The color of "Skin"

Growing up I remember wanting to go to Africa as young as 5th grade when a young women came to speak to our school about her experiences in Kenya and then again when I met a women who spent several years in Sierra Leone.  So, that being said,  I am always watching movies about Africa.  This weekend I came across "Skin".  I have to admit, I lead a very sheltered life when it came to the reality of what was happening in South Africa back when I was a child.  This film riveted me, angered me, made me cry.  I find it hard to believe that people can be so racist and yet they do.  This true story of a family divided by "race", a word I strongly say doesn't exist simply because there is only one race and that is the human one.  I hope you get a chance to see this movie - you will find it worth it. 

“SKIN”

DVD widescreen, 2008, PG-13 for thematic material, some violence and sexuality 

WHEN TWO WHITE parents in South Africa give birth to a brown baby with nappy hair during the apartheid era, neighbors and the government turn a critical eye. Is the baby white or black? Has the mother cheated? How will the child be classified?

After a battle that goes to the country's highest court, Sandra Laing is eventually classified white. Her parents had enough black ancestry in their genealogy to produce their daughter’s mixed-race appearance. Still, Sandra’s dark-colored skin makes racism part of her daily life. She's kicked out of school for disrupting other students, harassed on dates by white suitors and made to stand outside a shop as her mother picks out a dress.

This is a true story about a young girl struggling to belong when caught between races. Although movies that explore racism are common, few involve such nuanced complexity.

Eventually Sandra takes her life into her own hands, betraying her parents’ demands as she runs away to live with Petrus, a black farmer she has fallen for. It's enough to lead her father to hate his own daughter, tearing the family apart for decades.

Learn  more about Sandra Laing here.