When the sperm cell from a man unites with the egg cell of a woman, a new human life is conceived even though the parents are of different races. Yet within that very small cell are thousands of genes, the transmitters of hereditary traits. These traits reflect characteristics seen in the parents or other ancestors.
According to the Bible, all humans descend from Noah, through his three sons Shem, Japheth and Ham. Genesis chapter 10 lists 70 descendants of Noah saying: “From these the nations were spread about in the earth.” (Genesis 10:32) One of the many ways in which these nations have been classified is with reference to skin color. In the skin of all normal humans is a blackish brown pigment called melanin.
Noah and his three sons all had a measure of this dark pigment. From Shem came the Babylonians, the Assyrians, the Jews and the Arabs who vary from fair to light-brown skin. The descendants of Japheth, who include the Indo-European races, vary from light skin to dark brown. As for Ham (meaning swarthy or sun-burnt), some, but not all, of his descendants had dark skin. The Egyptians, with light-brown skin, descended from Ham’s son Mizraim. Ham’s son Canaan, who was cursed by God because of bad conduct, was the forefather of the light-skinned Canaanites.
In agreement with this, Dr.*Hughes, a professor of anthropology at the University of Toronto, said: “On every continent, and in every geographically defined race, there is a considerable range of variation in .*.*. skin pigmentation, .*.*. the Tamils of South India are considered by many anthropologists to be members of the Caucasoid [white Indo-European] major race, yet in skin pigmentation they are darker than many African Negroes.”
All divisions of mankind have a dark pigment in their skin, some to a lesser, others to a greater extent.
Understanding the genetic principle, knowing how millions of variations occur, we can see why these variations exist, and that all, nevertheless, comprise one human race, one family. There are great differences in some respects, minor differences in most respects. But there is a sameness in human nature everywhere, and all can intermarry and have children. They are all of one kind.