Note that rich people in times gone by did not work outdoors. Poor people mostly toiled in the fields and menial labor jobs outdoors. Dark skin is nature’s defense against harmful exposure to sun’s ultra violet rays. Therefore rich people in the same country tend to be lighter complexioned.
It is just amazing how much darker people in southern US are compared to people in northern states, belonging to the same race. In only 200 or so years, nature is already making it’s presence felt.
Could be the migration of genetics.
My Danish/Scots mom is pasty white and uber-freckled [when not in her perma-tan mode, courtesy of artificial UV] and my dad is the same weird golden color as I am, owing to a preponderance of Welsh blood.
Neither he nor I “tan”.
We just get a “darker gold”...and I get freckles.
[thanks Mom]
:-\