My solution to racism...

Of course, but then some white skinned folks might prefer to have children with other colors...to be boring ..the person's nature is crucial. That is not going to change...

@topffer ... I think with recent stuff in the US, mixed marriages would come down.

With mixed marriages, everybody will have soon or later the same color.

Then we should not have let artificial insemination and surrogacy arrive as well, nor blood transfusions and stem cells retention for developing any organ for child in case it is needed in future. Do you know at times mothers conceive so that they can harvest organ of the unborn baby for the child that is already born but suffering? If that is ok, this suggestion, which has no life being lost, is almost innocuous.

@skysnap .. As long as people have eyes, being civil about skin color is not likely...they may as I mentioned be civil when it is necessary for their purposes, or they have no problem with it. But the moment somebody from different skin color troubles them, those prejudices which are hidden somewhere inside raise their heads like demons. We might as well make light of skin color differences by genetic manipulations and other genetic creams which can improve our skin colors.

@vandana7 those discoveries were needed because during the crisis like say nuclear war etc. those discoveries can save humanity from extinction.. so we can't let evolution play it's card there. we got intelligence to save us from that scenario .. sometimes we have to interfere and sometimes we don't ;)

Well, why not. Let the parents decide!

@vandana7 I do not like this idea. I think the better way to eradicate racism is education. I never saw a racist child in a kindergarten. It comes later, usually when there are racists in a family.

@topffer ... I agree...but a child cannot escape thinking of parents older siblings, neighbors and maids.

@TheHorse .. Learning Pony is now documented and in electronic mode. Surely for that we cannot compel others to remain in the color of skin they are not comfortable with. If they were comfortable with it, why Michael Jackson would resort to that kind of plastic surgery? And while we are discussing this, such things may not be what has occurred to me alone. Black researchers may well be working towards it, and trying to change those genes so that blending becomes easier. Whether it gets blessings of law or not, is a different issue. It cannot be stopped once we know how to manipulate genes I think.

@TheHorse Yes, definitely. We can learn a lot from each other.

Yep. It's worthwhile to learn from people of different cultures.

No...I am speaking of a choice, they wanted certain selected set only to have those superior characteristics. Here, parents can choose to have fairer children, if they feel their skin color has been a handicap of sorts. No compulsions. And it is a reversible process. If they want their original genes back, the generation after can have changed genes.

@MALUSE ... Initially, yes, later on no...because once they have fairer children, they won't need to go through the process again unless they want to reverse the thing. That means the technology would require some takers, poor would be in queue...and the technology would have to be sold at cheaper rate ..kinda...it is not as if there are no whites who are poor, right? And no blacks who are rich...

@vandana7 This will cost. The consequence will be that rich people will have fair children, and poor people dark ones.

External features help to discriminate faster...if those can be reduced...I think realization would dawn that it is all within our hands and it is silly to be fighting over silly things.

@msiduri ... Don't I know that...we are differentiated based on money we have, or caste...within same religion and same race...lol. But once the skin color differentiation is removed by science, I think people would start to think about the way they differentiate and whether it makes sense at all...I am of course only hoping...but it is worth a try ...

@vandana7 That hasn't been the case in history, however. Things like skin color are an easy marker, but even without easy markers, people have found ways to exclude others.

@vandana7 I was writing the story down when my PC became unresponsive and then crashed! Maybe I should not deal with sci-fi.... A gentle touch made her open her eyes. He was sitting beside her, sporting a wide grin. "How are you feeling now, dear? Just have a look!" - He showed the bundle in his arms. "My.... our baby!" - And in a moment she was all energized again. Getting up, she demanded him to surrender that little bundle. And he meekly obliged. [Some motherly emotions follow] and then she noticed it... "Why is he looking a bit green? Is it.... (oh no, what could be wrong!?)" "No, no. Don't panic! He is alright. He is... alright. It's just a minor side effect of the experi...." "Experiments? You did EXPERIMENTS on him? He is just born! How could you even do it?" She just could not believe it. Given, he was a scientist and scientists are prone to eccentricity... but to subject your own child to this, and that too within hours the kid was born! He started in defensive tone... "No, I didn't take him to perform any such things. It had been going on all through your pregnancy. Remember the medicines which made you feel strange? Those were..." She was not really listening. While the child giggled in her arms, mistaking her gaze to be that of undivided attention, her mind was lost in thoughts. All those events, her doubts, everything... flashing before her eyes. And then that stance too was broken suddenly. She could sense the eeriness...

@hora_fugit .. Masterpiece. @TheHorse what am I to say to this kiddo..lol. He is also from your camp. I don't even have to call DE ...I know he will always be anti vanny...if only there was one person who would see some merit in my reasoning..lol Anyway...the thought has come, and it was shared...it does not have to be accepted.

The more I know you the better I feel...lol. Smart kid..

That was so horrible...killing the handicapped people...it was so horrible. No...I meant blending might become easier. People would not exclude anybody...and then learning each other's customs might also become easier.

@LadyDuck ... I am learning... no ...thinking inside would continue to differ. But hey, it is like moving with others would become more easier. Earlier may be they would hesitate. But now, they can go to the same churches, and same places for playing games kinda.

@vandana7 The fact to be "similar" outside will not make us "similar" inside. We still will think differently. Do you want an example? In Italy we are all white, same race, no physical differences. Well, there are northern and southern, we think differently. Do you believe we go well together because we look the same? Wrong, we do not go well together and many would like that Italy would have never been "united".

God sent only one couple down to earth. They had only one skin color. Their kids could have only one set of skin color. But as things stand...we have different races...I am not bringing religion here...sorry...it is nothing to do with religion at all.. It is to do with practical aspect. What should be, you are right and so is religion. What it is not ...that is reality. We can choose to say it should be like this...but prejudices will periodically surface and ruin the grounds that we had already covered. But if we find a way that skin color could be changed just like hair color, why not? I mean, why can't we treat it just like any other cosmetic treatment? Parents would take a call I suppose...agreed all characteristics of all races are good in someway or another...but most would prefer to be fair. That is why there are fairness creams, and not darkness creams. Let us face it, that is the truth. If we look truth straight in eyes, we would have better chance of acknowledging other related factors, and moving ahead. Parents get to decide what their child would look like.

@vandana7 And what next ? If my children can have the feet of an Ethiopian they would have a chance to win a long distance race at the Olympic games.

@vandana7 You said: "most would prefer to be fair." I disagree. My skin is VERY fair and I don't like it at all. I burn in the sun in just a few minutes. Thousands of people lay out in the sun and go to tanning beds to get darker skin. I think dark skin is better than fair skin. As for the first man and woman, you said, that "God sent only one couple down to earth and they had only one skin color." Where do you think they were sent from? You may not want to bring in religion and neither do I but the Bible says that God created man from the dust of the earth. And he created woman from man's rib. God didn't send them from anywhere, according to what the Bible says. In addition to that, how do you know that they were the same skin color. The fact is that humans have melanin as part of their genetic makeup and that is what determines our skin color. The first man may have been dark skinned and the first woman may have been fair skinned. We really don't know. But, their offspring could be any color of skin. Just like now, when a dark-skinned person, say with brown eyes, produces a child with a fair-skinned person with blue eyes. That offspring could have any number of skin tones and eye color. Personally, I think the offspring from this combination are very beautiful. Exceptionally so.

Pony in the past everything including racial discrimination and hatred moved slowly. Now, grouping can be faster, and false propaganda is more difficult to monitor..given such a thing if we can bring down one barrier, we can focus on other factors more easily as there will be fewer accusations of racial discrimination based on skin color. It is just one aspect of racial discrimination that will disappear. I am not saying racial discrimination will disappear in its entirety.

@vandana7 Move faster in what sense?

@vandana7 Ah yes, that's true. And many people believe what they see and hear without fact-checking. It's sad.

How true, how very true...that too when we have more logical generation. Fanaticism needs to fade.

I think once we eliminate racial discrimination this way, the stupidity of the discrimination principle will strike..

you're from odisha? glad to know that...

What makes you think it is not happening already, and what makes you think we cannot make good use of it. There are many diseases that are inherited. May be if we understand it better, we could cure them. Medicines will soon be based on genetic codes so I am not suggesting something that is rather far fetched. Right?

@Drosophila .. Can nothing be done surreptitiously?

@vandana7 because I continue to have work in that area, and I know all projects are approved and reviewed by the genetics ethical committee. remember some of most hideous crimes are committed in the name of "good intentions" or "righteousness". or "doing good". Recent terrorist attacks is a good example of that.

Not really in this context. Both have common objective, make a person look beautiful.

@radhruv .."same skinned people get along well with each other" ...you said it...my theory is, if they have an opportunity to mingle with others, they will and larger group will get along well with each other kind. No...customs are not made to differentiate different people. They arise as a solution to a problem at particular time. They need to be deserted as soon as the problem is overcome, but they are continued in the name of tradition.

You imply natures differ with races...I disagree. It is grouping that perpetuates some customs and consequently creates some nature around it.

@vandana7 grouping always occur among people with same interests or nature. And same skinned people get along well with each other. Customs are made only to differentiate different type of people from each other and alienate them.

I can't possibly change for a guy from another race...I was mentioning in terms of children. lol. Society will remain racist...as Pony (TheHorse) has pointed out. The reason for racism are different. You have say 100 bucks, and 100 people. Everybody gets 1 rupee... But if you have 100 bucks and 120 people, you may want to marginalize some so that they don't get their full share, while you get more...that is human nature...has nothing to do with you being mean or others being stupid. So differences such as caste, race, religion, whatever come because of that need to make ourselves secure. Pony also mentioned that customs and other traditions differentiate folks. True. But people adapt more easily when they feel they belong to the group. It is insecurity that makes people cling to customs and traditions which are past their use by date sort of. They feel safer with those, and feel others who follow those customs will be around to protect them, and collectively they would be formidable force. So it is pretty much like Mario Puzo's The Godfather system.. If color of skin barrier was removed, moving from one community to another would become easier. Then learning what they do in a particular situation comes about. Thereafter, selection of which of the two systems is better. Take for example conventional commodes and westernized commodes. Merely two decades ago, everybody was using conventional ones here, and only high class homes had modern ones. Now no home has traditional ones. lol. Reason? MNCs. So exchange of systems and customs becomes easier if we feel we belong to the group. Some of our customs may be better, and they may shed their customs to adopt ours too. :) The point is...break the ice..

@Loverabbit .. No complexion itself is not a curse at all. I refuse to believe it to be a curse. My neighbor is a tad darker than me, and stunner as far as beauty is concerned. Chiselled features. But then, not everybody is blessed with that kind of beauty. Turning into one of them, we already do that, wittingly or unwittingly. Change is nature's mandate. We have no control on that. Would there be discrimination based on color of the skin and race at the time of giving job? I think there will be. Simple statement. People do take a call based on what appeals to their eyes.

@vandana7 ahaa thats a good say so basically your point is to let kids feel secure in and what they indulge with yes that is a good idea but tell me this thing if you have a custom that is fairly better and you are so into adaptation for you believe the new ways are far better maybe you might loose some values that you have already plus I don't think it could make everyone same but if you refer to better comfort only then maybe yes you have a point but again why would anyone choose a custom that you yourself can't value. Complexion itself is not a curse but what we have made it now has turned people more racist, take news as eg, if the reporter reports something as positive no one pays an ear but if that is reported with exaggeration and negatively it catches more eyes, same goes for racism those who are racist do not care if you belong to a particular tribe or cast only that they need is an argument to show they do better off and that is cause they believe they are superior. If you turn yourself as one of them no good is to flow for everyone be same and no one would be Willing to change their complexion from what is superior to inferior for obviously everyone wants a better of

It's all mixed up now....

@hora_fugit .. They are confused..