Singer and actor Tyrese Gibson, recently featured on TV One’s “Uncensored,” said he never felt “handsome or attractive” as a child due to his dark skin tone.
In the episode that aired Sunday, Gibson, 41, shared how colorism also affected his self-esteem while growing up.
“I was called every joke,” he said. “I caught every joke in the dark-skin community ever. I was Black, burnt, tarp. I was all teeth and eyes. I was ‘blurple,’ black and purple. I just never felt attractive, ever. I had never felt a piece of handsome, I had never felt a piece of being cute. I have never heard compliments throughout my childhood. I never got any attention from the ladies.”
The “Fast And Furious” star said his later success as an actor and singer “did more for my confidence than you could ever imagine because it was a high that I would hope to experience for the rest of my life.”
So sad Tyrese. Growing up in the Houston Texas in a predominantly Black and Latino neighborhood I would hear black elementary school kids bullying dark skin black kids because their skin was dark. The children learn it from their parents.