Colorism and Social Behavior

ZANESVILLE, Ohio – March 21st has been recognized as the International Day of Color since 2009.

Muskingum County Social Justice Coalition Chairperson Lori Buchanan talked about an upcoming Zoom event that will encourage participants to share their perceptions around skin color and social status.

“This Saturday at 11 a.m. we invite everyone to join us on Zoom for our topic on Colorism,” Buchanan said. “And you can go to our Facebook page to get registered to get the Zoom link and join us. Please follow us on our Muskingum County Social Justice Coalition Facebook page as well as Instagram and reach out to get your name on our email list.”

Saturday’s Zoom conference will constitute the group’s Community Education Series event that is held each quarter. The Muskingum County Justice Coalition meets at 6:30 p.m. on the first Tuesday of the month to discuss social issues that local residents may be facing.   

“Everyone is invited to participate and Dr. Anita Jackson is going to be facilitating this,” Buchanan said. “And we’re going to have three speakers: Mrs. Ada Adams, Mrs. Lorraine Hill Johnson and Rev. Clifton Kilpatrick. And they’re going to be talking about colorism, which is the varying degrees of color of people’s skin.”

Buchanan said the meeting is designed to allow people to share their experiences in order to inform others and for other people to learn to view things from different perspectives.