Basically, it comes down to these
facts...
1. The world has been dominated by European people
for the last few centuries
2. Money, power and success are
very important social markers and humans make very quick conclusions about peoples'
wealth and status based on their appearance.
3.
Everyone wants to be associated with
success and wealth.
So, for the last 300 years, Europe and
her descendants have completely dominated the world. Europe's values, preferences and
fashions have been unopposable. For 3 centuries, success has been associated with white
skin.
Also, rich, wealthy succesful people work
indoors and stay pale. Poor people work in the fields and their skin darkens during
their labour. In Europe 100+ years ago, rich women avoided getting a suntan at all costs
because it was associated with the peasantry. In India today, this simplistic division
of social roles still exists (see link below) and dark skinned people spend a lot of
money to bleach their skin.
In essence, everybody wants to
be on the winning team, and, generally speaking, dark-skinned people have not
experienced dominant power for the last few centuries. With the new rise of China as a
super power, perhaps the 'image' of success is about to
change.
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