Shocker: Lighter skinned immigrants make more money
A Syrian immigrant once told me: “If you’re white, you’re alright, if you’re brown (meaning light brown) stick around, but if you’re black stay back!”
Light-skinned immigrants in the United States make more money on average than those with darker complexions, and the chief reason appears to be discrimination, a researcher says.
Joni Hersch, a law and economics professor at Vanderbilt University, looked at a government survey of 2,084 legal immigrants to the United States from around the world and found that those with the lightest skin earned an average of 8 percent to 15 percent more than similar immigrants with much darker skin.
“On average, being one shade lighter has about the same effect as having an additional year of education,” Hersch said.
The study also found that taller immigrants earn more than shorter ones, with an extra inch of height associated with a 1 percent increase in income.
Other researchers said the findings are consistent with other studies on color and point to a skin-tone prejudice that goes beyond race.
Hersch took into consideration other factors that could affect wages, such as English-language proficiency, education, occupation, race or country of origin, and found that skin tone still seemed to make a difference in earnings.
That means that if two similar immigrants from Bangladesh, for example, came to the United States at the same time, with the same occupation and ability to speak English, the lighter-skinned immigrant would make more money on average.
“I thought that once we controlled for race and nationality, I expected the difference to go away, but even with people from the same country, the same race — skin color really matters,” she said, “and height.”
Although many cultures show a bias toward lighter skin, Hersch said her analysis shows that the skin-color advantage was not due to preferential treatment for light-skinned people in their country of origin. The bias, she said, occurs in the U.S.
Economics professor Shelley White-Means of the University of Tennessee at Memphis said the study adds to the growing body of evidence that there is a “preference for whiteness” in America that goes beyond race.
Hersch drew her data from a 2003 federal survey of nearly 8,600 new immigrants. The survey used an 11-point scale for measuring skin tone, in which 0 represents an absence of color and 10 the darkest possible skin tone.
From those nearly 8,600 participants, she focused on the more than 2,000 who were working and whose skin tone had been recorded during face-to-face interviews.
William Darity Jr., an economics professor at the University of North Carolina, said Hersch’s findings are similar to a study he co-authored last year on skin tone and wages among blacks.
“We estimate that dark- or medium-skinned blacks suffered a discriminatory penalty of anywhere from 10 percent to 15 percent relative to whites,” he said. “This suggests people cue into appearance and draw inferences about capabilities and skills based on how they look.”
Darity said it is not clear whether the bias is conscious or subconscious.
Hersch said her findings, which will be presented at the annual meeting of the American Association for the Advancement of Science next month in San Francisco, could support discrimination lawsuits based not on race, but on color.
“There are very few color discrimination suits, but they are on the rise,” she said. “But these suits can be hard to prove.”
Filed under: Race
“On average, being one shade lighter has about the same effect as having an additional year of education” …”Economics professor Shelley White-Means of the University of Tennessee at Memphis said the study adds to the growing body of evidence that there is a “preference for whiteness” in America that goes beyond race.”
Thanks Tariq, It’s good to know that. (it is shocking)
Any thoughts on “the growing body of evidence that there is a “preference for whiteness” in America that goes beyond race.”? That is profound to me (perhaps due to a lack of education on the topic)
RE- Rachels tavern, I think one influence on the popularity of extremist views founded on invalid/unsound argument in the United States is the education system’s perhaps intentional failure to even approach a serious study of the squalid and otherwise misleading techniques used in advertising, political ads,etc. The government itself accomplish policy goals via hiring PR firms and operating organic propaganda operations (i.e. Adcouncil). The result is that these sordid distortions of logic pass of as logic itself, for they are …effective. And they stay effective, primarily because people have not been educated as to how they work.
We Americans often appropriate those techniques in justifying our irrational, preexisting impressions (which might have been formed in part by the very sneaky techniques we seek to promote them by) about nearly anything, be it the domestic politics of the United states, the moral status of a religion, the features of a consumer product, etc,etc.
So it’s important to combat these views where they are dangerous,. (i.e. bill’s anti-Islamic hatred, showcased at Rachel’s tavern) to be counter-propagandists, so to speak I figure the best way is with evidence. If rachel hadn’t been such a quick draw, I would introduced bill to these good Christians: http://www.globalsecurity.org/military/world/para/lra.htm
Now, I’m not the sharpest tack in the drawer, so I’ll ask..what techniques do you find most valuable in combating extremist views?
I read another research article (Du Bois Journal), describing racisme within African American communities, particularly on campus, where people are discriminated after their skin ton.
The education bagground plays a major rol here, and the education system also failed after Brown v. Board of Education, otherwise how can you explain the African scienties and others in the US, where their contributions are praised and appreciated around the world? I read somewhere, that there are more Africans who hold PhDs than African American, but can’t remember the sources, possibly from New African:
http://www.africasia.co.uk/newafrican/
It’s really about, those who can afford, they send their children to best schools.
asssalamu alikeum
I don’t mean to be rude, but honestly, is it really shocking?
I dont think it is. We’ve seen throughout history for centuries that lighter skinned people from whatever quarters/region of the world are better treated then those with darker skin. You can two people from the same family (forget country!), one light skinned and other dark and in most cases the lighter one gets treated better. This is just that attutide manifested into a larger scale.
Don’t get me wrong, its a sick mentality and something which needs to be iradicated but its no revelation.
muslim_gal:
I was being sarcastic
This is well known in the black community in the US at least. The ones in charge want workers to most closely resemble themselves. This is tribal thinking basically, but exists in many African countries as well, a leftover from Colonial days. A sad commentary on our so called civilized 21st century world.
Ya Haqq!
Skin color has a stubborn and unfortunate legacy. All you have to do is take a stop in the Indian Sub-continent. Darker girls find it much harder to get married, even when they are smarter, more attractive, and more religious that their fairer-skinned counterparts. Darker guys may also be subjugated to mocking and name-calling; though they will usually have lesser issues than females.
As I said, it is unfortunate, but somehow this bias is so inculcated in mankind, that I am not quite sure how it will ever be removed?
Musings of a Muslim Mind
My aunts were telling me that back home (east africa) if a girl was very light skinned and/or mixed, she was like a “diamond”.
And it’s simply perfect if she marries a white guy.
I don’t even want to get into the stories of dark skinned people, subhanAllah. But one fact, when the troops went into Somalia in the 90s, a lot of local somalis actually rejected their help because they were dark and had coarser hair! La huwla wa la quwwata ila billah, talk about arrogance.
I was wondering if you have worked in the Gulf? Fair skinned people get paid the highest; even more than the locals. There are ranks:
White Western people (males preferred)
Locals
Arabs of other nationalities
Asians
AE Asians
Africans
Suroor, it’s the passport not the complexion that determines the pay scale in the Gulf. I know African Americans that get paid the same as their white compatriots. I have a Somali neighbor that worked here under one pay scale, left and came back on a Canadian passport and has the same job but on western salary.
I agree w/ you muslim girl, This sick behavior isn’t new it’s been around for decades. Maybe, it ’s a shock to the younger generation, because some them are not taught about culture or racism white supremacy. They are taught assimilation meaning to embrace other people culture looks ETC. and being color blind. IMO some are not taught to embrace there own culture. They are taught self hatred. Yes we live in a world that evolves around technology, but when it comes to racsim white supremacy
we sometimes act as though it doesn’t exist. African American especially older ones know it exist. Racist have taught other cultures the same method of racism white supremacy. Racist taught other cultures how to disgrimnate against us darker people including there own darker skin people.
people.