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Melanin Myth #6: Melanin Theory

This is part six in a ten part series on melanin myths. This myth addresses the so-called “melanin theory.”

White melanin Theory.” That is how the idea of a “melanin theory” was first identified. In the 1915 article “A Contribution to our Knowledge of the Chemistry of Coat-Colour in Animals and of Dominant and Recessive Whiteness” H. Onslow sets out to address the “cause of dominant whiteness.” Along the way we learn someone by the name of Spiegler had attempted to devise a means by which “dominant white” in animal coats could be isolated. Yes, someone actually tried to convince people there was such a thing (it was actually a greyish brown.) R.A. Gortner determined that it was, in fact, a by product of keratin decomposition. That is part of the earliest ideas of a melanin theory, “White Melanin Theory.”

Melanin is worth more than gold silver platinum palladium rhodium and coltan combined!!!

Modern ideas of a “Melanin theory” began with Chemist James Woodford of Atlanta. In 1986 Woodford submitted an affidavit in a Cleveland Ohio court case. Black and Hispanic cadets who tested positive for THC or Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in Marijuana. Woodford maintained that melanin in the urine of the cadets was responsible for a false positive result.

For the most part, melanin theory is probably one of the most biased articles on Wikipedia, in our opinion. If you read the article, it tries its best to present the notion that what they call melanin theory is “pseudoscientific Afrocentricity.” It makes no mention of James Woodford at all.

Google scholar only shows 58 results for “melanin theory.” According to Wikipedia notable proponents of melanin theory are Dr. Frances Cress Welsing, Dr. Leonard Jeffries, and Dr. Naim Akbar yet in google scholar there are no articles in the results for “melanin theory” by ANY Afrocentrists.

The only reference to even mention a “melanin theory” in the wikipedia article is Bernardo Ortiz de Montellano’s “Melanin, afrocentricity, and pseudoscience.” The one time he mentions that phrase is in reference to Frank K. Barr.

Remarkably, Dr. Frances Cress Welsing’s theory is constantly referred to as a “melanin theory” when in fact she herself described it as a “Theory of Color Confrontation or Color Confrontation Theory.”

By Nnamdi Azikiwe

The Mhotep Corporation uses its Keyamsha The Awakening brand to heighten perceptions and expand awareness. By producing content that engages, entertains and educates we create value for value relationships with our audience for mutual benefit. Mhotep is derived from the name of the architect and builder of the first pyramid in Kemet, so-called ancient Egypt. I formed the Mhotep Corporation in 2003 to produce and distribute 3D animation videos based on traditional African stories. Since then it has evolved to being a media production company including books. In a previous life I worked as a systems analyst developing solutions for government and multinational organizations. Born and educated in Washington, D.C. I have traveled to several places including Haiti, the Bahamas, Mexico, Canada, Nigeria (several times), Ethiopia (several times), Benin, Togo, and South Africa. I am married with three children.

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