“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.”

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.

Although she started playing to emulate her older brother, Manning’s love for the sport has pushed her to continue playing through elementary and middle school and into high school. “I really liked the (club) team and our coach,” she said. “It’s just naturally fun for me, so I stuck with it.”

Manning finds that Gunn’s girls lacrosse team places a greater emphasis on teamwork than teams she has been on in the past. “A lot of times on club teams, certain people (were) singled out, and it was more about giving certain people the ball,” she said. “For high school, our team is trying to get everyone to work together and do their part.”

According to Manning, the strong team dynamic was especially visible while competing in the Central Coast Section last year — her first time making it to CCS since she joined the Gunn team. “Last year, playing at CCS was a big moment,” she said. “We played as hard as we could, and it brought the team a lot closer together.”

Balancing extracurricular and academic demands with lacrosse has proven to be a challenge in the past few years. “Earlier this year, I was (even) thinking about not continuing because it was so stressful, but (lacrosse) also gives me a break from that stress,” she said. “I decided to stick with it because I’ve just loved the sport for so long, and I wanted to keep playing.”

Close games — such as a recent one against Mountain View High School — keep Manning’s passion for the sport alive. “It’s always like a one-point game differential, so those games are really fun because they push our team’s limits,” she said. “We often have to play harder than ever before, and a lot of good plays come out from those games.”

Manning’s passion for lacrosse goes beyond enjoying a well-played game, as she also appreciates the craft of the sport. “I just love having really pretty, dynamic plays and seeing the beautiful aspects of the sport,” she said.

History of pride month

The origins of Pride Month can be traced back to the 1969 Stonewall riots in New York City, in which a police raid on the Stonewall Inn, a gay bar, catalyzed a series of protests and demonstrations by the LGBTQ+ community. One year later, the first
Pride marches were held in New York City, Los Angeles and Chicago to commemorate the anniversary of the Stonewall riots. These marches marked the beginning of what would become an annual tradition of celebrating LGBTQ+ identities and advocating for equality and social justice.

The movement soon moved beyond these cities, touching the Bay Area. In 1970, LGBTQ+ activists organized the first San Francisco Pride Parade to commemorate the Stonewall riots. Since then, Pride has become an annual tradition in the Bay Area, with the parade and festivities attracting thousands of visitors from all over the world. The celebration has become a platform for the LGBTQ+ community to advocate for their rights and raise awareness about issues affecting their community.

Local LGBTQ+ events

Communities in the Bay Area have organized many Pride events and celebrations in addition to the San Francisco Pride Parade, including LGBTQ+ film festivals, dance parties and picnics. These events have become an important part of the cultural fabric of the Bay Area, highlighting the diversity, vibrancy and resilience of the LGBTQ+ community and promoting inclusivity.

Last year, junior Toni Minion inaugurated Gunn’s first in-person Pride Month celebrations as part of a Student Executive Council impact project. Events over two days involved festivities as well as educational activities. This year’s events took place on May 15 and 16, and similarly included a mix of celebration and education.

Co-Diversity Commissioner sophomore Sophia Howell, who took the lead in organizing this year’s events, noted that involvement from all Gunn students — regardless of whether they are part of the LGBTQ+ community — is key to building an atmosphere of solidarity and inclusivity. “It’s important to showcase your support and really step up as an ally to any community that faces oppression,” she said. “Whether it be a community that you are a part of or a community that you’re not, it’s important for all members of the Gunn community to step up and show that they’re an ally during Pride and celebrate alongside Pride because using your privilege is an incredibly important, if not fundamental, way to change the attitude of others and (of the) communities you’re a part of.”

In pursuit of this goal, many of this year’s festivities included more opportunities for student participation. The first day featured performances with connections to the LGBTQ+ community, and the second day included a fair with activities and resources from clubs and outside organizations.

Inspired by student requests for apparel during previous SEC events, such as Día de los Muertos and Global Cultures Week, Howell also designed a Gunn Pride shirt that was sold during this year’s celebrations. “I’ve finally gotten to the point where I felt confident enough to actually create, design and sell a T-shirt, which I hope will bring people together as another way of visible allyship and visible pride,” she said.

The Gender and Sexuality Alliance worked alongside the diversity commissioners in planning both days of events, providing feedback and ideas on activities, organizing their own resource table and ensuring that the event ac- curately represented the history of Pride Month. GSA Secretary junior William Sahami appreciated the more informational aspects of the events. “I’m looking forward to having educational opportunities that allow students to come out of these events with a better understanding of what (Pride Month) is about and why it’s important,” he said. “These events are a great way to show that Pride Month is also about just bringing people’s attention to the fact that queer people exist — there is the capacity to be seen and be strong.”

Through planning this event, Howell has been able to showcase queer joy and spark a sense of community. “Even before I came out, I always looked out for the little things, and I would say Gunn Pride is a little thing that our school does to show support,” she said. “As someone who is queer, seeing representation and seeing people prideful of themselves (makes me) really at home. Our community inspires those to take that leap to really find their community at Gunn and feel at home too.”

Intersectionality

The LGBTQ+ community’s fight for equality and visibility has been strongly intertwined with that of other marginal communities. The Stonewall riots that inspired Pride Month were led by people of color, demonstrating the role of intersectionality — or the existence of overlapping social categorizations — in shaping Pride. Because of this, Howell notes that it’s especially important to acknowledge the different types of privilege within the LGBTQ+ community. “In many ways, I and many people in Palo Alto are privileged in that it happens to be a more accepting community,” she said. “Personally, even though I am Latina, I am (considered) white since people perceive me to be white. There is a lot of privilege that goes with that, so learning about ways I can help and the history of the Black and brown trans communities is also incredibly important to me.”

Pride Month, in Howell’s view, is a time to acknowledge the varying identities and experiences the LGBTQ+ community encompasses and to celebrate the community as a whole. “I’m hoping that more people will see the joy that’s part of being queer because I know there is a history of violence and tragedy associated with being queer, but there’s so much innovation, love, joy and community that’s present in (the LGBTQ+ community),” she said.

A student, who asked to remain anonymous, was also part of the council and involved in the new locker room’s creation. “I saw the bad positions and unsafe conditions the students around me were in,” they said. “There have been examples of dangerous conditions inside [the old] gender neutral locker rooms such as them being locked and filled with trash, [having] holes in the wall with exposed piping and lights that would frequently go out.”

Once the plan for the locker room was finalized at a district level, Assistant Principal of Facilities Leonel Argumedo became involved with the project. Argumedo worked alongside the district to identify a space to build the locker room. “We all agreed the snack bar in the Bow Gym was the ideal space because it was not utilized as much, had a restroom nearby and was big enough to provide us the space to grow,” he said.
The construction of the locker room began under the Maintenance Department’s jurisdiction, but due to the scope of the project, it was given to the Facilities Department in January of 2021 for overseeing. PAUSD Director of Facilities and Construction Eric Holm led the project by revising layouts, getting bids and facilitating construction. Holm toured the gender neutral facilities at Palo Alto High School (Paly) with the students from the LGBTQ+ committee to compare facilities. They identified elements of the locker room at Paly that could be integrated at Gunn’s respective facility. “The old gender neutral locker rooms were a quick fix that was not really a good solution,” Holm said. “There was a strong desire to make something better and a strong need to enhance the quantity of lockers because of the large number of students that have shown an interest in using them.”
Issues arose once the construction stage of the project began. “The construction was supposed to start sooner, but because of supply challenges and shortages, [we] weren’t able to get all the materials [necessary],” Argumedo said. “The project got delayed about six months.”
Freshman Socs Kaleba has been using the new gender neutral locker room since it opened. “I really like the new locker room,” they said. “[It’s] amazing and [it] has really nice lockers. I also like how the seating area has benches for people to be able to put their shoes on.”

Alumni and former GSA President Dante Morse, who was also involved in the initial planning process, emphasized the importance of creating this comfortable space for students of all gender identities. “Creating a safe space for students to feel like they can change without having to worry about being stared at or feeling out of place is really important,” he said. “This also represents a bigger change in the ways that we’re working to include queer and trans students in our school. If we’re willing to make this kind of step to make them feel more included and we’re willing to build this room, then it shows that we’re also committed to making the school a more inclusive environment.”

Morse found that changing the stereotypical discussions and environment set around the LGBTQ+ community is crucial for creating these new spaces. “The biggest part that we had to overcome, and so many other places will have to overcome, in order to build more gender neutral locker rooms, was trying to untangle all of the stigma that exists around trans and genderqueer people,” he said.
Along with the new locker room at Gunn, the council is working towards ensuring that every secondary school in Palo Alto has a
gender neutral locker room. For elementary schools, they hope each can have at least one accessible gender neutral bathroom.