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The term black people or blacks usually refers to a racial group of humans with skin colors that range from light brown to nearly black. It is also used to categorize a number of diverse populations
together based on historical and prehistorical ancestral relationships. Among the members of this group, brown skin is most often accompanied by the expression of natural afro-hair texture. Other
definitions of the term "black people" extend to any of the populations characterized by dark skin, a definition that also includes certain populations in Oceania and Southeast
Asia.
Dark skin helps protect against skin cancer that develops as a result of ultraviolet light radiation, causing mutations in the skin. Conversely, as dark skin prevents sunlight from
penetrating the skin it hinders the production of vitamin D3. Hence when humans migrated to less sun-intensive regions in the north, low vitamin D3 levels became a problem and lighter skin colors started
appearing. White people of Europe, who have low levels of melanin, naturally have an almost colorless skin pigmentation, especially when untanned. This low level of pigmentation allows the blood vessels
to become visible and gives the characteristic pale pink color of white people. The loss of melanin in white people is now thought to have been caused by a mutation in just one letter out of 3.1 billion
letters of DNA.
The texture of hair in people of Sub-Saharan African ancestry is noticeably different from that of Eurasian populations. The hair is denser than its straight counterparts and is
often referred to as 'thick', 'coarse', 'bushy', or 'woolly.'
Approximately 12 million Africans were shipped to the Americas during the Atlantic slave trade from
1492 to 1888. Today their descendants number approximately 150 million, most of whom live in the United States, the Caribbean and Latin America, including Brazil. Many have a multiracial background of
African, American Indian, European and Asian ancestry. The various regions developed complex social conventions with which their multi-ethnic populations were classified.
"Negro" and
"colored" remained the popular terms until the late 1960s. With the successes of the civil rights movement a new term was needed to break from the past and help shed the reminders of legalized
discrimination. In place of Negro, black was promoted as standing for racial pride, militancy and power. Surveys show that when interacting with each other African Americans prefer the term black, as it
is associated with intimacy and familiarity. Links to more about Black Men.
MALEfashionBUZZ PHOTO GALLERIES: BLACKS
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