Melanin: What’s Up Your Sleeve?

Grade 6 Learner, “Mr. K… What’s in your skin that makes it look like that?”

I peer down at the learner, seeing that he clapped an eraser on the back of his hand.  Left behind was the chalk dust from a day’s worth of teaching.  The chalk dust contrasted sharply against his dark skin.

I ask, “Do you mean what is it that makes my skin light and your skin dark?”

Grade 6 Learner, “Yes, sir.”

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I love the curiosity through which children, especially young children, view the world around them.  Further, I appreciate the innocence with which children ask questions.

When I first arrived at my primary school, there were several learners in creche (pre-kindergarten) who would regularly run up to me, rub my forearms with their hands, and then gaze at their fingers.  I didn’t understand why they liked doing it, but they had smiles on their faces every time.  Eventually, the creche educator told me that the learners were rubbing my skin to see if the “white” would come off.

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I looked back up at the rest of the class, and I could see I had their complete attention.  They wanted to know how I was going to respond.  I walked to the chalkboard and wrote the word “melanin” on the board. 

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As a biology major in college, I learned about melanin and the way it shows up in the human body.  In short, melanin is a protein that protects the body from getting burned by the sun’s rays.  The closer people live to the equator, where the sun shines more directly, the darker their skin.  Conversely, people who live closer to the poles will have lighter skin because the sun’s ray hit the earth less directly. 

Growing up in the US, I learned that talking about skin color is taboo.  Don’t do it unless you want to offend someone.  As a student affairs educator, I learned to facilitate conversations with university students about the social impact of one’s skin color, including the power and privilege associated (or not associated) with it.

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I explained melanin to the learners, and I conducted a demonstration.  I held up my arm and asked the learners to look at my skin.  I then rolled up my sleeve to show them the farmer’s tan on my upper arm.  Their shock was audible.  The learners found it fascinating that my skin could change color.  The next thing I knew every learner in the class was rolling up their sleeves to see if their upper arms were a different color than their forearms.  It was quite a site to see them inspecting their arms.

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While I’m confident that at least some of my learners have met white people before my arrival at the school, I’m also confident that most of them have not had a significant interaction with a white person.  Given the history of black-white relations in South Africa, it wouldn’t surprise me if learners are taught by their families to be careful with how they interact with white people.  After teaching for a month, though, it’s becoming evident to me that the learners are becoming comfortable enough to ask me questions like the one above. 

If I was in a US classroom, I would be concerned about how to navigate questions like this for fear of backlash by parents, administrators, or even fellow teachers.  However, there’s a certain freedom that comes with teaching in a South African classroom that allows for dialogue about taboo topics.  Here I am, a white guy from another country, in a classroom with about 50 black, South African kids.  I have questions about the way they do things just as I’m sure they have questions about the way I do things.  We can learn from each other.

Learning from each other is in alignment with Peace Corps’ three overarching goals.  Goal #2 is about “promoting a better understanding of Americans on the part of the peoples served”.  In addition to talking about skin color, I hope to have conversations with my learners about the US and its culture.  Thinking beyond the US into a larger context, I hope to have conversations with my learners about the world, what makes us different and what makes us the same.  I want to expose the learners to difference in the hopes of sparking a greater interest in how people from all walks of life can live and work together, instead of only being a curiosity.

Goal #3 is about “promoting a better understanding of other peoples on the part of Americans”.  While I’m in South Africa, I hope to learn as much about South Africans and their diverse cultures.  I have already started to see through writing this blog that the reciprocal teaching is having an impact on the way my family and friends view this country.  I hope I continue to provide insightful observations to everyone back home. 

If there are questions you, the reader, would like to ask or if there are topics that interest you, please let me know by leaving a comment below or emailing me.