Viral Video: A recent social media phenomenon is a video of a five-year-old girl and her mother, which contains an emotional chat between them, reinitiating debates on social media concerning colourism, bullying, and how words affect children. The video shows a crying child saying, “I don’t like my skin colour. Everyone says it’s ugly," evidencing how words have affected her self-esteem.
As her mother comforted her with a gentle hug, she told her, "You have ‘beautiful’ skin, and ‘everybody is different.’ While this relieved her a bit, she continued to have doubts about herself when she stated, ‘But I don't like this dress, and I don't like how I look, and I wish I had lighter skin.’ "Don't hate yourself," her mother told her. "You are beautiful. Words don’t matter when they come from other people," she added.
The accompanying message posted by the mother reads, "This is one of the toughest moments I have had to share publicly with all of you. Unfortunately, this bullying in school led her to believe she can never be a ‘princess’ or an ‘Elsa’ because she is ‘dark-skinned.’ She is five years old, and she wants to change her skin colour. This breaks our hearts.” The message continues to describe how her daughter feels self-conscious about her appearance because she feels she does not fit in with all the other "white" princesses.
As reported by the mother, she recorded this video primarily to present it to school authorities. Although she was assured by the teacher that plans would be put in place, concrete steps were not taken. The family has since attempted to enrol the child in another school, but is left with limited options given the end of the academic year.
The video has evoked collective responses on social media platforms, with people condemning colour bullying in schools and urging schools to do more in this matter. The mother clarified in her statement that they did not share this video so people could sympathise with them, but to raise awareness.
Netizens Reactions
The viral video prompted an outpouring of love and support from netizens. Many users reassured her of her beauty, with one comment reading, “My angel, you are so pretty, so so pretty. Believe us, don’t listen to them, ignore them with your smile.” Another wrote, “Look at this beautiful girl crying over her wonderful skin colour. Shame on those raising kids who make fun of others based on skin colour.”
Several users expressed confidence in her future, saying, “She will grow to be the most beautiful woman, I am sure of that,” while others directly addressed the child, commenting, “Baby, you are absolutely perfect. Your skin is perfect!”
