Understanding Race and Skin Color
Why do we have different races and different skin colors among the humans
that inhabit this planet? If we all came from "Mother Eve," should we not
all be the same color? There have been those in the past that have suggested
that people of other races were not really human. In fact, this argument
has been used to justify everything from slavery to infanticide. This is
a modern phenomena, because in biblical times racial distinction based on
skin color was apparently unknown. In Song of Solomon 1:5-6,
one of Solomon's wives says ".don't love me because I am black, because
the sun has looked with favor upon my skin, love me because.." Racial distinction
and prejudice based on skin color seems to be a modern phenomenon that ancient
people never considered.
It is interesting scientifically that only humans have mostly naked skin
and along with that, different colors of skin. Other animals have hair and
virtually without exception their skin is light colored. Human skin also
has a larger number of sweat glands located in the skin than other animals.
Recently scientists have come to understand a great deal more about skin
color and why we are the way we are. Not only are there interesting lessons
here about our make up and design, but there are also some messages about
how we should treat one another and what our history is all about.
The most fundamental reason for skin color differences is the fact that
humans live at different latitudes. It is quite obvious that humans that
have lived in equatorial areas for many many generations tend to have darker
skin. As one moves from equatorial Africa toward the north there is a constant
change in skin color. By the time you get to northern Scandinavia you have
very light skinned people with blond hair and blue eyes, while people living
near the equator have black skin, black eyes, and black hair. This is easy
to understand. Take two tin cans and paint one black and the other white.
Fill them with boiling water and measure their temperature five minutes
later. Dark colors radiate heat faster than light ones, so the darker can
will be cooler than the white one. In Africa the problems of heat release
are very large. The brain cannot be allowed to overheat, and getting rid
of the heat is critical.
This is not the only factor that is involved. Ultraviolet radiation from
the sun can cause many changes in living tissue. Some of these like cancer
are bad. To counter this, the skin of human beings produces a material known
as melanin. Melanin is God's sunscreen. It is a large organic molecule
which both physically and chemically reduces the effects of ultraviolet radiation.
Melanin absorbs UV rays causing them to lose energy. It also neutralizes
harmful chemicals called free radicals that form in the skin after being
damaged by ultraviolet radiation. Humans with very dark skin absorb a
very high percentage of UV light. It is important however that not all the
UV be lost. Another thing that UV light does is to make the production of
vitamin D by the body possible. As you move further north, the amount of
UV is less. If you are dark skinned you do not get enough UV light to produce
vitamin D. For that reason people need to be lighter skinned the further
north you get.
In some cases people do not get enough vitamin D and a disease called rickets
can result. The Inuit in Alaska, for example, do not get enough vitamin
D from the sun to survive, but they eat foods that are very high in vitamin
D (fish and marine mammals) and the result is that their diet compensates
for their low UV exposure. As humans have migrated all over the globe, their
ability to produce nutrients like vitamin D has been reduced in some groups.
Artificial means of producing this essential nutrient has to be found, and
this has become an industry in some areas.
The presence of melanin in the skin, the complex biochemical system that
produces vitamin D, and the ability of the body to protect itself against
overheating and nutritional problems all speak well of the wisdom and design
that is built into our bodies. In Psalm 139:14, the writer says, "I will
praise thee Lord, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made, and that my soul
knoweth right well." Instead of allowing skin color to be something that
divides us and causes hostility between us, we should celebrate the wisdom
and design that shows us that we all have a common Creator who designed and
planned for us, and equipped us marvelously to live on a planet that has
varied conditions and environments. Our diversity is a great apologetic
for the wisdom and planning of God.
--Reference: Scientific American, October 2002,
pages 74
--John N. Clayton
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