"Empire" Star Claims She 1st Encountered Skin Color Bias In U.S.

“Empire” Actress Claims Black People In America Have Different Skin Color Issues Than Islanders

Y’all remember Grace Gealey, aka Anika Calhoun aka Boo Boo Kitty on “Empire,” right?

In an interview with Details Gealey revealed some things about her move to the U.S. that some folks might find startling:

DETAILS: You moved to the U.S. when you were 18. What surprised you the most about American women?
Grace Gealey: For me personally, it’s the whole light-skinned/dark-skinned dynamic [for women of color]. I mean, there’s competition among women everywhere you go. But back home we understand that you can look like a variety of things and still be from the same culture. What I’m saying is that I’ve never felt like I was a light-skinned black woman. Never felt that way because we shared the same culture back home. But when I came to America, that’s when I started to feel that there was a lot of push-back from women. I was definitely made aware that I am light-skinned. I realized that was a thing here.

DETAILS: What kind of thing?
Grace Gealey: It was something that people felt the need to point out. I guess maybe it’s a form of intra racism: I was discriminated against for being light-skinned and there were a lot of labels. Some people assumed that guys might like me more because of my complexion or that I had it easier in general. Which is funny because I’ve been a victim of prejudice as well: There were times when I have walked into a Rite Aid at 12 o’clock at night and had the store manager stand in the corner and stare at me while I was looking at nail polishes.

Interesting. We wonder if darker complected women from the Cayman Islands feel the same way. This may have been Gealey’s experience but considering some of the issues with skin bleaching that exist in Africa and other parts of the diaspora we’d be surprised to find that America is the worst when it comes to the skin color complex. What do you think about Gealey’s reveal?

Probably our favorite part of the Details interview had to be to hear Gealey talk about her family. Another surprising fact about her when you hit the flip.

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