,” Kumar said. “Yet, somehow, they always end up picking the lightest one. I notice the same pattern is there with successful Black, Hispanic and other Asian actors in Hollywood too. And the few darker-skinned actors are almost always cast in roles that exploit their trauma.”

Beyond the screen in real life, sophomore Natalia Martinez Lopez would try to match the beauty standard by using her lighter-skinned mother’s makeup when she was younger.

“In my household, my mom isn’t brownish-tan, and most of my mom’s side aren’t that brownish-tan — I got that from my dad’s side,” she said. “So whenever I would see her foundation, I’d put the foundation on myself because I was like, ‘Oh, I guess that’s the beauty standard.’”

Embracing darker skin

Nevertheless, many in communities with colorist ideals have learned to embrace their darker skin. Kumar notes that changing society’s equivalence of beauty standards with skin tone is the best way to reduce skin tone-based discrimination. Understanding that a dark skin tone does not indicate unattractiveness can improve people’s perception of self-worth.

“Growing up in California, I have learned to embrace being tan, and I’m happy in my skin,” she said. “I try my hardest to share this same belief with my relatives in India because colorism is very closely tied with beauty standards in East and South Asian cultures. But it’s gonna take a lot more work to spread that same message in Western cultures because there are a lot of misconceptions, so colorism is generally very closely tied with racism here.”

Other students have looked to notable figures who share the same deep complexion they have. Lopez has found this reflection helpful.

“One day, I was crying because a girl said to me, ‘Oh, you’re so brown, like the dirt,’ and I was telling my dad in Spanish, ‘Oh, I wish I was white,’” she said. “He (said,) ‘Don’t say that, your skin color is pretty — it’s just like (Our Lady of Guadalupe’s).’ I really liked her story and idolized her, so I realized I shouldn’t feel bad because I’m the color of her and she’s pretty, so I should feel proud of myself.”

Atopic dermatitis, more commonly known as eczema, weakens the skin’s protective barrier function, causing it to become dry, itchy and bumpy. While the exact cause of eczema is unknown,
according to the National Eczema Association, it often develops due to genetic or environmental triggers. Ott’s eczema is mostly the result of an overactive immune system, as various foreign substances tend to irritate his skin. There have been times — ranging from a few days to a couple of months — when Ott’s
skin would flare up unexpectedly.

“It was extremely painful to do simple things like put on clothes or rest my arm on my desk,” he said. “I never found out what caused it, so many things flared up my eczema that it was difficult to find out exactly what might have caused it.”

When Ott was young, rashes and itches seemed normal: His immune system was still developing. As he grew older, however, they persisted and worsened, resulting in uncomfortable interactions with peers.

“A lot of people thought that if they touched me or something, they’d get flare-ups or a rash from me, which is not true,” he said. “Eczema is just something you’re born with — it’s in your body and won’t spread to anyone else.”

While Ott’s eczema lessened in severity during middle school and early high school, it reemerged in his sophomore year, spurring anxiety.

“Having all those noticeable rashes on my arm, I was always worried people would want to be away from me or that they would think of me differently just because of how my arms look,” he said.

His November diagnosis that year provided clarity and helped him begin to manage his symptoms.

“My doctor told me I had an autoimmune condition, and I got a little scared because it meant that my body was attacking itself, and I didn’t like that idea,” he said. “So I was worried for my future, but it’s a pretty treatable condition.”

Throughout Ott’s medical journey, he has been prescribed various creams and steroids. After exploring many short-term solutions, he was eventually prescribed Dupixent, a monoclonal
antibody drug, at the end of last year.

“Being on Dupixent has been peaceful,” he said. “Although once every two weeks I have to take a pretty painful injection, it’s totally worth it to be able to put my arm on a table without it stinging or put on my shirt without my arms getting itchy again. I haven’t had to worry about eczema in a long time, and that’s just been a real blessing.”

As a wrestler, eczema didn’t directly impact Ott’s performance, but it left a persistent worry as he started back up again the season after getting diagnosed.

“When I was getting my athletic clearance for wrestling, they took quite a while to clear it because they were worried that since I have sensitive skin, I might worsen my eczema or contract some skin disease really easily,” Ott said.

Ott’s experience with eczema has profoundly changed from the confusion of his earlier years: Now, with the proper diagnosis and medication, he is able to better understand and feel comfortable in his own skin.

“Growing up, I didn’t really know what it was,” he said. “I just knew that my parents would always have to take some extra time to take care of it. Now that I know it’s a genetic thing and started treating it with medicine, I don’t worry as much about what I wear or eat, and I don’t even have to worry as much about getting flare-ups anymore.”

Gallery • 26 Photos

Benjamin Qian

On Jan. 22, TEDxGunnHighSchool Club hosted its 14th annual conference in Spangenberg Theater. The student-run event featured 10 speakers, club performances, audience activities, and student- and TED-produced short films. 

This year’s theme, chosen by TEDx club members, was “A Closer Look.” — including staff, students and other community members — delved into the nuances of music, puzzles, culture and more.

TEDxGunnHighSchool was independently organized under license from the nonprofit organization TED, which organizes talks around the world devoted to “Ideas Worth Spreading.” Throughout the school year, the TEDxGunnHighSchool Club’s five committees plan and rehearse the conference, developing the theme, recruiting and working with speakers, publicizing the event, fundraising, and communicating with outside contacts, such as the Gunn stage tech department. 

Co-Head of Speakers junior Tanush Aggarwal led the speakers committee in recruiting and auditioning potential orators. After selecting the final students and adults, he supported them as they crafted and edited their speeches. During this process, Aggarwal found that time constraints and shifting dynamics made communicating with non-student speakers difficult. 

“With adults, it’s not only harder to find them and get them to show interest and set up meetings with them, but we also have to deal with them in a different manner than we do with students,” he said. “It’s a bit more professional and the adult has more control over their speech than with student speakers.” 

This year, social studies teacher and first-time speaker Benjamin Beresford drew on his decadeslong research on jazz in the Soviet Union in his talk, “The Notes in Your Solo: Jazz, the USSR, and the Power of Choices.” While Beresford unraveled a complex topic in his speech, he hoped to provide a takeaway that anyone, regardless of their level of historical knowledge, could understand. 

“The takeaway is for people to think critically about the choices that they make, and not just about the impact of their choices but what their choices say about who they are,” he said. “It would be great for people to come away from this being a little bit more reflective about that and the power of their choices.” 

Beresford’s speech stood out to junior Lia O’Donovan, who enjoyed the unique combination of topics he discussed. 

“I found it super interesting how you could combine jazz with the USSR, and how the principles are very contradictory but somehow also complementary,” she said. 

Freshman Eli Levy attended the conference in hopes of learning something new and supporting his older brother, Associated Student Body president senior Nathan Levy, who gave a speech on music and leadership.  

“It was really fun to see him speak because it let me see a new side of him,” he said. “It’s not like just talking to a friend or your brother when you’re giving a speech, as it let me see more of his leadership side. It was very fun and playful, it was this whole experience, especially with the picture he included of us when I was 3.” 

Talks aside, Eli Levy particularly enjoyed the interactive session hosted by Joy Dance Club. 

“In the beginning it just seemed like two people dancing, but by the end it was everyone in the entire theater dancing along with each other, and when I had been sitting down for two hours it really got my energy going,” he said.  

Similarly, O’Donovan appreciated senior Pablo Schettino’s film “Dear Mexico,” shown in between The Oracle Editor-in-Chief senior Amann Mahajan’s and Nathan Levy’s speeches. In the film, Schettino reflected on his connection to his culture.

“It added a perspective to moving, family and culture that I didn’t really see before,” she said. 

Those unable to attend the conference on Monday will soon be able to access this year’s talk on the TEDxGunnHighSchool .

From “Ghostbusters” to the upcoming “Snow White,” reboots — encompassing remakes, revamped series and franchise films — have become increasingly frequent in recent years. While reviving iconic films first gained traction in the early 2000s, the frequency and breadth of this trend have increased exponentially, illustrating an overreliance on existing stories. Instead of exploring novel concepts, studios often opt to rehash familiar narratives, relying on the allure of nostalgia to draw audiences. To produce creative, inclusive films, the film industry should explore new stories that highlight typically underrepresented groups, rather than adding more modern and diverse casts to previously profitable movies.

The industry’s reliance on reboots risks creative stagnation when original storytelling takes a backseat to reviving old content. Though certain remakes, including the “Star Trek,” “Star Wars” and Marvel franchises, have been successful in building new cinematic universes and fan bases, other films, such as “Men in Black: International” and “Ocean’s 8,” have not: They are simply telling the same story with an updated cast. Even in Marvel and “Star Wars” films, the intention to maintain accuracy and continuity in established franchises often prevents the boldness necessary for genuine innovation. The industry’s dependence on established stories is often a risk-averse strategy aimed at securing box-office success: Reboots — which capture an original film’s existing audience and have built-in marketing potential — provide a level of economic security. Originality and artistic merit are sacrificed for financial predictability, limiting the industry’s creative evolution.

Reboots have, at times, allowed for more diverse casts. However, studios’ diversity considerations are rarely entirely genuine: The industry’s willingness to embrace diversity fluctuates based on perceived profitability and acceptance by audiences, as demonstrated by Disney. One of its most recent remakes, “The Little Mermaid,” was meant to combat stereotypes and allow for younger audiences to connect with the characters they saw on their screens. Disney’s good intentions, however, are undercut by its unwillingness to pursue new narratives. Their tendency to swap people of color into white narratives can often lead to tokenism. As Disney continues its trend of recreating its princess films with women of color with its upcoming “Snow White,” its failure to explore new stories means that these reboots fail to meaningfully showcase underrepresented groups.

Even as the industry attempts to incorporate diversity, films frequently cast light-skinned actors merely to check a box rather than authentically represent the diversity inherent in TV shows’ real-life settings. Take, for instance, the original “Gossip Girl.” The four main characters and the majority of the cast are all white, failing to mirror the diversity of New York. In contrast, the recent reboot made strides by introducing a more varied cast with dynamic characters across different races, genders and sexual orientations. However, lacking sufficient representation of darker-skinned individuals, it still falls short of encapsulating the diversity of these communities. Many producers often adhere to colorist standards while striving to appear diverse, missing the mark on genuine inclusivity.

The impact that this wave of reboots has had on the film industry is multifaceted, highlighting the constant interplay between creative freedom, economic interests and societal progression in revisiting cherished stories. The future of Hollywood is quickly changing and often unpredictable: Reboots may just be a phase that dies out or a staple of works to come. Regardless, the industry’s current reliance on them precludes it from producing authentic stories centering around historically underrepresented communities.

The play follows the Cornley Drama Society’s opening night of “The Murder at Haversham Manor,” an English whodunit set in 1922. While the group initially believes that they are ready to take on this complex production, nothing in the play-within-a-play seems to be going right — from the misplaced props to the constant fainting to the actors who trip over everything from set pieces to their lines.

Senior Chania Rene-Corail played the character of Annie, the stage manager. The increased intensity of the blocking and choreography was a new experience for her.

“Mariam and I worked through those (fight) scenes since the beginning of the rehearsal process just to make sure that we were always safe,” Rene-Corail said. “It is very intense. I come out of every show feeling like a truck hit me or I just worked out for 100 hours, but it’s always super worth it. After we got the movements down, we added our own things — like the screaming — and just our own passion to it.”

Junior Zander Rosenzweig also enjoyed getting to explore the slapstick elements in his role as Jonathan, who plays Charles Haversham.

“My favorite part was definitely the physical comedy aspects of it,” he said. “I got spat on, I got sat on, I got my pants pulled down and everything bad happens to me. That’s just been a really fun experience — to see what it’s like to be just completely beaten up on stage.”

While those physical aspects — alongside the many other unconventional parts of this production — were unexpected for senior Mariam Kubursi, who took on the role of Sandra playing Florence Colleymoore, the dynamic with the audience provided a unique experience.

“The show is so focused on the intimacy with the audience, and that’s something I really, really appreciate,” she said. “The audience is part of the play, so we’re relying on them a lot of the time, and it’s just been a real experience. I am so happy to have people laugh at me as if I’m a real person on stage versus just a character on stage, because the whole point is that we go in and out of our real life.”

Director Kristen Lo also appreciated getting to see all the different fighting and physical comedy elements come together.

“I love watching the last seven pages of the script because it was the most complicated thing to put together,” she said. “Everybody has their own track of how they have to move around the stage, and the fight between the ladies is going on the whole time. (It) has to be safe, and it has to be real, and you have to believe they’re mad at each other. It’s been growing every time, but all of (the) guys on stage have to know their lines and not be distracted. So when I see them do that every night, I’m overwhelmed with pride for what they have created on stage.”

In 1982, the first week of October was designated as Banned Books Week. During that year, First Amendment and library activist Judith Krug worked with the Association of American Publishers to bring attention to banned books in America after a surge in the number of challenged works. Since then, every year, libraries, publishers, authors and schools around the country have celebrated the freedom to read. Click to read a multimedia package featuring Gunn staff members’ perspectives on the week.