The war stories, the grumblings, the stereotypes are legion and legend, from Korean store owners aiming judgmental, haughty eyes at patrons, to Japanese collectors of old Jim Crow memorabilia, Chinese grad students questioning your intelligence, to that rude immigrant Indian or Pakistani doctor who won't return your sick gran-mama's calls. Like I said, legion and legend. Largely myth and reverse Archie Bunkerism or perhaps hypersensitivity on our part. But...sorry...they're often grounded in some unpleasant facts. Ask Beyonce how much L'Oreal paid her to keep her mouth shut about them lightening her skin, bone-straightening her hair for their ads to Middle America.
And sooooo...consider this upcoming BBC report ( here ) THE INCREDIBLE WHITENESS OF BEING IN ASIA, on the booming skin lightening cosmetics/plastic surgery industry in Asia and South Asia. Yep, from India to Indonesia, to Sapporo and Seoul and Shanghai and to Bobby Jindal (hahaha): folks wanna look like Hugh Jackman (who ironically has two biracial kids) and Nicole Kidman. Yep, you heard me. Producer and blogger Philip Martin reports: "The desire for whiter skin is nothing new. But as Asia's middle class has expanded, and with greatly raised incomes, so too has the demand for whitening skin care products." Check out Philip's blog here. You can also catch him on Huffington Post.
Comments? Observations? There's nothing so creepy as a Malaysian millionaire or Chinese factory boss's wife with surgically altered blue eyes. No wonder African Americans aren't often on their radar unless someone's bootlegging a Jay-Z CD, or has a c-note on a Cavaliers-Lakers game (or needs Kobi for a Kobe beef commercial. Mony talks).
Nat's part "coolie" by the way. If you're from T n T or Jamaica, holla...
