Colorism & Social Hierarchies

          The notion of colorism is an idea fully identified and named within the modern era that refers specifically to the internal prejudices of African-Americans. However, throughout the course of reading Franscois Bernier’s “A New Division of the Earth,” I noticed statements about skin color and its connection to social status that hinted colorism may not be exclusive to internal racial strife within modern African-American communities. My interest then lies with wondering whether or not the modern concept of colorism has only recently been explicitly identified and named after a long history of serving as a mechanism for further division between and among races.
         NadraK. Nittle defines colorism as the practice of discrimination by which those with lighter skin are treated more favorably than those with darker skin; favorable treatment could result in higher social status. There are two things that stood out to me from Bernier’s work that hinted to possible early stages of colorism. First, is the distinction he makes between North African peoples and sub-Saharan African peoples. It is interesting that he makes this division in the first place considering that all peoples on the continent of Africa, despite being in the north or south, are African peoples with a culture and physicality much different from Europeans. My attempt to understand the need for the division brings me to the idea of separation based on skin color and its depth in hue/permanence. Hopefully this is no overwhelmingly shocking surprise to note that African peoples of the north are significantly lighter in skin tone than their sub-Saharan counterparts. It is interesting to think that the division made is potentially based on the premise of preference of skin color and various hues. Secondly, he makes a point to emphasize that western Asiatic peoples are “black” (what he really means is darker) only by accident; the dark color of Indians is temporary and signifies that they are of the lower class condemned to working in the sun. Here is the more explicit connection between skin color and social status.The pointing out of these two things in a larger conversation about race comes as a little surprise in that my assumption is the idea of colorism is an internal conflict specific to African-Americans that has its roots in the American slave history (click house negro v. field negro). The act of simply noting these things makes me wonder whether or not prejudices with skin color have its roots in slavery or if this is something that predated what has evolved to be the modern understanding of race.
      What do you think? Is colorism exclusive to the modern era or is this something that stands outside the confines of race?