What Color am I?

Here in Uganda, and I'm told in most of sub-Sahara Africa, people of European heritage are not referred to was white. European types are known as pink or red. After a few days in the Equatorial African sun it's not hard to understand why, especially in the days before SPF 45.

On those few days when I have forgotten to apply sunscreen I am definitely a red person, not white by any stretch of the imagination.

The language Africans use to describe their fellow Africans' skin tone is pretty much the same as African Americans use at home--dark skinned, brown skinned and light skinned--with a few variations to specify just which version of each applies. Bry'Chell, for example is brown skinned--several shades darker than when we arrived--but definitely brown skinned.

Of course Europeans and white Americans pretty much just see black people, not much awareness of variation.