Jablonksi Skin Color

This problem is called Colorism. Colorism is racial bias, both intra and interracial, based on the tone of one’s skin. This can be as minor as social interactions, and as major as segregation. Colorism is a real and relevant problem; According to Shankar Vedantam, a writer for the New York Times, we have a way of thinking based off of “culture and history,” which tends to subconsciously privilege those who have lighter skinned as opposed to darker skin.

In the article Skin Deep written by Nina Jablonski and George Chaplin, they discuss and look deeper into the diverse differences in skin color. Our skin color has developed over the years to be dark enough to prevent the damaging sunlight that has been harming our skin and the nutrient folate that it carries. At the same time out skin is light enough to receive vitamin D.

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

The meaning, significance, and definition of race have been debated for centuries. Historical race concepts have varied across time and cultures, creating scientific, social, and political controversy. Of course, today’s definition varies from the scientific racism of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries that justified slavery and later, Jim Crow laws in the early twentieth. It is also different from the genetic inferiority argument that was present at the wake of the civil rights movement. However, despite the constantly shifting concepts, there seems to be one constant that has provided a foundation for ideas towards race: race is a matter of visually observable attributes such as skin color, facial features, and other self-evident

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

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

“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.

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.

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

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

Geographical isolation in the past has caused a variation in skin color; natural selection selected specific skin pigments depending on environmental factors. Early humans who moved to Europe were introduced to a place that had less sunlight than their former place of residence. Overtime, light skin (skin with lower levels of melanin) was selected for since there were not as many UV rays that the skin needed protection from. But, what was wrong with having dark skin in Europe? How is extra melanin a disadvantage in this case? One thing to remember is that even though the sun can provide UV rays, sunlight is also a great source of natural vitamin D (Jablonski; Kirchweger). Vitamin D helps bones absorb calcium and is particularly essential for developing embryos in pregnant women. The adaptation for lighter skin was important because the skin needed to absorb as much sunlight as it could in order to receive optimal amounts of vitamin D (Kirchweger). However, too much vitamin D can be fatal. So as high amounts of melanin protected the skin from excessive UV rays in Africa, they also protected it from excessive vitamin D (Kirchweger).

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.

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 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