"Vitiligo is spontaneous irregular depigmentation of the skin which can occor at any stage of life. It is not contagious and is not a serious health problem." National Vitiligo Foundation

The Davis Family:
a family with piebald albinism

SAY WHAT?

dictionary words we can do without

One of the differences between albinism and vitiligo is that complete albinism is present at birth and does not change significantly. Vitiligo is a depigmenting condition that is not usually apparent at birth but can appear at any stage of life. It progresses until most of the body resembles the skin of a person with albinism. Vitiligo does not cover the body completely. There will always be slight pigmentation somewhere on the body. People with vitiligo often cover up and even out the remaining pigmented areas with special make-up used for covering scars or various skin conditions.

"Vitiligo (vit-ill-EYE-go) is a pigmentation disorder in which melanocytes (the cells that make pigment) in the skin, the mucous membranes (tissues that line the inside of the mouth and nose and genital and rectal areas), and the retina (inner layer of the eyeball) are destroyed. As a result, white patches of skin appear on different parts of the body. The hair that grows in areas affected by vitiligo usually turns white.

The cause of vitiligo is not known, but doctors and researchers have several different theories. One theory is that people develop antibodies that destroy the melanocytes in their own bodies. Another theory is that melanocytes destroy themselves. Finally, some people have reported that a single event such as sunburn or emotional distress triggered vitiligo; however, these events have not been scientifically proven to cause vitiligo.

About 1 to 2 percent of the world's population, or 40 to 50 million people, have vitiligo. In the United States, 2 to 5 million people have the disorder. Ninety-five percent of people who have vitiligo develop it before their 40th birthday. The disorder affects all races and both sexes equally." National Institutes of Health

Portrait of a "Spotted Negress" named Lemisa Bert

Putting our bodies on display

“ For more than 200 years natural philosophers, scientists and showmen have exhibited the bodies of African Americans with white or gradually whitening skin in taverns, dime museums, and circus sideshows. The term White Negro has served to describe individuals born with albinism as well as those who have vitiligo . . .” From the book, The White African American Body by Charles D. Martin.

Unlike the negative feelings people have regarding albinism and vitiligo today, for hundreds of years Europeans marveled at us and called us “wonderful.” Neat, huh? Although we were put on public display, people regarded us as objects of great wonder and beauty. They looked at us somewhat as one would look at a true living unicorn, or an earth-bound angel. We were highly praised, and apart from being property on public display, treated with respect.

The English fairs of the 1700’s were the most prolific at exhibiting the body of the “White Negro”. Everywhere paintings, etchings, wood engravings, prints and reproductions of all kinds were used to bring throngs of spectators to view the spectacle. Souvenir coins were made with the image of a woman known as “Mrs. Newsham, the albino negress”. Engravings of George Alexander, The Spotted Boy were made for exhibitions. The European at this time did not consider these people to be of mixed race. There was no confusion. These were Africans: pure and simple.

Several people became famous for either being put on display or for putting themselves on display. The name Henry Moss was as familiar in some parts at the time as Thomas Jefferson, or John Adams. Moss exhibited himself in the 1790’s around Philadelphia while giving a history on his changing body. Even George Washington paid a quarter to see this phenomenon. Mind you. A quarter was the usual cost of admission to enter an entire museum. Mr. Moss could get away with charging this much just to see himself alone. Marina Sabrina was one of many children exhibited in a peculiar fashion by today’s standards. She, and others like George Alexander were billed with such names as Piebald Girl or Leopard Boy. They were often depicted as children of nature, sitting on turtles, holding birds and smiling serenely as if they held celestial secrets.

There were even concerts put on by a set of brothers called The Four Snow White Negro Boys. Whose parents were said to be “black as jet.”

I know you are. But what am I?

The attitude was totally different in the states. There was concern that the changing body or the white albino body was a sign that the person on display was not fully African at all. The person with vitiligo or albinism caused concern among good white folk and brought to question the cause and identity of race. The person on exhibit, by his or her very presence, blurred the lines between the races and the classes.

The display of the white African American body caused distress among whites and elation among blacks for the same reason. The thoughts were that blacks were turning white. What then would happen to the slave class? Was God confused when he created and separated the races? Whites became unsure of their identities.

Illness or cure?

There were many thoughts in the 1700’s as to why Africans were turning white. Many scholars surmised that the American climate produced smaller, whiter domesticated animals, and therefore must be responsible for smaller, whiter domesticated slaves. Believe it or not, this was an argument by the abolitionists to end slavery and send the native back to Africa where he could run wild and free and get his color back. A contradicting view was held that black skin was a sign of disease and contamination. That is after all, what made blacks inferior. The changing from black skin to white was seen by philosophers such as Samuel Smith and Benjamin Rush not as a disease, but a cure. Blacks with vitiligo were not getting sick, they were getting well. Some people proposed “cures” for blackness. Friction from clothing, bleeding, purging, abstinence, fear, muriatic acid, and juice from unripe peaches were, according to people like Rush a cure for being black. Rush, by the way was an abolitionist. Who’s side are these people on?

Thomas Jefferson was especially bothered by what he perceived to be the vanishing slave class. He believed that humans originated from separate origins. The persons he saw with vitiligo and albinism blew his theory and kept him up at night. In 1783 he sent letters of inquiry to all of his Virginia plantation owner neighbors to find out if they had white-skinned slaves and if so, what was the “quality” of the white skin. He wanted to know if their faculties, you know, sight, hearing, whatever, was normal. What color were the parents and most important, were these white Negroes able to reproduce. As it turned out, many slaves with vitiligo and albinism inhabited the plantations and Jefferson got many interesting letters in response. This helped him complete his Notes on the State of Virginia.

Living metaphors

By the early 1800’s people began to speak about the philosophy of the changing piebald body. It became a symbol for the instability of society. It was an affront to the natural order of things. Things were supposed to be either black or white. No if’s and’s or but’s. Through the bodies of these people was seen an unnerving mingling of black and white, sometimes with blurred edges.

Then, of course, there’s good old P. T. Barnum. We made him lots of money. He paraded a never ending line of leopard boys, albino families and such. He made sure in his advertisements that the albinos exhibited were of the purest African blood, pointing out our African features. Of course, we were always found in some deep unexplored jungle in Africa: from some lost tribe. For one of his exhibitions by the name of Clem Foster, Barnum stated that Clem’s birth in the Jungles of Martinique foretold the change in fortune in the battle between his parent’s and a rival tribe.

For more information on vitiligo contact the National Vitiligo Foundation

WORD UP
Tell the truth and shame the devil

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Michael J. Jackson