So if all mankind was created equally, why the need to separate us into “races” at all, and can it even be done? Ethnology is the science that deals with the division of mankind based on their origin, distribution, relations and peculiarities, but though they may try to separate humans into racial groups, it is almost impossible. Our culture may set us apart through language, manner of dress, eating habits and beliefs, but cannot reasonably distinguish any group based on genetics. Therefore, race is not a scientific classification, only a social one, and has no place in the scientific community, except to prove that it does not exist.
That being said, where did the idea of racial distinctions begin? Probably the most obvious one is the variations in skin color. When the Roman army entered West Africa about 46 BCE, they encountered black Africans; whom they called ‘Maures’, taken from the Greek word meaning dark or black; but later the name moor would refer to anyone of the Muslim faith, regardless of skin tone. So “Moor” or “black” was a term used to describe Muslims, and since you didn’t need to be black to be a Muslim, it was only a social distinction, based on discrimination.
Of course the convoluted way in which this was done would be almost comedic, if it wasn’t so sad. In the case of the Europeans, they first needed to find a way to embrace all of the ancient civilizations that they felt contributed the most to the development of the human race. Greece and Rome were easy to incorporate, but how could they include Egypt, which was part of Africa?
Simple. By creating a “Near East” that included all of the Mediterranean countries, as well as Egypt, they were able to broaden the definition of Europe's cultural roots to include them. That the Egyptians by and large were dark, obviously did not factor into the equation. In relation with the rest of the world, people within the orbit of Western Civilization, including the highly advanced Egyptians, were white and superior in knowledge, and people outside that orbit were of colour and obviously inferior.
This theory is wrong on so many levels, but at it’s basest; the absorption of so many areas on the globe, would have led to cultural diversification (which it did), not homogenization. The fact is that most of us descend from the various tribes that roamed all areas of the world and we should take pride in the fact that the human race was able to rise from bestial savagery to civilization at all.
Besides, if we like to believe that our earliest ancestors had a high degree of intellect and wealth, we may have a tendency to look around us and say, what happened? But if we accept that our ancestors started out with nothing, we can take pride in how far we’ve come. From one species, man developed into a multitude of cultural groups; not based on who was superior, but simply on how they adapted biologically, physically and socially, to their own environment.
However, this still does not really explain the differences in skin color. Cultural differences are obvious, but how do you explain the physical differences in humans, so apparent from one geographical area to another?
I once heard an African American comedian discuss the different ways in which Caucasians described “his people”. His favorite, he said, was when they referred to them as “colored” . “COLORED?”, he asked loudly. What makes you think we were colored? How do you know that you all weren’t erased?
His exaggerated accent had the audience roaring with laughter, but the punch line was not as funny as it may seem. The truth is that when early mankind began to move away from the tropics toward the poles, they no longer needed dark skin to protect them from damaging ultraviolet rays, but did need a way for their skin to absorb more light, to produce enough vitamin D to prevent bones from turning to mush.
Nina Jablonski, from the California Academy of Sciences, studied satellite images of the varying degrees of ultra violet rays, to determine a correlation between the places with the strongest sunlight to the color of skin. Overall, the findings were what was expected, but with a few exceptions.
Tibetans, for instance, have lighter skin than predicted, but since they have only occupied the Tibetan Plateau for less than 10,000 years and had to wear sufficient clothing to survive at high elevation, there is not yet any evidence of pigment change. By the same token, Eskimos have darker skin than expected, but a diet of fish oil and blubber, was able to give them enough of the nutrients necessary for healthy bone growth.
When plotted on a map, there appear to be three distinct zones, based on skin tone: zone 1, represents the tropics, which includes most of Africa, Mexico, Central America, the Amazon and Asia. The indigenous peoples of these areas have highly melanized skin. Zone 2, encompasses much of the Northern Hemisphere, including most of the United States, Canada and southern Europe. In these regions people have moderately pigmented skin, but a tremendous potential to alter their skin tone through tanning. Zone 3, includes the polar regions, where people face the greatest risk of vitamin deficiency, and compensate for the lack of light with paler skin.
It is rather interesting though to see how modern mankind views the color of skin. Basically, they have divided us into four distinct shades: black, white, yellow and red. If we sketch four people and use the coordinating color of crayon to fill in their complexion, it would look like a sci-fi cartoon. Add a “green” Martian, and you’ve got a comic strip, but do you really know anyone who matches those drawings?
Unless they are terribly ill or made up for the stage, no one has pure white skin. Caucasians have light shades of pink, peach, orange, tan and beige, sometimes freckled; but if we were truly white, we look like a blank sheet of paper and I can’t imagine anyone aspiring to that.
The term “black” seems to refer to anyone with dark skin, but few, if any, are really black. They have darker shades of brown, tan and beige tones; or like the regal image of the Egyptian King Tut; a uniform darkness that gives them almost a surreal appearance.
The renowned Malcolm X probably explained it the best. He refers to the dictionary definitions of the two words “black” and “white”. Terms used to describe black, include, “Destitute of light...devoid of color or so dark as to have no distinguishable color...enveloped in darkness..utterly dismal or gloomy ...soiled with dirt...foul...sullen...hostile...” and then “having dark skin, hair and eyes, specifically pertaining to a race characterized by dark pigmentation, including the Negro...”
The word white, on the other hand, is described as “Of the color of pure snow...reflecting to the eye all the rays of the spectrum...the opposite of black...free from spot or blemish...innocent and pure, without evil or intent...relatively harmless...” and then “having light-colored skin, as a Caucasian or white man”.
Dark meant evil and light meant goodness, and yet we all know that “whites” can be evil and “blacks” definitely good and innocent, so why make distinctions on these grounds? As previously mentioned, the Romans named the people of Africa, “Moors”, because of their dark skin, and then elevated the term to refer to all Muslims, regardless of skin color, because they had an opposing religious view.
More importantly, Ancient Rome and much of Ancient Europe was often engaged in war against the Muslims, so by referring to them as dark, was a form of propaganda. Members of the Church of Rome, or the Christian faith in general, were going to heaven; a place that sat on white puffy clouds, so unless you wanted to join the “dark side”, and never get to see heaven, you had to destroy the people trying to prevent your celestial goal.
And what about “redskin”? The only truly RED skin is the result of too much sun or heat, so why were North American natives referred to in this way? Perhaps because it was felt that their skin tone was somewhere in between; not dark enough to be black and not light enough to be white.
The fact is that North America is made up of many different climates and subsequently a variety of pigmentations. The fact that even those in the most northern regions did not completely lose their color, may have been due to the fact that the aboriginal people were always much further advanced in the health sciences, and knew how to take care of themselves to maintain optimum wellness. They practiced hygiene, herbal medicine and ate only natural foods; so could adapt to their environment much quicker.
And finally; why yellow to refer to those of Asian descent, when they are not even remotely yellow? When they left Africa and moved to the more moderate climates of Asia, their skin did lighten, but certainly didn’t turn lemony. I suppose the color coders and decoders were running out of crayons, and needed to do some fancy footwork to get everyone labeled before anyone noticed how ludicrous the whole thing was. Are olive skinned people green? If you have a rosy complexion, are you a redskin? How can you be feeling blue because you have yellow fever and are green with envy of those in the pink?
In summary, shades of skin color are a direct result of the degrees of exposure to the sun's UV rays and the way that our earliest ancestors adjusted biologically to this exposure; not one skin tone’s superiority over another. And though we may reasonably broaden one’s culture to include skin color, since that is an obvious adaptation to environment, we cannot limit skin tone to any ONE culture, and certainly not to the misnomer “race”.
Further to that, no one is limited by their culture or biological constitution, to adapt to a new environment. They may have trouble adjusting, but all over the world, since the beginning of time, man has been on the move; and a human being from one cultural group can reproduce with a human being from an entirely different cultural group, without creating an “eight legged freak”.
Perhaps the reason that Europeans and European Americans have such diverse physical features, is due to the fact that they traveled the furthest from their original homeland in Africa; so had the opportunity to mate with a wider variety of cultural groups along the way.
