Compiled from gotquestions.org and answersingenesis.org
Darwinian evolution was (and still is) inherently a racist philosophy, teaching that different groups or “races” of people evolved at different times and rates, so some groups are more like their apelike ancestors than others. The Bible does not even use the word race in reference to people, but it does describe all human beings as being of “one blood” (Acts 17:26).
As a result of Darwinian evolution, many people started thinking in terms of the different people groups around the world representing different “races,” but within the context of evolutionary philosophy. This has resulted in many people today, consciously or unconsciously, having ingrained prejudices against certain other groups of people.
However, all human beings in the world today are classified as Homo sapiens. Scientists today admit that, biologically, there really is only one race of humans. More recently, those working on mapping the human genome announced “that they had put together a draft of the entire sequence of the human genome, and the researchers had unanimously declared, there is only one race—the human race.”
Tower of Babel
The Bible does not explicitly give us the origin of the different “races” or skin colors in humanity. In actuality, there is only one race—the human race. Within the human race is diversity in skin color and other physical characteristics. This diversity is seen in the different ethnicities, or people groups, around the world. A ‘people’ or ‘ethnic’ group is best categorized by their language, ancestral and cultural origin and shared physical characteristics. But most people think there must be different races of people because there appear to be major differences between various groups, such as skin color and eye shape.
The families that scattered from Babel brought different combinations of genes with them. But their physical differences were trivial. We all have the same basic brown pigment, and we belong to one race—the human race—descended from Adam.
At the Tower of Babel, when the different languages came into existence, groups that spoke one language moved away with others of the same language. In doing so, the gene pool for a specific group shrank dramatically as the group no longer had the entire human population to mix with. Closer inbreeding took place, and in time certain features were emphasized in these different groups (all of which were present as a possibility in the genetic code). As further inbreeding occurred through the generations, the gene pool grew smaller and smaller, to the point that people of one language family all had the same or similar features.
To derive all the different skin shades from one couple, Adam and Eve likely were middle-brown in color. If Adam and Eve had a mixture of “light color” genes and “dark color” genes, then their descendants could have a wide range of skin color from very light to very dark, with most people somewhere between (as seen in the world today). Adam and Eve likely possessed genetic variation for eye shape and other distinguishing characteristics as well.
Another explanation is that Adam and Eve possessed the genes to produce black, brown, and white offspring (and everything else in between). This would be similar to how a mixed-race couple sometimes has children that vary in color. Since God obviously desired humanity to be diverse in appearance, it makes sense that God would have given Adam and Eve the ability to produce children of different skin tones. Later, the only survivors of the flood were Noah, his wife, Noah’s three sons and their wives—eight people in all (Genesis 7:13).
Perhaps Noah’s daughters-in-law were of different [eye shapes and skin tones]. It is also possible that Noah’s wife was different [physically] than Noah. Maybe all eight of them were of mixed race, which would mean they possessed the genetics to produce children of different races. In fact, the majority of the world’s population has a middle brown skin shade.
Whatever the explanation, the most important aspect of this question is that we are all the same race, all created by the same God, all created for the same purpose—to glorify Him.
Proverbs 3:6
Isaiah 43:7
John 17:1
1 Corinthians 10:31