The African-American community in this country is never going to be free until we stopped being brainwashed.

Dark brown and brown complexioned women are the best looking women in the world. But they don’t get credit for being the best looking in their own race. This honor goes to the bronzed and ultralight complexioned.

Most of the people in this country who are light complexioned are a direct result of the tragic rapes that occurred in antebellum days. Instead of seeking an apology for slavery on this one account, most African-Americans seem to think that the obnoxious slaveholders did us a favor in this regard. Look at the high profile African-Americans who marry anybody but a dark complexioned mate.

Black females, brainwashed, spend millions every year to make their hair look closer to the their former “betters,” a subliminal compliment which should never be played out. The ones with natural hairstyles look better and are not slaves to their hair.

In the highly recommended must-read for African-Americans, “Brainwashed” by Tom Burrell, he wrote how Thomas Jefferson had written that everybody knew white people were better looking, even the slaves. I wholeheartedly disagree.

Every year, Jasmine Guy and Halle Berry are picked along with eight white Americans as the top 10 most beautiful women in the United States. Ms. Guy and Ms. Berry have one thing in common. They both had white mothers.

What kind of message does this send to African-Americans? Unfortunately, that says “Keep on being brainwashed. We like it.”

BERNARD A. GORDON

Hanover County