Hi. I am Dominican. I am a nice guy with a notorious asian-black blend. I love my country and my ethnicity and I am not exactly a fan of Sammy but I think this whole "bleached-his-skin-because-he-loathes-himself" comments have gone far enough.If a white person likes to tan enough that business based on even air-splaying pale people get their own T.V. shows...God forbid that a black person tries to do the same maybe towards changing his very OWN look.I wish that was the case because if it is actually the result of a skin treatment a lot of people will be tasting their own toes."Please Dr, take into consideration that under NO Circumstances my skin should get a lighter hue. I have the world's opinion depending on my own color".He will always be Sammy. If you love or hate the guy, this little thing will not change that.

I say stop worrying about what everyone else is doing and how they exercise their freedom of choice Blacks have been straightening their hair since slavery to make it more manageable, and in some cases more attractive and more acceptable which in earlier decades was paramount to being able to get a job and survive. It is also a fact that men, including black men find straightened hair more attractive and women naturally want to look attractive to their men. However, changing one's hair with a press and curl, chemical straightener or wearing of a weave or wig is nothing compared to the drastic action of going under the knife and surgically altering one's physical features. And while you are telling what the blacks and asians are doing to alter their ethnic looks, I notice you left out what the jews are doing. How many American jews have had their big jewish noses chopped off so they can look more anglo, hence less jewish? At one time this was as common in the jewish culture as a bar mitzvah! And how many with that kinky jewish hair alter the texture to make it appear straight? And how many whites bleach their hair blonde or red with chemicals on a regular basis? If so many of us are doing things to alter our natural looks (and have been doing so since the beginning of time) then obviously it is human nature to do so and I say we should stop judging and trying to psycho-analyze others on what they do with their bodies. Let's finally move on to worrying about the more relevant things going on in this turbulent world.

Liko, nice comment. You bring up a good point about whites who tan, or get breast enlargements, or any other physical change, and where most would probably say it doesn't indicate they have racially-based self loathing. However, I would counter that for all people, these plastic surgeries are to emulate what others consider to be beautiful or attractive, but as it pertains to minorities, do you think that globally we live in a time where beauty/fashion/attractiveness is egalitarian, or Caucasian-centric? How do you eliminate the white privilege from your argument?Smitty said: [Blacks have been straightening their hair since slavery to make it more manageable, and in some cases more attractive and more acceptable which in earlier decades was paramount to being able to get a job and survive. It is also a fact that men, including black men find straightened hair more attractive and women naturally want to look attractive to their men.]But Smitty, why is straight hair 'more acceptable', or 'more attractive' as you put it, as opposed to the type of non-straight hair many have naturally? Who were the ones giving the jobs so that they could survive?

Okay first of all "tanning" isn't permanent. So nice try, but try again.Second of all, nobody should comment on hair relaxing unless you really know what it's about because so far all I've seen are ignorant comments that CLEARLY show that none of the previous posters know what they are talking about.Also none of the other examples people are listing is as DRASTIC as changing your skin color.

Sosa's change is drastic and the effect is unfortunate. I won't be the one to say whether the lightening was his goal or the side effect of some other cosmetic goal. But not all minorities' cosmetic changes are evil, even if they have their origins in colonial dynamics.Even if the "conk", for example, started out as an attempt to emulate "white" hair, it ended up being an undeniably black fashion phenomenon/statement--to the point where I would say that eventually, the point of a conk was to have a magnificent conk, not to look white.Same with a lot of black hairstyles today that require straightening and weaves. Sure, sometimes it's an attempt to emulate "white" hair, but a lot of the time, the styles achieved are clearly the creations of black subcultures and their fashions. And the ways the "white" standards are tweaked and altered and appropriated makes the result just as much a comment on and reaction to the dominant "white" standards as subject to them.There's a lot of "play" in human self-adornment. Rarely is any post-colonial cosmetic trend an instance of pure domination of one culture's standards by another's. More often, it becomes something all its own and an expression of creativity which incorporates a culture's experiences of being dominated by another/others.For instance, casting blacks as victims because many blacks do funky things to their hair is incredibly condescending and ignores the agency and input that black people have in shaping the ways in which they alter and play with their colonial legacy of dealing with oppressive beauty standards. I think it's important to remember that.The way to make sure people don't do things to themselves out of self-hatred is not to judge minorities for their cosmetic choices. The choices will change when society changes and successful does not equal white anymore.

sgpark, great post thanks for that, very well put, and I hear what you're saying.However, I think it's a bit dangerous to view all of these instances/fashions as the result/interplay of an already post-colonial world where minorities have moved past living around supremacism or discrimination. Specifically in the Dominican Republic, Sosa's homeland, people of darker skin (including native Dominicans, and tourist Black Americans) are still regularly kicked off of buses, under the dubious claim/auspice that they are illegal Haitians. The latter article linked also points out how few Dominicans will admit or identify with having African ancestry... Not sure how one can completely dismiss the racial environment Sosa is from, from his skin bleaching (which he claims was only for his face, but then why are his hands and even inside of his ears also lighter? He is also wearing green contact lenses, based on other photos of the event).I also don't think it's an issue of labeling these behaviors as being 'evil' or being condescending. I don't think critics of Mia Lee vilify her as a person, but rather that she isn't aware of how her own preferences have been influenced/shaped by Caucasian-centric fashion/beauty standards she grew up with. To say that it is categorically condescending, is to assume that all minorities are already aware and educated about the history of colonialism, its effects, and Caucasian-centric standards and white privilege which still exist today... which I'm sure most would agree is not the case, especially for minorities in the southern American hemisphere, or I would argue even for Asian Americans in this country.[Rarely is any post-colonial cosmetic trend an instance of pure domination of one culture's standards by another's. More often, it becomes something all its own and an expression of creativity which incorporates a culture's experiences of being dominated by another/others.]What other examples can you provide where this is the case? I don't see how skin bleaching or eyelid enlarging surgery applies to what you write here.

Sammy Sosa is not bleaching, ... I mean rejuvenating his own skin to become an Honorary White Man.Not at all. We live in a post-colonial, post-racial world in which those issues of internalized racism and White beauty standards are too politically incorrect to bring up.These post-racial Kool-Aid imbibers are good at coming up with rationalizations for racism, dressed up in trendy postmodern theories of agency, play, etc.Whatever.

Here is a new ESPN article criticizing/questioning Sosa's behavior and explanation:http://sports.espn.go.com/espn/page2/story?page=hill/091113&sportCat=mlb

[Afro-Latinos exist in large numbers in Latin American countries beyond the Caribbean, yet they remain disenfranchised. Colombia is home to 15 million Afro-Latinos yet its most popular stars are fair-skinned (Shakira and Juanes). The aspiration to appear more European is even prevalent in the world's largest beauty pageant--Miss Universe. Even though 18 Latin American countries participated only one contestant appeared to have African ancestry (Miss Dominican Republic).Many Latinos are still under the Spanish Conquistador's spell--white is better. Our grandparents and even some of our parents encourage us to marry to mejorar la raza (improve the race). Meaning you should marry a white woman to make sure your child is at least has a 50 percent chance to be fair-skinned. Latino men are subconsciously trained to date and marry lighter-skinned women. We hear it in our homes as children and see it on Spanish-language media. For example, telenovelas (Spanish-language soap operas) always have European-looking Latino actors in lead roles while Afro-Latinos are lucky if they grab a role as a maid.]http://www.essence.com/news/commentary_2/light_skin_vs_dark_skin.php?cnn=yes