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There are two varieties of melanin that are responsible for most
human skin color. Pheomelanin is a yellow or reddish pigment
(depending on concentration), and eumelanin is a deep brown
pigment. Most humans have both, but usually one predominates
very-much more than the other.
Now consider
the average "black" American, and compare that
person to a native of the African equatorial region. It is
*laughable* to call that American "black"! Not to mention that
the
African's skin color isn't really black, either; it is more like a
super-dark chocolate.
You may now understand why a better way of describing human
skin pigmentation is needed. Here we shall suggest a pair of
numbers, from 0 to 100+, in which 100 is defined as the normal
maximum level of one of the two pigments. (There is an illness
called "hyperpigmentation" in which someone could have a
number
greater than 100, but that is not *normal*.)
In alphabetical order, eumelanin precedes pheomelanin. So let
the first number represent the amount of eumelanin in
someone's
skin, and the second number represent the amount of
pheomelanin. We could write down the values as, for example,
15|5 ("ASCII vertical bar" separating them). An albino would
have
values of 0|0, of course, and if that first example human got a
sun-tan, the numbers might change to become 20|6.
As a consequence of most humans having a predominance of one
of the
two pigments, most humans would have a quite-low value for
one
of the two numbers --"red" humans, for example, might only
have
a 2 for the first number.
Some folks will now claim that such a system, while accurately
describing skin colorations, will promote prejudice. "Our
private
club excludes anyone whose numbers fall outside the range of
...!"
Well, maybe. My only comment about that is, "Where in the
HalfBakery is a "Prejudice" category???" (where this Idea
would properly belong)
the pencil test
http://en.wikipedia..._%28South_Africa%29
[not_morrison_rm, Jan 22 2015]
my version
Equal_20opportunities_20colour_20spec_2e
it doesn't really matter what the colour is, provided that it's got a good name. [Loris, Jan 22 2015]
beeb apartheid story
http://www.bbc.co.u...ca/12chapter7.shtml
[not_morrison_rm, Jan 22 2015]
[link]
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Somewhat baked in pre-1994 South Africa, eg the Pencil Test and all that kind of stuff.. |
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Why not just use Pantone? This is a wider colour palette and would allow for when aliens colonise the Earth and wipe out all humans. |
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Munsell system would be better. |
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* <>?{}:@~<>?!"£$%^&*()_+ aha! It's a devil to find the ^ on a Japanese keyboard.. |
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Racial classifications beeb story |
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518 Coloured people were defined as White, 2 whites were called Chinese, 1 white was reclassified Indian, 1 white became Coloured
and 89 Coloured people became African" |
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You still quite sure you want go down this path? |
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Anyways, interesting idea, except how do you account for suntans/burns ? |
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Hey, what about freckles? Maybe Pantone matches would be more accurate? |
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[hippo] beat you to it, [minor adjustments]. |
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