Gene Responsible for Skin Color

According to an article published on Science Daily, a recent study conducted in India found that the gene SLC24A5 plays a big part in skin pigmentation. This research, headed by scientists from the University of Cambridge and the University of Tartu, studied different skin colors from people in India and found that a mutation of the gene SLC24A5 was responsible for light-skinned people. Moreover, they found that this mutation, which was found in light- skinned Indians, was also found in people of European descent.
While I understand that this may be a very interesting and informative discovery for those of the science community, I also believe that it could possibly be a dangerous one. You see, during the late 19th century and early 20th century, eugenicists used discoveries made in science to justify their segregating, sterilization, and eradication of people just because their skin was too dark or their culture was different. They believed that certain races had evolved far beyond other races and were therefore better than other races. They then used science to support these beliefs. Put simply, there are still eugenicists around today and studies like this just add fuel to the fire. Modern day eugenicists can easily reason that because light-skinned people are the result of the mutated gene SLC24A5, it only proves that light- skinned people are more evolved than darker-skinned people and therefore the better race.