Towards a formative reflection on colourism and “passing”

Abstract

Always new, but in reality 'old' forms of racism are manifesting themselves even where they seemed erased and unrepeatable. At the same time, in contrast to the nineteenth and, above all, the twentieth century, very few proclaim themselves openly as racists. This situation proves – precisely because it is denied – very insidious and pernicious as such it further conceals racist perceptions, conceptions and acts. Faced with it, there is a need for reflection and counteracting actions that call into question formative processes and confront them with complex relational phenomenologies such as those of colourism and “passing”. These phenomenologies are linked and, at the same time, distinct; however, both are the result of oppression and "demand" to be taken over by formative practices of study, explication and understanding.