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In all the accolades given to actress Lupita Nyong'o for her portrayal of Patsy in the movie "12 Years A Slave" the idea is constantly reinforced that finally a dark skinned woman is being recognized as beautiful. The trauma of being branded "ugly" because of ones dark skin is a common experience, particularly for women, and the media continues to portray female attractiveness as the image of light skin and long straight hair, so much so that the beauty industry constantly rakes in money from black women buying hair weaves. Are we still living under a color-caste system? Are we unconsciously teaching our children to favor lighter skinned people? Do we unconsciously discriminate against darker skinned people? Are black people in America more guilty of promoting a color caste system than black people in other parts of the world?