A
good friend and I have a mutual acquaintance who, to use a colloquialism, is
definitely not the sharpest knife in the drawer. However, I noticed they were
being treated as if they had Einstein’s IQ. When I shared this observation
with my friend, I was told that because the not-so-intelligent person has a
light complexion some people assume they must be smart.
I told them that they were
way off base. I knew that perception existed in the 50’s. My father told me
that during the time of segregation in Washington, DC light skinned high
school students usually attended Dunbar High School; darker skinned students
were enrolled in Armstrong High School.
I was aware that some
sororities accepted people based on intelligence while others seemed to have a
selection process with bonus points awarded for having the “right” skin color.
However, I argued, surely
that type of warped thinking was passé. Now, thanks to research conducted by
a Vanderbilt University professor of law and economics, I owe my friend an
apology.
A new study by professor
Joni Hersch, found legal immigrants in the United States with a lighter skin
tone made more money than those with darker skin.
Hersch used data from
2,084 men and women who participated in the 2003 New Immigrant
Survey. An interviewer reported the person’s skin color using an 11-point
scale where 0 represented the absence of color and 10 represented the
darkest possible skin color.
Even when taking into
consideration characteristics that might affect wages, such as English
language proficiency, work experience and education, Hersch found immigrants
with the lightest skin color earned, on average, 8 percent to 15 percent more
than immigrants with the darkest skin tone.
Hersch said the effect of
skin color even persisted among workers with the same ethnicity, race and
country of origin. Hersch’s research also found height played a part in
salary. Taller immigrants earned more, with every inch adding an additional 1
percent to wages.
The professor said she
considered various explanations for skin color’s effect on wages, such as
discrimination in country of birth, the possibility that darker skin color is
caused by outdoor work, which is lower paying, and interviewer bias.
After ruling out those
explanations, Professor Hersch concluded that discrimination is the strongest
explanation for why lighter and taller immigrants make more money.
“I was surprised and
dismayed at how strong and persistent the skin color effect was even after I
considered a whole series of alternative interpretations and explanations,”
said Hersch.
The study reminded me of a
conversation I had with a Cuban of African descent who expressed frustration
when he compared the treatment he received on his job with that of his
compatriots whose skin color was lighter than his. “We are all from the same
place and I even have more education than many of my peers,” he lamented.
“Yet, they treat me and those of us with dark complexions differently.”
Unlike Professor Hersch,
for many the findings come as no surprise.
