Originally Posted by
disciple
I will answer based on my belief that the scriptures are literal. So first we would have to ask what did Adam and Eve look like? Obviously, their genes, carried all traits humans have today and probably other traits that have since disappeared. Many of their genes were not visible because other genes dominated and I think perhaps humans degenerated in many ways because of the effects of sin. We usually imagine Adam and Eve as looking like ourselves. However, for genetic reasons, Adam and Eve were not “white” or “black” but something in between. Adam’s skin coloring may have been similar to that of Native Americans. I’m guessing. So where do different colors of skin come from?
I think people adapted to where they lived after the flood. For example, fair-skinned people living near the equator are more susceptible to several health risks, such as skin cancer. Consequently, they have slightly less chance of living to reproductive age and p***ing on genes for light skin color to their children. Likewise, darker-skinned people absorb less sunlight, depriving them of vitamin D3, which forms in skin exposed to sunlight. In some la***udes, this could cause health problems. Therefore, over many generations, dark-skinned people tend to live near the equator and light-skinned people tend to live at higher la***udes. I see this as a good example of microevolution. I also think people seem to “like” people more similar to themselves so people probably separated according to their features and tone of skin.