Actually, Paul, I am quite aware of what "white" folks do to their own skin but that's not what I am talking about. Indeed, part of what is going on is that those "white" folks, as a function of the limited nature of the public discourse on race, have been subtley duped into thinking that the problem is their skin color--which I think is perfectly lovely--when the problem is in their head.
It's interesting: While "rebellious" young "white" kids attempt to obliterate their whiteness by "attacking" thier own skin, many decidedly unrebellious Black folk, particularly women, strive to gain acceptance among both "white" folks and large numbers of Black folk, too, by whitening their skin and straigtening their hair.
Niles