What gives our skin its color? Skin pigmentation can vary in many different forms of color. Variations in skin color include a number of factors such as geographic areas, traits that have been passed down, the amount of melanin that is produced, and amounts of exposure to the sun. This proves to be evident in a study done by Nature Genetics in 2007. Their studies expressed how our skin varies due to geographic location. Their original thought was that about 60,000 years ago, all of our ancestors had darker skin due to their location. As people migrated to different places, skin pigmentation. This statement correlates with the skin pigmentation and those who live close to the equator. Their results concluded that people who have lighter skin …show more content…
Skin acts as a barrier to protect our bodies from the harm of outside. Skin pigmentation is defined by many in the biological world as the production of melanin created by special structurized cells known as melanocytes that are located within the epidermis. Different amounts of the production of melanin will determine what color your skin is. For instance, the more melanin that is produced, the darker one’s skin will be as well as the less melanin that is produced the lighter the skin …show more content…
Racism towards a group of people can cause low self-esteem, depression, and many other mental health issues. With these conditions comes physical symptoms. In one study done at a large predominantly white school, researchers tracked black student’s and white student’s sleeping habits throughout the year. Black students, who were more likely to suffer from racism, developed worse sleeping habits than their white classmates. With less sleep comes the physical symptom of fatigue, and the mental symptoms of depression, irritability, and more (Fuller-Rowell, 2017). There are several studies that show that there is an inverse relationship between racism and mental and physical
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 skin from having skin cancer. Recent studies have shown that “skin color is the product of natural selection acting to regulate the effects of the sun’s ultraviolet radiation on key nutrients crucial to the reproductive success” (169).
Based from the film “melanin plays a role on how Africans have been able to create and developed some of the sciences that they have come to be known for”. It is also believe that melanin is a factor to soul because people with more of it moves, speaks, and acts differently than those who do not. According to a group of Africans known as the “melanin scholars” they reported a scientific base that “melanin is involved in the regulation of all psychological and physiological processes of the human body.” This makes people with more melanin stronger and smarter than those with less.² This is why, according to Welsing, whites had ambition to destroy the African race because they were inferior to their genetic superiority. In agreement to Welsing, Wade Nobles, Richard King, and other researchers/ scientists reported that whites are not entirely human since they stopped evolving with the central nervous system
From the research I made I was able to understand many ways on how racism is portrayed through different elements in the world. According to the article of Black-White Differences in Health and Mortality by Robert
Racism definitely gave impacts to the human life, especially to the race that felt directly discriminated and distinct treat in their environment. Even if they have struggled to get equal treatment and opportunity especially during economics stringent times, society does not even care and keep the stratification exist. This condition leads to self-esteem decreases of black race because they are forced to feel that they are no way better than another race.
Willie, Charles V., Bernard M. Kramer, and Bertram S. Brown, eds. Racism Racism Racism and Mental Health. N.p.: Univerity of Pittsburgurgh Press, 1973. Print. Contemporary Community Health Series.
Your skin pigment or the amount of melanin in you skin has the ability to change your whole outlook on life and determines if you will possibly have fewer or more challenges to face during your lifespan. The amount for melanin that an individual has according to society can determine if you are either the ugly duckling through societies eyes or if you are a beautiful swan. In this short paper I will be discussing the Dark Girls documentary.
Throughout the past one hundred and fifty years, race relations have progressed markedly, emanating from the demise of legalized slavery and segregation in America. African Americans today have many rights that their ancestors were denied, such as the right to vote, being paid for their work, and being allowed to use the same restrooms and drinking fountains as white people. However, despite the many strides we have taken toward racial inequality as a country, there are still many ways in which African Americans and other minorities are unfairly treated today. For all the civil rights breakthroughs of the past several decades, racial adversity still materializes through numerous and often times far more insidious methods. It pervades in nearly
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 in human pigmentation that is seen today.
Whiteness is a term that has been discussed throughout history and through scholarly authors. Whiteness is defined in many ways, according to Kress “pervasive non- presence, its invisibility. Whiteness seems at times to be everywhere and nowhere, even present throughout U.S history, and yest having no definable history of its own. Whiteness as a historically rooted cultural practice is then enacted on the unconscious level. Knowledge the is created from the vantage point of Whiteness thus transforms into “common sense,” while practices or behaviors that are enacted based on the unspoken norms of Whiteness become the only acceptable way of being” (Kress, 2008, pg 43). This definition for example, whiteness has become into hegemony. I define it as racial ideologies that have been established throughout history. Which has formed racial segregation between white and non-whites, and has led to discrimination and injustice. White privilege has also been a factor in whiteness; it’s the privilege that white color people get better benefits
People in America are not all seen as equal, and this is especially true when it comes to people of color. According to “Theories and Constructs of Race” by Linda Holtzman and Leon Sharpe: “The continuous racial targeting of people of color and the privileging of whites, along with the misinformation about race passed along from one generation to the next and reinforced through the media, has imbued people of all races with a distorted sense of personal and group identity” (Holtzman and Sharpe 604). This quote means that people of color are often targeted in a negative way, which shows that racism and discrimination is something that can be passed down or learned from the media. Today, there are people who still think minorities are inferior based on the color of their skin. “Theories and Constructs of Race” also mentions how from an early age, minorities become the target for racism, blame, and overall hatred. According to “Theories and Constructs of Race” by Linda Holtzman and Leon Sharpe: “The myth of racial inferiority and superiority has been upheld not only by physical violence and discriminatory policies but also by the psychological violence conveyed through stereotyping and racist messaging” (Holtzman and Sharpe 604). This quote means that minorities are constantly targeted both physically and psychologically, which shows that inequality is a “monster” due to the damage it causes to individuals on multiple levels. Racism can also lead to internalized racism, which causes individuals to adapt a self-deprecating attitude and engage in self-destructive behavior. Furthermore, hate, racism, and discrimination often result from people not understanding that not everyone is offered the same opportunities due to the lack of
There are three types of racism. The most visible type is personally mediated racism where say a black man is being beaten due to the color of his skin. The effects on his health are obvious to see, the physical aspect is apparent. When people over a period of time have been subjected to, racial prejudice and discrimination begin to doubt their own worth and abilities they become victims of internalized racism. Constant, numerous instances in their respective environments have all abst...
The color of your skin used to depend on where you live. (Before transportation became so easy.) Darker skinned people would live where it is hotter, and the sun shines more. Lighter skinned people would live in cooler, less sunny areas. This is because the darker pigments in your skin would keep you from burning.
Melanin helps reduce the absorption of wavelengths into the skin (Chaplin, Jablonski, 59). The more melanin in the skin, the greater the protection against harmful UV rays, and the amount of melanin in the skin correlates with the skin’s color (more melanin means darker skin)....
Racism is still a very prominent yet controversial topic in the United States today. Discrimination in the United States dates back to the 1500s when America was first founded. As generations passed, it has become a social norm to believe that darker skin tones are less desirable to society. The foundation of this country was built upon the false impression that Whites were superior to not just blacks, but all other ethnicities. From this, the idea of white privilege was derived and is still prevalent in society today. Those who are victims of discrimination are sometimes not aware of the psychological effect and the overall impact it can have on one’s life. The persistence of racism over generations has been in correlation to adversely affect the mental health of the victims economically, socially and in turn physically.
Racism is a daily obstacle for some, but also serves as a falsified daily reminder that they are not as intelligent, as worthy, or as capable compared