Jablonksi Skin Color

Anthropologists and geographers have studied and overtime come to the conclusion that distribution of skin color is not random. Darker skin color has been found to typically come from near the equator and lighter skin colors are typically coming from closer to the north and south poles. Over the years, researchers have found that darker skin colors has protected the

In the book, Color of man written by Robert Cohen, he said that our skin color is determined by the amount of melanin pigment in our skin. Dark skin has a lot of melanin while Lighter skin have less. Although, the difference in our skin are very real, anthropologies long ago rejected the idea of races connected to skin color because it was believed that there is no culture in color, no muscular or mental abilities connected to melanin, no character trait, virtue or values associated to skin color, yet at an early age children are learning their color and the differences between other kinds. What parents refuse to teach their kids is why we have different colors and what melanin is but instead kids are taught an eternally different thing. Recent studies have shown where children get their racial ideas from, Ali Michael and Eleanor Bartoli described what was found in a study of white parents and their white

The article “Skin Deep” written by Nina G. Jablonski and George Chaplin discusses the evolution of skin color. Right from the beginning of the article, Jablonski and Chaplin debunked the existing theory that darker skin color evolved to protect humans against skin cancer. As a matter of fact, evidence has shown that skin color in humans is the product of natural selection. “Skin Deep” also discusses topics like melanin, skin cancer, and how human migrations took an important role in the evolution of skin color.

In a film of “Race the Power of an Illusion, Part I The Difference Between Us”, it talked about the differences of races such as skin, eye, hair color. However, in our genetic, the human is not very different than we think but we had a similar genetic code. In the 1950s, the athlete champions were all black, and they were much better than any other. Maybe because of that some people think there are different structure bodies than other races. In this case, I think it could make sense that black people have better body structure than white. However, it is the wrong stereotype about skin color. The skin tone is continuously changing, and the reason why a human has different physical appearances is that of different genes we have. Depends on the

As the research continues it becomes ever more important to discuss how exactly the differing pigmentation of one race of people actually occurs, because I feel that it has an effect on the way colorism is handled throughout the African American community. There are two ways in which a person of African descent can be of a lighter complexion; the first being amalgamation, which is the coming together of both the black and white races and reproducing to make a mulatto or mixed race child and the second is the use of cosmetic creams in attempt to bleach one’s skin until they too appear mulatto (Dorman 48). This is relevant because, it shows the extremes that people are willing to go to reach the highest plateau of social acceptance. Many of these creams were painful acidic chemicals slowly burning away the pigmentation as people slept, while others were considered mild abrasive materials used to “gently” scrape away dark pigments (Dorman

Also, it even was effected in sports because back then it was just whites playing baseball and games like that. Now it is a mix of different skin colors that play today. I know that because when I play sports I either play against different skin colors or I play on the same team as them.

“Among African Americans, skin tone is an important physical characteristic that creates divisions in the community and affects the quality of life. Like gender, a person’s skin tone is a visible physical trait that others immediately notice during social interactions and use to form judgments” The Light skin versus Dark skin issue that has been haunting the black community for centuries is deeply rooted from the times of slavery. Because of the influence of white supremacy, mixed race children received better treatment which resulted in the formation of a social stratification within the black community that impacted how they were treated by white people as well as the way they were treated within their own community.

Race is not a biological reality because there are no indications of some biological DNA that would have a certain outcomes of a race. The variation in skin tone comes from the mix of certain races. For example, the mix of black and white would result a skin color of Latino. However, the mix of white and yellow (Asians) will most likely result a child having more essential characteristics of white people. It is impossible to classify humans into races because human is making a new race every single moment from the combination of two people who come from different races. Light skin and dark skin have a lot to deal with the temperature, latitude and langtitude of the region. It could be characterized by a regions, instead of ethnic groups. Race

Physical features do not always explain the person’s descent. They could have many different cultures and not even know they have one of them. People believe everything they hear without doing any research on the matter. People ignorantly say that they are strictly one race. They do not understand they can have multiple descents. In the article “Why Race Isn’t As “Black” and “White” As We Think” by Brent Staples, he explains “The result that knocked me off my chair showed that one-fifth of my ancestry is Asian.” (Staples 325) This shows how little people know about themselves. Most people go based off their skin color; this is why people do not do any research on the

The term “pigmentocracy, or colorism is the practice of interracial groups applying a valuation to lighter skin” (https://vtechworks.lib.vt.edu/handle/10919/73702) In India this is informed in various ways including, the caste system, media, and cultural practices. Similar to African-Americans, and light skin versus dark skin debates Indians have to deal with the same theory. The theory that those with the lighter skin, are “superior” to those that are darker. Oftentimes those that are darker are seen as inferior, to those with light skin. The media often shows people of a lighter skin tone than those with more pigmented skin. There are usually more light people, and maybe one or two darker people. This all goes into play with how huge of problem colorism is

Dark skin, which is usually the defining trait for racial categories, has a very clear evolutionary history, which is not racially significant. Dark skin does not vary like a multiple choice selection; rather, skin color is variable on a continuous scale. Continuous variation allows variation to be expressed on a gradient. Skin color is a particularly adept example of how variation can be gradated. The Way skin color is expressed as a physical trait is through a pigment in cells called melanin. Along with melanin variability, the amount of hemoglobin, which shows up as the reddish tints in skin

Human biological diversity encompasses much more than the characteristics seen by the naked eye. Our species walked new and unique paths to arrive at our present existence. Our journey resulted in the achievement of many innovative and unique physiognomies allowing us to survive and reproduce. What characteristics have our species evolved and which most greatly shaped our evolution by conferring additional advantages in survivorship? Although there are many remarkable characteristics that have evolved the most striking

This is not too provocative but relevant to this weeks discussion. My husband and I were talking about the lighter skin colors in Neanderthals because of the genome sequencing the scientists have done on DNA from finds. He asked why they would have lighter color skin when they were not even human. I told him

Just as in man. Nature was creating changes which created a man who went into Asia. As they adapted to lower sun levels the ones with lighter skin drew more vitamin d from the sun, this caused more people to have lighter skin. They survived better in the new climate of Asia. One pigment used different ways when different opportunities rise. This is very good example of natural selection.

Human pigmentation is influenced by hemoglobins within blood vessels in the skin, carotene and melanins. Melanin, the basis of pigmentation, can be found in the forms of eumelanin and phaeomelanin. Eumelanin is the brown-black pigment located in the skin, hair, and eyes. Phaeomelanin is a yellow to reddish-brown pigment found in small quantities within the skin, eyes, and red hair. Because of these two pigments, to a greater or lesser degree, we have the variation