MEMES
All black
Striking a chord with ‘The Commitments’ and lately ‘Ali G.’ We’d like to propose the following conjecture – which might not go down too well in some backwoods areas of Montana . . .
Whether it’s the product of ‘developed world’ schooling we're not sure, but it seems to us that many people assume that the ‘natural‘ colour for human skin is white; and that, when exposed to the sun it gradually darkens, as a protection mechanism against the sun.
Could it be that this idea is completely back to front – for the following reasons.
Most geneticists now agree that the current version of human beings evolved in Africa. ( Creationists please hit the small X button in the top right hand corner of your browser window ) The equator ran right across Africa then, just as now, so it seems to me that we can assume, therefore, that all of our ancestors were certainly very dark skinned. The dark pigment ‘melanin’ protects the underlying tissues from damage by too much Ultra-Violet radiation. The key phrase here is ‘too much’ – because we require a certain amount of UV radiation to stay healthy. Amongst other things it helps to create the vital vitamin D we all need.
But when a dark skinned person moves to a less sunny country, they soon start to pale, and, over a few generations ( normally reckoned to be around 300 - 500 years or so ) their offspring will be more or less ‘white’. Our conjecture is that skin lightens, not because it doesn’t need the melanin protection anymore – but because it’s trying to let through more of the important UV . . .
The mainstream explanation for pale skin colour is that the melanin is ‘expensive to produce’ and that, given the opportunity, the body stops making it. Here are some reasons why that explanation if flawed . .
1) If it were true then we’d all be white haired. What is the point of using all that expensive melanin on dark hair ?
2) There are quite a few animals which neither hunt nor are hunted ( so
don’t
need camouflage ) e.g. whales, elephants, gorillas, giant tortoises etc but
they don’t seem to have a problem ‘wasting’ all that expensive
melanin . . .
3) Other animals have colouring which makes them stick out like a sore
thumb e.g. Fresian cows, they’re clearly not concerned with camouflage – and
they seem quite happy to make the ‘unnecessary’ pigment for their
black patches.
No, melanin is obviously extremely ‘cheap’ for animals to manufacture. As a final proof, we only have to ask – are dark skinned people at disadvantage because their bodies have to ‘waste resources’ making all that costly colouring? No they’re most definitely not. If anything, they tend to be physically stronger than their paler cousins - as a glance at any championship sport record table will show.
Update 28th Jan 04 see:
news.independent.co.uk
Update Jun 19th 04 see:
A study has recently shown a fairly severe lack of vitamin D in a sample of New York school kids. Not surprisingly, the darker their skin, the greater the vitamin deficiency.
