A real question?

Question

why are people white or black.. the real answer, not the simple answer because of the parents.

Answer 1

Africa=Lots of sunshine=Dark skinned

Sweden=Not lots of sunshine=Very light skinned people

Genetics does factor in.

Answer 2

The earliest people had dark skin (with a high proportion of melanin) because Man evolved in Africa. The pigmentation in the skin helped protect against the harmful effects of the sun. Mutations probably occurred from time to time which produced lighter skin tones but such people would be more susceptible to skin cancers and so less likely to reproduce so the African population of Man remained black.

As Man gradually moved out of African into places like Europe which were not so hot and sunny the mutations to less pigmented skin became less harmful (and in fact may actually have had an advantage in enabling the skin to produce more Vitamin D, which requires the action of sunlight on the skin). Thus in colder climates white skinned people gradually took over.

Further degrees of mutation produced the brown-skinned people of the Indian sub-continent, the yellow-skinned peoples of Asia and the red-skinned natives of North America. Originally each mutation would have carried just a slight advantage over the others which was enough over many generations to produce a population composed entirely of that one skin colour.

Answer 3

Its about were you come from! Black people have more pigment in there skin, and are usually taller and thinner because of evolution. More pigment in your skin means you have a higher tolerance to the sun. Being tall and skinny allow more heat to escape from you body! Seeing as most black people originate from places like Africa, were it is very hot, you get the picture? Everything evolves overtime Animals, plants, humans are no exception!

Answer 4

Part of it has to do with the absorption of Vitamin D. Melanin prevents the absorption of this vitamin from the sunlight. The closer to the equator a race lives, the darker their skin tone will be because they get more sunlight and more vitamin d. The body develops a protective coloration to prevent overdosing on this. Also, darker pigments are less inclined to burn, crack and peel as lighter ones are. The further north you go and the less sunlight you're exposed to, the lighter your skin will be because you don't need as much protection from all those UV rays.

Answer 5

Human skin tone can range from very dark to nearly colorless (appearing pinkish white due to the blood in the skin) in different people. Skin tone is determined by the amount and type of the pigment melanin in the skin. On average, women have slightly lighter skin than men.

In general, people with ancestors from sunny regions have darker skin than people with ancestors from regions with less sunlight. However, this is complicated by the fact that there are people with ancestors from both sunny and less sunny regions, and whose skin coloring may have any shade of the spectrum of possible tones.

Melanin comes in two types: pheomelanin (red) and eumelanin (dark brown to nearly black). Both amount and type are determined by four to six genes which operate under incomplete dominance. One copy of each of those genes is inherited from the father and one from the mother. Each gene comes in several alleles, resulting in a great variety of different skin tones.

Answer 6

its the melanin in thier skin that gives them the tint. Melanin is like the personal SPF of the body which is why pale coloring can burn so much quicker than dark coloring. The darker the skin, the more melanin and more protected person is from UV rays.

Answer 7

Genetics and location. Example Africans in the hot climate are very Black from pigmentation of sun.

Answer 8

I have also seen that a black man and white woman got twins which had total diffrent looking and the most surprising thing was their skin colour was different. one of the twins got a white skin colour and one got a black skin colour. the reason is that the black man was a mixed person who had both gens of a black and a white person. so its of course a biology and generations matter, too.

Answer 9

People have different pigments of the skin....like an african american can have a darker skin pigment that a Latino/a. example: Michael Jackson was born black, but the pigment of his skin was blotted, so he choose to be white.

Answer 10

Obviously evolution. People evolved to do well in their environment. Skin colors and eye shapes, hair, etc.. all evolved to better suit people to make it in snow, hot temperatures, extreme conditions, etc. Even a propensity for fatness or thinness is traceable to evolution.

Answer 11

I don't know but I'd hazard a guess and say evolutionary logistics, plus the amount of melanin and or keratin (sic)in the skin.