Why do African-Americans have dark skin?
914931
The dark skin comes from a compound called Melanin and it is a sort of built in sun screen. Blacks are VERY rarely known to suffer from Skin Cancer but could potentially suffer from Vitaimin D deficiency without direct contact with sunlight in an an area with very little sunlight like black sailors on a submarine, blacks in arctic climates where the days are very short and majority of time is spent indoors because of the climate. Melanin historically has protected the people from damage from the suns rays.
890024
because Black is a dominate gene.
892370
I think I understand what your trying to ask.....you're wondering if the African people distinguish themselves like "I'm Nigerian, I'm Egyptian, I'm from Mali, I'm South African"......etc. I believe they do. I've got two African friends who are Somalians. That's what they call themselves.\n\nNow to the African Americans here in the US. We consider ourselves blacks or African-Americans, because some of our ancestors were African....many can't say "I'm Kenyan" because we don't know where our first African ancestor came from. (By the way "black" means from the darkest to the lightest of us.) I'm black, native indian and caucasian and probably a lot of other ethnicities. But I call myself Indian, because that's what I am predominantly.....I guess your next question will be....is there a difference between Indians? Of course. (smile)
230328
It was what the slave owners did, they raped black women to produce more slaves so they call them black that way they can make more money. They also did it because they didn't want white people to have any black blood. Last and lest was to make the slaves light skin so that the light skin slaves can oppress the dark ones and so on.\n\nMixed people should take on the nationality of the father and Being black is not a nationality or being African.
1177873
By birth there is no colour difference.but as they grow up they expose to the sunlight and when the body lacks Vit A the body in order to protect itself from the harmful UVA and UVB rays produce more melanin in the body and as a result the skin darkens at knees and elbows.
747658
No, the term "African American" only applies to people with black physical features who vote Democrat.\n\nFor instance, if you are only half black, like Barack Obama, but are in the Democrat Party, then you are still "African American."\n\nBut if you are fully black and a Republican, like Michael Steele, then you are an "Oreo" or an "Uncle Tom."\n\nDid that help?\n\n-Aztec276
189834
We all have different amounts of melanin in our skin. If we have less, our skin is lighter. If we have more, our skin is darker.
695697
I'm not a dermatologist... that's really who you should consult... but I can tell you that there is a condition called vitiligo that can cause light patches of skin on people of all colors (not just black people.)   Other things that can cause skin pigmentation changes are lupus (REQUIRES medical attention - type Lupus in your search bar and all kinds of info will come up)  and melasma (non-lethal, I have it, no big deal) but I think both of those usually create dark splotches on the face rather than light spots.  Age & medications could have something to do with it too... if you can't afford to see a doctor, I would ask a pharmacist - they might recognize it right off and direct you to something over the counter.  Good luck!
362829
Yes, if you're born in Africa you're African American. That's why some people prefer to be called black because African American classifies anyone born in Africa.
387643
No... Being dark is attractive, and people of color don't have to deal with skin cancer, or tanning booths. So let's just consider them lucky. They're not trying to "copy" anyone, it's just always been perceived as "exotic" and "sexy" to be dark.
1016741
I am from Africa and I think the answer goes back to the old colonial days where the white man was always the dominant colour.Black africans still seem to equate the white skin with authority and submission.In the case of the States (I lived there for many years ) I would assume the same principle applies due to the slavery angle
1175358
Yes, I've had an African-American friend or two actually get sunburnt (long story short, they were students I knew back when I was in high school and in college, respectively).  It gets ugly when it happens though because the extra melanin means that there's resistance to it until it gets *nasty* bad.\n\nAs in the fellow in high school nearly got sunstroke and had to spend some time with bandages on from first and second degree burns from the UV....and my lady friend in college, though hers wasn't as severe, she still had to see a doctor for it because the skin under the burn was really causing her problems (pain, irritation, and healing back in lighter than the rest of her face).\n\nMoral of the story, politically incorrect though it is: sometimes having extra resistance to sun exposure can be a VERY bad thing.
386547
There are certain genetic characteristics related to each race. This just happens to be a dominant trait with black women, but of course there are exceptions. Every race has a variety of body types
385347
Some AMERICAN Jewish men are attracted to black women.  I think it's because so few Jews in America are black or dark skinned, and so it's a whole exotic thing and forbidden thing.  A white girl could potentially be Jewish, but a black girl probably isn't.\nWhen American guys get to Israel many of them like darker girls - different, more exotic, and all that.
1088744
Why does he have to be black?
1027694
Just because your skin is black doesn't mean you're an "African-American." Many hispanics including Dominicans, Puerto Ricans, etc. have black/brown skin tones. Tasmanian Aborigines have darker skin colors and they're not African. Most Egyptians don't have black skin but they're still African.\n\nDavid Ortiz is both black and Hispanic because black does not imply African-American, it implies a darker skin color.
235952
Its true that melanin controls the color of the skin, but I assume you are asking the entire genetic difference.  First, there is no definition in science for a black or white person, and even individuals would differ in what they consider dark enough to be black, or light enough to be white- But even assuming you had a definition, based on how dark a person is, there isnt any clear genetic difference.  In fact, people from Ethiopia and Somalia are more closely related to European caucasians then they are to west African tribes.  Extremely dark people from the Indian subcontinent are closely related to Europeans, and are genetically considered nearly identical-Native Australians are not very closely related (relatively speaking) to African blacks.  The skin color of a person is only one aspect of thousands of characteristics-it just happens to be one that we can easily see.  If you look at blood types, certain african groups are more closely related to Ethnic Slavs than the slavs are to other European groups (even though the slavs "look" like other Europeans)- this is only one example of many that have been found...what a person looks like appears to have very little to do with genetic relatedness.