1 Color Coded Intersections: Workplace Bullying, Colorism, and Its Impact Along Race and Gender Lines Leah P. Hollis From: Hollis, L. P. (2022). Black women, intersectionality and workplace bullying: Intersecting Distress. Routledge New York. https://www.taylorfrancis.com/books/mono/10.4324/9781003187813/black-women- intersectionality-workplace-bullying-leah-hollis Equity Exordium American communities witness this colorism problem daily. Too often, music videos and movies telegraph the preference for light-skinned people. In a world where dark people were castigated and vilified, people with lighter skin experienced more acceptance. However, the color- struck phenomena, or colorism, fosters degradation and misgivings that accompany skin tone bias. While dark-complected people were denied employment, housing, and common respect even within their families, light-skinned people who were passing for White experienced existential threats as well. To be in a White society, passing as White, could result in disastrous consequences for the person passing. The light- skinned/dark skin controversies continue to plague the Black community. Nella Larsen’s (2001) remarks from her book Passing elucidate the treachery for those using their skin tone to transcend color lines. “She wished to find out about this hazardous business of ‘passing,’ … not entirely strange, per- haps, but certainly not entirely friendly” (Larsen, 2001, p.186) Electronic copy available at: https://ssrn.com/abstract=4158090