Summary

Chapter Five, “The Physics of Melanin,” discusses how melanin, the pigment found in human skin and hair, interacts with UV radiation. It also discusses the way white Americans and their European ancestors have interacted with people with more melanin in their skin. People with a wide variety of skin colors consider themselves black, because race is mainly a social organization system, whereas skin color is the result of complex genetic interplay. There are three types of melanin. Eumelanin gives hair and skin shades of brown and provides protection against UV rays. Pheomelanin gives red hair and pink lips their color. Neuromelanin is found in the brain, but its purpose is not understood. Because of a long and sordid history of treating dark-skinned people as less intelligent, less attractive and just generally lesser, western science has seriously lagged in its...