<p>I am pretty tan right now, and I don’t want to get any more tan. I live in Illinois and my skin gets darker in the summer, but when the winter comes around, it lightens up to a nice shade. I can deal with how dark I get in Illinois; the problem is, that I want to move to a state that is warmer than Illinois, like anywhere in the south, but my skin would get darker than I want it to be due to UV levels.</p>
<p>Will living anywhere in the southern US make you significantly darker than it would if you lived up north? If it won’t, then I’m definitely considering moving south. I’m assuming that you can lose your tan in the south as winter comes around, just like in the north.</p>
<p>shouldn’t, because if you’re smart you’ll retreat indoors to the safety of air conditioning. Considering that for most of the summer it stays constantly in the 90’s here, with heat indexes 100+… You don’t always necessarily lose the tan in the winter though, because it rarely snows here (unless you’re in the mountains) and most often it’s cool/sorta cold but still sunny. Personally, I don’t tan anyway (it’s just lobster red for me), but I’d just say either wear lots of sunscreen or stay indoors out of the heat altogether (like the sane people here do).</p>
<p>Sunscreen is good for you regardless. You don’t want to get skin cancer.
I lived in northern Alabama till I left for college and people only seemed particularly tan in the summer time, or after they went on vacation in Florida. Otherwise, I never noticed anything.
However, I did get more tan than I’ve ever gotten last summer in Michigan. That might be because in college you spend more time outside.</p>
<p>People here (Alabama) are constantly tan year round because many people go to tanning beds, so it’s not like you would stand out, but like I said before, it’s ridiculously hot here in the summer so you most likely are going to want to stay indoors in the A/C anyway and in the shade if you do go outside. I wouldn’t worry about it too much. </p>
<p>Easy, I’m slightly offended by your comment. Not all of us are racist pricks, you know! (We voted for Obama in the primary)</p>
<p>AUlostchick: I took US History since 1945 last semester and luckily, out of the 8 people in my class, 3 (3!) were from Alabama and 1 from Georgia. We, more by being us than by making vocal arguments, proved that Alabama wasn’t the racist state that people have in their minds from learning about the Civil Rights movement. It was also interesting to learn about the explosion of racism in Chicago and Detroit (with the riots) and then today in California with the racial/ethnic tensions and white pride movement. It’s rather terrifying that although the other people in our class and many people at around school are from California/Chicago/Detroit and surrounding areas, they were entirely unaware of the magnitude of the racial tensions that caused these movements/events.</p>
<p>The internet doesn’t carry sarcasm and joking well, Easy, you should know that. </p>
<p>Now, I do not believe that Alabama or really any state is “racist” in general. It’s quite possible that there are more racist people here than in other areas, but generally, I believe that the ratio is about that same and that people here just tend to be a bit more vocal about it. I’ve known plenty of people from “the North” who were more racist than anyone I’ve met here.</p>
<p>I would have to disagree with you there auchick. i would say theres not more racists in the south but the racist population density. and voting for Obama doesn’t mean youre racist. </p>
<p>everyone in the world is a racist. tell me you never thought of a prejudicial/stereotypical thought when you meet someone “shady”. try to tell me that when see a “ghetto” black guy/s coming towards you at night when you’re by yourself and no one is around, that you wouldnt even think of crossing the road. but i digress.</p>
<p>I don’t even believe that the South is more racist by population density. I remember once one of my teachers in elementary school asked, “The rest of the country thinks we’re racists. What do you think about that?”
One of my classmates said, “We know the history of our state, so I think we’re more aware of what problems racism causes.” Of course, this was the response of an unrefined 4th grader, so the language was a bit different.
There is no way to measure racism in a general population. As lethargytm points out, everyone is racist (in their own way). There are, however, notable racism-related movements that oftentimes are interrelated to things like where the Nazi party, KKK, and skinheads are located that in turn are related to where economies relied on handpicked cotton, where there are a lot of Asian or Hispanic immigrants, where there is “natural” segregation, and where there are housing issues often due to job migration.</p>
<p>Easy, I got the joke, but the word “colored” is outdated.</p>
<p>How did this turn into a discussion on racism?</p>
<p>I don’t know how things are in the north in terms of UV levels, but in Florida, where I live, they are excessively high during the summer - rarely, if ever, less than 8, and it’s common to see 10+. If you spend any amount of time outdoors in the south then, yes, you will get dark. Probably darker than you will up north. Just buy a daily lotion with SPF 15+ in it, however, and you should be fine.</p>
<p>And, yes, you lose your tan during the winter. Unless you spend your time in tanning beds, that is.</p>
<p>my friend is going to south carolina next year and apparently they have a march through the campus every year to mourn the loss of the civil war (complete with black hoopskirts, etc.).</p>
<p>if anyone did that at my southern-but-majorly-liberal campus, people would totally riot in protest.</p>
<p>Obviously if you live where there’s more sun you will be more tan due to more sun exposure…? The thing is, when you live in the sun year round, people aren’t giddy about it, so they don’t tan 24/7</p>
<p>I used to live in North Dakota and I can relate to your darker / lighter + season anecdote. I currently live in Georgia. To answer your question, I think it will make you darker but not significantly so.</p>