Colour consciousness is deeply ingrained in the minds of human beings, culminating in a knee-jerk reaction towards beauty and superiority of fair colour.
History is replete with examples of such colour-based discrimination like human bondage of African people by white people. US President Lincoln abolished the slavery system upholding human dignity. Colour-based discrimination persisted as apartheid in South Africa which was ultimately was abolished. Our father of the nation Mahatma Gandhi proved to be a catalyst against the apartheid system and later on, Nelson Mandela succeeded in this endeavour. Mahatma Gandhi, realizing this great human segregation pioneered against it which he carried on to India as the saviour of the freedom movement. Had he carried on his legal practice, he could have been enormously rich in terms of money but he chose to fight for human freedom.
A mind-boggling example of serving human equality is the case of Dr Christiaan Neethling Barnard of South Africa. He transplanted the heart of a black person in a white person named Philip Blaiberg who went on to live for nineteen months. This is ample proof of human equality devoid of caste, colour, and creed. Despite this, the travesty of segregation among the human race persisted for a long time and is somewhat lingering.
Unfortunately, with the tremendous advancement in science and technology, we have not been able to shun away the ideas of colour. Unfortunately, we still persist with the face value of a person, not their personality. It may be argued that blacks are a downtrodden lot, but have we pondered that this effect is culminated due to segregation. Martin Luther King having been influenced by thoughts of Mahatma Gandhi championed the civil rights movement for people of colour in much the same way as Americans, but animosity rose to such a great height that he was shot dead in his youthful days throws light to the rigidity of thoughts leading to such a crime sows to the depth of roots of colour consciousness. The history revers with a sense of gratitude who lived above themselves to espouse the cause that they stood for, that is human dignity.
I can substantiate with various examples to dwell upon this fallacy of the human race. The concept of black and white has also percolated in our society in various forms such as in matrimonial ads in our newspapers for a fair complexion and beautiful bride which leads to an enormous sale and advertisement of the products that promise a fair skin. Often the claims are superficial as the colour is hereditary in which chemical melanin plays the role, with the advancement of age the hair turn grey ultimately to white as the production of this depletes in the human body. The usage of chemicals to change your skin colour can leave a trail of side effects that are often hazardous. The attempt to look younger, fair and beautiful is contrary to natural growth. The lineage towards fair and white complexion leading to preference over others this causes discrimination and is detrimental often leads to a biased attitude.
Such colour consciousness germinates into the emerging picture of class consciousness which is based in frivolous on face value rather than evaluation on the basis of the value of a person as humanity is the derivative of humans. The first and foremost question is to make an evaluation on the basis of it, achievements and causes person has served for the benefit of the human race and not on the basis of colour. Furthermore, the concept of life is to lead a life on the value system enshrined in our epics.
Last but not the least the cherished values in a human being are to develop a sense of compassion and think beyond oneself to serve humankind and obviously the concept of colour goes into oblivion.
Read Part 2: Colour consciousness; The “unfair” treatment