Posted on 01/28/2007 4:43:35 AM PST by Pharmboy
NASHVILLE, Jan. 27 (AP) 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.
The scholar, Joni Hersch, a professor of law and economics 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, Dr. Hersch said, being one shade lighter has about the same effect as having an additional year of education.
The study also found that taller immigrants earned more than shorter ones, with an extra inch of height associated with a 1 percent increase in income.
Other researchers said the findings were consistent...and pointed to a skin-tone prejudice that went beyond race.
Dr. Hersch took into consideration other factors that could affect wages, like English-language proficiency, education, occupation, race or country of origin, and found that skin tone still seemed to make a difference in earnings. That meant 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 one would make more money on average.
I thought that once we controlled for race and nationality, I expected the difference to go away, Dr. Hersch said, but even with people from the same country, the same race, skin color really matters.
Although many cultures show a bias toward lighter skin, she said her analysis showed that the skin-color advantage was not based on preferential treatment for light-skinned people in their country of origin. The bias, she said, occurs in the United States.
(Excerpt) Read more at nytimes.com ...
I stopped reading right there.
She is industrial strength wrong on this point - out of ignorance, shoddy research, or simply a desire to do a hit piece on America.
Light skinned as always been preferable to dark in many other cultures. For a start, she can hop over the border and do some "research" in Mexico.
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.
I should have known this was about money.
No. That is the bastardized understanding that was hyped about the book. They did not say that there was an IQ difference correlated with race. Thier point was far more subtle - that is, that there were racial and ethnic differences in IQ that cannot be entirely explained by environmental factors such as nutrition, social policy, or racism.
It should be noted, however, that key scientists - such as the late Stephen Jay Gould - argued against this book vehemently.
Not to mention the legal system...
Sigh.
Great catch. You followed the money, and found the real agenda. Can you imagine a lawyer holding up a skin tone chart next to his plaintiff, and asking the jury to award based on his match to a lighter or darker color? Are we really that far off into the Twilight Zone at this point?
There is an even larger disparity between "pigmentations" in the countries from which the immigrants come. You see very few Mexican soap opera star types sneaking across the border or lurking at home depot looking for work. Latin America is outsourcing their color problem to the USA.
Finally, I understand why dark-skinned Oprah Winfrey is so poor.
Mike D. and aculeus both hit the bullseye!
Well in that case, why are we letting dark complexioned people immigrate into our country?
This is just like the old Garrit Morris SNL skit where they discussced the same issue.
These scientists were PAID to have the same result as a comedy skit.
I agree. The findings are worthless until she controls for IQ.
BS. Its unlikely any study found that because theyd have to verify their income in their home country first. This is typical NYT misreporting.
More likely, these people were always higher income earners since light skin is nearly universally valued. Any biological tendencies for that aside, the US is the one of the least prejudiced places in that regard.
Liberals are more racist because they think they've got a "pass."
Yep--and the most important thing for these *sswipes is to attack this country, on every front, at every hour of the day and night without let up. This, the greatest country that has ever been.
Other reasons for darker-skinned people to have lower incomes:
1) Culture does not encourage higher education.
2) Living in insulated communities.
3) Avoidance of integration.
4) Self segregation for religious reasons.
5) Lack of English language skills.
6) Cultural emphasis on non-intellectual forms of employment.
7) Arranged marriage.
8) Residency in poorer States.
Well done.
I'm afraid they only controlled for variables that would not interfere with their agenda.
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