OBS: I know Eberron don t try to immitate Earth cultures but I am asking about the human racial diferences.
The most prominent example of a person of color in Khorvaire is the Keeper of the Silver Flame, Jaela Daran. In the real world she would probably be described as having African features.
What difference does it make what color skin someone has when that thing over there has hands the size of your head?
[indent]Jaela usually dresses in simple gray or black clothes, walking barefoot on the marble steps of the Cathedral. She has gray eyes, short-cropped dark hair, and a chocolate-coloured complexion.[/indent]
Unfortunately, most of the art even in Eberron books (not to mention in D&D books in general) tends towards a Caucasian default, but it is a fact of the text that humans in Khorvaire exhibit all the variation in appearance that humans on Earth exhibit.
-Joni
I've sorta wondered why Jaela Daran hasn't been pictured.
The Cardinals are shielding Jaela from the nations newspapers - not letting her get her portrait taken.
Its rumored that the Korranberg Chronicle have hired a House Phiarlan paparachi to sneak into the cathedral of the Silver Flame and create a portrait.
While its not official I did remember seeing a rather good depiction of Jaela on Deviant Art. Even got the bare feet.
Good catch, could be a nice poster for an Eberron manga series (and there is already a comics done).
However, in the greater scheme of things ethnicity is completely overshadowed by political affiliation in Khorvaire. It is much more important whether you are from Breland or Aundair than whether you are light-skinned or dark-skinned.
However, I'll just register my dissent on the view that intrahuman racial differences would be automatically diminished in any fantasy setting involving distinctly non-human intelligences. (i.e., the "skin color is hardly something major when the guy next to you is 4ft tall and has green hair and pointed ears." point, which applies to all conventional D&D-style settings, not just Eberron.) I'll enclose that somewhat tangential point in an SBLOCK:
My views on intrahuman racism in general in fantasy settings
Whether there is intrahuman racism is a contingent fact. In Eberron, there really isn't. However, the existence of non-humans could either have no diminishing impact on intrahuman racism, or even exacerbate it in the right circumstances.
By most accounts I've read, for instance, British policy during the Raj increased the salience of Varna/caste in Indian society, as well as worsening relations between Muslims and Hindus. British were outsiders to the whole of Indian society, but their presence didn't exactly reduce the differences among the more native subgroups. Likewise with relationships between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, in which colonial policy antagonized relations by elevating Tutsis as sub-rulers. Now, obviously, all of the groups involved here -- British, Hutu, Tutsi, Muslim, Hindu, Brahmin, Shudra, etc -- are humans, so all we can really draw from that is "some groups of humans can exacerbate relations between some other groups of humans rather than bringing those other groups of humans closer together." British may have been outsiders in India, but they were not orcs.
That said, given the absence of real non-human intelligences of a level equal to or exceding humans' all we have to go on in either direction is speculation. There's nothing wrong with saying, "in this world, there's no intrahuman racial difference, because humans don't really notice things like skin tone, hair texture, etc, when there are much more profound differences with other intelligences like elves, goblins, etc." On the other hand, one might also tell another story -- one that might be equally plausible:
"In the Alamadria Foothills area, the human tribes of the region once had a history of intermittant war along with periods of peace and trade, occassionally taking slaves in their wars. Duergar traders arrived and established a trading post, offered to buy slaves to be taken to their underdark mines in exchange for psionically enhanced weaponry and armor. War in the area intensified, as old border disputes or half-forgotten slights that previously would have been ignored became excuses for profitable wars of enslavement.
In the area, the Laho tribe gained dominance, subjugating the surrounding tribes with Duergar swords and selling the captured enemy warriors into the underdark. The Lahos begin to view their distinctive stereotypical appearance -- curly red hair, green eyes, pale skin, and freckles -- as a sign of superiority. Members of other tribes having these aesthetic traits began to be considered "Lahos," while native-born Lahos having other appearances began to be considered foreign and inferior. Those in the region without such features, Laho or not, began to attempt to emulate them (for instance, by using cosmetics to create the appearance of freckles.)."
Or, of course, there's the possibility that the presence of non-humans doesn't really have much effect -- whether intensifying or diminishing -- on intrahuman racism at all.
At any rate, in Eberron it's established that there isn't really any intrahuman racism. I'm not criticizing that at all. I'm just saying that that's a contingent fact about the world, not a necessary implication of the existence of non-human D&D races like gnomes or drow, and isn't portable across all worlds.
Sorry about the rant. I just think that the "intrahuman racism couldn't be in a D&D world!" view is sometimes made a bit unreflectively.
By most accounts I've read, for instance, British policy during the Raj increased the salience of Varna/caste in Indian society, as well as worsening relations between Muslims and Hindus. British were outsiders to the whole of Indian society, but their presence didn't exactly reduce the differences among the more native subgroups. Likewise with relationships between Hutus and Tutsis in Rwanda, in which colonial policy antagonized relations by elevating Tutsis as sub-rulers. Now, obviously, all of the groups involved here -- British, Hutu, Tutsi, Muslim, Hindu, Brahmin, Shudra, etc -- are humans, so all we can really draw from that is "some groups of humans can exacerbate relations between some other groups of humans rather than bringing those other groups of humans closer together." British may have been outsiders in India, but they were not orcs.
That said, given the absence of real non-human intelligences of a level equal to or exceding humans' all we have to go on in either direction is speculation. There's nothing wrong with saying, "in this world, there's no intrahuman racial difference, because humans don't really notice things like skin tone, hair texture, etc, when there are much more profound differences with other intelligences like elves, goblins, etc." On the other hand, one might also tell another story -- one that might be equally plausible:
"In the Alamadria Foothills area, the human tribes of the region once had a history of intermittant war along with periods of peace and trade, occassionally taking slaves in their wars. Duergar traders arrived and established a trading post, offered to buy slaves to be taken to their underdark mines in exchange for psionically enhanced weaponry and armor. War in the area intensified, as old border disputes or half-forgotten slights that previously would have been ignored became excuses for profitable wars of enslavement.
In the area, the Laho tribe gained dominance, subjugating the surrounding tribes with Duergar swords and selling the captured enemy warriors into the underdark. The Lahos begin to view their distinctive stereotypical appearance -- curly red hair, green eyes, pale skin, and freckles -- as a sign of superiority. Members of other tribes having these aesthetic traits began to be considered "Lahos," while native-born Lahos having other appearances began to be considered foreign and inferior. Those in the region without such features, Laho or not, began to attempt to emulate them (for instance, by using cosmetics to create the appearance of freckles.)."
Or, of course, there's the possibility that the presence of non-humans doesn't really have much effect -- whether intensifying or diminishing -- on intrahuman racism at all.
At any rate, in Eberron it's established that there isn't really any intrahuman racism. I'm not criticizing that at all. I'm just saying that that's a contingent fact about the world, not a necessary implication of the existence of non-human D&D races like gnomes or drow, and isn't portable across all worlds.
Sorry about the rant. I just think that the "intrahuman racism couldn't be in a D&D world!" view is sometimes made a bit unreflectively.
Recall that humans in Khorvaire came from Sarlona in waves of immigration and that they were initially few in number. Whatever racial distinction may have been in Sarlona would have obliterated after the necessary intermarriages. Certainly, there is no mention that the Lhazaar immigrants decided to segregate themselves from one another. In the manner of refugees, they would have thought other matters somewhat more important.
In that sense, it's plausible that every possiblility of every combination of human traits resides in every humand on Khorvaire, such that it's possible for people who look like Earth Caucasians or Africans or Arabs to have biological children that look like they were from all over the planet, without much discernable rhyme or reason. Too, the range of personal variation in skin tone could be wide - any given person could be naturally pale or dark as night depending on how often he exposed himself to the sun and natural prevailing temperatures - much like coat changes in rabbits.
If that is true, then that handily explains why there is no racism between humans in Khorvaire. If your children could have varying skin tones and varied features, and your own skin varied from dark to pale depending on the season, there wouldn't be reason to discriminate against someone based on these features, which are after all, extremely variable.
It would be like discriminating against the "tanned" who just came home from a tropical vacation. Surely, that's a silly reason to be basing prejudgments on.