Professor flags her child's colourism struggle in 'expensive' Pune school

"I wish there was something I could do to take her pain away. As a mother to see your little one go through this is just wrenching," the professor whose child is refusing to go to school because she has been called 'dark and scary' wrote in an elaborate series of tweets explaining the problem of colourism.

Hyderabad: Drawing attention to a barely addressed issue in Indian schools, a Sociology professor's tweet about her 4.5 year old child facing colourism among her peers has taken Twitter by the storm. Professor Sreeparna Chattopadhyay from the FLAME University in Pune laid down an account of what her child has been facing at such young age, and how as a parent, she finds no way in sight to deal with the 'serious social problem'.

"I seldom post about anything personal, but I am incandescent with rage. My 4.5-year-old at school is being bullied and called names for being dusky. Colourism is a serious problem in India - she doesn't want to go to school because she was told she is "dark & scary"," one of the tweets in the professor's elaborate tweet thread read.

Stating that this is 'one of the most expensive, private, Montessori, alternative schools in Pune' that she is talking about, Chattopadhyay further narrated how she, as a parent, has tried to bring this to the school authorities' attention, but in vain. "This is not the first time - 6 months ago we brought this to the teacher's attention," her tweet claimed, further adding she feels that school is no longer a psychological space and environment that toddler is willing to go to.

• Thread: I seldom post about anything personal, but I am incandescent with rage. My 4.5-year-old at school is being bullied and called names for being dusky. #colourism is a serious problem in India- she doesn't want to go to school because she was told she is "dark & scary"

  — Sreeparna (@sreeparna_c_) February 21, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Thread: I seldom post about anything personal, but I am incandescent with rage. My 4.5-year-old at school is being bullied and called names for being dusky. #colourism is a serious problem in India- she doesn't want to go to school because she was told she is "dark & scary"

  — Sreeparna (@sreeparna_c_) February 21, 2023

  ">

  Thread: I seldom post about anything personal, but I am incandescent with rage. My 4.5-year-old at school is being bullied and called names for being dusky. #colourism is a serious problem in India- she doesn't want to go to school because she was told she is "dark & scary"

  — Sreeparna (@sreeparna_c_) February 21, 2023

Adding to the severity of the issue, the professor went on to describe how the issue also pertains to sexism in the society. "And for those who are wondering, she is getting it much worse from the boys than the girls. The gendered nature of colourism coupled with entitlement boggles the mind. I am at my wits' end," another tweet in the thread read.

"3 older boys are ganging up against her and start making fun of her the moment she enters the school gate. The boys are not even 6, just imagine, what they will do at 16?" she questioned, adding in one of her responses, "I wish there was something I could do to take her pain away. As a mother to see your little one go through this is just wrenching."

Further leading the argument into how parenting is the root cause of problems like these, Chattopadhyay wrote, "Why should I bear the burden of incompetent parenting? Children are picking this at home because of entrenched colour bias. It doesn't help we are in Pune and her school is full of lighter-skinned kids."

Debunking a rather popular belief that colourism stems from a Eurocentric approach, the professor said that India as a country 'worships fairness'. "For those who are going to blame the British, please don't. Colour bias was entrenched through colonialism but exists in our epics and ancient texts as well," her tweet thread read.

Explaining how she has done everything to console her withered child and get her confidence back up, Chattopadhyay wrote, "Tried everything mentioning dark brown is the colour of everything we love - dark chocolate, coffee, browned dosais. Nothing, nothing helps. I told her brown makes you you, makes you special. The little one's heart-breaking reply -- "I don't want to be special. Special makes me sad"."

"I expose her to as much alternative media as possible. We got a Moana doll - she looks a lot like Moana to have a doll that represents her. But if she is being bullied and she hasn't even reached 5, I am despondent thinking about what the future holds for her," she wrote.

The tweet thread got several responses, with some netizens giving suggestions, while some empathizing with the mother. To one particular tweet that questions the teachers' responsibility in the scenario, the professor said she would not blame the teachers. "Her teachers are very good. The problem is with what the kids are learning and picking up from home and outside the school. That's what needs to shift, and is hardest to do," her response read.

• This is very distressing to hear @sreeparna_c_. I think it is imperative that the school address this head on by calling all class parents in for a conversation. The teachers should lead it and ask others like you to contextualise the issue without blaming specific children.

  — Proteep Mallik (@pcvmlk) February 21, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  This is very distressing to hear @sreeparna_c_. I think it is imperative that the school address this head on by calling all class parents in for a conversation. The teachers should lead it and ask others like you to contextualise the issue without blaming specific children.

  — Proteep Mallik (@pcvmlk) February 21, 2023

  ">

  This is very distressing to hear @sreeparna_c_. I think it is imperative that the school address this head on by calling all class parents in for a conversation. The teachers should lead it and ask others like you to contextualise the issue without blaming specific children.

  — Proteep Mallik (@pcvmlk) February 21, 2023

• Terrible. It’s fault of teachers who need to broaden children’s horizons. Look at people of colour who have excelled at cinema and theatre. Even beauty contests acknowledge that colour isn’t sole determinant of beauty i.e. African origin models like Naomi etc.

  — K. C. Singh (@ambkcsingh) February 21, 2023 " class="align-text-top noRightClick twitterSection" data="

  Terrible. It’s fault of teachers who need to broaden children’s horizons. Look at people of colour who have excelled at cinema and theatre. Even beauty contests acknowledge that colour isn’t sole determinant of beauty i.e. African origin models like Naomi etc.

  — K. C. Singh (@ambkcsingh) February 21, 2023

  ">

  Terrible. It’s fault of teachers who need to broaden children’s horizons. Look at people of colour who have excelled at cinema and theatre. Even beauty contests acknowledge that colour isn’t sole determinant of beauty i.e. African origin models like Naomi etc.

  — K. C. Singh (@ambkcsingh) February 21, 2023

Apart from being a Sociology teacher, Professor Sreeparna Chattopadhyay has received her Doctorate Degree and Master’s in Cultural and Medical Anthropology from Brown University. Her research in the last fifteen years has focused on the ways in which gender disadvantages interact with socioeconomic inequities, shaping women’s life trajectories including impacts on health, education, and exposure to violence.

Even as her tweet is gaining traction and leading to discussions on this rather neglected face of discrimination, it remains imperative to see whether there can be a plausible solution to deal with the issue at a grassroot level.