Discrimination comes in many forms and as unbelievable as it may be, even your own race discriminates against you if the colour of your skin is too light or too dark.

Discrimination comes in many forms and as unbelievable as it may be, even your own race discriminates against you if the colour of your skin is too light or too dark.

I have experienced racism from my own people my entire life.My dark complexion has always been an issue for the people I have lived with. They just can't stop talking about it.

But now that I have thought about it seriously, it makes me sick that I was made and continue to be made to feel ashamed of being too dark or too black.

Well, if this were Europe or America and these people were not African, I would, to a certain degree, have understood their attitude towards me.

At school, I was made fun of and I was called "coal", "darkie" and even "blackie".

I know that I am not the only one who was treated this way and I have therefore decided to speak up for all the other people too. This is unfair. Not only is this degrading to us as human beings, but it also degrades the culprits.

Now hear this. The colour of a person's skin is insignificant. It's what's behind the colour that counts. Being too black is not a crime. Africans are supposed to be black. We are all people and what matters is how we behave towards and treat other people.

Kabelo Sakong, GaMogotlane