Yes, melanin itself was targeted: the body became the burden of proof

SUMMARYYes, melanin itself was targeted: the body became the burden of proof (Nov 7, 2026; Tito: "Are you sure melanin wasn't targeted? Look deeper"). CORRECTS P848's "skin color was not the enemy."

RECORD (Hudgins v. Wrights, Virginia Supreme Court of Appeals, 1806, 11 Va. 134; OUP text)Judge Spencer Roane: "In the case of a person visibly appearing to be a negro, the presumption is, in this country, that he is a slave... but in the case of a person visibly appearing to be a white man, or an Indian, the presumption is that he is free." Judge St. George Tucker: "Nature has stamped upon the African and his descendants two characteristic marks, besides the difference of complexion... a flat nose and woolly head of hair"; a judge must "redeliver the black or mulatto person, with the flat nose and woolly hair to the person claiming to hold him or her as a slave" unless they prove descent "in the maternal line, from a free female ancestor." The Wrights won freedom by proving Indian maternal descent; witnesses cited Hannah's "copper complexion" and long straight hair. Ariela Gross: "Indians were by default citizens of a free nation; Africans were by default members of an enslaved race."

RECORD (today)Eberhardt and others (2006), Philadelphia 1979–1999, white-victim cases: 57.5% of defendants rated stereotypically Black-looking got death vs 24.4% of those rated less so (44 cases; no difference in Black-victim cases). Viglione, Hannon and DeFina (2011), 12,000+ Black women imprisoned in North Carolina: lighter-skinned women got about 12% shorter sentences and served about 11% less time, controlling for crime and record. Telles and others, PERLA (2014–15), 8 Latin American countries: "darker skin color was negatively and consistently related to schooling in all countries"; skin color "often capture[s] racial inequalities that census measures miss."

PATTERNtwo locks, one door. Melanin and features triggered the presumption (the dark Indigenous person had to prove a free mother); ancestry on paper was the backup lock for anyone too light to catch by eye (Plessy, 1896; Plecker's one-drop rule, 1924)

LENS (WW9)a dark Indigenous family was presumed captive by sight and had to prove its own nation. That is the paper genocide's front door. Connects: P846, P847, P848, P826, P844, Rule 14.