The only thing that really differentiates one person from another is genetic expression, researchers from the University of Pennsylvania found, and this expression varies widely even within individual people groups. In Botswana, for instance, there exist hunter-gatherers with fair, or "white," looking skin. Conversely, there are people of European descent who have darker-colored skin.
It all has to do with unique genetic variants that determine the quantity and type of pigmentation that shows in a person's skin. These variants are wide-ranging and biologically diverse, illustrating that dividing people along the lines of skin color and saying that they belong to different races is a non sequitur.
After pinpointing eight genetic variants in four specific regions of the human genome that play a major role in skin pigmentation, the researchers who worked on the study found that such variations are a universal phenomenon. They exist all across the world and in every culture, and are not, as many people falsely believe, constrained to any particular "racial" group.
This groundbreaking finding, as pointed out by Dr. Sarah A. Tishkoff, a geneticist at UPenn, absolutely "dispels a biological concept of race."
All lives really do matter
To come to this conclusion, Tishkoff and her team began by looking at people of European ancestry. They discovered mutations to a gene known as SLC24A5 that result in skin creating less pigment, thus leading to a paler color. Most Europeans, it turns out, possess this mutation.
They then took a closer look at the history of this genetic mutation and found that it has been around since practically the beginning of time. After investigating 1,750 people from Ethiopia, Tanzania, and Botswana, Tishkoff and her colleagues learned that other similar mutations are present there as well, all of which influence skin color to one degree or another.
When all was said and done, researchers identified eight specific gene variants in Africans that just so happen to also be present in many other populations outside of the continent – this further confirming that people are people, regardless of the color of their skin.
As to why these genetic mutations even exist in the first place, it could be explained by sun exposure. People who live in warmer climates closer to the equator tend to be darker, a natural repercussion of spending more time outside. Conversely, people further from the equator tend to be much lighter in color.
"The idea is that people who live with intense ultraviolet light benefited from dark color, pigments that shielded important molecules in their skin," writes Carl Zimmer for The New York Times (NYT). "In places with less sunlight, people needed lighter skin, because they were able to absorb more sunlight to make vitamin D."
Whatever the case may be, it is critical that you understand this one single point: that all human beings belong to the same human race. It would be a mistake to let oneself be manipulated by the social engineering agenda of "divide and conquer," which is right now manifesting itself as a struggle of black versus white.
But there is no black versus white, as this study proves. There are only people who need to learn to get along with one another and appreciate their shared ancestry. Not everyone will share the same culture, and that's okay. But we can share the same mutual appreciation for each other as human beings, because the truth of the matter is that all lives matter.
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