Bollywood celebrities called hypocrites for protesting racism while promoting skin lightening products
Posted June 13, 2020 10:10 am.
Last Updated June 13, 2020 10:22 am.
VANCOUVER (NEWS 1130) — South Asian celebrities are among the voices speaking out against discrimination in the U.S. after the killing of George Floyd in Minnesota last month. But some celebrities are being met with backlash.
The Bollywood stars have been getting called out for their colorist actions since some of them have used their fame to promote skin whitening creams. And some social media users are even calling Bollywood celebrities opportunistic when joining the Black Lives Matter movement but staying silent about police brutality during the Delhi Riots in February, or India’s ongoing religious discrimination.
List of Indian actors who are speaking on BLM and their fairness cream ads, a thread : pic.twitter.com/yUeRNLch6U
— anti pigeon (@aluminiummaiden) May 31, 2020
Priyanka Chopra Jonas, Sonam Kapoor, and Disha Patani are just a few celebrities who are using their social media platform to voice solidarity with the Black community but have endorsed skin-lightening lotion in the past.
Radhika Parameswaran, media professor, Indiana University Bloomington says that Indians with darker skin have been perceived as less attractive and less successful for many generations. Which often associated with India’s lower class.
“What they’re saying by doing that is, dark skin people, do not belong in India. They’re not fit to be part of the nation,” she says.
Parameswaran explains in some South Asian families, “Even parents, grandparents will discriminate against you because of your skin colour.”
“The second a baby is born in some families, they’ll immediately express sorrow if the child is dark-skinned,” she says.
On the bright side, Parameswaran says notions around skin colour are changing for the better.
Parameswaran tells CityNews she has been encouraged to see South Asian celebrities begin to speak out against colorism, and the new generation has fun at the idea of altering skin tones.
“I just hope they listen to this criticism and begin to speak out about other issues within India,” she says.
