28 FEBRUARY 1931, Page 18

Letters to the Editor

THE COLOUR BAR

[To the Editor of the SPECTATOR. j

Sinanan is mistaken in supposing that colour prejudice, as Mr. Chellappa calls it, has anything to do with politics or economics. The preference for fairness of com- plexion is instinctive and world-wide.

Even among Indians themselves I am told that parents arranging for the marriage of their daughters, ceteris paribus, select fair in preference to dark bridegrooms. Lodging- house-keepers who have never been out of England cannot be expected to distinguish between the brown races of Asia and the black races of Africa, or to realize that beneath a dark skin there may beat a heart of gold.—I am, Sir, &c., CHARLES G. SPENCER.

Tarwood House, Southleigh, Oxford.