Whenever people search the term “Blackest man in the world”, what they search is probably an image of a single person whose skin tone is darker than anyone else in the world. In today’s world, you will find thousands of posts on social media claiming a particular person to be the blackest one alive but in most of the cases these are just claims and there is no proof to back it.
But when you dive deep into this topic, you will discover that there is more to it than just skin pigmentation as it’s all about the diverse nature of humanity, history of humankind and most importantly biology. There is no official record of this thing, and no title has been given to any particular person in the world.
No Guinness World Records will tell you the name of a particular person. Still we will look to answer the question which will tell a tale of redefined beauty standards and the chronicle of people who have embraced the unique gift of nature.
The Viral Photo Claiming to be the Blackest Man in the World
This topic can’t go further without clearing the air regarding the widely shared photo claiming to be the image of the blackest man in the world. It’s an image of an African guy whose skin tone appears to be bluish black.
The lighting used while capturing the photograph and the editing that was made afterwards, in terms of contrast, made the natural skin tone of the man more blackish.
Even in this digital age, none has a clue regarding the name of the person, time of clicking the photo. A few years back, some claimed that this mystery man is from South Sudan, known as the home of some tribes with darker skin tone such as Dinka and Nuer.
There was not enough evidence to back this claim. On the other hand, some simply state that the photo was digitally created or may have been digitally enhanced.
The image has so far created endless imaginative theories and invoked several questions in people’s minds like “How is this possible?” or “How rare is this skin tone?” But it remained an unsolved mystery. So you are free to imagine.
Science Behind Pigmentation
Darker skin pigmentation in humans is often found in the population residing on the equatorial regions. It is nothing but an evolutionary change. The difference in skin pigmentation occurs due to the presence of a particular pigment in human skin known as eumelanin, which is known for producing brown or black hues.
The higher the melanin in the skin, the darker the skin tone gets. People having darker skin tones are safer compared to the people having lighter skin tone from the fatal UV rays of the sun. The UV ray can damage the skin cells and can even lead to skin cancer.
Some ethnic groups having probably the darkest skin tone are Dinka, Nuer, and Shilluk from South Sudan and the northern parts of Uganda; Nilotic groups residing in countries like Chad and Ethiopia. Other than that, some Melanesian populations from Papua New Guinea also have darker skin tones than 99 percent of the population of the world.
No Official Title and Why
As we have previously mentioned, there is no person branded with the tag of the blackest man in the world. There are few reasons behind that.
First and foremost, lighting, camera settings, and last but not least editing can make a huge difference in the skin tone. Even in a population where everyone has darker skin, long exposure to sunlight can make their skin tone even darker. Lastly, there is no anthropological or medical benefit that one can get from doing the research solely to find the blackest person on the Earth. This proves that the title is merely symbolic.
Final Thoughts
The words, when spelt might sound like it pinpoints a particular person: “blackest man in the world,” but it just puts it in the middle of a much larger conversation related to identity and beauty standards. It’s all about genetics and geographical locations and human perception and not about any official titleholder.
Several African American models have embraced their identity, and they take pride in it. In the end, if the question still lingers in your mind concerning the blackest man out there, we can say that there is a full range of human beauty to admire.
So, whether you find your answer in that viral photo claiming to be the blackest man there is or any model who proudly shows off his/her ethnicity and talent, we will leave that up to your imagination.
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