Newmoo
Jan 2, 2019
Undergraduate / Women of Color and Strong Business Fields - Yale Significant Issue Question [2]
and how your college experience might help you address it
Colorism, the bastard child of racism, clouds my sense and my self-worth, continuously robs me of confidence. From Nigeria to India, people of darker hues bear the labels of "lazy, unattractive, stupid", the prejudice taking the form of apprehensive side eyes, shorter-than-appropriate tempers, and dismissive hand waves.
These prejudices don't manifest from the ashes left by hate, but from lack of representation. How can you cultivate your own sense of beauty and success when the people the surround you cultivate it for you? That's what happens every time a child of color turns on their television or scrolls through social media such as Instagram and Twitter.
Characters with darker complexions frequently become the workers and house-help on children's TV shows, allowing little to no positive representation for children with cursed skin. As a result, young children, mainly young girls, succumb to the many products' and advertisements' promises of a more fulfilling life if they simply became shades lighter than a brown paper bag. And I hate it; I hate the powerlessness of it all.
These children need role models, people they can aspire to be and Yale trains those future leaders. Joining clubs like Yale's Africa Business and Society and Yale Entrepreneurial Society would train and motivate me to achieve higher positions. Learning and working with the people I could meet at Yale will give me the confidence to break the mold around women of color entering business fields, to become the leader I needed growing up.
That's the essay.
Discuss an issue that is significant to you
and how your college experience might help you address it
Colorism, the bastard child of racism, clouds my sense and my self-worth, continuously robs me of confidence. From Nigeria to India, people of darker hues bear the labels of "lazy, unattractive, stupid", the prejudice taking the form of apprehensive side eyes, shorter-than-appropriate tempers, and dismissive hand waves.
These prejudices don't manifest from the ashes left by hate, but from lack of representation. How can you cultivate your own sense of beauty and success when the people the surround you cultivate it for you? That's what happens every time a child of color turns on their television or scrolls through social media such as Instagram and Twitter.
Characters with darker complexions frequently become the workers and house-help on children's TV shows, allowing little to no positive representation for children with cursed skin. As a result, young children, mainly young girls, succumb to the many products' and advertisements' promises of a more fulfilling life if they simply became shades lighter than a brown paper bag. And I hate it; I hate the powerlessness of it all.
These children need role models, people they can aspire to be and Yale trains those future leaders. Joining clubs like Yale's Africa Business and Society and Yale Entrepreneurial Society would train and motivate me to achieve higher positions. Learning and working with the people I could meet at Yale will give me the confidence to break the mold around women of color entering business fields, to become the leader I needed growing up.
That's the essay.
