Do black people tan or get darker in the sun?

Question

NOt trying to be racist by asking about blacks. Just curious. Do blacks get sunburned?

...BLACKS CAN DO ANYTHING EVERY BODY ELSE CAN DO!!!!
They can't be white

Answer 1

Hey-justasking19.. why are you getting so fired up? And if you are black, as you claim, and you are proud of it why do you have white skin avatar? Are you ashamed of who you are?

Answer 2

I kno dat blacks get darker when they get in the sun but I've never seen blacks get sunburned or start peeling?

Answer 3

i'm black, and confident, we do get blacker interior the sunlight. i in my view ran by using this post searching for recommendations on how i can avert getting darker. i'm no longer blended, i'm of standard brown complexion, and each summer season I conflict to no longer get darker, which I lose continuously. each black individual gets darker, maximum are not getting sunburn because of melanin, yet we darken.

Answer 4

Sure they do! I have a buddy (who's black) that used to surf when he was in high school and would come in from time to time with his nose peeling from a sunburn!

Answer 5

Yes we do. Sometimes depending on the tone of your skin. Some people don't get tans. My grandmother is light skinned and never gets tans. Lucky her. I got a tan my self.

Answer 6

The short story: Yes. But if they are dark it takes more exposure and it is harder to notice.

The long story: Yes. Here is more than you wanted to know about it.

The sun's rays are so energetic that they can actually damage the DNA of your cells. But thankfully that type of energy wave does not penetrate very well. (Unlike x-rays which go all the way through you).

A very brief genetics lesson. The "DNA" figure you see all the time, the "Twisted ladder" type shape actually represents a specific chemical arrangement of molecules.

The "rungs/steps" on the ladder are actually places where the genetic "code" for you or anything is kept. Except each ladder is really like a zipper. It gets "unzipped" and each step is split in the middle.

Each step represents one of 4 letters. A, T, C, G.
A is always paired together with T to make one "step"
C is always paired with G together to make a different "step"

The entire human compliment may be around 3 billion "base pairs" a.k.a "step". The order each "rung/step" of the ladder is "read" like sentences by certain "cellular machinery" to help run the cell.

What does this have to do with tanning?
Well when the sun's energetic waves contact with the cell's DNA it can actually disrupt the DNA of your cell and MUTATE it!

Instead of the T connecting with the A across from it, it might detach, and form a bond with another T if there is one next to it. This is called a "TT-dimer".

This makes the cell's reading machinery go nutty! In fact it can cause a "sentence" to be read wrong. Or a process that should shut off to stay on. This can turn this cell cancerous.

Thankfully our body has TWO defense strategies. Block the sun, and repair the damage.

Melatonin is the skin pigment that color's our skin some shade of ivory, to tan, to deep brown, depending on our ethnicity. When our skin cells are in crisis from Sun exposure it triggers a series of cellular events that increase the production of this internal sun block. However the cellular damage has already occurred by this point.

Peoples whose cultures have historically lived in very sunny areas have retained their protection from the sun, as all our original ancestors had. (The Out of Africa Theory).

When people moved north and away from Africa the dark skin was a liability in terms of being able to produce enough vitamin D.

Our bodies are able to produce enough vitamin D, if we absorb enough sunlight. In the lighter climates they were not as at risk for sunburn, But they WERE at risk for developing rickets (soft bones) from lack of vitamin D...they were not able to absorb calcium properly. So lighter skin became an advantage in an evolutionary sense.

Getting back to our body's ability to deal with sun damage. Most people know a tan is your body's way of protecting itself. Most people do not know that your body also has a repair mechanism.

We have a wonderful enzymic system that snips out the "TT-dimer" and allows the proper letters to fill back in then other cellular mechanisms replaces the "rail" of the ladder until it looks brand new and the "reading" machinery can function as normal.

If this cannot be accomplished the cell has a "self destruct" option that works 99% of the time. Preventing it from being cancerous, or from creating daughter cells that are cancerous.

So it is only after much repeated damage that statistically the odds win out and that 1% chance gets through and you get cancer.

Considering how amazing the body is... We must to an astounding amount of damage to our bodies for the cancer rates to be as high as they are for vastly preventable cancers like skin cancer and lung cancer.

BTW: lung cancer from smoking works exactly like this; it is just chemical damage to the lung cells, in place of the energetic sun's rays.

So to answer the question...just black people can get sunburned. But not before Ms. pigmentally challenged over here is very crispy.

I suspect if they fell asleep in the sun in Cali, or Florida. Or were enthusiastic about tanning booths it could happen. Or if they were light skinned/Mix to begin with.

Good Q.

I wouldn't worry about sounding racist. It took my Friend from Kenya to ask me why my hair was lighter on the ends (it's blond, hers is black) She asked if I did something to make it that way.

I explained to her because my hair doesn't have much pigment to begin with it is easy for the sun to bleach it when I am out and about, just during my regular day. She was suprized.

When you have long blond hair the ends can be almost 4 shades lighter than the roots, just because the ends have been bleached by the sun for a couple years already and the roots are brand new. She had wanted to know for like 6 months, but didn't want to ask because she was worried it would offend me... I laughed too. That is the sort of thing you just don't know UNLESS you ask.

Aah, bringing people together one weird question at a time.

Answer 7

First of all...BLACKS CAN DO ANYTHING EVERY BODY ELSE CAN DO!!!! And yes, we do tend to get darker in the sun. Why do you wanna know so bad anyway? Don't you tan while out in the sun? I understand that you weren't trying to be racist. But, it doesn't take much effort.

Answer 8

Why would anyone want to be White? You can have your pasty, milky skin. I am Black and I do tan. I also get sunburned. It may take longer for us to burn , but skin is skin. Thank God mine is a beautiful, golden brown----you know the kind some White people try to achieve with tanning beds?! If you have to put the disclaimer about you not being racist, you probably are. Whatta stupid question, get a life,man.

Answer 9

If ignorance is bliss, you must be happy as a freakin lark.

Answer 10

sure they tan.....you just could not see....