[Steve27845]

This is a really excellent observation. As a white person, it made me think about the difference between skin color and skin ‘color.’ Skin color being the actual aesthetic qualities of one’s skin, and skin ‘color’ being the politics of one’s race. To my eye, people with that sort of milk chocolate brown, ‘Oprah Winfrey’ color are really a pleasing skin color. There was a writer once who offended people’s sensibilities by referring to Martin Luther King as being the color of a fine cigar. (The same writer once referred to Herbert Hoover as the color of a puffed marshmallow.) People chastised him for the ‘cigar’ reference, but he said he was just trying to find a good descriptive adjective. My Northern European genetics gave me a peach-colored skin, which is fine for absorbing vitamin A from sunlight in low light latitudes but actually rather dull from an artist’s standpoint. I believe when Caucasians try to tan they are risking skin cancer to simply locate a better looking color. However, when people refer to black skin in the social setting, they are hauling in all the history, politics and social placement issues. So yes, we are probably jealous of the actual color of black skin, but not jealous of the politics it brings.

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Name : Steve27845, Gender : M, Sexual Orientation : Straight, Race : White/Caucasian, Religion : Atheist, Age : 39, City : Houston, State : TX, Country : United States, Occupation : Executive, Education level : Over 4 Years of College, Social class : Upper middle class, 

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