Just Because We've Got Different Skin Colors Doesn't Mean We're Different Races

I’ve been speaking on the truth that we’re all “one blood, one race” for decades. And part of my talk includes sharing that there are no truly white or black people—everyone is brown (just different shades), primarily because of a pigment called “melanin.” This pigment is produced in cells at the bottom of our epidermis (outer layer of skin) in cells called melanocytes. How much melanin your body produces is largely determined by your genetics. And a new study has shown that the genetics involved is far more complicated than we thought!

According to a popular science article, here’s how one of the researchers says this new study was completed: o understand what actually causes different amounts of melanin to be produced, we used a technology called CRISPR-Cas9 [like a pair of molecular scissors] to genetically engineer cells. . . . Using CRISPR, we systematically removed more than 20,000 genes from hundreds of millions of melanocytes and observed the impact on melanin production.

What they found was “169 functionally diverse genes that impacted melanin production”! And of those 169 genes, “135 were not previously associated with pigmentation.” One hundred and thirty-five! From a genetic standpoint, skin shade is immensely more complicated than was previously thought.

But even as scientists uncover more about how our bodies work and how the genes for melanin production work together and are passed down (which might help with skin cancer and other research), the basics remain the same—all people are different shades of brown from dark to light, and the genetic diversity to produce a variety of skin shades was placed there by the Creator God from the very beginning when he created the first human couple, Adam and Eve. So yes, there’s only one race, Adam’s race, all made in the image of God (Genesis 1:27; Acts 17:26).

So next time you hear someone talk about skin color, explain to them we should say “skin shade,” as humans are different shades of brown because of the pigment melanin.

by Ken Ham on August 31, 2023
Featured in Ken Ham Blog

Answers in Genesis

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Graylight · 51-55, F

Please don't talk to anyone about topics which you cannot grasp. "There are no races" is how all information relating to this (and it's new information) is reduced to a simplified, eye-catching media byte. Skin color has always simply been a racial variation.

Everyone is not brown and melanin isn't what separates us. Skin color has always simply been a racial variation, like hair type. What science has found, in easy terms, is that the human species is more complicated that fences along certain borders. With new research, we're finding our that different groups may share a small percentage of DNA from other groups, indicating a subtler and more complex division. Therefore, at a genetic level, science is shifting from its concept of races, but they don't at all imply everyone's the same. Race is still a social construct because there are absolutely variants within the human species. Certain groups are predisposed genetically to certain diseases, others have idiopathic defenses and immunities. One group evolved to be tall, thin and dark so as to better survive intense heat. Others, more predisposed to extra weight, substantially more body hair more compact build to survive cold.

Yes, all humans are humans. Many of us have always believed that. Everything with life belongs to the Universe. But if we're going to go with the "no races" thing, you guys have a [i]ton [/i]over overhaul to do in this country.

ServantOfTheGoddess · 61-69, M

@Graylight This still seems mixed up. The subtly different genetic groupings that you are talking about are not at all the same as what is usually meant by "race". As you point out, "race" is a social construct -- [b]not[/b] something biological. To be black or white in the USA, for example, does not at all mean you belong to a specific genetic grouping. It is how you are defined by American law and/or social attitudes.

Graylight · 51-55, F

@ServantOfTheGoddess There are variants of the human species. Just like the Covid virus, no two variants are the same, though all may share similar characteristics. We've long know that like originated in Africa, so of course we understand all humans are connected, but we're talking about amounts of genetic around 1%. It may well be the alleles along the DNA stand that creates the greatest differences.

This argument is about semantics as much as anything else. There are absolutely different groups of humans within groups that share great genetic similarity. That we're all separated by 6 degrees speaks more to the interconnectivity among the species.

I am blonde, blue eyed and fair. I am connected to Halle Berry and her family as a human, but no way in the world I don't stand out at the weekend barbeque.