Mathew Knowles Says Beyonce's Light Skin Has Helped Her Celebrity

RadioOnFire.com - Beyonce's father, Mathew Knowles, got candid about colorism and how it has affected his own life in his new book, Racism: From the Eyes of a Child, and his comments are sure to spark controversy.

In an interview with Ebony magazine, Knowles reveals details from his own childhood growing up in Alabama. Knowles said he never went to a black school and was one of six kids who integrated Litchfield Junior High School. He would later also help integrate Gadsen High School. A similar experience would occur when he became one of the first African Americans at The University of Tennessee at Chatanooga. He switched to Fisk University, an HBCU, during his junior year-- stating you couldn't even get in unless you passed the infamous "Brown Paper Bag Test."

Knowles explained that these experiences paired with his mother telling him not to bring home a "nappy-head black girl" made him angry. Through therapy, he figured out he had "eroticized rage," leading him to only date white or very fair skinned black women. Knowles admitted that when he met his now ex-wife, Tina Knowles, he originally thought she was white.

As for his daughter, Beyonce, he attributes part of the reason why she is so successful to her complexion. "I challenge my students at Texas Southern to think about this. When it comes to Black females, who are the people who get their music played on pop radio? Mariah Carey, the female rapper Nicki Minaj, my kids [Beyonce and Solange], and what do they have in common?" The interviewer simply responds, "They're all lighter skinned." Knowles agrees.

What do you think of his statement?

Source: ebony.com