Directed by
Sandler, Kathe, American, born 1959
Produced by
Bourne, St. Clair, American, 1943 - 2007
Written by
Sandler, Kathe, American, born 1959
Harris, Luke, American
Subject of
Tuskegee Institute, American, founded 1881
Washington, Booker T., American, 1856 - 1915
Dr. Payton, Benjamin Franklin, American, 1932 - 2016
Ford, Johnny L., American, born 1942
Smart-Grosvenor, Vertamae, American, 1937 - 2016
Owned by
D.C. Public Library, American, founded 1896
Date
1993
Medium
polyester film
Dimensions
Duration: 31 Minutes
Length (Film): 1100 Feet
Caption
This film was a part of the Washington D.C. Public Library's circulating 16mm film collection housed at the Martin Luther King Jr. Central Library. The collection is particularly noted for the wide variety of African American and African diaspora content.
Description
A documentary film with the title A Question of Color. It consists of a single reel of color 16mm polyester film with optical sound.
The film explores feelings many African Americans harbor about themselves and their appearance. It opens with a quote by author bell hooks about how black people can change the way they are seen by themselves and others before segueing to a scene in which a young woman (Curtina Jones) relates her experience dating a man whom she describes as "very dark skinned" but who refused to allow her to meet his mother because she was too dark. In the next scene, a chorus rehearses various words and idioms used to refer to skin color and hair texture such as ebony, coal black, tar baby, red, red bone, chocolate, nappy, good hair etc.
Later in the film, Dr. Benjamin Franklin Payton, then president of Tuskegee University, discusses his experience as the institution’s first dark-skinned president, while tracing the origins of color discrimination back to slavery. Other prominent individuals featured in the film include Johnny L. Ford, then mayor of Tuskegee; artist and commentator Vertamae Smart-Grosvenor; prominent Tuskegee banker Bobby Davis and other members of the Davis family. The film also explores issues such as the resentment some light-skinned people believe darker people harbor towards them; the discontent some light-skinned people experience because of how they are perceived within the black community; as well as the strain colorism precipitates within relationships.
In the closing scenes, filmmaker Kathe Sandler relates an experience in which she and her mother were featured on the cover of Essence magazine, but her darker sister was not invited to the photoshoot. As she walks down a busy street, her own voiceover narration describes the sense of isolation she feels being a biracial light-skinned black woman, despite recognizing the privileges this confers.
Place used
Washington, District of Columbia, United States, North and Central America
Place depicted
Tuskegee, Macon County, Alabama, United States, North and Central America
Crown Heights, New York City, Kings County, New York, United States, North and Central America
Collection title
DC Public Library Film Collection
Classification
Time-based Media - Moving Images
Type
sound films
color films (visual works)
short subjects
16mm (photographic film size)
Topic
Beauty culture
Colorism
Documentary films
Education
Film
Identity
Politics
Race discrimination
Credit Line
Collection of the Smithsonian National Museum of African American History and Culture
Object number
2017.55.16.1a
Restrictions & Rights
Restrictions likely apply. Proper usage is the responsibility of the user.
GUID
http://n2t.net/ark:/65665/fd5cb78b13b-a1bc-4084-98e7-a79643fc430a

Cataloging is an ongoing process and we may update this record as we conduct additional research and review. If you have more information about this object, please contact us at NMAAHCDigiTeam@si.edu

Share this page