• Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Skip to content
SUBSCRIBE
  • MAGAZINE
  • NEWSLETTER
  • Celebrity
    • Of The Essence
    • Celebrity News
    • If Not For My Girls
    • The State Of R&B
    • Time Of Essence
  • Fashion
    • 2023 Best In Black Fashion Awards
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • Red Carpet
    • Fashion News
    • Accessories
  • Beauty
    • Girls United: Beautiful Possibilities
    • 2023 Best In Black Beauty
    • Skin
    • Makeup
    • Nails
    • Hair
      • Hair News
      • Natural
      • Relaxed
      • Transitioning
      • Weave
      • 4C
  • Lifestyle
    • Love
    • Parenting
    • Relationships
    • Bridal Bliss
    • Lifestyle News
    • Health & Wellness
    • ESSENCE Eats
    • Travel
    • Food & Drink
  • Entrepreneurship
    • Money & Career
  • News
    • Latest News
    • Paint The Polls Black
    • Culture
    • Politics
  • Shopping
  • Video
  • Events
    • 2023 Fashion House
    • 2023 ESSENCE Festival Of Culture
    • 2023 Wellness House
    • 2023 Black Women In Hollywood
    • 2023 ESSENCE Film Festival
    • 2023 HOLLYWOOD HOUSE
  • Studios
  • Girls United
Home · Entertainment

“There is a thing of light skinned privilege. It is very real,” Campbell said on SiriusXM. “We are just now celebrating melanin, we are just now coming into understanding how beautiful black truly is.
Tisha Campbell Speaks On Light Skinned Privilege And Spike Lee’s Social Experiments Around Colorism
Photo by Cindy Ord/Getty Images
By Okla Jones · Updated July 29, 2022

Tisha Campbell joined SiriusXM Urban View host Mike Muse for a candid discussion about working with Spike Lee, the conversation surrounding colorism, and how she interprets it. 

During the in-studio interview, the actress also spoke about the importance of setting boundaries as a blueprint to life’s success, and how she’s altered what she gives her energy to.

“Not everybody’s gonna be happy with your boundaries,” the star of Martin and My Wife & Kids said. “There are a lot of people that don’t like the fact that I may have maybe isolated myself to only a small group of friends now, that I don’t give the way that I used to give of myself. That’s okay. It’s not being selfish. It’s being self-full. It’s making sure that you have boundaries set in place so that you are not overextending yourself to everybody all the damn time.”

Article continues after video.

“For the first time in my life I’m actually giving to me first because I want to be the ultimate wife, or the ultimate mother, or the ultimate coworker,” she added. “And I would sacrifice my own energy, self-love, everything, to make other people more comfortable.

In expounding on her new outlook on life, Campbell explains that her empathy may have served as a crutch and an asset. Sometimes people mistake one’s kindness for weakness and try to take advantage of their giving heart. 

I was used to living for other people all the time, since I was a little kid,” Campbell stated.. “Everything was for everybody else. I’m the ultimate empath, but you talked about energy, feeling energy, but what I used to make the mistake of is feeling like if I felt a negative energy, I would try to change it.”

“You can’t always change other people’s energy. You have to understand discernment and protect yourself from bad energy,” she added.
Early in both of their careers, Campbell and Academy Award-winning director Spike Lee collaborated on the latter’s second film, School Daze. The story’s primary focus wasn’t racism, but colorism – the act of discrimination with one’s own race, judging by skin tone.

While filming his movies, Lee has been known to conduct social experiments, both for the audience as well as his cast members. 

So Spike [Lee] put all the light skinned girls in one hotel; a nicer hotel. He put the dark skinned girls in a motel. Then he put all the boys, not just, you know, both factions,” the New Jersey native said. “He put all the boys in a light skinned girls hotel. I was always at the motel with everybody else. I hung out with them. But it was to create real method chaos.”

Article continues after video.

Lee’s School Daze film concluded with a powerful lesson. We all have to understand that we’re in this oppression race together, regardless of skin complexion. Later in the interview, Muse spoke about his experience with colorism, and how he wasn’t fully aware of it until he got to college. Campbell however, experienced it her entire life – both the good and the bad.

“No it’s true and it’s real. There is a thing of light skinned privilege. It is very real,” she said. “That people have had to deal with. We are just now celebrating melanin. We are just now coming into understanding how beautiful black truly is, our own people. You know what I mean?”

The full interview airs Saturday at 2pm ET and will replay Sunday at 2pm ET on SiriusXM Urban View channel 126.

TOPICS:  Tisha Campbell
COMPANY INFORMATION
  • Our Company
  • Customer Service
  • Essence Ventures
  • Change Your Address
  • Contact Us
  • Job Opportunities
  • Internships
  • Media Kit
  • tag
SUBSCRIBE
  • Newsletters
  • Give a Gift of ESSENCE
  • Magazine Tablet Edition
FOLLOW US
MORE ON ESSENCE
  • Home
  • Love
  • Celebrity
  • Beauty
  • Hair
  • Fashion
  • ESSENCE festival

ESSENCE.com is part of ESSENCE Communications, Inc.

Essence may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.

©2023 ESSENCE Communications Inc. All Rights Reserved. | Privacy Policy | Terms of Use | Essence.com Advertising Terms

Get The ESSENCE Newsletter and
Special Offers delivered to your inbox

By clicking Sign Up, you agree to our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy.

Get The ESSENCE Magazine
by subscribing below
subscribe now