The Blacker The Berry The Less The Juice

NASHVILLE, Tenn. - 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.
Hersh 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. 'his 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.' "

~I would like to thank Travis Loller from the AP for that article~~~

Cry cry cry! That's all you people do. Now here comes this lady, Joni Hersch, a so called educator from some fly by night school named Vanderbilt. And she is trying to tell us that skin tone matters in America. I mean come on, hasn't she read our declaration of Independence? Doesn't she know that every body in America is equal, and has an equal chance regardless of their color and race?"We hold these truths to be self evident". That's like saying: Da, it's self evident! She must be a communist, I bet she hates America. "On an average being one shade lighter adds up to one extra year of education" ? What hogwash! More of the same, we have seen this fraudulent studies and stories before.

Next these so called researches will want to tell us that it's why we like Will Smith, and not say Don Cheadle, and why we love Halle, and not say Nia Long so much. Come on people, get over this race thing already, it's so yesterday's news. New immigrants coming to this country all have an equal chance of the American dream regardless of how dark they are. Hey, look at the Haitians, don't they have just as equal a shot as the Cubans? Look at the Mexicans, I bet the are afforded the same chances the Canadians are; and they don't even speak English like the Canadians. Well...except the French Canadians. But you see what I am trying to say; all equal!

Thank goodness Barak Obama was not poisoned by the cesspool of hatred like the rest of you black Americans. He sees that all immigrants and people who come to this country and work hard can make it. Hey, he saw it first hand; his father was an immigrant. Well, he did marry a white woman, but you get the point. Hey, Obama isn't that light, and America loves him. Heck, the man might be President one day. And please don't tell me it's because he is lighter than say Jessie, or J.C. , or some of those darker brothers in politics. Hey, look at Clarence Thomas. He is a fairly dark person, and he did alright now didn't he? Although he did marry a white woman. But that's not the point. That dark brother made it.

Look at FOX NEWS for crying out loud, do you see all those black people on their station? That Harris Faulkner is pretty dark, and then there is Juan Williams, he...well never mind him. How about ....never mind. Forget Fox, let's look at NBC. They have that Al. Rocker on, and he is a pretty dark....well, you know what, I don't think the dark look comes across as telegenic on T.V. anyway, so we can't really look for allot of dark people on television. It's tough on the makeup people.

Yeah the darker people are doing alright. As if it's not enough to divide America by race, now we are dividing by skin tone too. Geeez folks, let's come together, we are all Americans now. No matter how light or dark you are, we are all living the American dream together. Forget all these crazy fly by night studies which have no merit, the name of the game is hard work, and no matter how dark you are, you will make just as much...well almost as much- as your fellow Americans. Hey, which would you rather do; make $7 an hour in America even though it's less than your paler brethren are making, or make $3 an hour in some miserable Third World country? Yeah that's what I thought dark person, you will take America, even if it means slightly less pay than your lighter comrades.

So stop complaining, enjoy America, and all she has to offer. Watch FOX NEWS, pledge your allegiance to the flag, go to church on a regular basis and pay your taxes. Then it won't matter how dark you are, you will still be on your way to becoming a real American, just like all the lighter people.