White people

White people (also Caucasian) is a term which usually refers to human

beings characterized, at least in part, by the light pigmentation of their skin.
Rather than a straightforward description of skin color, the term white also
functions as a color term for race.

One common definition of a "white person" is a person of primarily European

ancestry.[1] However, the definition of a "white person" differs according to
geographical and historical context, and various social constructions of
whiteness have had implications in terms of national identity, consanguinity,
public policy, religion, population statistics, racial segregation, affirmative
action, eugenics, racial marginalization and racial quotas. The concept has been
applied with varying degrees of formality and internal consistency in disciplines
including: sociology, politics, genetics, biology, medicine, biomedicine,
language, culture, and law.

Physical appearance

Some people identify themselves as white with a few common human physical
characteristics. The most notable traits describing people who identify as white
is light skin, thin hair, and narrow noses. Some people with lighter phenotypes
will classify themselves and be classified by others in the "white" category". [22]
[dubious – discuss]

Light skin
Main article: Human skin color

Map of indigenous skin color distribution in the world based on Von Luschan's
chromatic scale.
White people are archetypically distinguished by light skin. Scientists discovered
a skin-whitening mutation that largely explains the first appearance of white
skin in humans between 20,000–50,000 years ago. [23] In Jablonski and Chaplin's
(2000) study, The evolution of human skin coloration , Europeans have lighter
skin (as measured by population average skin reflectance read by
spectrophotometer at A685) than any other group that was measured. Southern
Europeans (measures taken from Spaniards) show a skin pigmentation in parts
of the body not exposed to the sun similar to that of Northern Europeans and,
in some cases, even lighter.[24] While all mean values of skin reflectance of non-
European populations are lower than Europeans for the groups represented in
this study, there is significant overlap between populations. [25] This observation
has been noted by the Supreme Court of the United States, which stated in a
1923 lawsuit over whiteness that the "swarthy brunette[s] ... are darker than
some of the lighter hued persons of the brown or yellow races". [26]

The epidermis of light skinned people is not white nor free of pigment. The
underlying layers of collagen and adipose tissue are white in people of all races.
In lightly pigmented people, the epidermis is an almost transparent layer of
film. Consequently the epidermis allows the underlying white tissues to become
visible.[27] Blood vessels interlaced between the adipose tissue produce the pale
pink color associated with light skin. Pigments known as carotenes found in the
fat produce a more yellow effect. In darker skinned people the epidermis is
filled with melanosomes that obscure the underlying layers.[28][29][30]

The skin of albinos is similar to European and East Asian people's skin in that it
is depigmented relative to other populations. However, in white and East Asian
people the enzymes that produce melanin are still active and produce relatively
small amounts of melanin to provide some coloration to the skin. With albinos,
the enzyme that produces melanin is defective, thus they produce virtually no
melanin, which produces the palest skin of all humans. [31] Since melanin
protects the skin from UV radiation, albinos have no natural protection and their
skin is vulnerable to sunlight that can be tolerated by other light-skinned
peoples. Furthermore in the presence of more intense levels of UV radiation
from the sun, the skin cells of white and East Asian people are able to produce
additional amounts of melanin to tan the skin to a darker complexion, providing
extra protection, while albinos lack the ability to tan. [32][33] Albinism is very rare.
For example, one person in 17,000 in the United States has some type of
albinism.[34]

Origins of light skin

Chimpanzees are the closest living relatives to humans, and since they, like
most primates, and the great apes in particular, have light skin covered by hair
(except for the face, hands, and feet), it is likely that our shared common
ancestor would also have lacked pigmentation and been covered by hair. [35] As
human brain size increased the increase in its energy requirements would have
required finer thermoregulation to avoid overheating.[24] This may be one
reason why humans developed sweat glands, an evolution we share with only a
small number of creatures (including swine, many species of which are also
hairless). The additional loss of body hair would have increased the
effectiveness of evaporation of sweat, and produced better cooling. [24] Though
naked skin is advantageous for thermoregulation, it exposes the epidermis to
destructive levels of UV radiation that can cause sunburn, skin cancer and birth
defects resulting from the destruction of the essential vitamin B folate. [24]
Consequently strong natural selection in Africa favored increased levels of
melanin in the skin, once homonids moved out onto the open savanah, and the
hairless Hominina ancestors of modern humans developed the required
adaptation of dark skin.[24]

Light skin color would have been a severe disadvantage to those living under
the bright African sun.[35] However, when humans left Africa for less sun-intense
regions of the world, the selective pressure against lighter skin would have
relaxed. This probably explains the greater variety of skin color found outside
sub-Saharan Africa.[36] Lighter skin colors may have been advantageous at
higher latitudes since they allow greater penetration of the sun's UV radiation, a
requirement for vitamin D synthesis. This may have led to selection for lightly
pigmented skin.[35] Scientists have identified at least 100 genes associated with
pigment processing. Though African populations are relatively dark, according
to a recent study[citation needed] they possess a greater diversity in skin complexion
than all other populations. It is therefore likely that many of the alleles
associated with light pigmentation were already present in an ancestral
population in Africa prior to their dispersal. When humans migrated out of
Africa, the lighter skin causing alleles may have accumulated in one population,
either by genetic drift, natural selection, sexual selection or a combination of
these effects. Since their effects are additive it is possible light skin could arise
over several generations without any new mutations taking place. [37][38]

According to Luigi Luca Cavalli-Sforza, light skin probably arose in North Africa
or both in the north and east.[39]

A 2006 study provides evidence that the light skin pigmentation observed in
Europeans and East Asians arose independently. They concluded that light
pigmentation in Europeans is at least partially due to the effects of positive
directional and/or sexual selection.