Is Lighter Better?: Skin-Tone Discrimination among Asian Americans - Paperback

by Joanne L. Rondilla (Author), Paul Spickard (Author)

Colorism is defined as "discriminatory treatment of individuals falling within the same 'racial' group on the basis of skin color." That is, some people, particularly women, are treated better or worse on account of the color of their skin relative to other people who share their same racial category. Colorism affects Asian Americans from many different backgrounds and who live in all different parts of the United States. Is Lighter Better? discusses this often-overlooked topic. Rondilla and Spickard ask important questions like: What are the colorism issues that operate in Asian American communities? Are they the same issues for all sorts of Asian Americans--for women and for men, for immigrants and the American born, for Chinese, Filipinos, Koreans, Vietnamese, and all the other sorts of Asian Americans?

Author Biography

Joanne L. Rondilla is a doctoral candidate in ethnic studies at the University of California, Berkeley. Paul Spickard is professor of history at the University of California, Santa Barbara.