Divya Dutta Quotes

It's assumed that light-skinned women have no problems or issues, but they are judged before you know who they are.

Colorism is unfortunately still an issue today.

None of us is responsible for the complexion of his skin. This fact of nature offers no clue to the character or quality of the person underneath.

An agent said he didn't know what to do with me, I wouldn't be able to play any parts but lesbians and aliens.

I've been fortunate in my career, but, yes, there have been many times when I have been told my audition has been cancelled because they're only going to see white people.

The broad brush of stereotyping is what least appeals to people of color.

In the last 'Batman' movie, they told me that I couldn't get an audition for a small role they were casting because they weren't 'going urban.' It was like, 'What does that have to do with anything?'

When I started modeling, it was like, 'Oh, she's too dark,' and I kind of looked at them like, 'You're too daft.'

I didn't have a problem with myself or my skin. I had a problem with the way people treated me because of my skin. They tried to define me.

For black people who are really dark - and a lot of black people were averse to be dark skinned - it was believed that you'd be so dark that you couldn't see them at night unless they were smiling or you could see the whites of their eyes. At one time, it was a sharp comic barb that got levelled at some people.

I had a casting director tell me to be blacker.

I've experienced colorism in that way: where if you're lighter, then you'll potentially be accepted into society better than if you were darker-skinned.

I once literally had a casting director ask my agent, 'Can she play anything other than a drunk?'

Some people have said that I haven't got the parts I should've got because of the way I look.

When I was young, I went to a church where the lighter-skinned you were, the closer you sat to the altar.

I always wanted to get into politics, but I was never light enough to make the team.

If whiteness were of no particular advantage, then having a fuller color wheel of skin tones would be purely a matter of celebration. But whiteness - just a drop of it - does still carry privilege. You learn that very young in America.

We're conditioned in this country to believe that if there's a problem, the black man is usually the culprit.

People think I'm this angry black man walking around in a constant state of rage.

Every now and then I'm in a situation where someone doesn't recognize me, and I experience racism. Things like not being buzzed into a store or sitting in first class on a plane and having someone ask to see my ticket four times.

There's no such thing as reverse racism.

I don't think because I hang out with enough black people, I'm gonna turn black. What kind of rationalization is that? I'm just friends with people that I like. I don't care what skin color you are.

I'm sure there's somebody out there who doesn't like Betty White because she's short and has white hair.

Everyone looks me and says, 'I'm not going to let that Asian kid embarrass me. I'm going to go at him.' That's how it's been my whole life.

Ageism is as odious as racism and sexism.