Nina Jablonski Speech Summary

Nina Jablonski's in her TED talk about race eloquently explained the differences in human skin color. For many centuries, the color of the human skin was the one feature determining the value of a person. For years, people suffered, forcibly removed from their homes, families and everything they knew and loved, and were sold as objects into slavery. They dehumanized, stripped of their rights, dignity, beaten, abused, and killed, simply because their skin was dark. Slavery might be the thing of the past, but its echo reverberates in or society to this day. We stubbornly continue to blinded by the stereotypes of race. As Nina Jablonski points in her speech, we can't blame Darwin and his theory of evolution for our determination to view people of color as a different species. We are all the …show more content…
We have non. As Jablonski explained; the existing differences in our skin colors are the evidence of evolution by natural selection. However, they are strictly related to the climate and the amount of UV light, specifically UVB, that determine our skin color. People, who live closer to the Equator, where the concentration of UV light is greatest, developed dark skin to protect from it. UV radiation is damaging to our DNA and results in the development of skin cancer, a disease that can lead to death. The formation of Melanin in our skin as a response to the exposure to the UV light is the protective mechanism. Melanin, while protecting our skin cells is also responsible for the dark pigment of our skin. It is the same mechanism that is released when we go suntanning. The exposure to the UV light causes the skin to release melatonin, giving us the " "golden glow" many of us are after. People, who live in the northern areas of the globe, further from the Equator where the atmosphere is thicker, shielding from the radiation, do not need as much Melanin in their skin. And so, their skin is