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6 Interesting Facts About How Racism Against Dark-Skinned People Developed in India

Posted byBy Curtis Bunn | Published on: CommentsComments (6)

India skin toneImpact of British Colonization

Indian society, according to mycontinent.com, is obsessed with white skin because of the British Empire colonization, and Indians want to look like their former masters. In Indian society, the darker color of skin the more likely the person is treated as lower class — an indication of the colonial mentality that Britain left for Indians to discriminate among themselves. In 1978, a company called Unilever launched Fair and Lovely cream, which whitens skin. Many other companies popped up, too, producing whitening face cleansers, shower gels and even vaginal washes that claim to lighten the surrounding skin. In 2010, India’s whitening-cream market was worth $432 million, according to ACNielsen, and was growing at 18 percent per year. And it has not slowed.

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