Imperialism: a black and white issue?

 A study was carried out to test the hypothesis that the variation in the pigmentation of skin colour in the diverse populations, is consistently correlated with the mean measured IQs of the various groups. (1) The notion that people's cognitive abilities can be ranked on a sort of hierarchical scale seems absurd. The main limitation of such a study design is the reasoning behind the causal basis of the correlation. The simple genetic association, due to cross-assortative mating and IQ versus a pleiotropic correlation, in which both of the phenotypically distinct, but correlated traits are manifested by one and the same gene. This is something for the 94 percent of (white) politicians sitting in the House of Commons to think about. (2)

This scientific correlation can be compared to the Age of Enlightenment of the 18th century, the intellectual and philosophical revolution which  portrayed Europeans as the embodiment of intellect and beauty (3). These principles were later epitomised in the work of Immanuel Kant, who claimed that the colour of the individuals skin was “clear proof that what he said was stupid” (4: p. 38). Thinking about this more profoundly, the ideology of IQ and intellect was almost founded during the Age of Enlightenment. Therefore, are these scientific tests based on a concept which was created to heighten European superiority?

Blackness depicted as being synonymous with sin, whiteness with purity. Religious folklore overflows with stories of sin turning men black, to stories of black people being born in hell.

The unequivocal link between the psychological damage of the slavery movement and the development of the skin bleaching industry is distinguished by Deborah Gabriel (3). The imperialist domination over African nations ultimately ‘dehumanised’ those who were enslaved, thus establishing an exclusive standard of human beings, based on the superiority of the white race. Between 1526 and 1867, (6) approximately 12.5 million slaves were shipped from Africa to the West. Gabriel pursues this arguing that scars of this "tragic past" (3), developed through centuries of being perceived as “second-class”(3) citizens are inextricably linked to the development of the skin bleaching industry.

Thinking about the concept of colourism further, which Gabriel defines as an “internal form of racism” (3), disregards those with darker skin. Furthermore, Bodenhorn and Ruebeck (6) discuss that colourism developed during the slavery era in America, in reference to the fact that light-skinned slaves were disproportionately selected to work as house-slaves, whereas those with relatively darker-skin were forced into the fields. Developing further, it could be implied that a lighter skin tone was regarded as the basis for a better standard of living (5), which further highlights the exponential imperialist influence. Moreover, centuries of “irreparable cultural damage” (3) from enslavement has established the foundations for the phenomena of skin bleaching to this day.