Melanin theory is a set ofpseudoscientific claims made by some proponents ofAfrocentrism, which holds thatblack people, includingancient Egyptians, have superior mental, physical, andparanormal powers because they have higher levels ofmelanin, the primary skin pigment in humans.[1]
Melanin theory posits that individuals' responses to social stimuli are determined by the prevalence of the skin pigmentmelanin.[2] Historian Stephen Ferguson describes melanin theory as a component of "strong"Afrocentrism, which assigns biological causes to social phenomena such aswhite supremacy.[3]: 66 Proponents of melanin theory ("melanists"[1]) argue that insecurity among European males leads to efforts to socially dominate andemasculate African males, taking the form of unemployment, incarceration, and political and social marginalization.[2]
Someblack supremacists, including professor of black studiesLeonard Jeffries[4][3]: 56 and psychologistFrances Cress Welsing,[5] argue without evidence that higher levels of melanin giveblack people inherently superior qualities towhite people, including supernatural abilities such asextrasensory perception.[3]: 67 According to Bernard Ortiz de Montellano, "the alleged properties of melanin, mostly unsupported, irrelevant, or distortions of the scientific literature, are [...] used to justify Afrocentric assertions. One of the most common is that humans evolved as blacks in Africa, and that whites are mutants (albinos, or melanin recessives)".[6] Ortiz de Montellano wrote in 1993 that melanin theory as an ideological movement would increasescientific illiteracy and would contribute to "widening the gap between the races".[1]
Welsing states that Africans possessdominant genes in comparison to therecessive genes of Europeans, which, she posits, leads to a struggle by Europeans to maintain their genetic distinctness.[2] Welsing derived her hypothesis partly through aneo-Freudian analysis of cultural symbols rather than scientific evidence, arguing that the motivation for white supremacy is an unconscious response to white genetic and sexual inferiority. Ferguson equates this argument with "white malepenis envy" toward black men.[3]: 67–68 [further explanation needed]
In 2006, the views of adherents and critics of melanin theory were dramatized inCassandra Medley's playRelativity.[7]