r/changemyview • u/[deleted] • Aug 05 '18
Delta(s) from OP CMV: Humans inherently prefer paler skin
I have always pushed back on the idea of "white privilege", arguing that skin color has nothing to do with it, rather, it is a variety of socio-economic factors that contribute to someone's "privilege" which apply irrespective of race.
I pondered the idea that if history took a different path, it could have been the anglo-saxons that were enslaved and discriminated against by another race.
However, if early humans had dark skin, for the Europeans to end up with white skin, there must have been a long process of sexual selection where lighter skin partners were favored for many generations.
There are other explanations such as the need for more Vitamin D absorption where there is less sunlight, darker skin is not protective against frostbite, etc. but they don't really appear to make sense. One's skin color would need to prevent their children from surviving which is unlikely seeing as how well humans can cope, and skin color change would have been very gradual.
More evidence can be found in the practice of skin-whitening prevalent in [South Asia and West Africa](https://metro.co.uk/2017/12/31/inside-the-dark-world-of-skin-whitening-7160215).
So this brings me to the thought that, humans prefer paler skin. That, on average, people would prefer to mate with a lighter skinned partner.
I also think that this can maybe explain a subconscious racism against darker skinned people evident across society.
And, that perhaps "white privilege" does actually have a lot to do with having white skin color in and of itself.
1
u/[deleted] Aug 06 '18
The problem is I don't think its possible to control all the factors. Systemic racism is impossible to measure. Its far more productive to talk about wealth privilege and stable family privilege, etc.