No, I'm shooting from the hip and exaggerating (slightly). When you're sending an emoji for the first time, an app typically presents you with a selection of sk

No, I'm shooting from the hip and exaggerating (slightly). When you're sending an emoji for the first time, an app typically presents you with a selection of skin colors for the hand or face icon you're choosing. My point is that this is a design decision to impart significance into racial self-identity. So the entire exercise is tautological -- of course people pick a skin color, when you frame the choice as "pick your skin color before you send this (or don't and we'll just keep using the inhuman color, which might communicate its own signal, or just look weird when everyone else has a skin tone)". And of course it's meant to be informed by race. We decided to present skin tone (race) as something important, and people responded as though it's important, is not a surprising finding.