Anonymous
asked:
It doesn't say "Roger is swarthy", but that Roger has a "swarthiness", which means "blackness", which could simply mean tan. It also says that Roger didn't tan as easily as the others ("Roger was not much darker than he first arrived", towards the middle of the book), which means Roger didn't tan easily. Originally dark-skinned people tan fast and easy, while paler people don't. It's up to interpretation if Roger's original skin was dark, in the end.

anon… or should i say, mx. outerspacecreature, i don’t understand why you’re so adamant to prove that he has white/light skin in the book. does roger having dark skin make you that uncomfortable?

like, alright, i’ll bite and reply to your argument; the main point being, “swarthy refers to his ‘tan’.” no matter how you look at it, swarthy means dark skin. if you really do believe that swarthy means “black”, would you call people with tans* black? alternatively would you call black people as simply tanned people?

*(tan is described to be “of a pale-skinned person or their skin - become brown or browner after exposure to the sun.”)

anyway, i’ve noticed i’m not the only person you’ve asked this to. feel free to read their well-written reply here if i still don’t convince you

and tbh i think youll listen more to them anywaybecause you and i have been debating this for a whileand you dont appear to have considered any of what ive saidso i think that makes the debate a moot point nowthe white washing wank of 2015